MSI Z68A-GD65 (G3) LGA1155 SLI PCI-e Gen3 Motherboard Unboxing & First Look Linus Tech Tips
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Description
ncix.com This board features PCIe Gen3, which gives you double the bandwidth! It also comes with an unprecedented 5 year warranty from MSI and their all-new Click Bios II (an evolution of Click BIOS)
The Linus Tech Tips unboxing and first look of the MSI Z68A-GD65 (G3) LGA1155 motherboard focuses on the feature set that accompanied PCI Express Gen 3 at the time. The host highlights MSI's 5-year warranty and military class components, noting solid caps, ferrite chokes, and an emphasized build quality. He explains PCIe Gen 3 support and the bandwidth benefits, comparing PCIe 3.0 x8 to PCIe 2.0 x16 in practical terms, and comments on the Click BIOS 2 interface and its refreshed feel. The packaging contents are reviewed, including the driver disk, installation guide, IO shield, front panel connectors, SATA cables, and the SLI bridge, along with the included USB headers and fan headers. The motherboard layout is discussed in detail, starting with the LGA1155 socket, the robust VRM cooling arrangement, dual-channel DDR3 slots, and the power delivery architecture. He then walks through expansion options, noting the mix of PCIe x16 and PCI slots, several fan headers, and the back I/O, including USB 2.0, USB 3, audio, and video outputs. The video also covers advanced features like Virtu by Lucid for switching between onboard and discrete GPU, Intel Smart Response Technology for caching with an SSD, and SLI/Crossfire readiness, culminating in a closing recap and a reminder to subscribe for more unboxings and hardware content.
Topics · technology · hardware · unboxing · pc_building · gaming
Questions answered
- What makes the MSI Z68A-GD65 (G3) motherboard stand out for PCI Express Gen 3 at launch?
- It introduces PCI Express Gen 3 support, doubling the bandwidth compared to Gen 2, so an 8x Gen 3 slot can offer similar bandwidth to a 16x Gen 2 slot when paired with a compatible CPU.
- What is Virtu by Lucid and how does it interact with the CPU and GPU on this board?
- Virtu is software that lets the system switch dynamically between the onboard graphics and the dedicated GPU to optimize tasks for either power efficiency or performance.