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MSI K8T Neo2-FIR

MSI has chosen to lead with the much touted K8T800Pro chipset for their AMD Athlon64 motherboard. We test its stability, speed and enthusiast features.

Introduction

MSI, known also as Micro-Star International, is a well respected brand within enthusiast circles for their dedication to the overclocking art. In their relentless pursuit of the highest levels of performance, MSI pushes the boundaries of technology through their ever-evolving CoreCell dynamic overclocking technology. MSI chose wisely in coupling such technology with the socket 939 platform.

The K8T Neo2-FIR is one of MSI’s flagship boards centered on the socket 939 platform. With this board, MSI chose to harness power of the VIA K8T800 Pro chipset. The K8T800 chipset is a well rounded solution, offering native support for all socket 939 compliant Athlon64 and AthlonFX CPUs, as well as Dual Channel DDR memory. As is common practice, MSI made the K8T Neo2 a feature complete solution, requiring the addition of an AMD based socket 939 processor, DDR RAM, an AGP video card, and drives for a complete and functional system. The K8T Neo2 includes the following on board components: 2 IDE ATA-133 ports; 2 RAID 0 & 1 capable SATA-150 ports; 2 SATA-150 and 1 IDE ATA-133 RAID 0 & 1 capable ports; 8 USB 2.0 capable ports (4 in rear panel, and 2 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 3 IEEE 1394 capable ports (2 in rear panel, 1 onboard header supporting 1 port); 1 VIA Gigabit Ethernet port; 1 MSI 802.11g wireless NIC card; Realtek 7.1 channel audio codec featuring S/PDIF RCA and optical type output ports; and serial, parallel, and PS/2 port support.

Main Specifications Overview:

Detailed Mainboard Specification List:

Packaging

MSI chose to use their standard box art design, prominently featuring the name and type of motherboard. In the box, you find a not so standard assortment of items: rounded ATA 133 and floppy cables, SATA 150 cables and power connectors, the rear panel shield, the D-Bracket2 rear bracket containing 2 USB connectors, an 802.11g antennae and PCI card, as well as the normal complement of manuals and driver CDs/disks.

Board Layout

MSI put a bit of thought in to the design of the board, evident in the well spaced layout and use of heatsinks on critical board components. One of the few complaints with the board design are the fact that the Southbridge is not cooled at all, the Northbridge is passively cooled, and the fact that the BIOS chip itself is soldered to the board, making removal and replacement impossible. Note that the board used for this review was a version 1.0 sample. MSI chose to use capacitors manufactured by the following companies: Rubycon (Japan), and Teapo (Taiwan). The capacitors marked as FJZ, CFJ and A44 come from an unknown source.

With the exception of the line of capacitors directly above the socket, the area surrounding the CPU socket is completely clear of obstacles. However, the capacitors above the socket did not seem to interfere with heat sink placement whatsoever. The board is implemented with the standard 2 hole Athlon64 style mounting system, complete with metal back board support. The Northbridge is located directly to the left of the CPU socket, with a squat aluminum heat sink for its cooling needs. The heatsink itself is mounted via push pins on opposite sides of the sink, going through the board. Just below the Northbridge is the BIOS monitored SFAN1 header, with the ATX12V connector located just above the Northbridge. Notice that MSI chose to cover the board’s power MOSFETs with quite large aluminum heatsinks. The BIOS monitored CFAN1 header is located to the right of the CPU socket, along the board’s edge.

The K8T-Neo2 was designed with a total of 4 DDR DIMM slots, arranged in a 2 sets of 2 pattern located directly below the CPU socket and Northbridge chipset. The sets of DIMM slots are color coded, with each set being a different color. This scheme could be a bit confusing for the newcomer, in that you must place DIMMS across the colored sets in order to enable Dual Channel memory mode. The board’s ATA-133, floppy, and ATX ports are located just below the lower most DIMM slot. To the right of the ATX connector is the JCASE1 jumper, used for chassis intrusion detection systems.

The Southbridge chipset is located far below PCI slots 1 and 2, with its 2 SATA 150 ports just below it. The CMOS reset jumper is located to the left of the VT8237 SATA 150 ports, with the unmonitored PWF_FAN1 and PWF_FAN2 headers and the power saver switch jumper, JGS1. The Promise RAID controller, as well as its IDE and SATA 150 ports, is located to the left of the fan headers, with the BIOS battery and BIOS just above it. At the very bottom left edge of the board is the front panel jumper block, with the Infra-Red header and JLED header just above it along the left edge of the board. The JLED header is the connection point for the D-Bracket2’s diagnostic LED module. This module allows for user monitoring of system initialization procedures through the use of 4 LEDS integrated in to the rear bracket itself. The 2 onboard USB 2.0 headers are located just above the JLED header.

The K8T-Neo2 comes standard with 1 AGP slot and 5 PCI slots. The onboard IEEE 1394 header is located to the top left of PCI slot 5, with the front panel audio connector just above it. 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 CD_IN header is located directly above and between PCI slots 3 and 4.

MSI incorporated the following ports in to the rear panel of the K8T-Neo2: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports; a com port; a parallel port; 2 IEEE 1394 ports; 4 USB 2.0 ports; a Gigabit LAN Ethernet port; 5 audio ports; and RCA and optical S/PDIF output ports.

CoreCenter

Keeping with current technological trends in the field, MSI has designed their own BIOS type overclocking chipset, coined CoreCell. This CoreCell chipset controls all aspects of system FSB and voltage performance. MSI also developed a windows interface to directly interact with their CoreCell chipset, dubbed CoreCenter. CoreCenter allows for both manual and dynamic FSB and voltage manipulation directly from within windows. It also provides real-time statistics on all monitored system temperatures, voltages, and monitored fan speeds. You also have the option of manipulating the alarm thresholds for monitored temperatures and fan speeds.