MSI has launched the Nightblade barebone mini-ITX PC for gamers, packed with MSI’s Z871 Gaming Nightblade motherboard, a 600W PSU, a high-speed Dragon case fan and MSI’s OC Genie functionality. This barebones rig will be available worldwide starting the second week in March for an unknown price.
“Despite its mini-ITX form factor, the MSI Nightblade can host an ATX-size graphics card and supports the usage of two SSDs, an HDD and even an optical drive bay. The solid handle on the frontside helps gamers to easily carry the Nightblade from one LAN-event to the next,” states the company’s PR.
MSI’s new Nightblade provides an OC Genie button on the front, allowing the user to overclock the rig’s innards in a matter of seconds with a simple push of a button. Two USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports are also gathered on the front, whereas two USB 2.0 ports and four USB 3.0 ports are provided on the back. The rear I/O panel also plays host to one DisplayPort connector, one HDMI port and more.
This barebones PC features a custom 92 mm fan that is dynamically adjusted depending on the user’s activities. The fan can even run at a max speed of 3600 RPM in the most extreme scenarios. The 120 mm fan mounted on the side can go even faster if needed, speeding up to 4000 RPM if necessary.
Even though the Nightblade has a mini-ITX form factor, there’s enough room inside for a full-size two slot-in graphics card via a PCI-e 3.0 x16 slot. The card can measure up to 290 mm and have a thickness of 35 mm, such as MSI’s R9 290X card. An optional 3800 RPM tower cooler can support up to a 113W overclock.
What’s really great about this barebones system is that it provides a handle for hauling the rig from one LAN game to another. The handle resides at the bottom front, making it extremely easy to pick up the rig and carry it (the system weighs 17.2 pounds). There are also rubber covers fitting the metal screws on the back so that the rig can be set down on the floor vertically without blocking the custom fan or scraping the floor.
Some of the listed specs include support for an Intel fourth-generation “Haswell” processor, E2200 Killer gigabit LAN, Intel Wireless N, support up to 16 GB DDR3 3000 MHz memory, 7.1 channel HD Audio and more.
The full list of specs can be found right here.
