Update: Gigabyte pictures have been removed due to their NDA regarding the next generation 9-Series chipset motherboards. You will want to take a look at the boards in the pictures below (courtesy of LAB501).
The motherboards are also in prototype stages hence the heatsink and layout design are not finalized but Gigabyte did show off some interesting entry and mid tier boards with their Z97 ITX offering being the most interesting. It has been a month since LAB501.RO managed to get pictures of Gigabyte's upcoming Z97 and H97 chipset based motherboards. Gigabyte H97 and Z97 Motherboards Displayed: We are looking at MSI's Audio Boost 2.0 and KillerLAN technologies on the board along with the addition of Military Class IV components. Storage includes three SATA 6 GB/s ports and the board comes without any OC essential features probably due to the target market its aimed at.
MSI Z97 GAMING 7 VOLTAGES SERIES
Expansion slots include two PCI-E 3.0 x16, two PCI-E 3.0 x1, three PCI legacy slots and the M.2 interface to support Intel's NGFF (Next Generation Form Factor) 530 Series SSDs. There are four Dual Channel DDR3 DIMM slots which will support overclocked memory upto 2666 MHz+ (O.C) frequencies. The Z97 Gaming 3 motherboard is a mid-tier offering in the Z97 Gaming lineup with a 6 Phase DigitALL Power Design and the LGA1150 socket powered through the 8-PIN power connector. We can also spot MSI's Audio Boost 2.0 and KillerLAN technologies on the board along with the addition of Military Class IV components. For overclockers, MSI has added voltage check points and power On/Off, OC Genie and Reset switches. Expect MSI to use their original Dragoon theme on the Z97 Gaming motherboards. The Z97 chipset is hidden beneath a small metallic heatsink which is definitely not the design we will be looking at on the final retail models. Storage slots include 8 SATA 6 GB/s ports and a USB 3.0 header right next to them. Expansion slots include three PCI-E 3.0 x16, four PCI-E 3.0 x1 and the M.2 interface to support Intel's NGFF (Next Generation Form Factor) 530 Series SSDs. Power to the socket is pumped through a 8-PIN power connector while the regular 24-PIN ATX connector is used to power the board itself. The Z97 Gaming 7 looks like a feature packed board with a 12 20 Phase DigitALL Power Design and the latest LGA1150 socket which will support the Haswell and Haswell Refresh processors. MSI will also offer Z97 motherboards under their XPower and Legacy brand but we don't have any information on those at the current moment. The two boards we are looking at include the Z97 Gaming 7 and Z97 Gaming 3 so its not hard to assume that these will be part of MSI's next generation Z97 Gaming motherboard lineup.
The Z97 motherboards showcased by MSI are bare prototypes and lack the heatsinks which will be featured on the final retail models. Image is courtesy of VR-Zone! MSI Shows Off Next Generation Z97 Motherboards Prototypes Recently, HardwareLuxx managed to get a first look at MSI's upcoming Z97 motherboards prototypes which were displayed at an NDA briefing by the hardware manufacturer. Intel is just a month away from launching their latest Haswell Refresh platform which would be compatible with the next generation 9-Series chipset compatible H97 and Z97 Motherboards.