MSI introduces first Thunderbolt motherboard

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2012, MSI showcased the Z77A-GD80 mainboard, featuring the world’s first mainboard with Thunderbolt support. MSI has launched that very same motherboard today.  The Z77A-GD80 is equipped with the newest Intel Z77 chipset with support for the new generation 22nm processors and is equipped with the newest Thunderbolt transfer interface. 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.

Thunderbolt is a go!

The Z77A-GD80 mainboard utilizes Military Class III components, which have passed through 7 rigorous MIL-STD-810G standard tests and have also been certified by independent third-party laboratories, providing the best quality and stability. It is also equipped with the MSI’s proprietary one-second overclocking OC Genie II and UEFI / Windows dual-graphical interface ClickBIOS II. MSI's exclusive OC Genie II technology only requires one second to generate amazing performance increase, and also release the CPU, iGPU and memory performance at the same time. It also maximizing under the most stable situation and considerably saving enthusiast's time for system adjustment.

The brand new My OC Genie function allows users set the overclocking settings manually for better performance. Click BIOS II is the world's first system tool that integrated UEFI BIOS and Windows application programs; it allows you to adjust system settings under different environments through the mouse or even the LCD touch panel. MSI Z77A-GD80 supports not only the latest PCI Express Gen 3 standard to deliver 32GB/s of bandwidth, but the new generation 22nm processors, double that of the previous generation. It allows users enjoy the latest standard for better use experience.