MSI Z77A-GD80 & R7770 Power Edition Transthermal OC Review

Rating: 9.0.

If you are in the market for a new, competitively priced gaming system then today's review will be of particular interest.

We are taking a look at the new MSI Z77A-GD80 motherboard due for release in July and the R7770 Power Edition graphics card with a rather unusual, proprietary single/dual fan cooling system.

The MSI Z77A-GD80 board is the first motherboard we have received for review with Thunderbolt support. Unfortunately we have yet to receive our first batch of external Thunderbolt drives, but we aim to get a test system up and running over the next month.

MSI Z77A-GD80 Overview

• Thunderbolt™ Technology : The world’s fastest I/O standard
• Military Class III components: Top quality & stability
• OC Genie II: Auto OC to boost performance in 1 sec
• ClickBIOS II: Easy-to-use UEFI BIOS interface
• Super Charger: fast charge iPad/iPhone/smartphone
• THX TruStudio PRO: deliver the fullest audio experience
• Support USB 3.0 & SATA 6Gb/s

The MSI R7770 Power Edition Transthermal OC graphics card has a triple overvoltage feature, to allow the end user to increase GPU, memory and VDDCI voltage for improved overclocking. The card also ships in a single fan configuration, but MSI include an additional fan which can be used alongside, or on top of the standard fan. We look at this in more detail later in the review.

R7770 Power Edition Transthermal OC Overview

• Power Edition
  – Triple Overvoltage: adjust the voltage of GPU, memory and VDDCI to unleash the potential of graphics card.
  – Enhanced PWM Design: provide higher overclocking capability and better stability in peak load.
• TransThermal with Dust Removal technology
  – Dust Removal technology: keep out dust for optimal cooling performance.
  – Double Airflow Mode: offer higher air pressure and enhances the heat dissipation capacity.
  – Dual Fan Mode: provides a bigger dissipation area and cools the components on the PCB more efficiently.
• Military Class III Components
  – Meet MIL-STD-810G standard to ensure the best stability and quality.
  – Adopt Hi-c CAP, SFC and All Solid CAP
• MSI Afterburner overclocking utility
  – MSI's exclusive overclocking software.
  – Support Kombustor to test user’s graphics cards.
  – Support Real-Time Video Capturing function to record in-game scenes and share with friends.

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