MSI Announces Two C232 Workstation Motherboards

Intel’s Xeon family has traditionally offered unparalleled performance with a very hefty cost. This means it’s only a viable option for servers, professional workstations and other business-orientated tasks. However, Intel dramatically altered their strategy with the release of affordable Xeons like the E3-1231V3. This particular chip contains four cores and 8 threads clocked at 3.4GHz. More significantly, the chip has a retail price of £250 and is actually cheaper than the i7-6700K. To compliment the new Xeon budget range, Intel launched the C232 chipset supporting a maximum of 8 PCI-E lanes. However, it’s budget focus means it doesn’t incorporate technologies like Intel SIPP, HD Audio, RST, VPro and overclocking. Despite this, some users might enjoy the savings moving from the traditional Core series to Xeon-based alternatives. Today, MSI unveiled two new motherboards utilising the C232 chipset.

First up is the E3 KRAIT GAMING V5 which opts for a very stylish aesthetic design. Furthermore, the motherboard supports Audio Boost 3, DDR4 Boost, USB 3.1-Type C connectivity and contains an M.2 connector capable of 32Gb/s transfer speeds. There’s another M.2 connector to house an optional WiFi/Bluetooth modules and other upcoming devices.

The E3M WORKSTATION V5 adopts the Micro-ATX form factor and is designed for professional workloads. MSI have employed the highest quality components to ensure great reliability over a long period. The motherboard also supports SATA RAID, Intel® Smart Response, Rapid Start and Smart Connect Technologies. The COM port is useful when paired with commercial-orientated applications. As you might expect, the motherboard includes MSI-exclusive features such DDR4 Boost, EZ DEBUG LED and the Shortcut Manager. The E3M WORKSTATION V5 is designed to be paired with a NVIDIA Quadro and AMD FirePro graphics solutions.

Do you think Xeon brand should have moved into affordable processors?