MSI Lets the Genie out - P55 Launch @ VivoCity
MSI Lets the Genie out - P55 Launch @ VivoCity
Letting the Genie out
With Lynnfield showing up in retail, the component ecosystem is in full swing, with Intel P55 motherboards widely available. MSI's local distributor, Corbell chose the occasion for a P55 launch party, following last year's P45 event. Like the previous launch, VivoCity's Golden Village cinema was again the venue, with the usual goodie bag awaiting attendees, many of which had signed up on HardwareZone's forum . Best of all, a buffet dinner was also arranged, with a free movie screening of "Gamer" to follow.
Gracing the event, we saw MSI's Project Manager for Marketing, Mr Garrett Wu, presenting the key features on these new P55 motherboards. There were three main points, OC Genie, SuperPipe and DrMOS, of which, OC Genie and SuperPipe appear to be the new, unique features on MSI's P55 series.
So, what exactly is OC Genie? Well it's a hardware based auto-overclocking tool. Upon pressing the OC Genie button and starting the system, users will notice that the system will be overclocked by a dedicated chip on the board; the amount of overclocking you get is dependent on the system's other components, like the CPU, the cooler and the quality of the memory modules. From our own hands-on with a MSI P55-GD80 motherboard in our lab, we can tell you that this is one killer feature that really works.
Of course, to put its point more across more emphatically to the enthusiasts who showed up, MSI had a demonstration of another overclocking tool from rival ASUS, which was a software tool that while useful for overclocking and other tweaks no doubt, lacked the ease and speed of MSI's one-button auto-overclocking feature.
The other new feature is SuperPipe, which is not as exciting as OC Genie, it being a thicker heatpipe found on MSI's chipset cooling system. Obviously, a thicker heatpipe will mean that it is better at transferring the heat from the chipset components to the radiator fins and the outside environment. Look out for our upcoming P55 roundup if you want to know how effective the thicker heatpipe will be.
Finally, what's a launch event without the stars of the show? Here are three of the P55 motherboard models that you can expect from MSI here in Singapore, spanning the range from entry-level to high-end.