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When you think of an extreme gaming rig what do you picture?  Hold that thought, PCWizKid has just that, today we review The MSI P55-GD80 motherboard supporting the latest LGA1156 line of Intel processors via the integrated Intel P55 chipset. This means that you can install the Intel LGA 1156 Core i7 and Core i5 processors such as PCWizKid did with the test system. Add on this board upto 16GB max DDR3 memory operating in Dual Channel mode up to 1333MHz and either NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX graphics mode using matched video cards. 

PCWizKid's Test System

• Intel Core i5 750 (at various speeds starting at 2.6Ghz and up)
• Two Diamond ATI Radeon HD4890's in crossfire
• 4GB DDR3 Corsair XMS3 1600
• X4 850 Watt Power supply
• GlacialTech F101 CPU cooler
• Cooler Master HAF932 Full Tower Cacse
• Western Digital 500GB SATAII HDD
• Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit

Video Review

Specifications

Conclusion

The P55-GD80 definitely is a overclocking enthusiast board.  You want to push the limits beyond and go fast? You got it!  the OC Genie feature is superb, handling all settings automatically makes is a breeze to tweak your system with no effort at all.  Getting the board to handle the Core i5 CPU more than the OC Genie at 4.0GHz was also easy by lifting the limitations of the multiplier and setting it to 21x and the BSCLK to 190.5Mhz .  The key is not to raise the Bus Clock speed too high and keeping the CPU voltages below 1.4 volts to avoid overheating.  This made testing the MSI P55-GD80 a fun and sweet experience that would make a killer gaming rig.  Excellent overclocked gaming rig used for testing , though I would have preferred the PCIe x16 slots when run in crossfire to be x16 and x8 (rather than 8x, 8x), but nonetheless a Editor's Choice recommended P55 Premium board.

Click here for the latest pricing on the MSI P55-GD80 Motherboard