Let’s take a look at one of the first socket LGA1155 motherboards that will reach the market, the MSI P67A-GD65 (a.ka. MS-7681 Ver 2.0), based on the forthcoming P67 chipset for future Intel processors based on the “Sandy Bridge” architecture. The highlights of this motherboard include four USB 3.0 ports, four SATA-600 ports, high-end components in the voltage regulator circuit, and nice overclocking features.

The next-generation Intel CPUs, codenamed “Sandy Bridge,” will be released in January, 2011, and will use a new socket, called LGA1155 or “socket LGA1155.” To match this new CPU generation Intel will launch two chipsets, the H67 and P67. The first one is targeted to computers with integrated video (keeping in mind that the video itself is produced by the CPU, and not by the chipset), while the second one is targeted to mid-range and high-end motherboards without integrated video.

The MSI P67A-GD65 uses the standard ATX form factor.

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Figure 1: MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard