The Box and Goodies -
The box that the X79A-GD65(8D) is a little busy but not so bad that it would keep you from buying it. One thing that we noticed right off the bat was the appearance of a new Better Business Bureau sticker. This is interesting, but really only applies to consumers that are in the US. Still it is good to see as it indicates that MSI is concerned about taking care of their customers. The other item that jumps out is the Gen 3 PCIe logo. Although this is not going to be terribly important until Ivy Bridge hits the market it still can get you a 9-12% performance benefit if you drop in an AMD 7 series GPU today.

The back of the box gets a little more cramped, but still has some good information on for potential buyers.

Inside the box we find more documentation than we are used to, but that is not completely a bad thing. You get an overclocking guide, two types of quick start guides and then two manuals, one for the software and one for hardware. MSI has also included a certificate of quality and stability… which will be good for some.

Other than that you get some typical loot inside the box; multiple SATA cables, header adapters, an e-SATA bracket, and a USB 3.0 bracket for the peripheral slots in whatever case you chose.