Motherboard maker MSI has pipped its rivals to the post and unveiled its first chipset based on AMD's as yet unannounced 790FX chipset - better known as the RD790.

MSI's K9A2 Platinum supports Socket AM2 and Socket AM2+ processors, including the upcoming four-core Phenom range of CPUs. Four DIMM slots allow up to 8GB of 1066MHz DDR 2 memory in dual-channel configuration to be added.

MSI's K9A2 Platinum: AMD's 790FX chipset on board

The board has a pair of PCI Express x16 slots of CrossFire-connected graphics cards, and two more PCIe x8 slots to allow four x8 graphics cards to be installed, if multi-monitor gaming is your thing. A pair of PCI slots and an PCIe x1 slot complete the board's opportunities for add-ins.

Related stories

• AMD announces next-gen CrossFire... sort of
• Biostar unwraps AMD 770 chipset mobo
• Asus spills AMD 7-series chipset beans
• AMD 'Spider' gaming platform to debut next month
• Acme unveils 'ideal' mobile gaming PC
• AMD to launch DirectX 10 integrated chipsets next January?
• AMD Catalyst update promises big gains for gamers
• AMD RX780 chipset wins PCI Express approval
• AMD RS740 chipset wins PCI Express approval
• Low-power AMD 'RD790' said to support 'triple CrossFire'
• AMD RD790 gets PCI Express thumbs-up
• AMD next-gen chipset roadmap leaked?

The K9A2 has six 3Gbps SATA slots capable of hosting drives in RAID 0, 1, 5 and 0+1 configurations. There are ten USB 2.0 ports, a pair of Firewire connectors and a single Gigabit Ethernet port.

The chipset's components receive passive cooling from the K9A2's array of heatpipe-connected heatsinks.

MSI didn't say when the K9A2 Premium will go on sale, or how much it's likely to cost.

More comments…