915 Motherboard Roundup: Socket 775 for the Rest of Us
by Wesley Fink on December 7, 2004 12:25 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
MSI 915P Neo2 Platinum: Features and Layout
| MSI 915P Neo2 Platinum Motherboard Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket 775 Pentium 4 (Prescott) |
| Chipset | Intel 915P/ICH6R |
| BUS Speeds | 100MHz to 400MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| DDR2 Speeds | Auto, 400, 533, 600, 667, 700, 710 |
| PCI Speeds | 33.3, 36.3, 40.0 |
| Core Voltage | CPU Default to 1.55V in 0.0125V increments |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.80V to 2.4V in 0.05V increments |
| NB (Northbridge) Voltage | 1.50V-2.05V in 0.05V increments |
| Memory Slots | Four 240-pin DDR2 533 Slots Dual-Channel Unbuffered Memory to 4GB |
| Expansion Slots | 1 PCIe x16 Slot 2 PCIe x1 slot 3 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA/RAID | 4 SATA 150 drives by ICH6R Can be combined in RAID 0,1,Intel Matrix |
| Onboard IDE/RAID | One Standard ATA100/66 (2 drives) Plus 4 drives by VIA VT6410 - Drives can be combined as RAID 0, 1, 0+1 |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 8 USB 2.0 ports 3 IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports by VIA VT6306 |
| Onboard LAN | Gigabit PCIe Ethernet by Broadcomm BCM5751 |
| Onboard Audio | CMI9880L (HD Audio) 8-Channel with SPDIF in/out |
| Tested BIOS | 1.5 AMI |
MSI was surprisingly absent from our earlier roundup of 925X motherboards. This was quite a surprise, since MSI was the only Tier 1 (major) motherboard maker without a product in the 925X roundup. The issue was not that MSI would not make a 925X board, but rather that MSI had many 925X/915 boards in their early production with bad ICH6 family south bridges. MSI decided to hold back shipping any 915/925X products until they could retest and certify products as built with south bridges that performed as they should.
Now, as we are testing for the 915 roundup, MSI has provided their MSI 915P Neo2 Platinum for review. If the name sounds familiar, it is because the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum is one of the best known and top-performing AMD Socket 939 motherboards. MSI apparently uses the Neo2 Platinum name a lot - to designate their top boards in any given family.
The MSI 915P Neo2 Platinum will be immediately recognizable to owners of other Neo and Neo2 products. Call it the family resemblance because the packaging for all the Neo2 boards is very similar.
Like Asus, MSI puts the right ingredients into the mix for their 915P board. This includes using the ICH6R south bridge to provide Intel Matrix RAIS capabilities, the C-Media High Definition audio, the use of Gigabit LAN that resides on the higher speed PCIe bus, or the excellent addition of 4 more IDE ports to supplement the "just 2" provided by the ICH6R south bridge. When we talk about the right mix of 915 features, it could almost be a specification list for MSI or Asus. In this roundup, we at least agree with what the major players believe is important in a 915 design. That has rarely been the case in the past.
MSI also distinguishes itself with excellent tweak/OC options in their AMI BIOS. Memory voltage can be adjusted to an outstanding 2.4V from the stock 1.8V. Northbridge voltage can be adjusted over a similarly broad range. The CPU voltage adjustment range seems more restricted, but a range to 1.55V with a CPU rated at 1.385V does provide some adjustment range. Water and phase-change cooling advocates will wish for a bit more CPU voltage range though. The CPU FSB range from 200 to 500 is amazingly wide - well beyond what any Prescott can actually use.
One area that was a big surprise in the MSI was the unique range of Memory Speed choices, or memory ratios, available on the 915P Neo2 platinum. No one else really offers options from which to choose: 400, 533, 600, 667, 700, 710 in a DDR2 BIOS for a 800FSB board. This range allows you to get the most from any DDR2 memory for the 915P Neo2. You will also not be surprised to see the trademark Core Cell overclocking on the 915P. This allows even novice overclockers to get some significant improvements in performance with overclocking. The named speeds are a bit too cute for tastes at AnandTech, but Core Cell works to allow most anyone to overclock and improve performance. Fortunately, MSI also allows the user to dial-in their own overclocking options if they choose, which is an important feature for most enthusiasts.
MSI, like Asus, pays close attention to board layout. That is why most will find layout of the 915P Neo2 nearly ideal. IDE, floppy and 20/24-pin power are all allocated at the upper right edge where they belong. Only the 4-pin 12V power connector requires a bit of routing prowess with a location between the north bridge and the IO backplane. SATA, extra IDE connectors and feature headers all are located at board edges where they will interfere least with slots. Northbridge, south bridge, and power transistors are all cooled with large passive heatsinks. It is always interesting that Asus, MSI, and DFI prefer to use passive and silent cooling solutions instead of the active and noiser solutions favored by other manufacturers.
It is also worth mentioning that MSI has provided just enough room for the 4 DIMM slots to completely open and close with a large PCI Express video card mounted. If MSI and Asus can figure out how to do this, we wonder why it is such a mystery to some other manufacturers.
Like the better boards in this roundup, MSI has managed to create a really good layout for the 915P Neo2 Platinum. Most any user will find a lot to like in this board's layout.
Jetway 915 PDBG: Overclocking and Stress Testing
MSI 915P Neo2 Platinum: Overclocking and Stress Testing
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Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Sorry Didn't see your reply before I posted Wesley.Sure there is some value to be had but not "outstanding". I still don't agree with you but I guess my mind is made up. Intel needs to come out with something new before I go back.
As a roundup it was very good reading tough. I can't wait for the next AMD roundup to hit AnandTech.
Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#12"The P5GD2 is an expensive motherboard, at about $240 on the web, but you can get almost all the same features in the P5GD2 Deluxe for about $50 less."
Thats expensive to me. Compare that to the 134.99 for the 939 Gold Editors Choice winner "MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum"
But thats not the point. If the 915P was substantially cheaper then a 939 system you might call it value for money but is it not. Mind you a 939 board is generally not cheap either but at least it delivers in comparison.
The CPU used in the review that hardly beat the much cheaper 3500+ had a max overclock of 14% and I bet you would find it hard to reach that high without the CPU overheating and start throttling http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=2345...
LGA775 CPUs does not offer great overclocking headroom compared to the much cheaper earlier Intel platforms or AMD for that matter. Sure they still overclock but nothing that we haven't seen before at higher cost and temperature. Again not what I would call outstanding.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#11 - We just ran the 3500+ benchmarks in the same configuration this morning, and we do agree that the 3500+ is a particularly good value in performance for the dollar. However, the larger picture of prices of AMD CPUs compared to Intel show the Intel processors are a good, if not outstanding, value.Our conclusion was based on Anand's value analysis in the 3.46EE/1066 launch review at http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?... There he compared the 3800+ at over $600 to a Intel 560 3.6GHz at about $450 and found the 3800+ the winner but probably not a big enough winner to justify the price premium for the 3800+. At that time, there was no 570 (3.8GHz) and the 3.6 was the fastest Intel CPU unless you considered the $1000+ Xeon-based EE processors. Price changes continue, and with them the value relationships do change.
A quick check of prices today shows
Intel 520(2.8GHz)- $160 AMD 2800+(754) - $128
Intel 530(3.0GHz)- $180 AMD A64 3000+ - $152
Intel 540(3.2GHz)- $220 AMD A64 3200+ - $194
Intel 550(3.4GHz)- $282 AMD A64 3400+ - $269
Intel 560(3.6GHz)- $455 AMD A64 3500+ - $270
Intel 570(3.8GHz)- $795 AMD A64 3800+ - $630
AMD A64 4000+ - $716
AMD A64 FX55 - $812
With current prices we would have to agree that there is really no great value advantage to Intel any more. But there is good value in the Intel processors from 2.8GHz (520) to 3.6GHz (560). Certainly the 4000+, at $80 less than the 570 and faster performance, and the FX55 at about the same price as 570 and significantly faster in most benchmarks, are better value at the top. But we still stand by Intel being good value in the middle.
deathwalker - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
"outstanding value and performance for your buying dollar" ?????????? at $240 for a Mobo?..I guess I need to retake Economics 101...Bah...Intel just continues to shot themselves in the foot. A side note not related to this review..Dell must be deep inside of Intel's pocketbook with there contiued refusal to market AMD based products.danidentity - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#11 - 915P motherboards are not expensive. They are equal or cheaper in price than socket 939 A64 motherboards.LGA775 CPUs offer great overclocking headroom if paired with the right board. Intel CPUs have traditionally have had more OCing headroom than AMD chips. That still holds true, for the most part, today. Especially when talking about the low-end chips, like the 2.8GHz.
Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
I'm sorry but I don't see the "outstanding value and performance for your buying dollar"Expensive Motherboards and CPUs with little overclocking headroom compared to the Athlon 64 competition. How does that translate to excellent value and performance? even the much cheaper 3500 comes out on top on most benchmarks.
Sure there are niche markets where the Intel platform excels but for the big majority of us AMD is where its at right now.
I don't think this review is in sync with your conclusion so either list some valid arguments for your point (Since its not there in the benchmarks) or edit the conclusion.
danidentity - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Wesley, thanks for including tests from a more comparable AMD CPU. Listening to your readers is always appreciated.Wesley Fink - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#4,#5,#6 - The Athlon 64 results with the FX55 were included for Reference, and not direct comparison. However you do make a good point.The closest A64 we had in the lab to a 3.6GHz 560 was the 3500+ based on the 90nm process. This should provide an advantage to the Intel 560. Since there are complaints here the FX55 is too high end, these new tests tilted toward Intel should balance the playing field. The 3500+ costs about $265 and the Intel 560 (3.6GHz) is about $455, so the 560 is about 70% more expensive than the 3500+.
The added 3500+ benchmarks were also an opportunity to test with the SAME ATI X800XT PCIe we used in benchmarking the 915 boards. Enjoy!
Color codes have been updated and there are now 3500+ results on the Gigabyte nForce4 with the ATI X800XT PCIe in all benchmarks.
Original plans were to include the Intel 570 in this roundup, but much of the testing was already done when the Intel 3.8GHz CPU was launched. This Intel 3.8 is priced at around $800, which is very close to the FX55. You can see how it compares to the FX55 in performance in Anand's launch article at http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?...
CrystalBay - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
It's a pity that all these 4 dimm slot, dual channelMB's have such a rough time doing it. Imagine trying
to run 4 1GB dimms in DC, this goes for ddr1 as well 2.
Glassmaster - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Now that Northwood and 865/875 are on the way out, only a fool would buy Intel.Glassmaster.