Msi p35 neo supported processors. MSI P35 Neo3 is an inexpensive solution based on Intel P35. Ports, connectors and connectors on the surface of the board

The MSI Neo line of motherboards contains standard components, so you should expect the P35 Neo board to perform well, but not have a ton of extra features that the average user might not need. Due to the fact that the production cost is low, the board is in the lower price range.

Inexpensive motherboards usually do not support two graphics cards PCI Express x16, and MSI P35 Neo is no exception. This fact should not greatly influence the decision when buying a motherboard for “budget” enthusiasts who are ready to compromise in performance, because the second slot for video cards on expensive boards still only works in x4 mode. The only PCI Express x16 slot on the P35 Neo motherboard operates in full x16 mode. The board also has three PCI Express x1 slots and two legacy PCI slots, for a total of six expansion cards. ATX supports a maximum of seven slots, and on the P35 Neo board the place of the topmost “missing” slot is reserved for a fan connector.

The P35 Neo motherboard is equipped with a three-phase voltage stabilizer, typical of cheap motherboards; there are no radiators to cool the voltage stabilizers. Two radiators cool the north and south bridge s sufficiently, which is facilitated by a cooler with a downward air flow.

Power and ATA connectors are ideal for traditional cases. The four-pin ATX12V power connector is located at the top of the board near the rear edge, the 24-pin power connector is located at the front edge of the board, and the UltraATA connector is located at the top of the board near the front edge. For users optical drives UltraATA will like how easy it is to run the cable from here to the top bays of the cases.

The four SATA ports, supported by the low-cost Intel ICH9 Southbridge, are also positioned almost perfectly for routing cables to the bottom bays. hard drives, but that's where the compliments end. Fifth SATA port, supported by the built-in Marvell Ultra+Serial ATA controller, is blocked by the heatsink of long video cards. The front panel audio port is inconveniently located at the farthest bottom corner, far from the front panel ports, which are located at the top in many modern cases. Finally, the drive connector is also poorly located under the lowest PCI slot. Fortunately, users will not need a disk drive to load RAID drivers during a Windows XP installation since the South Bridge does not support RAID.

MSI P35 Neo (Revision 1.0)
North Bridge	Intel P35 GMCH
South Bridge	Intel ICH9
Voltage regulator	Three-phase
BIOS	1.1B7 (05/18/2007)
266.6 MHz (FSB1066)	266.9 MHz (+0.1%)
Connectors and interfaces
On board	1x PCIe x16 (1x x16) 3x PCIe x1 2x PCI 4x USB 2.0 (2 ports per connector) 1x IEEE-1394 FireWire 1x floppy drive 1x Ultra ATA (2 drives) 5x Serial ATA 3.0 Gbps 1x for front panel audio ports 1x CD Audio input 1x digital audio output (S/P-DIF) 1x 4-pin for cooler (CPU) 2x 3-pin for fans (case)
On the I/O panel	2x PS2 (keyboard + mouse) 1x parallel port 1x serial port 1x RJ-45 network 1x IEEE-1394 FireWire 4x USB 2.0 6x analog audio ports (7.1 channel + microphone in + line in)
Drive controllers
Intel ICH9	4x SATA 3.0 Gb/s
Marvell 88SE6111	1x Ultra ATA-100 (2 drives) 1x SATA 3.0 Gb/s
Net
Realtek RTL8111B PCI-E	1x Gigabit Ethernet connection
Sound
HDA controller (Azalia)	Realtek ALC888 codec (8 channels)
FireWire
VIA VT6308P	2x IEEE-1394a (400 Mbps)

Adding to the attractiveness of this inexpensive motherboard is the IEEE-1394 FireWire controller.

The P35 Neo motherboard's I/O panel is based on traditional interfaces, including legacy PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, parallel and serial COM ports. Six analog audio ports provide 8-channel audio with simultaneous microphone and line input, four USB port 2.0 and one IEEE-1394 FireWire port are designed to work with high-speed devices, and a single Gigabit network port allows for networking.

The BIOS of the MSI P35 Neo motherboard limits the bus frequency to a maximum value of 500 MHz (FSB2000), which is probably the limit of the board even when using “ideally overclocked” processors. Incredibly huge CPU and memory voltages give the impression that maximum overclocking of the processor and memory is possible, but do not forget that this inexpensive motherboard is equipped with only a three-phase voltage regulator.

Frequencies and voltages in BIOS (for overclocking)
FSB frequency	100-500 MHz (1 MHz steps)
Multiplier adjustment	Yes
Memory frequency	FSB x 1.0; 1.2; 1.25; 1.5; 1.66; 2.0
PCIe frequency	100-200 MHz (1 MHz steps)
CPU Vcore	Default - +0.7875 V (0.0125 V), 1.550 V maximum
CPU FSB voltage	1.20 - 1.60 V (0.10 V steps)
North Bridge Voltage (MCH)	1.25 - 1.625 V (0.025 V steps)
South Bridge Voltage (ICH)	1.05/1.15 V
Memory voltage	1.50 - 2.10 - 3.30 V (0.05/0.10 V)
CAS delay range	tCAS: 3-6; tRCD: 3-6; tRP: 3-6; tRAS: 9-24

We overclocked the processor on the P35 Neo motherboard Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 up to 3.44 GHz, although other boards can get 3.46 GHz. Reducing the CPU multiplier to 6x made it possible to increase the bus frequency only to 369 MHz (FSB1476).

The P35 Neo motherboard comes with only the essential accessories needed to build an affordable system, including one SATA cable and one Ultra ATA cable.

MSI P35 Neo and MSI P35 Neo Combo- motherboards based on the Intel P35 chipset

Intel P35 chipset (P35 north bridge and ICH9 south bridge are used (ICH9R can be used))

MSI P35 Neo Combo

When releasing motherboards on new chipsets, the greatest interest of the reading public is caused not so much by the features of specific models, but by the general trends that appear in the new generation. This is understandable: it’s hard to study reviews of all motherboards in a row, but you need to get an impression of how interesting the new products are and worthy of timely (or even immediate) purchase. Well, in anticipation of these first reviews, we can note a few differences. The main thing we would say is the significantly reduced heat dissipation of the P35/G33, which leads to a very comfortable thermal regime while maintaining the same chipset heatsinks (this issue is discussed in more detail in the review of the new line of chipsets). Of course, some new products will have slots for DDR3 memory, but this change is quite obvious and expected. Otherwise, these are all the same Intel chipsets (you can simply install a new board instead of the i915-based model, and Windows XP will boot without problems), we did not find any unpleasant or unexpected issues.

Speaking now about specific boards, it is clear that the first one we chose for consideration was the combo model from those provided to us by MSI. Generally speaking, boards that support two types of memory at once seem to us to be an unnecessary thing in everyday life, and if you do not have a purely research interest, we cannot recommend such a purchase. (We’ll leave the idea of a “step-by-step upgrade” to the conscience of forum dreamers, since DDR2 and DDR3 modules will not work simultaneously.) However, MSI offers two almost identical mid-level models, differing only in DDR3 support in one of them, so we, in fact, In fact, today we’ll look at two boards at once.

The appearance of the board is quite familiar; only the memory slots attract attention. Firstly, because two of them are designed for installing DDR3 modules and have a different key location in the connector. Secondly, their unusual relative arrangement is noteworthy: pairs of slots are offset relative to each other, and in the second pair the slots themselves are offset (literally by half a contact, which suggests that the reason for this decision is the desire to more conveniently distribute a wide loop of tracks across the board ). As for the general convenience of wiring, there are no serious complaints about the board, except that the only IDE connector should be placed in another place, since this option design, access to it will be blocked by a trail of wires from the power connector. Among the shortcomings, not the wiring, but the design, we note the presence of only two PCI slots (with three PCIEx1) - it is possible, however, that this should already be taken as the norm, since the range of expansion cards with the PCI Express interface is constantly expanding and even includes modern sound cards from Creative. (However, more unusual models based on the P35 will soon be available - for example, without IDE support.)

There are 2 SATA connectors located on the PCB of our board, but not soldered (they are used in the version of the board with the ICH9R south bridge). In addition to the two models reviewed today, MSI produces another exactly the same one based on the G33 (G33 Neo with support for DDR2 only), as well as a number of boards based on the P35 and G33 in the Platinum and Diamond series - these are based on a different PCB design (in particular, providing two PCIEx16 slot for CrossFire graphics) and use a complex design with heat pipes to cool the chipset and field-effect transistors. It’s interesting that another board, the P35 Neo2, is based on the PCB design of the Platinum models, which simply lacks a heatpipe cooler - the functionality of all Neo models is extremely similar. Access to the only available jumper (clearing CMOS) is a little difficult due to its proximity to the expansion slots; a description of its functionality is provided on the PCB. The size of the board is 305x225 mm (slightly narrowed ATX), fastened to the case with six screws, the near edge of the board sags and causes some inconvenience when using the connectors located on it.

The three-channel switching voltage regulator of the processor uses 4 field effect transistor per channel, which is quite a sufficient value so as not to worry about overheating of these transistors even despite the absence additional cooling using radiators. In addition, in the new line of motherboards, MSI uses chokes not with iron, but with ferrite cores, which has a beneficial effect on power consumption. The set of capacitors in the key power circuits can be assessed as good, although not the best (when, as in the top boards of most major manufacturers, only polymer capacitors are used throughout the board): for the processor, 8 polymer capacitors of 680 μF each are used (from an unknown manufacturer), 4 1000 µF and 1 3300 µF from United Chemi-Con, and the memory voltage regulator (reinforced by the use of inductive elements) includes 10 1000 µF capacitors from United Chemi-Con.

System monitoring (Fintek F71882FG, according to BIOS Setup)

CPU voltage, +3.3, +5 and +12 V, +5 V Standby;
Rotation speed of 3 fans;
Temperature of the processor (built-in processor sensor) and board (built-in board sensor);
Technology for automatically adjusting the rotation of the processor fan depending on the temperature (the temperature limit and cooler rotation speed are set if this limit is not exceeded).

Ports, connectors and connectors on the surface of the board

Processor socket (Socket 775, declared support for all modern Core 2, Pentium Dual Core and Celeron processors (with Core microarchitecture) for this socket, including latest processors with FSB frequency 1333 MHz; of models with Netburst microarchitecture, only those with a bus frequency of 800 MHz and higher are supported);
2 slots for DDR2 SDRAM DIMM (up to 4 GB DDR2-533/667/800; dual-channel operating mode supported when both channel slots are full) and 2 slots for DDR3 SDRAM DIMM (up to 4 GB DDR3-800/1066; dual-channel operating mode supported when filling the slots of both channels); simultaneous operation of DDR2 and DDR3 is impossible; later a list of certified modules should appear on the website;
PCIEx16 slot for video accelerators;
3 PCIEx1 slots;
2 PCI slots;
Power connectors: standard ATX 2.2 (24 pins, you can connect a regular 20-pin connector, but it is not recommended to use powerful video accelerators that do not have their own power connector) and 4-pin ATX12V to power the processor;
FDD connector;
IDE (Parallel ATA) connector, powered by an additional Marvell controller, for 2 ATA133 devices;
5 SATA-II (Serial ATA II) connectors for 5 SATA300 devices, 1 of which operates through an additional Marvell controller and 4 “chipset” drives, connected to the latter drives can be combined into a RAID array of levels 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and Matrix RAID if the south bridge board uses the ICH9R chipset;
4 connectors for connecting brackets for 8 additional USB ports;
Connector for connecting a bracket for 1 additional FireWire port;
Connector for connecting audio signal output from a CD/DVD drive;
Block of connectors for connecting analog inputs and audio outputs on the front panel of the computer;
Connector for digital audio output S/PDIF-Out on the bracket;
Undocumented SPI connector;
Connector for connecting the chassis intrusion sensor (Chassis Intrusion);
3 connectors for connecting fans (all with the ability to control the number of revolutions), the 4-pin processor has an automatic speed control function.

Rear panel of the board (from left to right, by block)

PS/2 connectors for connecting a mouse and keyboard;
1 LPT and 1 COM port;
2 USB and 1 FireWire ports;
2 USB ports and 1 RJ-45 ( Gigabit Ethernet);
6 analog audio jacks (Line-In, Front, Mic-In, Rear, Center/Sub, Side).

The free space in the row with the COM port is obviously reserved for the video output (D-Sub) on the G33 Neo Combo board with integrated graphics.

Contents of delivery

For the release of motherboards based on the new chipsets, MSI updated the design of the box, making it quite impressive. (In this case, we show a photo of the P35 Neo model box.) We describe the package contents with reference to MSI data, since the set of our pre-production samples was incomplete. It seems that this is the first time that the box (as standard) does not have a cable for connecting a floppy drive.

Packing: regular size box;
Documentation: user manual in English;
Cables: 1 SATA (with power adapter for one device) and 1 ATA66;
A bracket for the back panel of a computer with 2 additional USB connectors;
A bracket for the rear panel of a computer with an additional FireWire connector;
A plug on the rear panel of the board for the corresponding connectors;
CDs with the necessary drivers and proprietary utilities, including Dual Core Center and DOT Express (for monitoring, controlling fan speed, overclocking, etc.) and Live Update (for searching and updating drivers, utilities and BIOS firmware via the Internet).

Integrated Controllers

Audio, based on the 10-channel (7.1+2) HDA codec Realtek ALC888, with the ability to connect 7.1 audio systems, a connector for connecting front audio inputs/outputs and a connector for connecting optical output S/PDIF-Out;
Network, supporting speeds of 10/100/1000 Mbit/s (Gigabit Ethernet), based on the Realtek RTL8111B chip (PCIEx1 interface);
IDE/SATA-II, based on the Marvell 88SE6111 chip, supporting 2 devices on the ATA133 channel and 1 SATA300 device (PCIEx1 interface);
FireWire, based on the VIA 6308P chip, supporting 2 ports.

We assessed the quality of the integrated sound solution in 16-bit, 44 kHz mode using the RightMark Audio Analyzer 5.5 test program and the Terratec DMX 6fire sound card:

Overall rating: Very good(). In this case, a high-quality, but “simple” 10-channel audio codec ALC888 is used, which does not have “additional” functions interesting to the home user (such as a set of DTS technologies implemented in drivers and on-the-fly encoding of the audio stream in AC-3 for output via the S/ interface PDIF). But the quality of the analog output is at a very good level, corresponding to the best representatives of integrated sound.

It is curious that since the release of the Intel 965 chipsets, almost all motherboard manufacturers began to use JMicron controllers to implement (now absent in the chipset) support for IDE (PATA) devices. MSI is one of the few companies that is not satisfied with standard solutions like JMB363 and JMB361 (which indeed have some drawbacks), and is constantly looking for alternatives. In the case of boards based on the P35 and G33, MSI uses a solution from Marvell, and we must say that the first acquaintance made a favorable impression on us: the board easily booted from a CD drive with an IDE interface, allowed you to install the OS from a CD/DVD, and did not require updating specific managers for working with disk images and drivers in Windows XP. However, only after some time, having collected statistics from different users, will it be possible to draw a conclusion about the presence or absence of problems with the implementation from Marvell. Well, for those who don’t want to wait or take risks, we strongly recommend purchasing a drive with a SATA interface.

Settings

Using jumpers and switches	Jumper to clear CMOS contents
From BIOS based on version 2.61 from AMI	Ability to disable specific processor functions	+	Hyper-Threading, Execute Disable Bit, Enhanced SpeedStep, Virtualization Technology
	Memory timing settings	+	By SPD, CAS# Latency, RAS# to CAS# Delay, RAS# Precharge, RAS# Activate to Precharge, tRFC, tWR, tWTR, tRRD, tRTP
	Selecting memory frequency	+	Auto or set the multiplier relative to the FSB frequency: 1:1, 1:1.2, 1:1.25, 1:1.5, 1:1.67, 1:2
	Ability to set frequency for peripheral buses	+	PCI-E: 100-200 MHz in 1 MHz steps
	Manual assignment of interrupts to slots	+
	Changing the FSB frequency	+	from nominal to 500 MHz in 1 MHz steps; There is a function for dynamic processor overclocking
	Changing the processor multiplier	+
	Changing CPU Core Voltage	+	up to +0.7875 V in steps of 0.0125 V
	Changing Memory Voltage	+	1.80-3.30 V in 0.05 V steps up to 2.1 V and 0.1 V steps above
	Changing chipset voltage	+	1.25-1.65 V in 0.05 V steps for the north bridge; 1.05 and 1.15 V for the south bridge; 1.5-1.8 V in 0.1 V steps for southbridge I/O
	FSB voltage change	+	1.2-1.6 V in 0.1 V steps

We used BIOS version 1.0B10 (one of the beta versions of the first firmware), as the latest available at the time of testing. The listed BIOS features are available in the specified firmware; the functionality of non-standard settings has not been tested. The board allows you to call up a menu for selecting a boot device by pressing a certain key during the POST procedure, which makes it possible to conveniently perform a one-time boot, for example, from a CD drive, without making corresponding changes in the BIOS Setup.

It should be noted that during testing we used one of the early beta BIOS versions, which did not even provide for the implementation of DDR3 memory features (which we will talk about below). In this regard, it is worth considering all data on the ranges of permissible voltages and frequencies, etc. as preliminary, and before purchasing, it is advisable to clarify them with the owners of the board in Internet conferences, if this issue is important to you.

MSI P35 Neo

So, as we have already said, the MSI P35 Neo variant with only DDR2 support is functionally and externally fully consistent with the combo model (with the understandable exception of DDR3 support). It is curious that this board also has memory slots arranged in more than one column, but, however, here their arrangement is less exotic - “only” pairs of slots are shifted relative to each other. Another interesting detail is the size of the board: it is 305x220 mm, that is, 5 mm at the same as that of the combo board, and without any visible changes in the wiring.

Obviously, everything said above about the MSI P35 Neo Combo fully applies to this model; even the variations of these boards that came to us for testing were the same: with an ICH9 south bridge (ICH9R is possible) and with a FireWire controller (it may be absent). As for the BIOS firmware, these boards also had the same ones (at the time of our testing), so we have nothing to add on this point either. Thus, we will consider the issue of the performance of MSI P35 Neo boards in one section, and then we will summarize the results for both models at once.

Performance

Test bench configuration:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4 GHz)
Memory:
- 2 modules of 1 GB Corsair CM2X1024-9136C5D (DDR2-1142)
- 2 modules of 1 GB Corsair XMS3-1066C7 (DDR3-1066)
Video card: ATI Radeon X1900 XTX 512 MB
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 (SATA, 7200 rpm)
PSU: HiPro W460GC31
OS: Windows XP SP2

Note that the version available at the time of testing Board BIOS The P35 Neo Combo did not provide the ability to set normal (for DDR3) supply voltage (1.5 V) and timings (they were limited by the standard DDR2 circuit, so it was impossible to set values greater than 6 for the main timings). As a result, our options for using DDR3 memory were severely limited. For details of test bench setups and performance comparison results, we refer you to the presentation of Intel 3x chipsets; here we will also present the performance of the new boards in the standard configuration (DDR2-800@4-4-4) and with DDR3-1066 at timings 7-7-7 .

Test	MSI P35 Neo Combo, DDR3-1066@7-7-7	MSI P35 Neo Combo, DDR2-800@4-4-4	MSI P35 Neo, DDR2-800@4-4-4	Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 (Intel P965), DDR2-800@4-4-4
Archiving in 7-Zip, min:sec	4:17	4:17	4:17	4:10
MPEG4 encoding (XviD), min:sec	3:37	3:37	3:37	3:37
FarCry (Low@640×480), fps	354	352	353	359
FarCry (Highest@1600×1200), fps	151	152	152	151
Doom 3 (Low@640×480), fps	218	215	215	218
Doom 3 (Highest@1600×1200), fps	121	121	121	123

We repeat that we made more detailed conclusions in the above article, but here we will only note the absolute equality in performance of the MSI P35 Neo and MSI P35 Neo Combo, as well as the fact that the new boards, at least with the current BIOS firmware, are a little slower representatives of older chipsets, and DDR3 does not help them get ahead in speed, even at 1066 MHz.

Bottom line

So, P35 boards are not a revelation; they are quite suitable for purchase by almost anyone (although we have not yet seen full implementation of DDR3 support). As for the two specific MSI motherboards reviewed, these are high-quality mid-level models, without “frills” both in terms of configuration and proprietary features. But only computer enthusiasts can make complaints about their functionality; the convenience of wiring and the design of the power unit also deserve praise. At home, we really liked these models, especially the chipset cooling, and we see no reason why MSI P35 Neo boards should be avoided.

The boards were provided for testing by the manufacturer

Page 1 P35 Neo/ G33 Neo series MS-7360 (V1.X) Mainboard G52-73601X1...

Page 2: Copyright Notice

Page 3: Safety Instructions
Safety Instructions Always read the safety instructions carefully. Keep this User's Manual for future reference. Keep this equipment away from humidity. Lay this equipment on a reliable flat surface before setting it up. The openings on the enclosure are for air convection hence protects the equipment from overheating.

Page 4: Fcc-b Radio Frequency Interference Statement

Page 5: Weee (waste Electrical And Electronic Equipment) Statement
WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement...

Page 8: Table Of Contents

Page 9 Clock ...............A-6 Voltage ................... ...... A-7 FAN Speed ......... A-8 Temperature ............. .......A-9 User Profile .........A-10 Appendix B Realtek ALC888 Audio ...... .......B-1 Installing the Realtek Audio Driver ..................B-2 Software Configuration ............... ...B-4 Hardware Setup ...................B-19...

Page 10: Chapter 1 Getting Started

Page 11: Mainboard Specifications
Processor Support ® - Intel Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium and Celeron in the LGA775 package (For the latest information about CPU, please visit http://www.msi. com.tw/cpusupport.htm) Supported FSB - 1333/ 1066/ 800 MHz Chipset ®...
Page 13: Mainboard Layout
M S-7360 M ainboard Mainboard Layout CPUFAN1 Top: mouse Bottom: keyboard JPW1 Top: Parallel Port Bottom: COM portA VGA port (optional) Top:1394 (optional) Bottom: USB ports Int el P35/ G33 Top: LAN Jack Bottom: USB ports Line-In Line-Out T:RS-Out M:CS-Ou t...

Page 14: Packing Checklist

for MSI

Page 15: Chapter 2 Hardware Setup
Hardware Setup Chapter 2 Hardware Setup This chapter provides you with the information about hardware setup procedures. While doing the installation, be careful in holding the components and follow the installation procedures. For some components, if you install in the wrong orientation, the components will not work properly.

Page 16: Quick Components Guide

Page 17: CPU (central Processing Unit)
Celeron processor in LGA 775 package. When you are installing the CPU, make sure to install the cooler to prevent overheating. If you do not have the CPU cooler, consult your dealer before turning on the computer. For the latest information about CPU, please visit http://www.msi.com.tw/testreport.htm Important Overheating Overheating will seriously damage the CPU and system.

Page 18: CPU & Cooler Installation

Page 19 Hardware Setup 5. Lift the load lever up and open the 6. After confirming the CPU direction load plate. for correct mating, put down the CPU in the socket housing frame. Be sure to grasp on the edge of the CPU base. Note that the alignment keys are matched.
Page 21: Memory
Hardware Setup Memory These DIMM slots are used for installing memory modules. For more information on compatible components, please visit http://www.msi.com. tw/testreport.htm DDR2 240-pin, 1.8V 56x2=112 pin 64x2=128 pin Dual-Channel mode Population Rule In Dual-Channel mode, the memory modules can transmit and receive data with two data bus lines simultaneously.

Page 22: Installing Memory Modules

Page 23: Power Supply
Hardware Setup Power Supply ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: JPWR3 This connector allows you to connect an ATX 24-pin power supply. pin 13 To connect the ATX 24-pin power supply, make sure the plug of the power supply is inserted in the proper orientation and the pins are aligned.

Page 24: Back Panel

Serial Port

Page 25 Hardware Setup LAN (RJ-45) Jack The standard RJ-45 jack is for connection Activity Indicator Link Indicator to single Local Area Network (LAN). You can connect a network cable to it. Color LED State condition LAN link is not established. Left Orange On (steady state) LAN link is established.

Page 26: Connectors

Page 27 Hardware Setup Serial ATA Connector: SATA1/ SATA2/ SATA3/ SATA4/ SATA5/ SATA6/ SATA7 (SATA5 & SATA6 are for ICH9R only, SATA7 is controlled by Marvell 88SE6111) This connector is a high-speed Serial ATA interface port . Each connector can connect to one Serial ATA device. SATA7 (optional) SATA6...

Hardware Monitor

Page 29 Hardware Setup Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1 This connector allows you to connect the front panel audio and is compliant with the ® Intel Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide. JAUD1 HD Audio Pin Definition SIGNAL DESCRIPTION MIC_L Microphone - Left channel Ground MIC_R Microphone - Right channel...
Page 31 Hardware Setup S/PDIF-Out Connector: JSPD1 (Optional) This connector is used to connect S/PDIF (Sony & Philips Digital Interconnect Format) interface for digital audio transmission. SPDIF-out JSPD1 S/PDIF Bracket (Optional) IEEE1394 Connector: J1394_1 (Optional) This connector allows you to connect the IEEE1394 device via an optional IEEE1394 bracket.

Page 32: Front Panel Connectors: Jfp1, Jfp2

Page 33: Jumper
Hardware Setup Jumpers Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT1 There is a CMOS RAM onboard that has a power supply from an external battery to keep the data of system configuration. W ith the CMOS RAM, the system can automatically boot OS every time it is turned on. If you want to clear the system configuration, set the jumper to clear data.

Page 34: Slots

Page 35: Chapter 3 Bios Setup
BIOS Setup Chapter 3 BIOS Setup This chapter provides information on the BIOS Setup program and allows you to configure the system for optimum use. You may need to run the Setup program when: ² An error message appears on the screen during the system booting up, and requests you to run SETUP.

Page 36: Entering Setup

key to enter Setup. Press DEL to enter SETUP If the message disappears before you respond and you still wish to enter Setup, restart the system by turning it OFF and On or pressing the RESET button.
Page 37: Control Keys
BIOS Setup Control Keys< >Move to the previous item< ↓>Move to the next item< ←>Move to the item in the left hand< →>Move to the item in the right hand Select the item ...

Page 38: The Main Menu
M S-7360 M ainboard The Main Menu Standard CM OS Features Use this menu for basic system configurations, such as time, date etc. Advanced BIOS Features ® Use this menu to setup the items of AMI special enhanced features. Integrated Peripherals Use this menu to specify your settings for integrated peripherals.
Page 39 BIOS Setup Load Optimized Defaults Use this menu to load the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifi- cally for optimal performance of the mainboard. BIOS Setting Password Use this menu to set the password for BIOS. Save & Exit Setup Save changes to CMOS and exit setup.

Page 40: Standard Cmos Features
M S-7360 M ainboard Standard CMOS Features The items in Standard CMOS Features Menu includes some basic setup items. Use the arrow keys to highlight the item and then use the Or Keys to select the value you want in each item. Date (MM:DD:YY) This allows you to set the system to the date that you want (usually the current date).
Page 41 BIOS Setup LBA/Large M ode This allows you to enable or disable the LBA Mode. Setting to Auto enables LBA mode if the device supports it and the devices is not already formatted with LBA mode disabled. DM A M ode Select DMA Mode.

Page 42: Advanced Bios Features
M S-7360 M ainboard Advanced BIOS Features Boot Sector Protection This function protects the BIOS from accidental corruption by unauthorized users or computer viruses. W hen enabled, the BIOS’ data cannot be changed when attempting to update the BIOS with a Flash utility. To successfully update the BIOS, you’ll need to disable this Flash BIOS Protection function.
Page 43 BIOS Setup IOAPIC Function This field is used to enable or disable the APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller). Due to compliance with PC2001 design guide, the system is able to run in APIC mode. Enabling APIC mode will expand available IRQ resources for the system. MPS Table Version This field allows you to select which MPS (Multi-Processor Specification) version to be used for the operating system.
Page 44 M S-7360 Mainboard Boot Sequence Press to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears: 1st/ 2nd/ 3rd Boot Device The items allow you to set the first/ second/ third boot device where BIOS attempts to load the disk operating system. Boot From Other Device Setting the option to allows the system to try to boot from other device.
Page 45: Integrated Peripherals
BIOS Setup Integrated Peripherals USB Controller This setting allows you to enable/disable the onboard USB controller. USB Device Legacy Support Select if you need to use a USB-interfaced device in the operating system. Onboard LAN Controller This item is used to enable/disable the onboard LAN controller. LAN Option ROM This item is used to decide whether to invoke the Boot ROM of the LAN controller.
Page 46 M S-7360 Mainboard On-Chip ATA Devices Press to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears: PCI IDE BusMaster This item allows you to enable/ disable BIOS to used PCI busmastering for reading/ writing to IDE drives. On-Chip SATA Controller This setting is used to specify the operating mode for SATA devices.
Page 47: Power Management Setup
BIOS Setup Power Management Setup Important S3-related functions described in this section are available only when your BIOS supports S3 sleep mode. ACPI Function This item is to activate the ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface) Function. If your operating system is ACPI-aware, such as Windows 2000/ XP, select.
Page 48 M S-7360 M ainboard Re-Call VGA BIOS From S3 W hen ACPI Standby State is set to , users can select the options in this field. Selecting allows BIOS to call VGABIOS to initialize the VGA card when system wakes up (resumes) from S3 sleep state. The system resume time is short-ened when you disable the function, but the system will need an VGA driver to initialize the VGA card.
Page 49 BIOS Setup Resume From S3 by PS/2 Mouse This setting determines whether the system will be awakened from what power saving modes when input signal of the PS/2 mouse is detected. Resume by PCI Device (PME#) W hen set to , the feature allows your system to be awakened from the power saving modes through any event on PME (Power Management Event).

Page 50: Pnp/pci Configurations
M S-7360 M ainboard PNP/PCI Configurations This section describes configuring the PCI bus system and PnP (Plug & Play) feature. PCI, or Peripheral Component Interconnect, is a system which allows I/O devices to operate at speeds nearing the speed the CPU itself uses when communicating with its special components.
Page 51 BIOS Setup IRQ Resource Setup Press to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears. IRQ 3/4/5/7/9/10/11/14/15 These items specify the bus where the specified IRQ line is used. The settings determine if AMIBIOS should remove an IRQ from the pool of avail- able IRQs passed to devices that are configurable by the system BIOS.

Page 52: H/w Monitor
M S-7360 M ainboard H/W Monitor Chassis Intrusion The field enables or disables the feature of recording the chassis intrusion status and issuing a warning message if the chassis is once opened. To clear the warning message, set the field to . The setting of the field will automatically return to later.
Page 53: Frequency/voltage control
D.O.T Control D.O.T. (Dynamic Overclocking Technology) is the automatic overclocking function,’s newly developed CoreCell included in the MSI Technology. It is designed to detect the load balance of CPU while running programs, and to adjust the best CPU frequency automatically. W hen the motherboard detects CPU is running programs, it will speed up CPU automatically to make the program run smoothly and faster.
Page 54 M S-7360 M ainboard 2nd level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 3%. 3rd level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 5%. 4th level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 7%. 5th level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 10%. 6th level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 15%.
Page 55 BIOS Setup DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay This field allows you to set the number of cycles for a timing delay between the CAS and RAS strobe signals, used when DRAM is written to, read from or refreshed. Fast speed offers faster performance while slow speed offers more stable performance.
Page 56 M S-7360 M ainboard VTT FSB Voltage This item allows you to set the FSB VTT voltage. Spread Spectrum Configuration CPU Spread Spectrum This setting is used to enable or disable the Spread Spectrum feature. W hen overclocking, always set it to. Important 1.
Page 57: Load Fail-safe/Optimized Defaults
BIOS Setup Load Fail-Safe/ Optimized Defaults The two options on the main menu allow users to restore all of the BIOS settings to the default Fail-Safe or Optimized values. The Optimized Defaults are the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifically for optimal performance of the mainboard.

Page 58: Bios Setting Password
M S-7360 M ainboard BIOS Setting Password W hen you select this function, a message as below will appear on the screen: Type the password, up to six characters in length, and press . The password typed now will replace any previously set password from CMOS memory. You will be prompted to confirm the password.
Page 59: Appendix A Dual Core Center
Dual Core Center Dual CoreCenter, the most useful and powerful utility that MSI has spent muc h researc h and ef forts to develop, helps users to monitor or configure the hard-ware status of MSI Mainboard & MSI Graphics card in windows, such as CPU /GPU clock, voltage, fan speed and temperature.

Page 60: Activating Dual Core Center
Activating Dual Core Center Once you have your Dual Core Center installed (locate the setup source file in the setup CD accompanying with your mainboard, path: Utility --> MSI Utility --> Dual Core Center), it will have an icon in the system tray, a short cut icon on the desktop, and a short cut path in your “Start-up”...
Page 61: Main
Dual Core Center Main Before using this utility, we have to remind you: only when installing the MSI V044 (V044 has to install with the version 8.26 or newer driver)/ V046 or V060 graphics card can activate the full function of this utility. If you install a graphics card of other brand, only hardware status of the MSI mainboard would be available.
Page 62 M S-7360 M ainboard AV/ Game/ Office/ Silence/ Cool MSI provides five common settings for different environments. The settings had been set to optimal values to react h better performanc e in eac h environment. Click the button you need.
Page 63: Dot(dynamic Over Clocking
Dynamic Overclocking Technology is an automatic overclocking function, included in 's newly developed Dual CoreCenter Technology. It is designed to detect the MSI loading of CPU/ GPU while running programs, and to over-clock automatically. When the motherboard detects that the loading of CPU is exceed the default threshold for a time, it will speed up the CPU and fan automatically to make the system run smoother and faster.

Page 64: Clock
M S-7360 M ainboard Clock In the Clock sub-menu, you can see clock status (including FSB/ CPU clock of mainboard and GPU/ memory clock of graphics card) of your system. And you can select desired value for overclocking. There will be several items for you to select for overclocking after you click button.
Page 65: Voltage
Dual Core Center Voltage In the Voltage sub-menu, you can see voltage status (including Vcore, memory, GPU voltage... etc.) of your system, and you can select desired value for overclocking. It will show several items to select for overclocking after you click the button.

Page 66: Fan Speed
M S-7360 M ainboard FAN Speed In the FAN Speed sub-menu, you can read fan status of your system. Select higher speed for better cooling effect. There are several sections for you to change the fan speed to a section after clicking button.
Page 67: Temperature
Dual Core Center Temperature In the Temperature sub-menu, you can see temperature status of your system. On the underside, it shows the graphs of the temperatures. Only the curves of the item which the button is lit up with red color will be shown.

Page 68: User Profile
M S-7360 M ainboard User Profile In the User Profile sub-menu, click the setting button that besides the user profile bar, and the next screen will appear. Here you can define the clock/ fan speed/ voltage by your need, click the button to choose a value quickly, or click the plus / minus sign button to...
Page 69 Dual Core Center Use the draw bar to set the max system temperature. W hen the system temperature exceeds the threshold you defined, the system will pop up a warning message and shut down the system. Use the draw bar to set the minimal fan speed. When the fan speed is lower than the threshold you defined, the system will pop up a warning message.

Page 70: Appendix B Realtek Alc888 Audio
Realtek ALC888 Audio Appendix B Realtek ALC888 Audio The Realtek ALC888 provides 10-channel DAC that si- multaneously supports 7.1 sound playback and 2 channels of independent s tereo s ound output (multiple streaming) through the Front-Out-Left and Front- Out-Right channels.
Page 71: Installing The Realtek Hd Audio Driver
M S-7360 M ainboard Installing the Realtek HD Audio Driver You need to install the driver for Realtek ALC888 codec to function properly before you can get access to 2-, 4-, 6-, 8- channel or 7.1+2 channel audio operations . Follow the procedures described below to install the drivers for different operating systems.
Page 72 Realtek ALC888 Audio 3. Click Next to install the Realtek High Definition Audio Driver. Click here 4. Click Finish to restart the system. S el ec t hi s option Click here...
Page 73: Software Configuration
M S-7360 M ainboard Software Configuration After installing the audio driver, you are able to use the 2-, 4-, 6- or 8- channel audio feature now. Click the audio icon from the system tray at the lower-right corner of the screen to activate the HD Audio Configuration. It is also available to enable the audio driver by clicking the Azalia HD Sound Effect Manager from the Control Panel.

Page 74: Sound Effect
Realtek ALC888 Audio Sound Effect Here you can select a sound effect you like from the Environment list. Environment Simulation You will be able to enjoy different sound experience by pulling down the arrow, totally 23 kinds of sound effect will be shown for selection. Realtek HD Audio Sound Manager also provides five popular settings “Stone Corridor”, “Bathroom”, “Sewer pipe”, “Arena”...
Page 75 M S-7360 M ainboard Equalizer Selection Equalizer frees users from default settings; users may create their owned preferred settings by utilizing this tool. 10 bands of equalizer, ranging from 100Hz to 16KHz. Save Reset The settings are saved 10 bands of equalizer permanently for the future would go back to the de- fault setting...
Page 76 Realtek ALC888 Audio Frequently Used Equalizer Setting Realtek recognizes the needs that you might have. By leveraging our long experience at audio field, Realtek HD Audio Sound Manager provides you with certain optimized equalizer settings that are frequently used for your quick enjoyment. Other than the buttons “Pop”...
Page 77 M S-7360 M ainboard Mixer In the Mixer part, you may adjust the volumes of the rear and front panels individually. 1. Adjust Volume You can adjust the volume of the speakers that you plugged in front or rear panel. Important Before set up, please make sure the playback devices are well plugged in the jacks on the rear or front panel.
Page 78 Realtek ALC888 Audio W hen you are playing the first audio source (for example: use Windows Media Player to play DVD/VCD), the output will be played from the rear panel, which is the default setting. Then you must to select the Realtek HD Audio 2nd output from the scroll list first, and use a different program to play the second audio source (for example: use Winamp to play MP3 files).
Page 79 M S-7360 Mainboard 3. Playback control Playback device Tool Mute This function is to let you freely decide which ports to output the sound. And this is essential when multi-streaming playback enabled. - Realtek HD Audio Output - Realtek HD Audio 2nd Output M u te You may choose to mute single or multiple volume controls or to completely mute sound output.
Page 80 Realtek ALC888 Audio 4. Recording control Recording device -Realtek HDA Primary input Tool Mute -Mic in at front panel (Green) M u te You may choose to mute single or multiple volume controls or to completely mute sound input. Tool - Show the following volume controls This is to let you freely decide which volume control items to be displayed.
Page 81 M S-7360 Mainboard Audio I/O In this tab, you can easily configure your multi-channel audio function and speakers. You can choose a desired multi-channel operation here. a. Headphone for the common headphone b. 2CH Speaker for Stereo-Speaker Output c. 4CH Speaker for 4-Speaker Output d.
Page 82 Realtek ALC888 Audio Connector Settings Click to access connector settings. Disable front panel jack detection (option) Jack detection function only works with HD audio front panel. M ute rear panel output when front headphone plugged in. Enable auto popup dialogue, when device has been plugged in Once this item checked, the dialog “Connected device”...
Page 83 M S-7360 M ainboard S/PDIF (optional, for HDMI graphics card only) Short for Sony/Philips Digital Interface, a standard audio file transfer format. S/PDIF allows the transfer of digital audio signals from one device to another without having to be converted first to an analog format. Maintaining the viability of a digital signal prevents the quality of the signal from degrading when it is converted to analog.
Page 84 Realtek ALC888 Audio Test Speakers You can select the speaker by clicking it to test its functionality. The one you select will light up and make testing sound. If any speaker fails to make sound, then check whether the cable is inserted firmly to the connector or replace the bad speakers with good ones.
Page 85 M S-7360 M ainboard Microphone In this tab you may set the function of the microphone. Select the Noise Suppression to remove the possible noise during recording, or select Acoustic Echo Cancelltion to cancel the acoustic echo druing recording. Acoustic Echo Cancelltion prevents playback sound from being recorded by microphone together with your sound.

Page 86: D Audio Demo
Realtek ALC888 Audio 3D Audio Demo In this tab you may adjust your 3D positional audio before playing 3D audio applications like gaming. You may also select different environment to choose the most suitable environment you like. B-17...
Page 87 M S-7360 M ainboard Information In this tab it provides some information about this HD Audio Configuration utility, including Audio Driver Version, DirectX Version, Audio Controller & Audio Codec. You may also select the language of this utility by choosing from the Language list. Also there is a selection Show icon in system tray.

Page 88: Hardware Setup
Realtek ALC888 Audio Hardware Setup Connecting the Speakers W hen you have set the Multi-Channel Audio Function mode properly in the software utility, connect your speakers to the correct phone jacks in accordance with the setting in software utility. n 2-Channel M ode for Stereo-Speaker Output Refer to the following diagram and caption for the function of each phone jack on the back panel when 2-Channel Mode is selected.
Page 89 M S-7360 M ainboard n 4-Channel M ode for 4-Speaker Output 4-Channel Analog Audio Output Line In Line Out (Front channels) Line Out (Rear channels) No function No function B-20...
Page 90 Realtek ALC888 Audio n 6-Channel M ode for 6-Speaker Output 6-Channel Analog Audio Output Line In Line Out (Front channels) Line Out (Rear channels) Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel) No function B-21. ..
Page 91 M S-7360 M ainboard n 8-Channel M ode for 8-Speaker Output 8-Channel Analog Audio Output Line In Line Out (Front channels) Line Out (Rear channels) Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel) Line Out ( Side channels) B-22...

MotherboardMSIP35NEO-F

Currently, the MSI line of motherboards based on the Intel P35 chipset consists of five boards that differ in both price and functionality.

NEO series boards are positioned as solutions for budget-conscious users. The configuration of such boards is, as a rule, an example of reasonable minimalism. The Platinum and Diamond series are designed for computer enthusiasts. For their manufacture, high-quality Japanese capacitors are used; copper radiators and heat pipes are used to cool the heating elements.

Packaging and equipment

The MSI P35 NEO-F board comes in a glossy cardboard box with an image of the clawed paw of an unknown monster, making its way to the board with steel claws through an obstacle:

Having opened the box, you will find, in addition to the board itself, a minimal set of additional accessories:

2 disks with software and drivers for various operating systems: Windows XP and Windows Vista (information on the official website states that WinME/9x OS are not supported by the board);

user guide;

cable UDMA-66/100/133;

SATA cable;

power cord for SATA devices (MOLEX-SATA adapter);

rear I/O panel (not shown).

This is a typical configuration for low-end boards price range, and MSI could add a couple of additional brackets to the kit, especially since according to the manual this is optional.

Board capabilities, design and layout,BIOS, included software

The main features of the board are described in the table:

Supported processors	- Intel Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium and Celeron (LGA775)
Supported FSB	- 1333/ 1066/ 800 MHz
Chipset	- Northbridge: Intel® P35 - Southbridge: Intel® ICH9
Supported Memory	- DDR2 667/800 SDRAM (240pin/ non-ECC) - 4 DDR2 DIMM slots (8 GB Max)
Net	- Gigabit network (Realtek RTL8111B)
Audio	- Realtek ALC888 - 7.1 channel audio output - Compatible with Azalia
IDE	- 1 IDE port, supported by Marvell 88SE6111 - Supports Ultra DMA 66/100/133, PIO and Bus Master modes
SATA	- 4 SATA ports (SATA1~4) supported by ICH9 south bridge - SATA 5 supported by Marvell 8SE6111 - Bandwidth up to 300 MB/s
RAID	- SATA1~6 support RAID 0/ 1/ 0+1/ 5
Floppy	- 1 floppy port - Supports 1 FDD (360 KB, 720 KB, 1.2 MB, 1.44 MB and 2.88 MB)
Back panel	- 1 PS/2 connector (mouse) - 1 PS/2 connector (keyboard) - 1 parallel port supporting SPP/EPP/ECP mode - 1 COM1 port - 4 USB ports - 1 LAN connector - 6 audio outputs
Connectors soldered on the board	- 4 USB 2.0 - 1 Front Panel Audio - 1 CD-In - 1 SPDIF-out
Slots	- 1 PCI Express x 16 - 3 PCI Express x 1 - 2 PCI slots, 3.3V/ 5V PCI
Form factor	ATX (30.5 cm X 22.0 cm)
Number of mounting holes	6

Design and Layout

You can evaluate the board layout by looking at the following picture:

As a rule, when designing a budget-level motherboard, engineers do not have to rack their brains over the problem of placing various components due to their scarcity. Among the main disadvantages of the wiring, we should note the too close location of the memory slot, power connector and IDE connector: while assembling the system on an open bench will not be difficult, in most cases this will create some problems.

The bulky cooling of some modern cards can block the first couple of connectors for memory slots, and, by the way, this problem occurs quite often in most motherboards. The FDD connector is located at the very bottom of the board, but given the widespread extinction of floppy disks, we can safely turn a blind eye to this.

Having assessed the layout, it’s time to turn your attention directly to the board:

Any experienced user will immediately understand by the bright red color of the PCB that this is an MSI board, and a budget one at that. MSI prefers to manufacture more expensive products on black PCB.

The northbridge, Intel P35, is covered with a fairly large passive radiator, which, as was said in the introductory part of the review, fully complies with the recommendations of the chipset manufacturer.

The processor power module is assembled according to a three-channel design, which is quite sufficient if low- and mid-level processors are used. But for overclocking, especially if you want to overclock, for example, a top-end quad-core processor, this may simply not be enough. However, it is difficult to blame MSI engineers for this: in addition to a top-end processor, they usually purchase a corresponding motherboard, and for this MSI has motherboards from the Platinum or Diamond series. On the tested board you can find both classic capacitors from various manufacturers (traces of savings are evident) and modern polymer electrolytes:

The board under test supports up to 8 GB of DDR2-800 memory; for this purpose, 4 memory slots are soldered, offset in pairs relative to each other:

The board is equipped with three PCI-E 1x slots, which, in our opinion, is somewhat redundant: the corresponding peripherals cannot be found during the day, so it would be better if MSI engineers soldered at least one more PCI slot. Judge for yourself, in the computer of a digital technology lover you can often find a TV tuner or a high-quality video capture card sound card and that's all if the board provides only two PCI slots. You have to incur additional expenses by purchasing an external sound card or modem, but the list of common peripherals does not end there.

The Clear CMOS jumper (JBAT1) is also conveniently located - near the two bottom PCI-E slots 1x, near the battery, so even in the system unit it will be quite easy to reset BIOS settings in case of unsuccessful overclocking.

The South Bridge is also covered with a passive radiator, but this is quite enough: according to the digital thermometer, during testing the radiator temperature did not exceed 40? C. The board uses the ICH9 south bridge, so only 4+1 SATA connectors are soldered; support for the fifth SATA connector is provided by a chip manufactured by Marvell (Marvell 88SE6111):

The rear I/O panel also lacks functional richness:

As you can see from the figure, only the essentials are displayed on the rear panel: PS/2 connectors for a mouse and keyboard, four USB connectors, Serial and Parallel ports, and audio subsystem outputs and inputs. The user manual mentions that an optional D-SUB VGA connector can be found on the rear panel. Perhaps in the future MSI plans to provide budget fee built-in video core. However, why not? Naturally, it will use the G33 north bridge.

On the reverse side, the board does not contain any soldered elements, so there should be no problems with attaching some back-plates.

System monitoring is carried out thanks to the Fintek F71882FG chip:

BIOS and overclocking options

MSI is one of a small group of motherboard manufacturers that use AMI BIOS.

The most interesting, of course, is the Frequency/Voltage Control section, where overclocking functions are concentrated. For inexperienced users, the option of automatic overclocking is provided. Boards from other manufacturers, in particular ASUS, have a similar option. In MSI's interpretation, this function is called D.O.T., which stands for Dynamic Overclocking Technology. The names may be different, but the essence remains the same: the board gradually increases the system bus frequency and stops at a certain stable frequency, which is what it is proposed to use. Needless to say, overclocking the processor in manual mode will bring much top scores. User can disable this function and select one of the following options:

Everything is extremely simple: by choosing, for example, the Commander option, the board will increase the system bus frequency by 15%, respectively, overclocking the processor.

More experienced users can independently change the bus frequencies, as well as the operating voltage on the processor, memory and northbridge.

To the credit of MSI engineers, they did not cut down on the overclocking capabilities of the board, even despite its obvious positioning in budget segment: the maximum voltage values are very high, they are most likely typical for top overclocking solutions, judge for yourself:

So, you can increase the voltage on the processor to 1.55V, which, if you have a highly efficient cooler or more serious cooling, will allow you to successfully overclock most processors supported by the board. Only the three-channel power subsystem can become an obstacle (and probably will), but this is a little off topic. From the default value for DDR2 voltage of 1.8 V, the user has the opportunity to increase it right up to 3.3 V. Considering that only the legendary BH-5 chips, which are known to comply with the DDR standard, could withstand such a voltage without signs of long-term destruction, and even Modern DDR2 overclocking modules are designed for an operating voltage of about 2.4 V (with a further increase in voltage the memory will simply be destroyed), but 3.3 V is clearly too much. The board developers could, for example, hide the voltage increase in the range of 2.4-3.3 V from most inept experimenters, but this did not happen.

As for the voltage on the north bridge, you can increase it from 1.2 V to 1.6 V. Perhaps in this case, passive cooling of the chipset will not be possible.

For finer tuning, the user is given the opportunity to use various FSB:DRAM dividers.

An unpleasant surprise awaited us here: the board set the values at its own discretion, and sometimes, in order to achieve memory functioning at 800 MHz, we had to set the values at random - at a system bus frequency of 200 MHz, the 1:2 divider gave completely incorrect results. Naturally, the correct operation of the memory had to be checked using several information and testing utilities, for example, Everest. Obviously, this is an annoying BIOS flaw that should be fixed in latest versions firmware.

The hardware monitoring section provides the ability to monitor the following parameters:

Nothing special, everything is modest, just like in GigaByte boards.

Included software

As for branded software, then MSI offered the Dual Core Center utility. As the name suggests, the utility provides access to monitoring and settings of both motherboard and video adapter parameters. But with a small caveat: the video card must also be manufactured by MSI. The test showed that the utility often produces complete nonsense, and the usefulness of its use is highly questionable.

In the absence of overclocking, however, such bugs were not observed.

Another, the Live Update utility, which is designed to safely BIOS updates in a Windows environment, stubbornly insisted that the latest BIOS for this board had already been installed, although an update had already appeared on the website:

Thus, the utilities supplied by the manufacturer turned out to be an absolutely useless toy, and they also do not shine with design delights.

Msi p35 neo supported processors. MSI P35 Neo3 is an inexpensive solution based on Intel P35. Ports, connectors and connectors on the surface of the board

MSI P35 Neo and MSI P35 Neo Combo- motherboards based on the Intel P35 chipset

MSI P35 Neo Combo

System monitoring (Fintek F71882FG, according to BIOS Setup)

Ports, connectors and connectors on the surface of the board

Rear panel of the board (from left to right, by block)

Contents of delivery

Integrated Controllers

Settings

MSI P35 Neo

Performance

Bottom line

Page 2: Copyright Notice

Page 3: Safety Instructions

Page 4: Fcc-b Radio Frequency Interference Statement

Page 5: Weee (waste Electrical And Electronic Equipment) Statement

Page 8: Table Of Contents

Page 10: Chapter 1 Getting Started

Page 11: Mainboard Specifications

Page 13: Mainboard Layout

Page 14: Packing Checklist

Page 15: Chapter 2 Hardware Setup

Page 16: Quick Components Guide

Page 17: CPU (central Processing Unit)

Page 18: CPU & Cooler Installation

Page 21: Memory

Page 22: Installing Memory Modules

Page 23: Power Supply

Page 24: Back Panel

Page 26: Connectors

Page 32: Front Panel Connectors: Jfp1, Jfp2

Page 33: Jumper

Page 34: Slots

Page 35: Chapter 3 Bios Setup

Page 36: Entering Setup

Page 37: Control Keys

Page 38: The Main Menu

Page 40: Standard Cmos Features

Page 42: Advanced Bios Features

Page 45: Integrated Peripherals

Page 47: Power Management Setup

Page 50: Pnp/pci Configurations

Page 52: H/w Monitor

Page 53: Frequency/voltage control

Page 57: Load Fail-safe/Optimized Defaults

Page 58: Bios Setting Password

Page 59: Appendix A Dual Core Center

Page 60: Activating Dual Core Center

Page 61: Main

Page 63: Dot(dynamic Over Clocking

Page 64: Clock

Page 65: Voltage

Page 66: Fan Speed

Page 67: Temperature

Page 68: User Profile

Page 70: Appendix B Realtek Alc888 Audio

Page 71: Installing The Realtek Hd Audio Driver

Page 73: Software Configuration

Page 74: Sound Effect

Page 86: D Audio Demo

Page 88: Hardware Setup