Computex 2014 - USB 3.1 isn't something we've heard a ton about yet but with its eye clearly set on destroying Thunderbolt MSI has jumped to the party early showing off a motherboard utilizing the upcoming technology. While we don't have much in the way of the model or anything like that, putting the pieces together we can see this upcoming Z97 motherboard which will fall under the GD series offers us USB 3.1 technology via the ASMedia ASM1142 controller.

Looking above you can see the next generation USB connectivity will offer up to 10Gbps; twice as much as the current generation USB 3.0 connectivity. Along with the massive boost in performance the technology will continue to support USB 3.0 devices with no issue.


As for the actual board you can see we've got all the standard Z97 features with an M.2 slot sitting in the middle along with SATA Express support towards the bottom right of the board alongside two SATA III connectors. We're not quite sure when we'll see this board as USB 3.1 devices aren't something that are being promoted too heavily at the moment.