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MSI K8NGM-V Chipset: NForce 410 CPU Support: All 754-pin versions of Athlon 64 and Sempron 64
Hypertransport speed: 800 MHz
RAM type: Two slots for DDR 400/333/266 MHz RAM (Maximum two GB)
Slots: One PCI-E-1x, one PCI-E16x, two PCI bus
IDE Interface: ATA-133, SATA II, SATA II RAID
Video: GeForce 6100 integrated chip'
Sound: Realtek 6 channel Connectivity: 10/100 LAN, four usa ports, one serial port, one parallel port, one VGA port, sound ports
Form factor: Micro ATX
Price: 4,800 rupees
With every passing quarter AMD comes closer to unseating the crown contender Intel. With stronger products and even stronger sales, AMD has become a threat that Intel could scarcely have imagined. The MSI K8NGMV is one of the many good reasons behind AMD's recent success. This is a board that is widely available in the market and wholly supports the budget level AMD processors, namely the 154-pin Athlon 64 and Sempron 64. By not following the more expensive, albeit more future proof, 939-pin standard, MSI aims to take over the budget market with a board that gives companies such as ASUS and AOpen a run for their money. Featuring the blisteringly fast NForce 410 chipset, alongside the GeForce 6100 at its forefront, we expected many surprises from this little beast of a motherboard.
To GeForce or not to GeForce.
The latest NVIDIA 400 chipset for AMD processors have a curious addition, known as the GeForce 6150. The extra "50" signifies its support for hardware acceleration for, high-definition (HD) video. Since HD is the latest buzz word for techies across the world, it is normal to assume that this is the version one would want to have. Before jumping on to the HD bandwagon with the GeForce 6150, one should realise that high-resolution movie viewing in all its glory is most likely going to be impossible on the current LCD and CRT monitors present in the market. This is because the Intel Corporation has come up with an odious form of digital rights management called high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP). In order to run HD-quality video in its full glory, one's monitor, graphics card and everything in between need to be HDCP compliant. And given the fact that it is only recently that HDCP compliant graphics equipment has started to trickle into the market, purchasing the 6150powered motherboard just for HD purposes would not be considered a wise move.
It should be noted that the 6150-based motherboards do ship with their own specific TV out dongle, that allow them to output HD video on to HDCP compliant TVs. Although it does not support the recently developed high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, even this degree of support is good news. Keeping in mind its video acceleration capabilities the 6150 makes it ideal for Media Center PCs and is highly recommended for the building of a low-cost media PC solution.
Getting back to the K8NGM-V'_ setup, it is pertinent that the integrated GeForce 6100 be given a brief overview. The GeForce 6100 has two pixel shader pipelines alongside one vertex shader unit. The core is running at 425 megahertz for the 6100, while running at 475 megahertz for the 6150. The 6150 also has a high-quality TV encoder built in, which allows it to display its TV out functionality. A brief test of the 6100 chip with 3DMark 05 resulted in a disappointing 506 3D marks. It should be noted that such low marks are traditionally acceptable for integrated graphics cards, for they are generally not designed for gaming. Still, as the old saying goes, something is better than nothing, and on that virtue alone kudos should be given to NVIDIA for releasing a DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card which is comparable to a GeForce 6200 TC on a motherboard that costs below 5,000 rupees.
PCI Express.
The most impressive angle to the K8NGM-V is the inclusion of a full speed PCI-Ex16 slot. This slot allows one to upgrade one's system to a fullyfledged gaming machine. A Sempron 64 2600+, a K8NGM-V and a GeForce, 7600 GS (512 megabyte version) would cost a shade under 18,000 rupees, which suddenly brings a lot of power to the gamer at a price far lower than could previously have been managed. With this setup one can easily play games such as F.E.A.R. and Battlefield 2 at highquality settings while maintaining very playable frame rates - which is nothing short of a mean feat in today's powerhungry games. If similar upgrades from a company such as ASUS . were considered, the cost could easily cross the 21,000-rupee mark.
Trade-offs.
Being a budget motherboard, there are some trade offs that are immediately apparent. Firstly, the overclockability of the motherboard is severely crippled. Pushing the sample Athlon 64 3000+ at higher than stock speeds resulted in consistent lockouts, causing hard boots. Secondly, there are no fancy connectivity options such as Bluetooth, IR or Wi-Fi. Instead, the buyer has to settle for the bare minimum USB 2.0 ports and the vanilla flavored 1 0/1 00 Ethernet port. With the presence of expansion ports, however, upgrades are easy but add to extra costs that the budget buyer might not be very comfortable with. And finally, by employing the ageing 754-pin standard, MSI has ensured that future upgrades such as the dual core Athlon 64x2s are impossible. Still, given its price, the trade offs are not that harsh and should not be a problem for most users in Pakistan.
Conclusions.
Many would wonder why actual benchmarks were not added in this review. The answer to that is that most premium motherboards really shine when overclocked. In this case, a comparison was pointless as the performance levels varied by as little as two per cent with premium motherboards such as the A8N32 SU. Given its price, performance and features Hard Talk gives the MSI K8NGM-V a big thumbs up and a strong recommendation to buy immediately before stocks run out. source Spider Mag.
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