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MSI K8T-Neo

The K8T-Neo is MSI’s introduction into the AMD64 world. Pairing up the VIA K8T800 chipset with an Athlon64, this board may be an nForce3 killer...

Introduction

MSI has been a darling among the enthusiast crowd since its inception. With its dedication to overclocking and speed, their boards have always pushed the processor to the next level. Their latest Athlon64 based creation is no exception to this rule.

The K8T-Neo is MSI’s newest and most powerful member of its much vaunted AMD lineup. Sporting the VIA K8T800 chipset, the board has built-in support for the Athlon64 line of processors, as well as Single Channel mode DDR RAM of up to PC3200 speeds. Furthermore, this board is a feature complete solution with everything needed to get started right out of the box with the exception of the processor, RAM, and drives. The K8T-Neo features the following integrated peripherals: 3 ATA-133 ports; 4 SATA-150 ports; 8 USB 2.0 capable ports (4 in rear panel and 2 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 2 IEEE 1394a capable ports (both in rear panel); Realtek Gigabit Ethernet; Realtek 6 channel audio featuring RCA and S/PDIF output ports; and serial, parallel, and PS/2 port support.

Main Specifications Overview:

Detailed Mainboard Specification List:

Packaging

The box itself has the normal eye-catching designs, with K8 prominently displayed, most likely signifying the VIA K8T800 chipset. However, the box does not make a big deal of the AMD processor itself that goes along with the board, stating in rather small type that it is designed for the Athlon64. The included items are of the normal variety, including rounded ATA 133 and floppy ribbon cables (they went with a rounded cable design that bundles the ribbon cable into a mesh tubing), SATA 150 cables, a dual ended SATA power plug, the D-Bracket2 accessory, the rear shield, the 2 piece HSF cage, and the normal complement of driver CDs and manuals. The D-Bracket2 provides support for system troubleshooting through an LED based system in the bracket itself, as well as two additional USB 2.0 ports. The HSF cage consists of an under the motherboard support bracket and the top mounted HSF cage. The two pieces are attached to one another via 2 screws through the motherboard.

Board Layout

The board layout was well thought out, with no real problem or tightly packed areas per se. The only complaints I have concerning the layout are concerning the following items: the placement of the CMOS clear jumper, the passive cooler on the board’s Northbridge chipset, and the lack of heatsink on the Southbridge chipset. Specifics concerning each of these areas are discussed below in greater detail. The board is a revision 1.0 board. Note that the capacitors MSI chose to design the board with are manufactured by Mallory Capacitor Co (USA), which are marked SEK, and United Chemi-Con (USA, Japan), which are marked KZE. Those capacitors marked FJZ are from an unknown source.

The area directly around the motherboard is clear of obstructions, thanks both to the new AMD HSF retention mechanism specs as well as MSI’s well thought out design. The HSF cage itself is an interesting piece of hardware that looks very similar to the Intel P4 HSF cage, with the addition of a support bracket underneath the mainboard. This was a great decision by MSI in including this to reduce stress on the motherboard itself with the HSF installed. Since the Athlon64 processors have an integrated on chip heat spreader, AMD specified the HSF cage with a lot more downward force when compared to the AthlonXP retention mechanism. There are a row of capacitors directly above the CPU socket area, but they in no way inhibit mounting or removal of a HSF to the CPU.

Directly to the left of the CPU socket is the Northbridge chipset. The Northbridge is passively cooled by a good sized aluminum heatsink. The heatsink is held to the board by two push pins, requiring board removal from the system to dismount the heatsink from the chipset. I found the chipset to get rather warm during regular system operation, and would recommend either placing a fan on the heatsink itself, or replacing the entire unit with an active cooled solution. Just above the Northbridge is the ATX12V connector. The placement here is a mixed blessing. It allows for shorter trace routes to the CPU for cleaner power delivery, but can get in the way of airflow around the CPU area. Just below the Northbridge is the BIOS monitored SFAN1 header. The other fan header in the CPU’s vicinity, the CFAN1 header, is located just above the uppermost DIMM slot along the edge of the board. Notice that MSI placed heatsinks over all CPU related power MOSFETs, located just above the CPU HSF cage area. This should help dissipate the heat from these when overclocking the board. However, the heatsinks will still get hot and would be better implemented with an airflow source blowing across the heatsink surfaces.

The K8T-Neo comes standard with 3 DIMM slots, and supports population of all 3 with PC3200 memory. Note that they only guarantee trouble free functioning with all 3 slots populated when using MSI approved PC3200 RAM. The MSI RAM approval list is located on their website at the linked location. MSI did a genius job on the DIMM slot placement – neither the DIMM slots nor any other on board component, including the AGP slot, interfere with one another. To the left of the lower DIMM slot is the MSI CoreCell chip. MSI’s CoreCell technology allows for system controlled dynamic overclocking for optimal system performance at all times. Below the DIMM slots are the primary and secondary ATA 133 IDE ports, the floppy port, and the ATX power connector.

The K8T-Neo’s VT8237 Southbridge chipset is located to the left and a bit below the MSI CoreCell chip. It was observed in testing that the chipset got toasty during normal system operation. I’d recommend mounting at least a passive heatsink on it to keep temperatures under control, and to keep the system operating smoothly. Just below the Southbridge are its 2 RAID capable SATA 150 ports. Directly to the left of the VIA SATA ports are the CMOS reset jumper, the JGS1 power saver mode header, and the PFAN1 and PFAN2 unmonitored fan headers. The Promise RAID capable controller, along with its ATA 133 IDE and 2 SATA 150 ports, are located to the left of the fan headers and below the CMOS battery. The front panel connector headers are located in the lower left corner of the board. An Infra-Red header, the JLED header for the D-Bracket2 diagnostic interface, and the two on board USB 2.0 headers are directly above the front panel header; all are situated along the board’s lower left edge.

The K8T-Neo has a total of 1 AGP slot and 5 PCI slots. The AGP slot is strategically placed in relation to the other system components so that nothing gets in the way of the card when seated into the AGP slot. Furthermore, there are no capacitors close enough in proximity to the slot to interfere with the video card itself. The front panel audio header is located above and to the left of PCI slot 5, along the edge of the board. Note that the rear panel audio ports will not function unless pins 5/6 and 9/10 on the front panel audio header are jumpered. The on board CD_IN connector is located along the upper edge of the board between PCI slots 3 and 4.

The K8T-Neo provides the following ports through its rear panel interface: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, a serial port, a parallel port, 1 full-sized and 1 mini IEEE 1394a port, 4 USB 2.0 ports, and a Gigabit LAN Ethernet port.