MSI’s new gaming motherboard has a killer feature on the Wi-Fi front

MSI has just revealed a new top-of-the-range enthusiast-targeted motherboard which isn’t just good – apparently it’s godlike, and comes with some interesting extras including the ability to act as a Wi-Fi extender.

The Z270 Godlike Gaming motherboard is the ‘one board to rule them all’ according to MSI’s press spiel, and it certainly looks pretty tasty. While the company hasn’t yet revealed the full specs, it’s clear that there are four reinforced PCIe x16 slots, along with one PCIe x1 slot. And you get three Turbo M.2 slots (with M.2 Shield).

But the most interesting innovation here is the incorporation of Killer xTend technology for connectivity tricks. The motherboard comes with three Killer Ethernet ports alongside a Killer Wireless-AC 1535 Wi-Fi module, allowing the PC to act as a network switch and Wi-Fi extender.

In other words, you hook up the motherboard to your internet connection via one Ethernet port, and you can plug other devices into the PC via the other two Ethernet connectors to get them online. Or alternatively other devices can hook up via Wi-Fi, and you can use the Godlike Gaming motherboard as a Wi-Fi extender (with throughput of 867Mbps) as mentioned.

Performance priorities

Essentially, you can do away with the extra networking hardware that would normally be required to achieve this, and simply rely on your main PC. MSI notes that the xTend technology ensures that the primary PC’s traffic is prioritized above other connected devices, to make sure performance doesn’t degrade when you’re online gaming, streaming video or whatever on your main rig.

The information MSI has provided doesn't go into detail about whether or not the network switch and Wi-Fi extender continues to work once the PC is turned off, but we assume it must, otherwise you'd need to leave your PC running. We've reached out to MSI for clarification.

The Godlike Gaming also gives you high-end built-in audio with Audio Boost 4 Xtreme that offers fully isolated audio circuitry and an ESS DAC with a pair of dedicated audio processors (with the latter meaning you can use speakers and headphones at the same time, should you wish).

The motherboard also benefits from a new ASMedia ASM3142 USB 3.1 controller which is nicely energy-efficient, and you get the obligatory flashy lights, with 15 RGB LEDs scattered across the board, all of which can be controlled independently.

The on-sale date and pricing details of this mobo have yet to be confirmed, but we should hear soon enough.

Via: Anandtech