Early Look: MSI's P45 & nForce 780a mobos - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 18th Apr 2008, 12:00

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...e_780a_mobos/1

During our trip to China and Taiwan earlier this month, we paid a visit to MSI's headquarters in Taipei to see what the company is up to. Today, we've got pictures and thoughts on two of the company's newest motherboards - the P45 Platinum and K9N2 Diamond.

[USRF]Obiwan · 18th Apr 2008, 12:27

Stll waiting for a working 'intel' SLI based motherboard. I like the layouts of both the boards but i am a little scared about the picture below:

isn't the top heat pipe getting in the way of the PCI-E card?

naokaji · 18th Apr 2008, 12:27

The Thermalright Ultima 90 (which is by far not the biggest cooler avalaible) just barely fits on my p35 platinum due to the heatpipe "mess"... I hope there will be less cleareance problems with the p45 version.

Jar of Almonds · 18th Apr 2008, 12:32

While I appreciate the nostalgia, jumpers have had their place in time. Let them sleep quietly in the past.... such fun memories on my k6-2 motherboard. Although it is nice to see that they at least admit their BIOS is lacking against their competitors.

*I wish ASUS would put better descriptions on what their BIOS options do.....*

kenco_uk · 18th Apr 2008, 12:39

Heatpipes a-go-go! No wonder some motherboards are so dear, the amount of copper included on them these days.

TomH · 18th Apr 2008, 12:44

Any mention of whether or not the 10GigE port was included on the ICH10R bridge? There's about 0.0001% chance that anyone will be able to use it right now, but it'd be the first example of an affordable 10GigE NIC if it's there! I've been looking into 10GigE/Infiniband hardware lately, so it's currently 'relevent to my interests'.

(I very much doubt it'll be able to provide [anything near] the full ~1.1GB/sec transfer rate but.. Be nice to see some benchmarks against the existing Gigabit-based ICH9.)

Almightyrastus · 18th Apr 2008, 12:45

that chipset cooler is a thing of beauty although my opinions may change if it makes things evil to work on

Squadexodus · 18th Apr 2008, 13:04

Quote:

MSI claims that they dissipate less heat than a traditional design

Isnt that a bad thing, you want to dissipate less heat, correct?

The boy 4rm oz · 18th Apr 2008, 13:07

They mean the chips produce less heat.

Tim S · 18th Apr 2008, 14:43

yes, sorry - bad choice of word. They produce less heat than traditional designs.

Tyinsar · 18th Apr 2008, 17:49

<- NOT an MSI fan but this:

looks great.

(not sure how well it functions but I doubt I'll ever own one anyway so...)

wuyanxu · 18th Apr 2008, 18:07

i am pretty sure those heatpipes are just for show.

Jik · 18th Apr 2008, 18:21

Maybe its just me, but on the K9A2, putting the pci-e 1x in the middle of the pci-e x16 seems like a bad idea. It would be nice if it had an extra pci-e 1x since they know what you will use that one for... Hopefully they make the SLI connector long enough to make it over their sound card.

The_Beast · 20th Apr 2008, 01:11

The heatpipes look pretty good

but they're too big

MilkMan5 · 21st Apr 2008, 11:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by [USRF]Obiwan

Stll waiting for a working 'intel' SLI based motherboard.

The way things seem to be going between nVidia and Intel – reminds me when Intel and AMD ‘loved’ each other.
Unfortunately Intel currently does not support nVidia’s SLI technology and to be honest, don’t see anything on the way.

[USRF]Obiwan · 21st Apr 2008, 14:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by MilkMan5

Quote:

Originally Posted by [USRF]Obiwan

Stll waiting for a working 'intel' SLI based motherboard.

The way things seem to be going between nVidia and Intel – reminds me when Intel and AMD ‘loved’ each other.
Unfortunately Intel currently does not support nVidia’s SLI technology and to be honest, don’t see anything on the way.

Actually, i have found one! And its a winner

wuyanxu · 21st Apr 2008, 15:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by [USRF]Obiwan

Actually, i have found one! And its a winner

that's an nVidia chipset.

may be Intel wants AMD to be forced into graphics only, and at the same time squeeze nVidia out.

Splynncryth · 25th Apr 2008, 02:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jar of Almonds

While I appreciate the nostalgia, jumpers have had their place in time. Let them sleep quietly in the past.... such fun memories on my k6-2 motherboard. Although it is nice to see that they at least admit their BIOS is lacking against their competitors.

*I wish ASUS would put better descriptions on what their BIOS options do.....*

Might anyone know the specifics on the BIOS for this board? I'm wondering if the lack of features might be due to MSI focusing on something else, or maybe the BIOS is something different than their BIOS in the past and they don't have all the bells and whistles done yet.

Concerning those cryptic options, maybe someone should start a thread on them. They may have to deal with specific hardware functionality and the descriptions make sense, but only if you know the hardware.

18th Apr 2008, 12:00	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Early Look: MSI's P45 & nForce 780a mobos http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...e_780a_mobos/1 During our trip to China and Taiwan earlier this month, we paid a visit to MSI's headquarters in Taipei to see what the company is up to. Today, we've got pictures and thoughts on two of the company's newest motherboards - the P45 Platinum and K9N2 Diamond. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

18th Apr 2008, 12:27	#2
[USRF]Obiwan Ultramodder Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,220	Stll waiting for a working 'intel' SLI based motherboard. I like the layouts of both the boards but i am a little scared about the picture below: isn't the top heat pipe getting in the way of the PCI-E card? __________________ Mascleta: "The most accurate simulation of thunder, humans can simulate..." The answer is 42, so... whats the question again? If you know what 'Peek' and 'Poke' represents, then you are probably as old as me.

18th Apr 2008, 12:32	#4
Jar of Almonds Minimodder Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Posts: 22	While I appreciate the nostalgia, jumpers have had their place in time. Let them sleep quietly in the past.... such fun memories on my k6-2 motherboard. Although it is nice to see that they at least admit their BIOS is lacking against their competitors. I wish ASUS would put better descriptions on what their BIOS options do..... __________________ Some days you're the fly. Other days you're the windshield.

18th Apr 2008, 12:39	#5
kenco_uk I feel your presents. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Bourne, Lincolnshire, UK Posts: 6,303	Heatpipes a-go-go! No wonder some motherboards are so dear, the amount of copper included on them these days. __________________ MSI X58M - i7 920 4Ghz - 6GB Corsair - GTX260 648/2520 ::: Vote for bit-tech T - theevilelephant - "it sounded like bouncing around on a pogo stick, screaming in chinese while occasionally throwing a cat at a door."

18th Apr 2008, 12:44	#6
TomH Bwahahahahaha Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Salford Posts: 609	Any mention of whether or not the 10GigE port was included on the ICH10R bridge? There's about 0.0001% chance that anyone will be able to use it right now, but it'd be the first example of an affordable 10GigE NIC if it's there! I've been looking into 10GigE/Infiniband hardware lately, so it's currently 'relevent to my interests'. (I very much doubt it'll be able to provide [anything near] the full ~1.1GB/sec transfer rate but.. Be nice to see some benchmarks against the existing Gigabit-based ICH9.) __________________ Blog: full of inspirational geekism. Maybe. StaffsLUG: Linux users group, Staffordshire.

18th Apr 2008, 12:45	#7
Almightyrastus Heathen Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nottingham, England Posts: 442	that chipset cooler is a thing of beauty although my opinions may change if it makes things evil to work on __________________ Lo there do I see my Father. Lo there do I see my Mother, and my Sisters and my Brothers. Lo there do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning. Lo they do call to me. They bid me take my place among them, in the halls of Valhalla where the brave may live forever.

18th Apr 2008, 14:43	#10
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	yes, sorry - bad choice of word. They produce less heat than traditional designs. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

18th Apr 2008, 17:49	#11
Tyinsar 6 screens / 1 card Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: AB.CA Posts: 2,005	<- NOT an MSI fan but this: looks great. (not sure how well it functions but I doubt I'll ever own one anyway so...) __________________ It's not about how life treats you, it's about how you treat life.

18th Apr 2008, 18:07	#12
wuyanxu quad fuelled, GTX200 powered Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: in a room near Soton Uni. UK Posts: 3,943	i am pretty sure those heatpipes are just for show. __________________ Death to consolification !!!Core i7 860 @ 4Ghz Cooled by Corsair H50 // Asus P7P55D Deluxe // 8GB of Corsair Dominators @ 1528Mhz 8-8-8-24 // BFG gtx260+ OC2 MaxCore 216SP 896MB // Samsung 64GB SSD // WD Raptor 74GB + Black 1TB + Green 1TB // Corsair Hx620w // Antec p182 // Samsung 24" T240

18th Apr 2008, 18:21	#13
Jik A Dremel, what is it? Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 17	Maybe its just me, but on the K9A2, putting the pci-e 1x in the middle of the pci-e x16 seems like a bad idea. It would be nice if it had an extra pci-e 1x since they know what you will use that one for... Hopefully they make the SLI connector long enough to make it over their sound card. __________________ Phenom 9500 Quad @ 2.4GHz, Asus M2A-VM (), 2GB DDR2 800 @ 4-4-4-12 memory, 8800GT @ 700/1700/2000, SB Audigy2 ZS Platinum Pro, 250GB WD HDD, DVD+-RW, 550W PSU, XP

20th Apr 2008, 01:11	#14
The_Beast I am The Stig Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 3,224	The heatpipes look pretty good but they're too big __________________ Rendering Machine - Gigabyte DS3L P35 - C2Q Q6600 - Antec New Solution Series NSK4480B - Corsair XMS2 2Gb - Sapphire 2600 XT 256mb - Seagate 'Cuda 320 GB - Antec Earthwatt 430 watt - Windows XP Pro -