Back in January, we wrote about MSI's intentions to stay serious about high-end motherboards, with a prime example of its commitment revealed in particular with the Eclipse Plus. This board has been known to be in development since around September 2008 and has now officially been announced and released by the company.

The most noteworthy aspect of this X58 motherboard is the integration of an nForce 200 that enables its four PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots on the hardware side to operate at x16/x16/x16/x4 respectively. This configuration is very similar to what EVGA has done with its recently launched X58 SLI Classified using the same slot configuration.

The board utilizes a 6-phase PWM design and is backed by Active Phase Switching (APS) power-saving technology, which allows it to gear down to using a lower amount of phases if permissible. This eco-friendly feature is nonetheless complemented by second-generation DrMOS technology, a 3-in-1 system that is intended to deliver higher quality power than a discreet MOSFET with lower spike noise and a faster response.

On the outside, MSI's Eclipse Plus is themed with a unique blue and black color scheme that serves as a nice counterbalance among other offerings in the high-end X58 market. Overall it is very similar to what was revealed back in January, with the exception of a more two-tone color phase throughout.

All in all, the Eclipse Plus is a great addition to the X58 family is currently listed for €359 in Euroland and $402 in the US.