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>Overview<
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This MSI motherboard utilises nVidia's nForce chipset.
nVidias nForce (now superceded by the nForce2 and 3) was and is a milestone in motherboard technology. Never before had so many competent technologies been bundled into one board.
The chipset main ... Read review
Advantages: Value for money, competent integrated hardware (especially the sound) Disadvantages: Geforce2 MX a little dated for todays games
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This MSI motherboard utilises nVidia's nForce chipset.
nVidias nForce (now superceded by the nForce2 and 3) was and is a milestone in motherboard technology. Never before had so many competent technologies been bundled into one board.
The chipset main features are:
Support for Duron/Athlon/XP processors with an FSB of 100/133mhz
...and thus 200/266mhz DDR RAM memory in DUAL CHANNEL mode. ... ...may want to check the MSI site for this (link at bottom).
This was one of the first mainstream boards (if not the first) to sport dual-channel memory. This allows two memory sticks to be used at once (you must buy a matching pair) and thus increases your memory bandwidth. For those of you who aren't technically minded, this basically allows your PC to transfer more information at one time, and thus run faster.
I was building a PC on a budget over a year ago, and was looking for a solution that offered a good price/performance ratio. It was then that I stumbled across a new concept in motherboards - nVidias nForce chipset.
>Overview< --------------- This MSI motherboard utilises nVidia's nForce chipset. nVidias nForce (now superceded by the nForce2 and 3) was and is a milestone in motherboard technology. Never before had so many competent technologies been bundled into one board. The chipset main features are: Support for Duron/Athlon/XP processors with an FSB of 100/133mhz ...and thus 200/266mhz DDR RAM memory in DUAL CHANNEL mode. Integrated nVidia Geforce2MX-class 'crush' graphics Integrated nVidia SoundStorm Dolby Digital 5.1 sound Onboard Networking
As far as CPU support goes, I think this goes up to the Athlon XP 2400+ with the latest BIOS (I have an 1800+) - but you may want to check the MSI site for this (link at bottom). This was one of the first mainstream boards (if not the first) to sport dual-channel memory. This allows two memory sticks to be used at once (you must buy a matching pair) and thus increases your memory bandwidth. For those of you who aren't technically minded, this basically allows your PC to transfer more information at one time, and thus run faster.
>Graphics< The integrated Geforce2MX graphics was also a godsend. It was the first integrated graphics core to give any kind of respectable graphics performance. Being a student, I couldn't afford a top-of-the-range graphics card, but I do like games, and this graphics chip still allowed me to play many of my favourite games - albeit without all the bells and whistles. However, the chip is now outdated (I have a Geforce FX5900 on order) and it is essentially a DirectX7 part, so not suited for the latest games - however the board has an AGP slot capable of handling the latest graphics cards. Still, given that Geforce2MX boards were still selling for £30 seperately, to find this integrated was great value.
>Sound< Of more use to me was the onboard sound - which is simply EXCELLENT. I am an avid gamer and musician, and I am very pleased with it. Not only is the sound very fast (gives comparible performance, as far as CPU usage goes, with a Creative Audigy) - but it is also feature-rich. This sound chip, the same as in the Xbox in fact, offers Dolby Digital 5.1 sound ENCODING. This means that the surround sound in games is actually generated in real time! To find hardware such as this integrated in a motherboard is outstanding. It clearly blows away any of the integrated competiton. Sound quality is excellent - I have mine running through an external amplifier and HiFi speakers. Recording/ASIO performance is a little sketchy however - musicians looking to record alot had better look for an add-in soundcard.
>Networking< The board also includes a 100mbit ethernet networking controller. This will allow you to connect your PC to another for sharing files/printers etc, or an internet connection. Some broadband connections also require an ethernet port. As you can see, this is an excellent board for a budget machine - you have competent graphics, amazing sound, AND networking all integrated.
Onto MSI's implementation of the nForce chipset...
>First Impressions< ------------------------ The board itself looks very smart, with all the ports etc. soldered directly onto it, and a shiny silver heatsink in the middle (this for cooling the the nForce 'NorthBridge', which contains the graphics core etc). You also get an additional four bracketed USB ports (one of which has MSI's diagnostic tool on it - more about that later), and an SPDIF out port for connection to external surround sound amplifiers. I was dissapointed to find out however, that I did not get the riser card for surround sound. This little card slots into the board and contains the connections for 5.1 PC speakers and according to the MSI site is included - it wasnt. Numerous attempts at getting dabs to sort it out proved fruitless, so those of you who own 5.1 speakers may wish to check this is included before installing the board. Still, it didn't matter to me too much as I use a 2 speaker HiFi configuration! MSI provide a competent instruction manual, that covers everything from setting up the board hardware to driver installation and BIOS configuration. You also get a software CD containing the nForce drivers (I thoroughly recommend you update these with those from the nVidia site): http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp Also included on the CD is the handy PCAlert III monitoring utility (view fan speeds, temperatures etc), the BIOS update utility, and some other software that I never bothered using. Worth mentioning is the USB bracket with MSI's diagnostic tool on it. While not as helpful as Asus' verbal warnings, this bracket sports four LEDs that light up in different combinations that warn of different errors. That way, if your PC wont boot up, you can get an idea why. All the different combinations and their corresponding problems are covered in the instruction manual.
>Installation< ----------------- The board was easy to set up (although I would class building a PC as 'fairly simple with practise but tedious' rather than 'easy'). Having soundcard, AGP graphics and networking integrated means the minimum of fuss installing expansion cards - although there is an AGP slot for replacing the graphics and several PCI slots available if you should need them. The instructions were fairly helpful, although a little vague when it came to explaining the Dual Channel memory configuration (which I had never dealt with before). Still, the pin readouts for connecting everything to the motherboard were clear and concise, and I managed to install everything without problems.
Next : Power on...
>Using the board< ---------------------- I was greeted by MSI's annoying startup screen, so I pressed DELETE to enter the BIOS settings and disabled it. The first thing you will want to do is ensure your FSB speed it set correctly (eg 133Mhz), otherwise your Processor will run at the wrong speed. There is alot of options in the BIOS, most of which you wont need to change. You can disable the onboard sound if you have an add-in soundcard. The onboard graphics, helpfully, is automatically disabled if you put a new graphics card in the AGP slot. Booting into Windows XP was simple, and installing the drivers was easy (nVidias installation program installs all the drivers for the board, display and sound in one go), and upon a reboot all my devices were detected fine. nVidia provide a very helpful control panel too for customising your sound. You can adjust for different speaker configurations, adjust the EQ for your tastes (rock/classical/jazz etc), and add EAX-quality reverb (hall/room etc) if you like. What I found very helpful however, was the ability to adjust the subwoofer cutoff frequency. This simply means that I could send some of the low-end bass (down to 50hz) to my large HiFi speakers. Which was nice. The simple PCAlert utility is also very handy, and provides an array of information about the board - fan speeds, temperatures, and even the voltages that your Power Supply is running at (useful for checking if you are maxing your Power Supply Unit out with that new graphics card you bought!)
>Overview< --------------- In all, this is quite possibly the best value for money piece of PC kit I have ever purchased. Finally, there is functional graphics integrated into a motherboard! In addition, there is great network/USB connectivity for connecting peripherals, and the integrated SoundStorm audio hardware is astounding. You can no doubt pick these up very cheap, so If you are looking for a stable student/family PC platform on a budget with good speed, excellent surround-sound audio playback in DVD's/games, and you play the odd game -then you cannot go wrong with this motherboard. Heartily recommended! Dave.
Check it out here: http://www.msicomputer.com/product/detail_spec/product_detail.as p?model=K7N420_Pro
NB. To ensure compatibility with the latest hardware, I recommend updating the BIOS for your motherboard. This is explained on the MSI support section. However, thisis a potentially risky procedure so I suggest you only do it if you get any compatibilty problems. In addition, DO NOT BUY A RADEON 9700Pro. It is not fully compatible with this board (ATI's fault probably) and I have had lots of problems. Get an nVidia Geforce FX5900 instead :)
DMI support, power failure recovery (AC loss resume), ACPI support, APM support, DMI support
Manual Settings
CPU frequency, processor core voltage, AGP slot voltage, CPU frequency
Hardware Monitoring
CPU core temperature, chassis temperature, CPU fan tachometer, chassis fan tachometer
Sleep / Wake Up
Keyboard wake up, wake on modem (WOM), wake on LAN (WOL), wake on USB port
Hardware Features
Chassis intrusion detection
Telecom / networking
Networking
Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet - integrated
Manufacturer's product description
MSI specializes in the design and manufacturing of mainboards, interface cards, and barebones. In the rapidly changing information technology industry, MSI has certainly become a vital link in the chain of leading-edge technology. MSI is strongly aware that the only way to gain the confidence of customers is to constantly challenge itself. Providing high-quality assurance and customer trust has always been MSI's foremost goal. MSI's entire manufacturing and production process, from the selection of parts, the preparation of materials, to the assembly of products has to go through various demanding automatic and manual inspection steps. MSI also uses the finest precision equipment to minimize the defect rate.
Related tags for MSI MS-6373 - motherboard - ATX - nForce 420-D »
