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Round Up - Integrated 3D Graphics Motherboard Shootout Review by Edward Chang, call sign: Big_E September 22, 2002
MSI nForce K7N420 Pro The Board:
MSI K7N420 Pro (Click image to view larger picture) MSI tries to distinguish their motherboards from other manufacturers' by being first to use a red printed circuit board. This motherboard also features Nvidia's first motherboard chipset: the nForce. The Northbridge integrates a GeForce2 MX video card. This is also one of those motherboards that use a passive heatsink and has onboard LAN support.
Kudos to MSI for including an abundance of extras. The box contains fold-out calendars and toys, extra USB ports, a additional sound card for extra sound features, and an MSI case sticker. An optional video encoder card using a Conexant chipset can be purchased for TV-out support and includes the s-video cable.
MSI K7N420 Pro Features:
Nvidia nForce Block Diagram CPU: Socket A for AMD Athlon / Athlon XP / Duron™ Processor. AMD Athlon XP (Palomino, Socket A) 1800+ AMD Athlon (Thunderbird, Socket A) 1.4GHz AMD Duron ( Socket A) 950MHz
Special Features: Audio riser card included Live BIOS Live Driver PC 2001 Compliance Integrated 10/100 BaseT Ethernet/Fast Ethernet] Optional TV-Out card (MS-6952) - In the North Bridge Chipset of K7N420 Pro, there's a TV Encoder onboard which supports TV-Out. Just plug MS-6952 TV-Out card onto the AGP slot on MB and no driver is needed, the signal will be transmitted to TV. The output interface includes S port and AV port.
Chipset: nForce 420D Chipset Support 200/266MHz FSB. Twinbank Memory Architecture / 128-bit DDR memory controller. Integrated GeForceMX-class advanced GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). AGP 4X (1.5v). Hyper Transport interface to MCP (800MB/sec max). MCP-D (Media Communications Processor) Dual ATA/100 controller. USB UHCI 1.0a, up to 6 USB ports. IEEE 802.3 compatible MAC (MII). Integrated Audio Processor Unit. Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound by MCP-D Multiplex DVI/TV Interface with AGP slot. (optional) S/PDIF output function.
Main Memory: 3 DDR DIMMs. Maximum memory size of 1.5GB. Support 128-bit system memory.
Slots: One CNR Slot (Communication Network Riser). One AGP Slot. Note: AGP 2.0 2x/4x (1.5V only) Five PCI (v2.2) 32 bit Master PCI bus slots.
Onboard IDE: An IDE controller on the MCP chipset provides IDE HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA 100 operation modes. Can connect to 4 IDE devices.
Video :Shared with External Memory up to 32MB. 256-bit 2D/3D graphics accelerator. 2nd generation T&L engine, NVIDIA Shading Rasterizer (NSR). Multiplex DVI /TV interface with the AGP slot. (optional) PC 2001 compliant SMA and operates with 128-bit system memory installed.
Network: Chip integrated 10/100 BaseT Ethernet/Fast Ethernet.
Audio: APU (Audio Processing Unit) integrated in MCP Support up to 256 hardware-processed voices or 64 hardware voices in 3D. Support multi-speaker 3D audio. S/PDIF out through external bracket.
Onboard peripherals: 1 Floppy port supports 2 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes. 2 Serial ports (COM A + COM B) 6 USB ports (2 rear connectors and 2 USB front pin header to support four ports) 1 Parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode. 1 VGA connector. 1 IrDA connector. 1 Audio/Game port. 1 RJ-45 port.
BIOS: The mainboard BIOS provides AMI "Plug & Play" Flash BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically. The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.
Dimension: ATX Form Factor.
Mounting: 6 mounting holes.
Overclocking: This motherboard supports the following overclocking features: Multiplier Adjust (5 ~ 12.5X) CPU Vcore Adjust (+/- .02, .05, .1 volt) Host Frequency Adjust (100, 105, 106, 111, 114, 133, 137, 140, 145, 147, 154, and 157 MHz) Using the BIOS, this board was able to attain a 147 MHz front-side bus.
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