Having teased features for months over social media and in the press, award-winning manufacturer MSI are planning a big release in the coming days in the form of new GAMING products based in Intel's next generation motherboard chipset. Featuring Killer E2200 NIC, Audio Boost 2 and XSplit Gamescaster software as standard, each GAMING release is decked out in black and red livery and at even first glance appears to be excellent value. Of course, big releases would be nothing without the odd incentive, and MSI UK certainly have a doozy this time around.
The next gen GAMING 7, billed as the 'Pro Gamer's Weapon', is suitable for high overclocking potential thanks to 12-phase CPU VRM and one of few launch motherboards in this generation to also support three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots capable of 2-way SLI (x8/x8/NC) and 3-way operation (x8/x4/x4). With no legacy PCI slots, it is a motherboard built for the future rather than looking back at the past. But despite its credentials - or perhaps because of them - MSI and selected major retailers are offering a limited number of sweetners with the first sold.
Split between four retailers - Overclockers.co.uk, SCAN, eBuyer and CCL - are 100 bundles of next generation GAMING 7 motherboards and premium Corsair cooling products. As well as the motherboard each bundle contains a Corsair Hydro Series H75 CPU cooler and Corsair AF120 Red LED Fan Twin Pack; that's £80 of value simply for being one of the lucky few to get on board early.
These bundles are expected to go on sale on Sunday or early Monday morning but enterprising retailers may debut them Friday, so keep your eyes peeled. And before you get any ideas it is limited to one per customer.
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"That's all very well" you might be thinking, "but I'm in the market for something a touch more modest." Thankfully MSI have you covered there too thanks to a 20% cash back deal through the month of May on the next generation GAMING 5, a more affordable member of the GAMING range but still credited with an excellent feature set nonetheless. With 8-Phase CPU VRM and three PCI 3.0 x16 slots, it's ideal for value-conscious single-GPU or dual-GPU gamers seeking to push their CPU a little further than stock but not to the heights of more comprehensive designs.
Those who take advantage of this cash-back deal should see the final purchase-price of their GAMING 5 motherboard at or below £99, which means that if nothing else it should be one of the best looking sub-£100 motherboards you can buy. But bear in mind that this is a limited time offer, so if you're looking to acquire one before the Unlocked Haswell Refresh CPUs are released later in the quarter you will need to get your skates on.
Overclockers.co.uk, SCAN, eBuyer and CCL, ARIA, BOX, Novatech and Dabs are all participating in this offer, so if you're looking to flesh our your system further then almost any major UK etailer is open to keep down delivery and other ancillary costs.
