MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS $134.99

Quote from Selma : MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS $149.99 Your Price: $134.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...30645-L04B $119.99 After $15.00 MIR

Tempting but only 2 sata-3 ports and no internal USB 3.0 ... Not much for future proof...

Any idea what speed the pcie-3 will run at when run in crossfire/ (x16 or x8 or ?)

Ram looks awful close to pcu... 212+ type coolers may not fit

Need rebate on this beast http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...43&Tpk=Z77

Quote from dmercer3 : Tempting but only 2 sata-3 ports and no internal USB 3.0 ... Not much for future proof... Any idea what speed the pcie-3 will run at when run in crossfire/ (x16 or x8 or ?) Ram looks awful close to pcu... 212+ type coolers may not fit Need rebate on this beast http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...43&Tpk=Z77

Z77 specs only call for 2 SATA 3.0 ports, and 4 USB 3.0 ports, which this motherboard does have.

Quote from blahblahyoutoo : Z77 specs only call for 2 SATA 3.0 ports, and 4 USB 3.0 ports, which this motherboard does have.

Doesn't mean that is a good deal... Plenty of z77 have more than 2 .... I am not sure what your point is

Man, thinking about going Intel gust to get some of these new boards. I want on with 8 dimm slots for caching. Awesome........

You are wrong about the "no internal USB 3.0 ... ". Look closely; it is right next to the SATA ports. Just dont post if you are not sure. This board has the required standard Z77 SATA 3 ports and has USB 3.0. Good, cheap and nice entry level board. BTW just like anything in life the more money you spend the better product you get.

Quote from dmercer3 : Tempting but only 2 sata-3 ports and no internal USB 3.0 ... Not much for future proof... Any idea what speed the pcie-3 will run at when run in crossfire/ (x16 or x8 or ?) Ram looks awful close to pcu... 212+ type coolers may not fit Need rebate on this beast http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...43&Tpk=Z77

Quote from dmercer3 : Doesn't mean that is a good deal... Plenty of z77 have more than 2 .... I am not sure what your point is

my point is that you are wrong in saying it does not have "internal USB 3.0". the header is on the board.
all Z77 boards have 4 USB ports so it would be impossible for this board not to.

any additional ports included on a Z77 board are up to the individual manufacturers and added via 3rd party controllers which are often not as good as native controllers.

it's quite obvious to get more features, you will have to pay for it so I'm not quite sure what your point is.
it's also lacking thunderbolt, which makes it also not future-proof, amirite?

Quote from blahblahyoutoo : my point is that you are wrong in saying it does not have "internal USB 3.0". the header is on the board. all Z77 boards have 4 USB ports so it would be impossible for this board not to. any additional ports included on a Z77 board are up to the individual manufacturers and added via 3rd party controllers which are often not as good as native controllers. it's quite obvious to get more features, you will have to pay for it so I'm not quite sure what your point is. it's also lacking thunderbolt, which makes it also not future-proof, amirite?

wow, your absolutely right... my bad. I will blame it on posting to early in the morning... I just missed the internal usb 3.0

I stand corrected, thank you.

Quote from blahblahyoutoo : my point is that you are wrong in saying it does not have "internal USB 3.0". the header is on the board. all Z77 boards have 4 USB ports so it would be impossible for this board not to. any additional ports included on a Z77 board are up to the individual manufacturers and added via 3rd party controllers which are often not as good as native controllers. it's quite obvious to get more features, you will have to pay for it so I'm not quite sure what your point is. it's also lacking thunderbolt, which makes it also not future-proof, amirite?

thunderbolt was designed as a way to connect external graphic cards to laptops; Although other uses are possible (such as video capture cards or external blue ray burner), on desktops there is little point because of eSATA for fast external drives and pcie expansion slots.
Even asus that is including support on their high end mobos, is doing so by simply adding the headers necessary for a possible add-on card.

Quote from dmercer3 : wow, your absolutely right... my bad. I will blame it on posting to early in the morning... I just missed the internal usb 3.0 I stand corrected, thank you.

lol its not your fault. they didnt even list it in the features.
also its at a 90 degree angle =/
didnt even see it at first.


is it me or is the board really "clean"?
all the stuff embedded?