The MSI Big Bang XPower II utilises a 24pin power socket as you would expect. While the VRM comprises of a 22 phase hybrid digital power design it will be interesting to see just how much power is consumed later in the review. Next to the ATX24 pin socket are multimeter voltage read points that enable real time monitoring of CPU Vcore, PCH, both DDR3 channels, CPU SA, CPU IO along with ground.



The dual 8-pin sockets provide upto 300W of extra power to the CPU, perfect for the SB-E 6 core monsters. Having this extra juice on tap should make for some good overclocking results.



Rather than use a SATA or MOLEX connector, MSI have opted to use a 6pin PCIe power port to provide extra juice to the GPU(s). Having 4-way SLI/Crossfire will take a great deal of power from the PCIe ports so adding this port will optimise the power flow and afford a little extra power for those wanting to ramp up the voltages.



Along with the main power button towards the top right of the main board, MSI have included a set of other buttons, aimed specifically at the overclocker. The OC Genie button allows a preset 4GHz overclock when pressed (reboot required) for an instant overclock, ideal for those less familiar with the overclocking dark arts. The Multi BIOS II button allows users to switch between one of the on-board BIOS's or to use the removeable BIOS (below). It will also act to reflash a crashed BIOS resulting in less RMA's because of a failed BIOS flash or corrupt BIOS.



Although not a new idea, it's great to see MSI implement this feature on there overclocking motherboards. LN2 users will especially find this appealing as if there were not enough BIOS options already, a custom BIOS with perhaps less restrictions to the voltages could be flashed to the replaceable unit with no fear of killing the board as there are also two other BIOS chips soldered in place. As a caveat, should all of the board's BIOS fail then a replacement chip is much easier to send through the post than an ATX-XL motherboard.



The Ceasefire switches are a God send for watercoolers who have all of their GPU's in-situ. Being able to decypher which GPU is causing issues along with overclocking individual cards without having to disassemble a watercooling loop will certainly appeal.



A common misconception is that the debug LED will only be used by overclockers. While it is true that a debug LED is most useful for fault finding in an overclock, system builders should also take note of the codes displayed during non boot scenarios as they can direct you to a faulty/incorrectly installed component. There are also the traditional beep codes of course but having a diagnostic LED readout with the manual to hand is much easier than trying to get on the internet with a broken PC to search for the beep code interpretation!

Let's take a look at some of the on-board components...