MSI P35 Neo and MSI P35 Neo Combo - motherboards based on Intel chipset P35

• Intel P35 chipset (P35 north bridge and ICH9 south bridge are used (ICH9R can be used))

MSI P35 Neo Combo

When releasing boards based on new chipsets, the greatest interest of the reading public is not even so much the features specific models, how many general trends appear in the new generation. This is understandable: it’s hard to study reviews of all motherboards in a row, but you need to get an impression of how interesting the new products are and worthy of timely (or even immediate) purchase. Well, in anticipation of these first reviews, we can note a few differences. The main thing we would say is the significantly reduced heat dissipation of the P35/G33, which leads to a very comfortable thermal regime while maintaining the same chipset heatsinks (this issue is discussed in more detail in the review of the new line of chipsets). Of course, some new products will have slots for DDR3 memory, but this change is quite obvious and expected. Otherwise, these are all the same Intel chipsets (you can simply install a new board instead of the i915-based model, and Windows XP will boot without problems), we did not find any unpleasant or unexpected issues.

Speaking now about specific boards, it is clear that the first one we chose for consideration was the combo model from those provided to us by MSI. Generally speaking, boards that support two types of memory at once seem to us to be an unnecessary thing in everyday life, and if you do not have a purely research interest, we cannot recommend such a purchase. (We’ll leave the idea of ​​a “step-by-step upgrade” to the conscience of forum dreamers, since DDR2 and DDR3 modules will not work simultaneously.) However, MSI offers two almost identical mid-level models, differing only in DDR3 support in one of them, so we, in fact, In fact, today we’ll look at two boards at once.

The appearance of the board is quite familiar; only the memory slots attract attention. Firstly, because two of them are designed for installing DDR3 modules and have a different key location in the connector. Secondly, their unusual relative arrangement is noteworthy: pairs of slots are offset relative to each other, and in the second pair the slots themselves are offset (literally by half a contact, which suggests that the reason for this decision is the desire to more conveniently distribute a wide loop of tracks across the board ). As for the general convenience of wiring, there are no serious complaints about the board, except that the only IDE connector should be placed in another place, since this option design, access to it will be blocked by a trail of wires from the power connector. Among the shortcomings, not the wiring, but the design, we note the presence of only two PCI slots (with three PCIEx1) - it is possible, however, that this should already be taken as the norm, since the range of expansion cards with PCI interface Express is constantly expanding and even includes modern sound cards from Creative. (However, more unusual models based on the P35 will soon be available - for example, without IDE support.)

There are 2 SATA connectors located on the PCB of our board, but not soldered (they are used in the version of the board with the ICH9R south bridge). In addition to the two models reviewed today, MSI produces another exactly the same one based on the G33 (G33 Neo with support for DDR2 only), as well as a number of boards based on the P35 and G33 in the Platinum and Diamond series - these are based on a different PCB design (in particular, providing two PCIEx16 slot for CrossFire graphics) and use a complex design with heat pipes to cool the chipset and field-effect transistors. It’s interesting that another board, the P35 Neo2, is based on the PCB design of the Platinum models, which simply lacks a heatpipe cooler - the functionality of all Neo models is extremely similar. Access to the only available jumper (clearing CMOS) is a little difficult due to its proximity to the expansion slots; a description of its functionality is provided on the PCB. The size of the board is 305x225 mm (slightly narrowed ATX), fastened to the case with six screws, the near edge of the board sags and causes some inconvenience when using the connectors located on it.

In three-channel pulse stabilizer CPU supply voltage applied 4 times field effect transistor per channel, which is quite a sufficient value not to worry about overheating of these transistors even despite the absence of additional cooling using radiators. In addition, in the new line of motherboards, MSI uses chokes not with iron, but with ferrite cores, which has a beneficial effect on power consumption. The set of capacitors in the key power circuits can be assessed as good, although not the best (when, as in the top boards of most major manufacturers, only polymer capacitors are used throughout the board): for the processor, 8 polymer capacitors of 680 μF each are used (from an unknown manufacturer), 4 1000 µF and 1 3300 µF from United Chemi-Con, and the memory voltage regulator (reinforced by the use of inductive elements) includes 10 1000 µF capacitors from United Chemi-Con.

System monitoring (Fintek F71882FG, according to BIOS Setup)

• CPU voltage, +3.3, +5 and +12 V, +5 V Standby;
• Rotation speed of 3 fans;
• Temperature of the processor (built-in processor sensor) and board (built-in board sensor);
• Technology automatic adjustment processor fan rotation depending on temperature (the temperature limit and cooler rotation speed are set if this limit is not exceeded).

Ports, connectors and connectors on the surface of the board

• Processor socket (Socket 775, declared support for all modern Core processors 2, Pentium Dual Core and Celeron (with Core microarchitecture) for this socket, including latest processors with FSB frequency 1333 MHz; of models with Netburst microarchitecture, only those with a bus frequency of 800 MHz and higher are supported);
• 2 slots for DDR2 SDRAM DIMM (up to 4 GB DDR2-533/667/800; dual-channel operating mode supported when both channel slots are full) and 2 slots for DDR3 SDRAM DIMM (up to 4 GB DDR3-800/1066; dual-channel operating mode supported when filling the slots of both channels); simultaneous operation of DDR2 and DDR3 is impossible; later a list of certified modules should appear on the website;
• PCIEx16 slot for video accelerators;
• 3 PCIEx1 slots;
• 2 PCI slots;
• Power connectors: standard ATX 2.2 (24 pins, you can connect a regular 20-pin connector, but it is not recommended to use powerful video accelerators that do not have their own power connector) and 4-pin ATX12V to power the processor;
• FDD connector;
• IDE (Parallel ATA) connector, powered by an additional Marvell controller, for 2 ATA133 devices;
• 5 SATA-II (Serial ATA II) connectors for 5 SATA300 devices, 1 of which operates through an additional Marvell controller and 4 “chipset” drives, connected to the latter drives can be combined into a RAID array of levels 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and Matrix RAID if the south bridge board uses the ICH9R chipset;
• 4 connectors for connecting brackets for 8 additional USB ports;
• Connector for connecting a bracket for 1 additional FireWire port;
• Output connector sound signal from a CD/DVD drive;
• Block of connectors for connecting analog inputs and audio outputs on the front panel of the computer;
• Digital connector sound output S/PDIF-Out on the bar;
• Undocumented SPI connector;
• Connector for connecting the chassis intrusion sensor (Chassis Intrusion);
• 3 connectors for connecting fans (all with the ability to control the number of revolutions), the 4-pin processor has an automatic speed control function.

Rear panel of the board (from left to right, by block)

• PS/2 connectors for connecting a mouse and keyboard;
• 1 LPT and 1 COM port;
• 2 USB port and 1 FireWire;
• 2 USB ports and 1 RJ-45 (Gigabit Ethernet);
• 6 analog audio jacks (Line-In, Front, Mic-In, Rear, Center/Sub, Side).

The free space in the row with the COM port is obviously reserved for the video output (D-Sub) on the G33 Neo Combo board with integrated graphics.

Contents of delivery

For the release of motherboards based on the new chipsets, MSI updated the design of the box, making it quite impressive. (In this case, we show a photo of the P35 Neo model box.) We describe the package contents with reference to MSI data, since the set of our pre-production samples was incomplete. It seems that this is the first time that the box (as standard) does not have a cable for connecting a floppy drive.

• Packing: regular size box;
• Documentation: user manual in English;
• Cables: 1 SATA (with power adapter for one device) and 1 ATA66;
• Plank on back panel computer with 2 additional USB connectors;
• A bracket for the rear panel of a computer with an additional FireWire connector;
• A plug on the rear panel of the board for the corresponding connectors;
• CDs with necessary drivers and proprietary utilities, including Dual Core Center and DOT Express (for monitoring, controlling the speed of coolers, overclocking, etc.) and Live Update (for searching and updating drivers, utilities and BIOS firmware via the Internet).

Integrated Controllers

• Audio, based on the 10-channel (7.1+2) HDA codec Realtek ALC888, with the ability to connect 7.1 audio systems, a connector for connecting front audio inputs/outputs and a connector for connecting optical output S/PDIF-Out;
• Network, supporting speeds of 10/100/1000 Mbit/s (Gigabit Ethernet), based on the Realtek RTL8111B chip (PCIEx1 interface);
• IDE/SATA-II, based on the Marvell 88SE6111 chip, supporting 2 devices on the ATA133 channel and 1 SATA300 device (PCIEx1 interface);
• FireWire, based on the VIA 6308P chip, supporting 2 ports.

Quality integrated sound solution we evaluated in 16-bit, 44 kHz mode using the RightMark Audio Analyzer 5.5 test program and the Terratec DMX 6fire sound card:

Overall rating: Very good(). In this case, a high-quality, but “simple” 10-channel audio codec ALC888 is used, which does not have “additional” functions interesting to the home user (such as a set of DTS technologies implemented in drivers and on-the-fly encoding of the audio stream in AC-3 for output via the S/ interface PDIF). But the quality of the analog output is at a very good level, corresponding to the best representatives of integrated sound.

It is curious that since the release of Intel 965 chipsets, almost all manufacturers motherboards Together we began to use JMicron controllers to implement (now absent in the chipset) support for IDE (PATA) devices. MSI is one of the few companies that is not satisfied standard solutions like JMB363 and JMB361 (which indeed have some shortcomings), and is constantly looking for alternatives. In the case of boards based on the P35 and G33, MSI uses a solution from Marvell, and we must say that the first acquaintance made a favorable impression on us: the board easily booted from a CD drive with an IDE interface, allowed you to install the OS from a CD/DVD, and did not require updating specific managers for working with disk images and drivers in Windows XP. However, only after some time, having collected statistics from different users, will it be possible to draw a conclusion about the presence or absence of problems with the implementation from Marvell. Well, for those who don’t want to wait or take risks, we strongly recommend purchasing a drive with a SATA interface.

Settings

Using jumpers and switches	Jumper to clear CMOS contents
From BIOS based on version 2.61 from AMI	Ability to disable specific processor functions	+	Hyper-Threading, Execute Disable Bit, Enhanced SpeedStep, Virtualization Technology
	Memory timing settings	+	By SPD, CAS# Latency, RAS# to CAS# Delay, RAS# Precharge, RAS# Activate to Precharge, tRFC, tWR, tWTR, tRRD, tRTP
	Selecting memory frequency	+	Auto or set the multiplier relative to the FSB frequency: 1:1, 1:1.2, 1:1.25, 1:1.5, 1:1.67, 1:2
	Ability to set frequency for peripheral buses	+	PCI-E: 100-200 MHz in 1 MHz steps
	Manual assignment of interrupts to slots	+
	Changing the FSB frequency	+	from nominal to 500 MHz in 1 MHz steps; There is a function for dynamic processor overclocking
	Changing the processor multiplier	+
	Changing CPU Core Voltage	+	up to +0.7875 V in steps of 0.0125 V
	Changing Memory Voltage	+	1.80-3.30 V in 0.05 V steps up to 2.1 V and 0.1 V steps above
	Changing chipset voltage	+	1.25-1.65 V in 0.05 V steps for the north bridge; 1.05 and 1.15 V for the south bridge; 1.5-1.8 V in 0.1 V steps for southbridge I/O
	FSB voltage change	+	1.2-1.6 V in 0.1 V steps

We used BIOS version 1.0B10 (one of the beta versions of the first firmware), as the latest available at the time of testing. The listed BIOS features are available in the specified firmware; the functionality of non-standard settings has not been tested. The board allows you to call up a menu for selecting a boot device by pressing a certain key during the POST procedure, which makes it possible to conveniently perform a one-time boot, for example, from a CD drive, without making corresponding changes in the BIOS Setup.

It should be noted that during testing we used one of the early beta BIOS versions, which did not even provide for the implementation of DDR3 memory features (which we will talk about below). In this regard, it is worth considering all data on the ranges of permissible voltages and frequencies, etc. as preliminary, and before purchasing, it is advisable to clarify them with the owners of the board in Internet conferences, if this issue is important to you.

MSI P35 Neo

So, as we have already said, the MSI P35 Neo variant with only DDR2 support is functionally and externally fully consistent with the combo model (with the understandable exception of DDR3 support). It is curious that this board also has memory slots arranged in more than one column, but, however, here their arrangement is less exotic - “only” pairs of slots are shifted relative to each other. Another interesting detail is the size of the board: it is 305x220 mm, that is, 5 mm at the same as the combo board, and without any visible changes in the wiring.

Obviously, everything said above about the MSI P35 Neo Combo fully applies to this model; even the variations of these boards that came to us for testing were the same: with an ICH9 south bridge (ICH9R is possible) and with a FireWire controller (it may be absent). As for the BIOS firmware, these boards also had the same ones (at the time of our testing), so we have nothing to add on this point either. Thus, we will consider the issue of the performance of MSI P35 Neo boards in one section, and then we will summarize the results for both models at once.

Performance

Test bench configuration:

• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4 GHz)
• Memory:
  • 2 modules of 1 GB Corsair CM2X1024-9136C5D (DDR2-1142)
  • 2 modules of 1 GB Corsair XMS3-1066C7 (DDR3-1066)
• Video card: ATI Radeon X1900 XTX 512 MB
• Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 (SATA, 7200 rpm)
• PSU: HiPro W460GC31
• OS: Windows XP SP2

Note that the BIOS version of the P35 Neo Combo board available at the time of testing did not provide the ability to set the normal (for DDR3) supply voltage (1.5 V) and timings (they were limited by the standard DDR2 circuit, so it was impossible to set values ​​greater than 6). As a result, our options for using DDR3 memory were severely limited. For details of test bench setups and performance comparison results, we refer you to the presentation of Intel 3x chipsets; here we will also present the performance of the new boards in the standard configuration (DDR2-800@4-4-4) and with DDR3-1066 at timings 7-7-7 .

Test	MSI P35 Neo Combo, DDR3-1066@7-7-7	MSI P35 Neo Combo, DDR2-800@4-4-4	MSI P35 Neo, DDR2-800@4-4-4	Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 (Intel P965), DDR2-800@4-4-4
Archiving in 7-Zip, min:sec	4:17	4:17	4:17	4:10
MPEG4 encoding (XviD), min:sec	3:37	3:37	3:37	3:37
FarCry (Low@640×480), fps	354	352	353	359
FarCry (Highest@1600×1200), fps	151	152	152	151
Doom 3 (Low@640×480), fps	218	215	215	218
Doom 3 (Highest@1600×1200), fps	121	121	121	123

We repeat that we made more detailed conclusions in the above article, but here we will only note the absolute equality in performance of the MSI P35 Neo and MSI P35 Neo Combo, as well as the fact that the new boards, at least with the current BIOS firmware, are a little slower representatives of older chipsets, and DDR3 does not help them get ahead in speed, even at 1066 MHz.

Bottom line

So, P35 boards are not a revelation; they are quite suitable for purchase by almost anyone (although we have not yet seen full implementation of DDR3 support). As for the two specific MSI motherboards reviewed, these are high-quality mid-level models, without “frills” both in terms of configuration and proprietary features. But only computer enthusiasts can make complaints about their functionality; the convenience of wiring and the design of the power unit also deserve praise. At home, we really liked these models, especially the chipset cooling, and we see no reason why MSI P35 Neo boards should be avoided.

The boards were provided for testing by the manufacturer

The game Doom 3 equalizes both boards. The MSI P35 Neo3 wins one frame in low resolution, but at 120 frames this is not significant. As the resolution increases, the results level out. This shows that in real applications we will not see the difference between the boards being compared due to the fact that they are made on the same system logic. But it’s still worth saying thanks to the MSI engineers, who were able to “squeeze” a little more out of their brainchild than the competitors. Perhaps this is achieved due to reduced latencies of the memory controller, or perhaps the difference is explained by different secondary memory timings that the boards set themselves.

Conclusion

The MSI P35 Neo3 model can be called a worthy representative of the average price segment in the motherboard market. High-quality performance using long-lasting capacitors guarantees stable operation of this model in normal conditions. system unit at home or in the office. The board is also a good option for those who are aiming for an upgrade and are faced with choosing a new product, but at the same time want to connect all the remaining devices with a PCI interface. If desired, it is possible to install one expansion card with a PCI-Express x1 interface. Support for basic RAID modes will allow you to create simple arrays from hard drives to increase the performance of the disk subsystem. The lack of external digital audio interfaces and FireWire 1394 in this model is a little disappointing, but it is fully justified by the price. By connection options peripheral devices MSI P35 Neo3 is indeed a little inferior to some other representatives on Intel based P35, but, as we have seen, in performance it is even slightly ahead of the more expensive models of its competitors. For the average user, this board, given its initial performance, will be a good buy.

But for the enthusiast and overclocker category, the MSI P35 Neo3 does not have anything outstanding to offer. There is no cooling on the power elements of the processor power system and the 8-pin additional power connector. There are few overclocking options in the BIOS, but all the basic functions are present. A small radiator on the chipset is only enough to cool the P35 at standard frequencies. Therefore, it is not recommended to get carried away with excessive overclocking on this board without additional cooling of the components, although the model has potential.

MotherboardMSIP35NEO-F

Currently, the MSI line of motherboards based on the Intel P35 chipset consists of five boards that differ in both price and functionality.

NEO series boards are positioned as solutions for budget-conscious users. The configuration of such boards is, as a rule, an example of reasonable minimalism. The Platinum and Diamond series are designed for computer enthusiasts. For their manufacture, high-quality Japanese capacitors are used; copper radiators and heat pipes are used to cool the heating elements.

Packaging and equipment

The MSI P35 NEO-F board comes in a glossy cardboard box with an image of the clawed paw of an unknown monster, making its way to the board with steel claws through an obstacle:

Having opened the box, you will find, in addition to the board itself, a minimal set of additional accessories:

2 disks with software and drivers for various operating systems: Windows XP and Windows Vista(information on the official website states that WinME/9x OS are not supported by the board);

user guide;

cable UDMA-66/100/133;

SATA cable;

power cord for SATA devices (MOLEX-SATA adapter);

rear I/O panel (not shown).

This is a typical configuration for motherboards in the lower price range, and MSI could add a couple of additional brackets to the kit, especially since according to the manual this is optional.

Board capabilities, design and layout,BIOS, included software

The main features of the board are described in the table:

Supported processors	- Intel Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium and Celeron (LGA775)
Supported FSB	- 1333/ 1066/ 800 MHz
Chipset	- Northbridge: Intel® P35 - Southbridge: Intel® ICH9
Supported Memory	- DDR2 667/800 SDRAM (240pin/ non-ECC) - 4 DDR2 DIMM slots (8 GB Max)
Net	- Gigabit network (Realtek RTL8111B)
Audio	- Realtek ALC888 - 7.1 channel audio output - Compatible with Azalia
IDE	- 1 IDE port, supported by Marvell 88SE6111 - Supports Ultra DMA 66/100/133, PIO and Bus Master modes
SATA	- 4 SATA ports (SATA1~4) supported by ICH9 southbridge - SATA 5 supported by Marvell 8SE6111 - Bandwidth up to 300 MB/s
RAID	- SATA1~6 support RAID 0/ 1/ 0+1/ 5
Floppy	- 1 floppy port - Supports 1 FDD (360 KB, 720 KB, 1.2 MB, 1.44 MB and 2.88 MB)
Back panel	- 1 PS/2 connector (mouse) - 1 PS/2 connector (keyboard) - 1 parallel port supporting SPP/EPP/ECP mode - 1 COM1 port - 4 USB ports - 1 LAN connector - 6 audio outputs
Connectors soldered on the board	- 4 USB 2.0 - 1 Front Panel Audio - 1 CD-In - 1 SPDIF-out
Slots	- 1 PCI Express x 16 - 3 PCI Express x 1 - 2 PCI slots, 3.3V/ 5V PCI
Form factor	ATX (30.5 cm X 22.0 cm)
Number of mounting holes	6

Design and Layout

You can evaluate the board layout by looking at the following picture:

As a rule, when designing a budget-level motherboard, engineers do not have to rack their brains over the problem of placing various components due to their scarcity. Among the main disadvantages of the wiring, we should note the too close location of the memory slot, power connector and IDE connector: while assembling the system on an open bench will not be difficult, in most cases this will create some problems.

The bulky cooling of some modern cards can block the first couple of connectors for memory slots, and, by the way, this problem occurs quite often in most motherboards. The FDD connector is located at the very bottom of the board, but given the widespread extinction of floppy disks, we can safely turn a blind eye to this.

Having assessed the layout, it’s time to turn your attention directly to the board:

Any experienced user will immediately understand by the bright red color of the PCB what is in front of him MSI board, and on a budget. MSI prefers to manufacture more expensive products on black PCB.

The northbridge, Intel P35, is covered with a fairly large passive radiator, which, as was said in the introductory part of the review, fully complies with the recommendations of the chipset manufacturer.

The processor power module is assembled according to a three-channel design, which is quite sufficient if low- and mid-level processors are used. But for overclocking, especially if you want to overclock, for example, a top-end quad-core processor, this may simply not be enough. However, it is difficult to blame MSI engineers for this: in addition to a top-end processor, they usually purchase a corresponding motherboard, and for this MSI has motherboards from the Platinum or Diamond series. On the tested board you can find both classic capacitors from various manufacturers(there are traces of savings) and modern polymer electrolytes:

The board under test supports up to 8 GB of DDR2-800 memory; for this purpose, 4 memory slots are soldered, offset in pairs relative to each other:

The board is equipped with three PCI-E 1x slots, which, in our opinion, is somewhat redundant: the corresponding peripherals cannot be found during the day, so it would be better if MSI engineers soldered at least one more PCI slot. Judge for yourself, on an amateur's computer digital technologies you can often find a high-quality TV tuner or video capture card sound card and that's all if the board provides only two PCI slots. You have to incur additional expenses by purchasing an external sound card or modem, but the list of common peripherals does not end there.

The Clear CMOS jumper (JBAT1) is also conveniently located - near the two lower PCI-E 1x slots, near the battery, so even in the system unit it will be quite easy to reset BIOS settings in case of unsuccessful overclocking.

The South Bridge is also covered with a passive radiator, but this is quite enough: according to digital thermometer, during testing the radiator temperature did not exceed 40? C. The board uses the ICH9 south bridge, so only 4+1 SATA connectors are soldered; support for the fifth SATA connector is provided by a chip manufactured by Marvell (Marvell 88SE6111):

The rear I/O panel also lacks functional richness:

As you can see from the figure, only the essentials are displayed on the rear panel: PS/2 connectors for a mouse and keyboard, four USB connectors, Serial and Parallel ports, and audio subsystem outputs and inputs. The user manual mentions that an optional D-SUB VGA connector can be found on the rear panel. Perhaps in the future MSI plans to equip a budget board with an integrated video core. However, why not? Naturally, it will use the G33 north bridge.

On the reverse side, the board does not contain any soldered elements, so there should be no problems with attaching some back-plates.

System monitoring is carried out thanks to the Fintek F71882FG chip:

BIOS and overclocking options

MSI is one of a small group of motherboard manufacturers that use AMI BIOS.

The most interesting, of course, is the Frequency/Voltage Control section, where overclocking functions are concentrated. For inexperienced users, the option of automatic overclocking is provided. Boards from other manufacturers, in particular ASUS, have a similar option. In MSI's interpretation, this function is called D.O.T., which stands for Dynamic Overclocking Technology. The names may be different, but the essence remains the same: the board gradually increases the system bus frequency and stops at a certain stable frequency, which is what it is proposed to use. Needless to say, overclocking the processor manually will bring much better results. User can disable this function and select one of the following options:

Everything is extremely simple: by choosing, for example, the Commander option, the board will increase the system bus frequency by 15%, respectively, overclocking the processor.

More experienced users can independently change the bus frequencies, as well as the operating voltage on the processor, memory and northbridge.

To the credit of MSI engineers, they did not cut down on the overclocking capabilities of the board, even despite its obvious positioning in the budget segment: the maximum voltage values ​​are very high, they are most likely typical for top overclocking solutions, judge for yourself:

So, you can increase the voltage on the processor to 1.55V, which, if you have a highly efficient cooler or more serious cooling, will allow you to successfully overclock most processors supported by the board. Only the three-channel power subsystem can become an obstacle (and probably will), but this is a little off topic. From the default value for DDR2 voltage of 1.8 V, the user has the opportunity to increase it right up to 3.3 V. Considering that only the legendary BH-5 chips, which are known to comply with DDR standard, and even modern overclocking DDR2 modules are designed for an operating voltage of about 2.4 V (with a further increase in voltage the memory will simply be destroyed), then 3.3 V is clearly too much. The board developers could, for example, hide the voltage increase in the range of 2.4-3.3 V from most inept experimenters, but this did not happen.

As for the voltage on the north bridge, you can increase it from 1.2 V to 1.6 V. Perhaps in this case passive cooling You won't be able to get by with a chipset.

For more fine tuning the user is given the opportunity to use various FSB:DRAM dividers.

An unpleasant surprise awaited us here: the board set the values ​​at its own discretion, and sometimes, in order to achieve memory functioning at 800 MHz, we had to set the values ​​at random - at a system bus frequency of 200 MHz, the 1:2 divider gave completely incorrect results. Naturally, the correct operation of the memory had to be checked using several information and testing utilities, for example, Everest. Obviously, this is an annoying BIOS flaw that should be fixed in latest versions firmware.

The hardware monitoring section provides the ability to monitor the following parameters:

Nothing special, everything is modest, just like in GigaByte boards.

Included software

As for branded software, then MSI offered the Dual Core Center utility. As the name suggests, the utility provides access to monitoring and settings of both motherboard and video adapter parameters. But with a small caveat: the video card must also be manufactured by MSI. The test showed that the utility often produces complete nonsense, and the usefulness of its use is highly questionable.

In the absence of overclocking, however, such bugs were not observed.

Another, the Live Update utility, which is designed to safely BIOS updates V Windows environment, stubbornly insisted that the latest BIOS for this board had already been installed, although an update had already appeared on the website:

Thus, the utilities supplied by the manufacturer turned out to be an absolutely useless toy, and they also do not shine with design delights.

Published back on PS, we began to explore motherboards in the lower price range, which are not perceived by most users as “overclocking” products. Compared to a similar priced product called Biostar TP45 HP, the MSI P45 Neo-F motherboard has only one significant advantage - widespread availability. When looking for the next candidate for review, it was decided to find a board that combines the same popularity as the MSI P45 Neo-F, but is neither a direct nor indirect competitor in price terms to the Biostar TP45 HP. After a short search, such a board was found - MSI P35 Neo.

INTRODUCING THE MOTHERBOARD

Launched on the market over a year ago, the MSI P35 Neo motherboard comes in a small blue box.

advertising

The front side provides information about compatibility with processors and the supported system bus frequency. The reverse side provides information about the main technologies and capabilities:

On the side there is a sticker with the main characteristics:

The delivery set is typical for all motherboards from MSI lower price category, is included in it.