MSI Big Bang XPOWER Intel X58 motherboard review

The Bios has a structure common to other MSI boards I have used, which is reassuring as I love the MSI bios layout, it is so easy to navigate and normally lends itself well to easy overclocking. I use MSI boards all the time for our AMD test beds.

Above we can see the core i7 920 D0 stepping CPU, which is one of our favourites – this particular one hits 4.2ghz with relative ease.

We are pleased to see the bios update option is included on this board, it is one of our favourite features on the MSI boards, as you can flash a bios easily from a USB drive without a hitch. I have had to do this before when I was using a 1055T on an older bios. Its a life saver.

Various options for CPU related functions, hyperthreading, power saving options as well as overspeed protection.

The overclocking panels offer a familar structure which is extremely straightforward to work with. You will notice this is very similar in layout to the AMD 1055T overclocking article we published recently.

Various memory options are available and support for low VDroop (Viagra for motherboards) – this helps massively when overclocking to raise stability.

Phase control options as well as Green power Genie readouts.

A good place to always check after the first system build. With detailed temperature and voltage readouts. The bios is pretty accurate according to our diode setup, its only overreading by 1c.

In here you can configure your boot sequence as well as changing boot options. We have our operating system installed on a Corsair 32GB USB drive for installation speed, you need to change priority to ensure it boots from USB first however.

Become a Patron!