MSI Big Bang XPOWER Intel X58 motherboard review

The MSI board is supplied in a huge box with a very cool ‘big bang' concept, with shattering surfaces exploding outwards.

The box is a gatefold design which opens from the right and it contains a plethora of information on all the component technology encorporated into the design. This would be information overload for many users in a store, but it is nice to see a company trying to get across all the benefits their product will bring to the customer.

The main box opens to reveal two smaller boxes inside, one containing the motherboard and the other containing all the extras.

There are manuals, overclocking guides, driver discs, european versions of the manual as well as installation guides. They have left no rock unturned.

We think this is one of the most comprehensive bundles we have seen in our labs to date. There are enough cables to build several systems, and there are various SLI connectors to cover a multitude of configurations.

There is a THX certified sound card supplied (Quantum Wave) as well which slots onto the motherboard, just above the first graphics card slot and MSI also supply an OC Dashboard unit which we will look at later.

Sometimes we dont see enough SATA cables included with some motherboard bundles, but we certainly can't say the same for MSI. They also include converters to help with a system configuration.

A USB2 expansion slot bracket as well as another for eSATA. We are very impressed with this bundle, it has even put the ASUS boards we have looked at recently to shame.

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