Intel's Core i7 performance numbers speak for themselves, and it's the sought-after processor for many an enthusiast. Trouble is, the cheapest part - Intel's Core i7 920 - retails at a cost of around £250 and you'll need a Socket 1366 mainboard to support it, along with some DDR3 memory, too.
It quickly becomes a pricey prospect for most, and many of us - myself included - are still clinging on to our ageing-but-able Core 2 parts. On the other hand, if anything less than Core i7 just won't do, those who've been saving the pennies may like the look of MSI's newly-announced X58 Pro.
Pictured below, the X58 Pro is MSI's slimmed-down take on Intel's Core i7-supporting chipset and promises to be "the most affordable X58 mainboard on the market".
Despite it's affordable marketing, it's still very much a high-end board. It's armed with six DIMM slots allowing for up to 24GB of tri-channel DDR3 memory and a trio of PCIe x16 slots for your choice of three-way ATI CrossFireX or NVIDIA SLI.
There are six SATA connectors, single eSATA and IDE, twelve USB ports, FireWire, Gigabit Ethernet and 7.1 HD audio. As you'd expect, it's green credentials are bolstered with MSI's five-phase DrMOS.
It's far from the prettiest X58 board on the market, but if you're looking for an "affordable" route to Core i7, this might be it. Sadly, MSI hasn't yet divulged a suggested retail price but we've seen U.S. etailers list the board for a slightly-more-welcoming $189.99. Not convinced? There's always Core i5.
Official press release: The most affordable mainboard for Core i7 - MSI X58 Pro Series
