Reviews : Asus P5KPL-AM/PS motherboard

Reviews : Asus P5KPL-AM/PS motherboard

Introduction:

Asus has released the new ASUS P5KPL-AM/PS motherboard. To combat with the power fluctuation problem in India, the new motherboard is backed by the helpful Anti-Surge Protection technology.

P5KPL-AM with Intel G31 chipset inside supports Intel Quad-core CPU and features 1600(OC)/1333/1066/800MHz FSB, PCI Express x 16, Serial ATA interface, high performance integrated graphics engine, dual-channel DDR2 1066(O.C.)/800/667 memory, and 8 Channel HD Audio CODEC. Users can experience faster graphics performance and higher video quality today. P5KPL-AM is the most affordable all-in-one solution platform for Intel® Core™2 Processor with Intel G31 chipset inside.

Features:


Intel® Quad Core Processor Ready
This motherboard supports the latest Intel® Quad-core processors in LGA775 package. It also can support Intel® next generation 45nm Multi-Core CPU. It´s excellent for multi-tasking, multi-media and enthusiastic gamers with 1600(O.C.)/1333/1066/800 MHz FSB. Intel® Quad-core is one of the most powerful CPU in the world.


LGA775 Intel® Core™2 Processor
This motherboard supports the latest Intel® Core™2 processors in LGA775 package. With new Intel® Core™ microarchitecture technology and 1600(O.C.)/1333/1066/800 MHz Intel® Core™2 processor is one of the most powerful and energy efficient CPU in the world.



Intel® G31 Chipset
The Intel® G31 Express Chipset boosts your gaming and multimedia experience with the integrated graphics engine Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3100. It supports 1333MHz FSB (front-side-bus), and delivers breakthrough advances in 3D and 2D graphics; and video capabilities. This integrated chipset is able to meet the changing display requirements of visually rich applications and features the Intel® Clear Video Technology - which trailblazes new standards in high-definition video, crisp imaging, and accurate color control.


FSB 1600 support (O.C.)
ASUS´s exclusive overclocking design now unleashes the ultimate potential of the Intel® Core™2 processor. With the new Intel 45nm micro-architecture technology and FSB 1600 (O.C.) / 1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz, this motherboard allows you to enjoy the latest technology supported by one of the most powerful and energy efficient CPUs in the world.

Dual-Channel DDR2 1066(O.C.)
Dual-channel DDR2 technology doubles the bandwidth of your system memory and hence boost the system performance to out perform any memory existing solutions in the market.

PCI Express Architecture
PCI Express is the latest I/O interconnect technology that will replace the existing PCI. With a bus bandwidth 4 times higher than that of AGP 8X interface, PCI Express x16 bus performs much better than AGP 8X in applications such as 3D gaming. PCI Express x1 and x4 also outperforms PCI interface with its exceptional high bandwidth. The high speed PCI Express interface creates new usages on desktop PCs.


8 Channel High Definition Audio
Enjoy high-end sound system on your PC! The onboard HD audio (High Definition Audio, previously codenamed Azalia) CODEC enables high-quality 192KHz/24-bit audio output, jack-sensing feature, functions and multi-streaming technology that simultaneously sends different audio streams to different destinations. You can now talk to your partners on the headphone while playing a multi-channel network games. All of these are done on one computer.


SATA 3Gb/s
Serial ATA3.0Gb/s is the next generation ATA specification that provides scalable performance for today and tomorrow. With up to 300MB/s data transfer rate, Serial ATA II is faster than current Parallel ATA, while providing 100% software compatibility.


O.C. Profile
Conveniently store or load multiple BIOS settings
Freely share and distribute favorite overclocking settings
The motherboard features the ASUS O.C. Profile that allows users to conveniently store or load multiple BIOS settings. The BIOS settings can be stored in the CMOS or a separate file, giving users freedom to share and distribute their favorite overclocking settings.


EZ Flash2
Simply update BIOS from a USB flash disk before entering the OS
EZ Flash is a user-friendly BIOS update utility. Simply press the pre-defined hotkey to launch this tool and update BIOS from a floppy disk before entering the OS.


CrashFree BIOS 3
Simply restore corrupted BIOS data from USB flash disk
The ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 allows users to restore corrupted BIOS data from a USB flash disk containing the BIOS file. This utility saves users the cost and hassle of buying a replacement BIOS chip.


ASUS Q-Fan
ASUS Q-Fan technology intelligently adjusts CPU fan speeds according to system loading to ensure quiet, cool and efficient operation.


MyLogo2
Personalize your system with customizable boot logo
You can convert your favorite photo into a 256-color boot logo for a more colorful and vivid image on your screen.


Compliance with the RoHS Directive
The motherboard and its packaging comply with the European Union´s Restriction on the use of Hazardous Substances (RoHS). This is in line with the ASUS vision of creating environment-friendly and recyclable products and packaging to safeguard consumers´ health while minimizing the impact on the environment.

Specifications:


CPU : Intel Socket 775 for Intel Core2 Extreme/Core2 Quad / Core2 Duo / Pentium D / Pentium 4 / Celeron D / Celeron Processors
Compatible with Intel 05B/05A/06 processors
Intel Hyper-Threading Technology ready
* Refer to www.asus.com for Intel CPU support list

Chipset :Intel G31 Intel ICH7

Front Side Bus :1600*/1333/1066/800 MHz *Overclock speed

Memory
2 x DIMM, Max. 4 GB, DDR2 1066(O.C.)/800/667 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture
When installing total memory of 4GB capacity or more, WindowsR 32-bit operation system may only recognize less than 3GB. Hence, a total installed memory of less than 3GB is recommended.


Expansion Slots
1 x PCIe x16
1 x PCIe x1
2 x PCI


VGA
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (Intel GMA 3100)
Max. resolution:2048x1536X32bpp, Horizontal:127.5KHz Vertical:85Hz

Storage
Southbridge
1 xUltraDMA 100/66/33
4 xSATA 3 Gb/s ports

LAN
Realtek RTL8111C Gigabit LAN


Audio
Realtek ALC662 6 -Channel High-Definition Audio CODEC
Anti-Pop Function
Jack-detect & Multi-Streaming
Support S/PDIF Out connector

USB
8 USB 2.0 ports (4 ports at mid-board, 4 ports at back panel)

ASUS Unique Features
ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
ASUS Q-Fan
ASUS EZ Flash 2
ASUS MyLogo 2
Power Stabilizer


Back Panel I/O Ports

1 x PS/2 Keyboard
1 x PS/2 Mouse
1 x VGA
1 x COM
1 x Parallel port
1 x LAN (RJ45) port
4 x USB 2.0
6 Channel Audio I/O


Internal I/O Connectors
2 x USB connectors support additional 4 USB ports
1 x internal speaker connector
1 x CPU Fan connector
1 x High Definition front panel audio connector
1 x S/PDIF Out connector
1 x CD audio-in connector
24-pin EPS 12V Power connector
4-pin ATX 12V Power connector
1 x System panel connector
1 x COM connector

BIOS
8 Mb Flash ROM
DMI 2.0
AMI BIOS
PnP
WfM 2.0
SM BIOS 2.5
ACPI 2.0

Manageability
WOL,PXE,RPL,WOR ,PME Wake Up

Accessories
1 x UltraDMA 100/66/33 cable
1 x SATA cable
1 x SATA Power cable
I/O Shield
User's manual

Support Disc
Drivers
ASUS PC Probe II
ASUS LiveUpdate Utility
Anti-virus software
Bundled Software

Form Factor
uATX Form Factor
9.6 inch x 8.35 inch ( 24.5 cm x 21.2 cm )

Review- MSI Eclipse SLI Motherboard

Review- MSI Eclipse SLI Motherboard

MSI has continued to uphold a business philosophy that stresses "Award-winning product quality and outstanding customer service." MSI specializes in the design and manufacture of mainboards, graphics card, add-on cards, servers/workstations, iPC, barebones, communication devices, CE products, Notebooks, and car PC products.

"Quality Products Create Faithful Customers" is a motto that guides all that we do at MSI. For this reason, MSI goes all out to be the best of the best in research and development. Currently, 2,500 experienced engineers staff our research and development department. This talented team carries out its work with the latest research equipment, continuing to raise the bar on product quality and innovative product features.

At MSI, we put our motto -- "Quality Products Create Faithful Customers" into living practice. MSI received ISO-9002 and ISO-9001 product quality certification, respectively. MSI received ISO-14001 environmental certification, affirming our commitment to the environment. Furthermore, MSI products undergo rigorous quality control testing, attaining a 99.6% quality rate, a level far higher than the industry standard. MSI's superior product quality has garnered exceedingly favorable coverage from the global media, countless awards, and a very enthusiastic customer response.

In recent years, MSI has aggressively expanded into mainland China to meet the needs of our global customers. In the first quarter of 2001, the Baoan Plant in Shenzhen started production, vastly increasing MSI's production output as well as revenue. Aside from the Baoan Plant in Shenzhen, MSI has also established production facilities and a research and development center in Kunshan, China in 2003. The mainboard annual production is expected to reach 20.8 million units and the annual graphics card production is expected to reach 11.8 million units. Combined with the production from Taiwan, MSI is now becoming one of the biggest mainboard and graphics card manufacturers in the world.

To keep abreast of the global market and offer our customers the best service, speediest product delivery, as well as sales and technical support, MSI has established subsidiaries in mainland China, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, India, Taiwan, the U.S.A., Canada, Brazil, Germany, France, Australia, the Netherlands, Turkey, U.K., Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, and Poland.

To broaden our global market and to build a good image, we keep striving on marketing promotions, for example, posting advertisement on some reputed media, releasing news information, improving product box design, holding many promotion activities and attending all important PC exhibitions in the world. Apart from developing the mainboard, graphics card, server/workstation, and barebone, MSI has also introduced the communication, CE, Notebook, iPC, and car PC products to bridge the transition to the post-PC world. MSI adopts a diversified business model, and is transforming itself into a leader in the Consumer Electronics age.

Internal Features:

Drmos:

Excellent energy-saving capability and offers high-computing performance.
Provide superior energy-saving function and maintain an ultimate low temperature operation.
Comes with three incredible features.

Active Phase Switching:

APS is Active Phase Switching is complete function to Control Power Demand With Switcing Dynamically, it’s for CPU, Memory and Chipset PWM.
Saving Power under Variable Loading.
Power Usage More Efficiency.

All Solid Capacitors:

Longer lifespan than electrolytic capacitors
Endurable to operation under higher frequency & temperature
Avoid exploding capacitors to cause mainboards failure

All Shielded Choke:

A choke is an inductor responsible for storing power and regulates the current.
All shielded choke could reduce core power loss, lower EMI interference.
Store energy longer at higher frequency, achieving higher efficiency.

Easy OC Switch:

Help end-users upgrade CPU FSB directly
Buy an essential CPU but want to reach higher performance
Skip the complicated BIOS OC setting and enjoy the higher level CPU performance

HI-c Cap on PWM:

Hi-c CAP (Highly-conductive polymerized Capacitor)
High voltage derating / heat resistance → higher over-voltage / overclocking possibility
Best stability & long lifespan → Average life 44800 Hrs @ 85℃ chamber

M-Connectors:

Easy connect to front panel & chassis cable
2x USB, IEEE 1394, front panel (JFP1/2)& audio(JAUD1) M-connector in the package.
Easy to tell the definition of each pin

X-FI Audio:

Make MP3 music sound better than CDs
Transform to surround sound (speakers/headphone) from stereo audio source
EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0 provides the fidelity of gaming audio effect
World’s 1st PCIe interface X-Fi audio card

User Friendly:

Functions designed with button to be easy use.
Help power-users tweaking process in-chasis enviornment
Onboard SATA ports are stacked on the mainboard to avoid mechanical issue with giant graphic cards like 8800 Ultra.

3 Way SLI:

NVIDIA 3-way SLI Technology build the fastest gaming solution available with NVIDIA nForce chipsets and three NVIDIA® GeForce high-end graphics cards.
Compared with single graphic card solution, it brings 2.8X faster performance gained.

Live Update Online:

The MSI Live Update online is designed to automatically download and update the BIOS and driver when there’s a new version online. It helps reduce the risk of getting the wrong file and minimize the trouble of searching the files from MSI website.

Live Update 3:

Live Update 3 is a single utility software that automatically checks BIOS, driver and utility updates and installs for you , which can save your time for searching and lower the risk while updating.

ATI Cross Fire X:

Equip with 2 or more PCIe x16 slots, ATI CrossFire Ready.
The ultimate multi-GPU performance gaming platform.
Provides 2.7x faster performance than single graphic card solution.


External Features:

CPU:

Supports Intel i7 based processors in LGA1366 package.

Chipset:

Intel X58 Chipset
Supports QPI up to 6.4GT/s

Intel ICH10R Chipset

1. Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0) controller, 480Mb/sec, up to 12 ports.
2. 6 SATAII ports with transfer rate up to 3Gb/s.
3. PCI Master v2.3, I/O APIC.
4. ACPI 2.0 compliant.
5. Serial ATA RAID 0/1/5/10.
6. Integrated AHCI controller.


Main Memory:

1. Supports six unbuffered DIMM of 1.5 Volt DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600* (OC) SDRAM, 24GB Max
2. Supports 1Gb/ 2Gb/ 4Gb DRAM size
3. Supports x8 / x16 data lines per DIMM
4. Supports up to 3 channel mode


Slots:

1. 3 PCI Express gen2 x16 slots
2. Two Black PCIE x16 slots (PCI_E2 &PCI_E4) support up to PCIE x16 speed, one Blue PCIE x16 slot(PCI_ E5) supports up to PCIE x4 speed
3. supports ATI Crossfire, NVIDIA SLI
4. 2 Black PCI Express x1 slots
5. 2 PCI slot, support 3.3V/ 5V PCI bus Interface


On-Board IDE/SATA:

1. One Ultra DMA 66/100/133 IDE controller integrated in JMicron 363.
2. Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes.
3. Can connect up to two Ultra ATA drives.
4. SATAII controller integrated in ICH10R/JMicron 322 / 362 chipest
5. Up to 3Gb/s transfer speed.
6. Supports six SATAII ports by ICH10R
7. Supports four SATAII ports by JMicron 322, support SATA RAID 0/1/JBOD.
8. Supports two eSATA ports by JMicron 362.
9. Supports AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0/1/5/10 by ICH10R.


Audio:

1. Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme H/W Audio Card (MS-4132)
2. 24-bit / 96KHz audio quality
3. 100dB SNR clarity
4. Up to 7.1ch EAX 5.0 Surround Sound


LAN:

Supports two PCI Express LAN 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek 8111C.

IEEE1394 / FireWire:

1. VIA VT6308P chipset
2. Supports up to two 1394 ports. (Rear panel x1, pinheader x1)
3. Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps.


Internal I/O Connectors:

1. ATX 24-Pin power connector
2. 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
3. CPU / System x 5 FAN connectors
4. CD-in connector
5. Front panel audio connector
6. Front panel connector
7. 1 x chasis intrusion connector
8. 1 x serial port pinheader
9. 2 x USB 2.0 connectors
10. 10 x Serial ATAII connectors
11. 1 x ATA133 connector
12. 1 x IEEE1394 connector support additional 1 port
13. 1 x GreenPower Genie connector
14. 1 x Reset Button
15. 1 x Power Button
16. 1 x D-LED2 connector
17. 1 x TPM module connector
18. The floppy disk cable will be optional.


Back Panel I/O Ports:

1. 1 x Clear CMOS button
2. 1 x PS/2 Keyboard
3. 1 x PS/2 Mouse
4. 2 x eSATA ports
5. 1 x IEEE1394 port
6. 8 x USB 2.0 ports
7. 2 x RJ45 LAN jacks
8. 1 x 5 in 1 + Optical SPDIF out Audio Card


BIOS:

1. The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically.
2. The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.


Dimension:

30.5cm(L) x 24.4cm(W) ATX Form Factor

Mounting:

9 mounting holes.


Motherboard:

The motherboard is completely in black color and it looks of business class. The copper heatpipes are available on the motherboard and are attached with the heatsinks which are of moderate size, also to be assume that the X58 chip, VRM's and Southbridge will not be raising too much off heat.

The new Socket 1366 is also mounted which provide a tough look with its four corner hold down screws on the motherboard.
The motherboard also has Solid state caps bounded around itself.

MSI as a motherboard manufacturer provides six DIMM slots which can help you to seat 12GB of memory eassily into this monster motherboard.

The Ellispse SLI motherboard consists of ten SATA2 ports and an IDE connector.

A COMM port header is also available.
There is also a TPM module header provided by MSI.

The power, reset and d-led buttons are eye catching.
The overclocking dip switch may not work efficiently. It will be better if you set the B clock in the BIOS.

There are in all three GPU, two PCI and two PCIe 1x slots which are very much as compared to other newly launched motherboards.

The back panel is of very high functionalability. It consists of eight USB 2.0, one FireWire, two PS/2, two eSATA, two Gigabit LAN, and Cmos-clear available on back port. Also a heavy plate for the socket is mounted.

There are GreenPower Genie, Xtreme Audio, and D-LED2 for watching pleasure.



Technical Specification:

* Socket: 1366
* CPU (Max Support): i7
* AM3 CPU Ready: N/A
* FSB / Hyper Transport Bus: 6.4GT/s
* Chipset: Intel X58+ICH10R
* DDR2 Memory: N/A
* DDR3 Memory: DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600* (OC)
* Memory Channel: Triple
* DIMM Slots: 6
* Max Memory (GB): 24
* PCI-Ex16: 3
* PCI-E Gen 2.0: Gen2 (2x16, 1x4)
* PCI-Ex1: 2
* PCI: 2
* IDE: 1
* SATA: 10
* RAID: 0/1/5/10/JBOD
* LAN: 10/100/1000*2
* TPM: 1
* USB ports (Rear): 8
* Audio ports (Rear): 5(Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme)
* Serial ports (Rear): N/A
* Parallel ports (Rear): N/A
* 1394 ports (Rear): 1
* eSATA: 2
* VGA: N/A
* DVI: N/A
* HDMI: N/A
* Display Port: N/A
* DirectX: N/A
* VGA Share Memory (MB): N/A
* Form Factor: ATX
* DrMOS: Y
* APS: Y
* Sideport Memory: N/A
* SLI: Y
* 3-way SLI: Y
* Hybrid SLI: N/A
* CrossFire: Y
* Hybrid CrossFire: N/A
* D-LED2: Y
* Green Power Genie: Y



CPU Support:
BIOS:

MSI manufaturers selected two BIOS splash screens.

The main menu which is when entered in bios is in a standard format.


The Advance menu provided by MSI people are also similar to other usual bios oprtions which is really good as no confusion or query using this bios.


Overclocking:

The MSI Eclipse SLI has shown a wonder performance during overclocking mode.

The LED2 available displays very helpful support while showing as where does usually DDR inside the system hangs during post.

In order to get more stability over overclock mode, 4.095GHz was set.

Set the memory multiplier to "3" (actually 6)
Set memory timing to 7-7-7-20-1T
Fix PCI at 37.3MHz
disable spread spectrum
Enable EIST
disable C-state
Enable "Turbo" boost
set base clock to 195MHz
set QPI to Full-Speed
leave it at 4.8GT
use a Noctua NH-U12P with their new Socket 1366 adapter

No need to change the voltage range as it is not required
The maximum temperature which you will usually recieve under PovRAY is 89 degree Celcius, and the Vcore was set at 1.448V.
The DX58SO provided a pleasing performance and is easy to handle a 174MHz FSB with the same Core i7 920 processor.


Power Consumption:

Surprisingly the MSI Eclipse SLI is a power efficient motherboard more than the DX58SO, and that's is been observed without GreenPower Genie.



Conclusion:

The MSI Eclipse SLI is a great motherboard.

It overclocks perfectly, also consists of a more SATA and USB ports and to mention more is three PCIe GPU slots which also supports CrossFire, but also SLI.

The memory performance is great, and the LED2 on the motherboard along with the switches for power, reset and LED information is also the best. The dip switches for overclocking are not so useful, but they don't tend to disturb in any case.

Overall to speak this motheboard is worth to buy

Source: techarena

NVIDIA Launches the GeForce 9 Series Motherboard GPUs

NVIDIA Launches the GeForce 9 Series Motherboard GPUs

NVIDIA just announced a couple of motherboard GPUs (integrated graphics) named GeForce 9300 and GeForce 9400. Yes they are the ones that Apple use in their new laptops, and what's good for Apple's laptop is also good to build an entry-level consumer PC - or the perfect home-theater PC. The idea is that you don't have to pay $100 for a graphics card to get decent graphics anymore - it will already be on the motherboard.

Put simply, the GeForce 9300 and 9400 can easily handle HD video playback (with PowerDVD), video and music encoding (via Badaboom) and entry-level gaming. NVIDIA says that this chip has five times the graphics performance of its competitor (the Intel G45) - I can believe it (I've seen it in action), and so does Apple. It has 16-cores, which is far from the 256-cores of the GTX280, but it is surprisingly enough to run games like Crysis, with reduced levels of detail, but at playable frame-rates.

The more interesting topic however is CUDA. With NVIDIA's general-purpose compute language, applications can use the GPU to encode audio and video much faster than CPUs. If you plug a discrete graphics card, you can still use the motherboard GPU to handle game physics. That's pretty cool too. What I would do with it is to build a (relatively) low-cost Media Center PC. With full hardware acceleration of Blu-Ray 1.1, H.264 and MPEG-2, the GeForce Series 9 can handle HD video without requiring a high-end CPU. That's key to building a silent home-theater system.

There's one catch: software integration. Right now, all this power can be tapped into by using specific software: PowerDVD, Badaboom. That's not good enough and I hope that in the future, all that power can be tapped-in via native Windows libraries and applications like Windows Media Player (and therefore Windows Media Center). Now that Apple is using NVIDIA GPUs from top-to-bottom, I expect Max OS Snow Leopard to be the first system to integrate GPU computing. That will hopefully force Microsoft to follow... it's about time we start using these cores that we paid for.

Demand for better visual computing performance continues to grow as more and more applications tap the massively parallel processing power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for more than just graphics. As gamers, video enthusiasts, designers, and now creative professionals require optimized PC solutions, the NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M GPU brings a 5x performance increase over integrated core-logic to today’s sleek notebook designs.

“Today marks a flashpoint for users around the world,” said Jeff Fisher, senior vice president, GPU business at NVIDIA. “With this new GPU, NVIDIA is able to expand its market footprint from gamers and design professionals to the creative generation of users, as well as firmly establish us at the heart of the fastest growing PC market—the notebook PC.”

NVIDIA also announced today that Apple has adopted this revolutionary new GPU for its incredible new Apple MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air. Apple and NVIDIA have worked together to harness the massive parallel processing power of NVIDIA GPUs to deliver a rich visual experience for consumers on the go.

“The NVIDIA GeForce 9400M architecture delivers an ideal combination of visual computing horsepower and energy efficiency in a single, highly-integrated package that we're using to bring a whole new level of graphics performance to our MacBook users,” said David Moody, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Mac Product Marketing.

About the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M GPU:

The NVIDIA GeForce 9400M is a single chip, high performance, highly integrated design that is ideal for notebooks and smaller computing devices. It features 16 parallel processing cores that deliver a whopping 54 GFLOPs of processing power, making it the most powerful integrated GPU on the market today. It also delivers up to 5x faster graphics performance than Intel Centrino 2*, and long-lasting battery power, allowing consumers to watch a complete, full-length HD movie on a single charge.

source: ubergizmo

Review - MSI X58 Pro Motherboard

Review - MSI X58 Pro Motherboard

Micro-Star International Corporation, Ltd. (TSEC: MSI, 2377) is one of the IT industry's leading manufacturers of computer hardware products and solutions, including world's top five and Taiwan's top three motherboard manufacturer, Taiwan biggest and world's top five server manufacturer, and has been the leading graphic card manufacturer for the past four years. Today MSI is pressing forward with the development of new products, such as notebooks and consumer electronic products. The sales of MSI's MP3 product has been growing rapidly, making MSI one of the top MP3 product suppliers in Taiwan since 2004. Through world class engineering, manufacturing & design innovation, MSI is dedicated to providing leading-edge hardware products and robust solutions that are easy to implement and integrate while also enhancing overall performance, value and ultimately the individual end user's personal digital life experience. With annual worldwide sales of US $2.4 Billion, MSI ranks 26 in the Taiwan Top 1000 Companies.

Introduction:

This MSI X58 Motherboard is an accurate motherboard to view as less sibling of MSI's Eclipse SLI motherboard. The motherboard is a bit cheaper as compared to other motherboards.

DrMOS:

DrMOS has integrated Driver IC, Top-MOSFET, Bottom-MOSFET

GreenPower:

GreenPower Technology is the Best efficient power saving solution for end-users.

XpressCool:

DrMOS offers lower temperature when it is working. No More Noise!! No More High Speed Fan!

RapidBoost:

DrMOS delivers the high quality power transfer to bring the “Stable Overclocking Environment”.

APS

APS is Active Phase Switching, that is complete function to Control Power Demand With Switcing Dynamically, it's for CPU, Memory and Chipset PWM.

Saving Power under Variable Loading.
Power Usage More Efficiency.

Easy OC Switch:

Help end-users upgrade CPU FSB direc
Buy an essential CPU but want to reach higher performance
Skip the complicated BIOS OC setting and enjoy the higher level CPU performance
Easy OC Switch helps end-users raise the CPU FSB directly to reach higher performance.

1. 12 in.(L) x 9.6 in.(W); ATX
2. 6 DIMMs Triple w/ DDR3 1333+ up to 24GB
3. 3 Gen2. PCI-E 16X (when under Crossfire mode, it operates at 16X/16X/4X); 2 PCI-E 1X; 2 PCI; 12USB
4. 7.1 Ch. Audio; Gb LAN; RAID (0, 1, 5 and 10); IEEE 1394; SATA2; eSATA; ATA133

General Features About MSI X58 Pro Motherboard:

Easy Overclocking Switch:

1. Help end-users upgrade CPU FSB directly
2. Buy an essential CPU but want to reach higher performance
3. Skip the complicated BIOS OC setting and enjoy the higher level CPU performance.

Active Phase Switching:

1. APS is Active Phase Switching is complete function to Control Power Demand With Switcing Dynamically, it’s for CPU, Memory and Chipset PWM.
2. Saving Power under Variable Loading.
3. Power Usage More Efficiency.


Drmos:

1. Excellent energy-saving capability and offers high-computing performance.
2. Provide superior energy-saving function and maintain an ultimate low temperature operation.
3. Comes with three incredible features.


All Solid Capacitors:

1. Longer lifespan than electrolytic capacitors
2. Endurable to operation under higher frequency & temperature
3. Avoid exploding capacitors to cause mainboards failure


All Shielded Choke:

1. A choke is an inductor responsible for storing power and regulates the current.
2. All shielded choke could reduce core power loss, lower EMI interference.
3. Store energy longer at higher frequency, achieving higher efficiency.



HI-c Cap on PWM:

1. Hi-c CAP (Highly-conductive polymerized Capacitor)
2. High voltage derating / heat resistance ? higher over-voltage / overclocking possibility
3. Best stability & long lifespan ? Average life 44800 Hrs @ 85? chamber


User Friendly:

1. Functions designed with button to be easy use.
2. Help power-users tweaking process in-chasis enviornment
3. Onboard SATA ports are stacked on the mainboard to avoid mechanical issue with giant graphic cards like 8800 Ultra.



M-Connectors:

1. Easy connect to front panel & chassis cable
2. 2x USB, IEEE 1394, front panel (JFP1/2)& audio(JAUD1) M-connector in the package
3. Easy to tell the definition of each pin



ATI Cross Fire X:

1. Equip with 3 PCIe x16 slots, ATI CrossFire Ready.
2. The ultimate multi-GPU performance gaming platform.
3. Provides 2.7x faster performance than single graphic card solution.



Live Update Online:

The MSI Live Update online is designed to automatically download and update the BIOS and driver when there’s a new version online. It helps reduce the risk of getting the wrong file and minimize the trouble of searching the files from MSI website.

Live Update3:

Live Update 3 is a single utility software that automatically checks BIOS, driver and utility updates and installs for you , which can save your time for searching and lower the risk while updating.

MSI X58 Pro Motherboard Layout:

The motherboard consists of blue and black DIMM slots as that of Eclipse motherboard, also with the same color of PCB, which makes it all too tempting.

The layout of the MSI X58 Pro Motherboard consists of CPU socket which is actually situated far from DIMM slots in order to avoid obstruction to Thermalright Ultra 120 1366RT eXtreme.

The all-in-one MOSFET pair and driver IC of DrMOS helps you to save motherboard space, which is generally makes easy to cool and is a slight surprise on such a low priced motherboard. The six power phases on the Eclipse motherboard is been deducted to five on the X58 Pro motherboard, and the 2+2 for QPI and northbridge is been changed out for a cheaper pair of non-DrMOS phases.The memory on the Pro is a single phase, thus deducted from a pair on the higher priced, premium Eclipse motherboard.

The chipset will provides a pair of cards in CrossFire 16 lanes of bandwidth. The third PCI-E 16x slot helps you to receive four lanes of PCI-E 2.0 bandwidth these are also fixed to save cost and there are no digital switches available on the PCB. All three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots are at a far distance in order to occupy dual-slot graphics cards, and still have one x1 PCI-E slot free.

The X58 Pro doesnot consists of many ports and headers as the Eclipse motherboard, though there are enough options to fulfill the needs of most PC builders. The Southbridge is the ICH10R, so the six SATA II ports are of RAID-capable. The ports can be rotated at 90 degrees, thus the cables lie parallel with the PCB and so actually are easy to neatly tidy against a case wall. A further SATA II port is tucked just behind the other six; this is powered by the JMicron JMB363 controller.

For better peripheral connectivity options, the motherboard consists of a ten USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire ports and an eSATA port. You also have a extra cluster buttons at the bottom of the motherboard. You will have here power, reset and clear CMOS buttons. The X58 Pro motherboard uses an on-board Realtek ALC888S audio chip.

The rear I/O ports helps you to access the standard fair also featured with eSATA, six USB 2.0, one 6-pin Firewire, Ethernet, PS2 keyboard and mouse, six 3.5mm audio jacks and even optical S/PDIF out.

Technical Specification:

CPU:
Supports Intel i7 based processors in LGA1366 package.

Chipset:

1. Intel X58 Chipset
2. Supports QPI up to 6.4GT/s


Intel ICH10R Chipset [list=1][*]Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0) controller, 480Mb/sec, up to 12 ports. [*]6 SATAII ports with transfer rate up to 3Gb/s.[*]PCI Master v2.3, I/O APIC. [*]ACPI 2.0 compliant. [*]Serial ATA RAID 0/1/5/10. [*]Integrated AHCI controller.
[/LIST]

Main Memory:

1. Supports six unbuffered DIMM of 1.5 Volt DDR3 800/1066/1333 SDRAM, 24GB Max
2. Supports 1Gb/ 2Gb/ 4Gb DRAM size
3. Supports x8 / x16 data lines per DIMM
4. Supports up to 3 channel mode


Slots:

1. 3 PCI Express gen2 x16 slots (operates at 16x/16x/4x)
2. supports ATI Crossfire
3. 2 PCI Express gen2 x1 slots
4. 2 PCI slot, support 3.3V/ 5V PCI bus Interface


On-Board IDE /SATA:

1. One Ultra DMA 66/100/133 IDE controller integrated in JMicron 363
2. Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes.
3. Can connect up to two Ultra ATA drives.



SATAII controller integrated in ICH10R/JMicron 363 chipest

1. Up to 3Gb/s transfer speed.
2. Supports six SATAII ports by ICH10R
3. Supports one SATAII port by JMicron 363.
4. Supports one eSATA port by JMicron 363.
5. Supports AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0/1/5/10 by ICH10R.


Audio:

1. Chipset integrated by Realtek ALC888S
2. Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing
3. Compliant with Azalia 1.0 Spec
4. Meet Microsoft Vista Premium spce


LAN:

Supports one PCI Express LAN 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek 8111C.

IEEE 1394 / FireWire:

1. JMicron 381 chipset
2. Supports up to two 1394 ports. (Rear panel x1, pinheader x1)
3. Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps.


Internal I/O Connectors:
[list=1][*]ATX 24-Pin power connector[*]8-pin ATX 12V power connector [*]CPU / System x 5 FAN connectors[*]CD-in connector[*]Front panel audio connector[*]Front panel connector[*]1 x chasis intrusion connector[*]1 x serial port pinheader[*]3 x USB 2.0 connectors[*]7 x Serial ATAII connectors[*]1 x ATA133 connector[*]1 x IEEE1394 connector support additional 1 port[*]1 x Reset Button[*]1 x Power Button[*]1 x SPDIF-out connector [*]1 x D-LED2 connector[*]1 x TPM module connector
[/LIST]

Back Panel I/O Ports:

1. 1 x Clear CMOS button
2. 1 x PS/2 Keyboard
3. 1 x PS/2 Mouse
4. 1 x eSATA port
5. 1 x IEEE1394 port
6. 6 x USB 2.0 ports
7. 1 x RJ45 LAN Jacks
8. 1 x 6 in 1 audio jack
9. 1 x Optical SPDIF-out


Dimensions:

12.0in.(L) x 9.6in.(W) ATX Form Factor

Mounting:

9 mounting holes

Testing Setup:


MSI X58 Pro Intel X58 (7522 BIOS)

1. Foxconn Blood Rage (Intel X58, P04 BIOS)
2. Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P (Intel X58, F6a BIOS)
3. Gigabyte GA-EX58-DS4 (Intel X58, F5c BIOS)
4. MSI Eclipse SLI (Intel X58, 132 BIOS)
5. Asus P6T Deluxe (Intel X58, 0904 BIOS)


Common Components:

1. Intel Core i7 920 (45nm, 8MB L3 cache, 20x133MHz; 2.67GHz)
2. Corsair 6GB DDR3 1,066MHz at the lowest timings where possible
3. Graphics Testing: Zotac GeForce GTX 280
4. PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750W PSU
5. Seagate 7200.10 250GB SATA hard drive
6. Intel X25-M 80GB SSD
7. Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP1
8. Nvidia Forceware 180.48 WHQL
MSI X58 Pro Motherboard Memory Performance:


The entire stock speed tests were tested with the help of Corsair Dominator test kit with CAS of 6 and the other latencies set to 5-5-15 1T. The only X58 board that really pulled away from the pack in the single-threaded Everest test was in the Foxconn Blood Rage section.


In SiSoft’s Sandra multithreaded random memory latency tests, the X58 Pro motherboard is been combined with Asus P6T Deluxe motherboard whereas, in Everest’s single-threaded memory latency test, the X58 Pro motherboard is a bit slow of X58 pro motherboards.


Game Performance On MSI X58 Pro Motherboard:

CRYSIS:
The game consisting of 64-bit executable under and DirectX 10 with the 1.21 patch is been applied. A custom time demo is been recorded on the Harbor map which provides a better representative of game play than the built-in benchmark which actually helps to render things much faster.

For basic game tests, the settings were set to High. As per intense of the particular game, anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering options were made disabled at resolutions more than 1680x1050.

It is much fair to say that people are looking for Core i7 for gaming, so it's good to view and experience that this motherboard neither crashed nor burned during Crysis.
FARCRY:

Far Cry 2 is the latest version of this game featuring first person shooter from Ubisoft. The retail version of the game patched was used as a version 1.02, and also used the in-built "Action" gameplay demo in order to set Ultra-Very High settings under DirectX 10 software.

The best noticable part is the X58 Pro motheboard produced the less minimum frame rate in Far Cry 2 by a better margin, although the average frame rate was a bit high.

Stability And Power Consumption:

In order to check stability test of X58 Pro motherboard for default values, the SmallFFTs torture test from Prime95 was run across all cores to check system warm,

The chipset heatsink got a bit hot when the board was working hard, and dropping into the Hardware Monitor of the BIOS also confirmed that the X58 chip was working over 100°C, which is basically cool.

Essentially the design is not like others because it requires a better convection current inorder to make a stand up for keeping it stable.

Power Consumption:

The Core i7 920 CPU, 6GB (3x2GB) of memory, a GeForce GTX 280 graphics card and the BIOS were set to default values and are tested with the Intel C-States inorder to enable the CPU throttling function. All the power saving is left entirely to Intel's Core i7 CPU.

Overclocking MSI X58 Pro Motherboard:

The X58 Pro motherboard performed noticeably faster when it came to overclocking.

The speed boost from the 2.66GHz default speed of the Core i7 920 was set to 3.9GHz is large though, and it's great that such a low cost motherboard would benchmark in a much stable way with CPU and it's frequency.

However, it does show that a 3.4-3.6GHz everyday overclock is applicable and just ensure to have the chipset heatsink some active cooling.

The BIOS features MSI’s Cell menu which is a much clear lay out and void of the more cryptic options viewed in high-end overclockers motherboards. The vCore is been increased in some level of 10mV with the true value taken from the hardware monitor and displayed.

Another feature available is four overclocking profiles that helps you to save, which is a big help when keeping record of settings that have been worked and others that have brought on a failure notice. The motheboards autorecovery option help you to kick in but in a very reliable way.

All X58 motherboards should be capable of working with a Core i7 920 around 3.9GHz which requires a 195MHz QPI with the CPU at the stock multiplier of 20x.

However with the X58 Pro, no amount tinkering seemed to persuade it to remain stable at anything higher than a 195MHz QPI, instead it would lock up at any point from being in the BIOS to loading Windows.



Final Verdict:

If you are looking for Core i7 motherboard, the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P is still much selective product and even the DS4 motherboard is still better than the X58 Pro motherboard.


On the other hand, the motherboard will cost you £160 (Rs.11704) is not only the cheapest X58 motherboard on the market, but the bottom line is that it's a decent board too, so if you are very much to have Core i7 and want to spend as little money regarding motherboard is concerned then overall the X58 Pro motherboard is definitely worth.

Source : techarena.in