MSI's 6 and 7-series motherboards get official Windows 8 certification

MSI announced today that their Intel 6 and 7 series mainboards have officially acquired Windows 8 certification from Microsoft. During the Computex exhibition this year, MSI already lead the Windows 8 market by displaying several mainboards that meet the Windows 8 certification requirements and showing off various new Windows 8 features live for the exhibition audience. Not only did the MSI mainboards get officially certified from Microsoft, they are currently the only leading mainboard brand that runs 3DMark for Windows 8 successfully on their certified mainboards. The current motherboards that are certified include the Z77 based Z77A-GD65 and the H61 based H61M-P22 (G3) and H61MA-P31 (G3). MSI will be adding other motherboards to the list as well very soon. 

Windows 8 ready!

MSI was also the first to bring out a Thunderbolt-based motherboard. With Thunderbolt, external device connectivity problems faced by high-end users are alleviated, such as poor data transfer rates, every device requiring an independent connection port and transfer speeds dropping low when sending and receiving files simultaneously due to lack of bandwidth, etc. The all new Thunderbolt transfer technology provides an extremely large bi-direction 10Gbps bandwidth, which allows simultaneous connection of high resolution monitors, storage devices and even a graphics card. 8-channel audio signal is also supported, allowing multiple devices to be connected via a single cable. Their new boards also feature Military Class III components.  This includes DrMOS II, which is their next-gen DrMOS program designed to offer better thermal protection from extended periods of overclocking. Hi-c capacitors with a Tantalum core ensures up to eight times longer lifespan. The Super Ferrite Choke delivers better power and the motherboard features all solid state capacitors.

The boards have also passed the critical  MIL-STD-810G Certification as well. OC Genie II is also present that allows you to instantly overclock the CPU at the press of a button. Since this is an application, you needn’t go into the BIOS and tweak anything, all the tweaking can be performed within Windows itself. MSI’s ClickBIOS II provides a consistent user interface both in the UEFI BIOS and in Windows. The GUI also offers touchscreen support. The new BIOS offers full system control, including overclocking, security and information. Finally, we come to the expansion slots where we have PCIE Gen 3 for the latest Nvidia and AMD GPUs. Below is a quick look at the detailed specifications of all three motherboards.