MSI Big Bang XPower is an Intel X58-based socket 1366 motherboard that comes with six PCI Express x16 slots, SATA-600 ports, USB 3.0 ports, military-grade components on the voltage regulator circuit, gazillions of overclocking options and much more. Also it is one of the few motherboards around using an easy-to-remember name instead of a part number formed with several letters and numbers. We honestly hope that MSI and other manufacturers do this more often.

Like other high-end motherboards from MSI, Big Bang XPower uses a cooling solution based on an eight-mm heat-pipe that, according to MSI, is to date the thickest heatpipe used on a motherboard (usually motherboards use five-mm heat-pipes), which translates in a better cooling capability (56% improvement, according to the manufacturer). This heatpipe connects three heatsinks, two of them on top of the transistors of the voltage regulator circuit and one on top of the north bridge chip from the chipset.

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Figure 1: MSI Big Bang XPower motherboard.

This motherboard comes with two EPS12V connectors for feeding the CPU. With one connector you can give up to 20 A (240 W) to your CPU. If you think that is not enough, you can add the second connector and increase the maximum CPU current to 40 A (480 W).