The 970A SLI Krait Edition is the world’s first AMD-based motherboard to come with USB 3.1 technology. Boasting 10Gbps transfer speeds, USB 3.1 operates up to twice as fast as USB 3.0 and up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0. MSI equips the 970A SLI Krait Edition with two USB 3.1 ports on the rear panel, so your system can handle multiple high-speed external storage devices. MSI also outfits the USB 3.1 ports with a Type-C connector that’s fully reversible, which is much handier than conventional USB ports.
As you might have guessed by the 970A SLI Krait Edition’s name, this motherboard supports SLI, and it supports CrossFire as well. There are two PCI-E 2.0 x16 lanes, which run at x8 speed when two GPUs are installed. The dual x8 lanes are different than what you’ll see on some other motherboards based on AMD’s 970 chipset, which only allow for CrossFire setups at x16/x4 speeds. Such unbalanced PCI-E lane distribution might hamstring a second GPU, while MSI’s 970A SLI Krait Edition provides more even performance from both cards. If you’re only running one GPU, you’ll want to install it into the top PCI-E x16 slot that operates at the full x16 speed when only one graphics card is present.
MSI smartly lays out the PEG slots, placing a PCI-E x1 slot and legacy PCI slot between the top and bottom PCI-E x16 slots. The layout allows for optimal airflow when using two dual-slot GPUs. There’s another PCI-E x1 slot located above the top PCI-E x16 slot, which is handy because you’ll have at least one PCI-E x1 slot available regardless of GPU setup. A second PCI slot is also provided beneath the bottom PCI-E x16 slot.
MSI’s Krait Edition motherboards sport a striking black and white design, which is ideal for builders looking to break away from the black-and-red or black-and-gold color combinations found on so many other motherboards. The four DIMM slots alternate between black and white, and the white PCI-E x16 slots standout from the other expansion slots. The isolated audio PCB even features tiny black and white stripes.
To ensure reliability and help you extract the best possible performance from your parts, MSI builds its Military Class 4 components into this board. Key contributors here include “Dark CAPs,” which are capacitors rated for a 10-year lifespan, and “Dark Chokes,” which MSI says run at lower temperatures and higher capacity to provide you with improved power efficiency and stability.
Overclocking your AMD processor is simple, thanks to MSI’s Click BIOS 4. The UEFI BIOS offers an OC tab where you can quickly make changes to the CPU ratio, frequency, and voltages, as well adjust memory settings. You can save your preferred settings to profiles within the BIOS, so you can quickly call up and switch between overclocks. The 970A SLI Krait Edition can also overclock the CPU for you (up to 120% faster) using the virtual OC Genie button in the Click BIOS 4 interface.
MSI includes several helpful software applications that you can install to adjust performance within Windows. For example, MSI’s Command Center utility lets you adjust critical CPU frequencies and voltages, as well as fan speeds. Commander Center also features a built-in RAMDisk capability to let you allocate a portion of system memory for use as speedy local storage. MSI’s Live Update 6 is another helpful utility that can automatically download and install the latest drivers, BIOS updates, and other software for the 970A SLI Krait Edition.
The 970A SLI Krait Edition’s onboard audio is designed to produce crystalclear sound. MSI isolates the audio components on their own portion of the PCB, which reduces the chance that electromagnetic signals from the main PCB will affect sound quality. The audio is processed by Nichicon Japanese audio capacitors that MSI says have low ESR (equivalent series resistance) and low dielectric absorption for high-fidelity sound. The 970A SLI Krait Edition uses a Realtek ALC887 codec that supports up to 7.1-channel playback.
We added an AMD FX-8350, two EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0’s in SLI, and 8GB of ADATA’s XPG V3 DDR3-2400 (which we clocked down to the 970A SLI Krait Edition’s maximum 2,133MHz frequency) to benchmark the 970A SLI Krait Edition. The test system proved to be a great gaming rig, delivering 68.67fps in Metro: Last Light and 96.1fps in Aliens vs. Predator with all the settings pushed to maximum and at a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. The eight-core FX-8350 powered through POV-Ray 3.7 to generate a score of 1486.96 pixels per second.
Often, you pay a premium for the latest and greatest features, but MSI prices the 970A SLI Krait Edition at a mere $89.99. Whether you’re looking to upgrade the motherboard for your current AMD processor, or just building a budget-friendly gaming rig, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better value than the 970A Krait Edition. BY NATHAN LAKE
Specs: Max Memory: 32GB DDR3 (DDR3-1866; Max OC: DDR3-2133); Slots: 2 PCI-E 2.0 x16, 2 PCI-E 2.0 x1, 2 PCI; Storage: 6 6Gbps SATA, Rear I/O: 2 USB 3.1, 6 USB 2.0, 2 PS/2, audio I/O, 1 Ethernet; Form factor: ATX; Warranty: 3 years