I contacted MSI to ask if they made a motherboard I could use. Here is the exchange:
Me: I want to purchase a motherboard for a Linux computer. I would prefer one that would accept the new Haswell processor. The BIOS must allow for Secure Boot to be disabled, and CSM mode to be enabled, e.g. UEFI disabled. This would obviously be a board that is not compliant with Microsoft's new "Connected-stand-by" feature. Do you make such a board, and if you do which board might it be? MSI tech: MSI does not perform and provide any Linux support for mb, only Windows. This looks to me like a stock refusal to even consider a technical question (because I mentioned Linux) rather than an affirmation that they have implemented Connected-standby and that their BIOS lacks the options to disable Secure Boot and UEFI. Zareason will cost me a solid $500 more than building my own (and that's including buying and installing the Radeon 7870 myself, as they want $350 for it and I can get it for about $200) but it may be the only way to get a Haswell chip on a board that is not BIOS restricted to Windows. I visited my local computer shop and the owner was clueless about Secure Boot, UEFI, and Connected-standby.
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