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You probably have
noticed... Intel's latest motherboard
chipset the i815E, has taken hold with virtually
all of the major motherboard manufacturers as a
major component in their mainstream and high end
product offering. Not long ago product
offerings were a flood with boards based on the
VIA Apollo Pro133A chipset. However, now
that Intel finally has their own PC133 ready
product out the door, we knew it wouldn't be long
before the Big "I" would permeate once
again.
The
HotHardware labs have recently been inundated with
i815E boards and over the next few weeks, we'll
try to cover many of the players. A
few weeks ago, we gave you a glimpse of what Abit
had to offer with the SE6.
This time around we bring you MSI's entry into the
field, the MS-6337 or i815E Pro as it is
affectionately known. With a few more weeks
of development time under their belt, you may be
wondering what good things MSI can bring to the
i815E that others may have missed. We'll
look into that as well as most all other aspects
of the feature set and performance within this
board, in the pages to follow.
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| Specifications
/ Features Of The MSI i815E Pro |
| It's
in there |
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Click
for full view
- CPU:
Socket
370 for Intel(R) Celeron(TM) / Coppermine (FC-PGA)
processors of 500, 550, 600, 633, 667, 866MHz.
and higher.
- Memory:
Four
PC133 SDRAM DIMM slots supporting up to 512MB
using 16/64/128/256 Mbit technology
- Slots:
One
CNR (Communication Networking Riser) slot; One
AGP slot (2X/4X mode); Six PCI slots.
- Video:
2D/3D
graphics integrated in chip using Intel DVM
Technology. Optional AGP In-line Memory Module
(AIMM) support.
- Audio:
DirectSound
AC'97 audio integrated in chip.
- Form
Factor:
ATX
form factor
- BIOS:
Plug
& Play BIOS providing DMI (Desktop
Management Interface) function.
- Chipset:
Intel(R)
815 + Intel(R) ICH2 chipset. Supports
66/100/133MHz bus speeds
- On-Board
IDE:
Two
dual channeled PIO Bus Master IDE controllers
supporting UDMA 66/100.
- On-Board
Peripherals:
One
floppy port; One serial ports; One parallel
port; Four USB ports (2 on board rear
connectors and one USB front pin header); One
VGA port; One Audio / Game port, on board
Health Monitoring Functions for CPU and System
temp. sensing and fan speed monitoring.
From
what we have seen on the market thus far, this is
pretty much standard equipment for and i815E
board. 6 PCI slots is a welcomed standard
that most manufacturers are following. In
addition, the AC'97 Software Audio Solution and
the integrated 2D/3D graphics that is part and
parcel to the i815E chipset, is common place with
others as well. On a side note, we will not
be looking at the 2D/3D performance of this board
since most folks are aware, that feature on the
i815E is not up to par with today's standards for
performance. This doesn't hinder the board
in any way obviously since there is an AGP slot
ready and waiting for your 3dfx, nVidia, ATI or
Matrox based solution.
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What
is interesting is the fact that MSI did
not include a heat sink on the i815E
chipset itself. As you can see, the
standard green aluminum sink that is
prevalent on almost every board out on the
market today, is non-existent here.
Now
you are probably wondering if the chip
itself gets hot. "Hot", I
would have to say no. Very warm to
the touch yes. In fact, our personal
opinion is that a heat sink is definitely
merited in this site on the board.
The real question is, does it have an
effect on stability?
Click
for full view
| | Stick
around and you'll find out!
Setup,
Installation, BIOS Settings and Over-Clocking
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