Great For The Budget Gamer
Written: Oct 14 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Upgradable, ATA-100, Onboard Sound, Easily Overclocked, Diagnostic LED's, Temp. Sensor
Cons: SD-RAM not DDR, On-Board Sound
The Bottom Line: A great SD-RAM motherboard, for anyone who doesn't want to spend a lot, but still get great performance.
|
|
|
| bobtheguardian's Full Review: MicroStar Socket A MS-6330 Motherboard |
I bought this motherboard, in July for my Computer which I primarily use for gaming. At the time DDR RAM was still too expensive, so I went for this one. I could list you all the features but they are on the MSI website. http://www.msi.com.tw/products/mainboard/mainboard.php?model=MS-6330+V3.0
The board I got does not have RAID, as I don't have enough money for 2 hard drives, however the ATA-100 interface is still very fast. Rather than focusing on the chipset, as the features are basically the same for all motherboards with KT-133A I will focus on the extras MSI has added.
The first thing you will notice when first POST your system is the Diagnostic LED's on the back of the board. These are very useful when you are troubleshooting you computer as they tell you exactly what is wrong. An on board soundcard is also included, which may be good or bad. If you don't have a soundcard, it is a welcome addition, but since it is only a soundblaster 16 (I think), and almost any soundcard will be better. The sound quality is fine, but if you purchase a soundcard you will be taking a load off of the CPU. Two USB connectors, are on the back of the motherboard, and two more can be added with an included cable that attaches to one of your empty lots on the back of your case.
The BIOS included is very good, but if you are into over clocking, you will want to download the over clocking BIOS from MSI's website. The BIOS offers a lot of options in order to improve your performance, including an option to bump the FSB by 1 MHz increments. I have had my Duron 800 running at 1050 MHz for two months and it has been running very stable. Included on the CD are a number of useful programs, including PC Alert, which monitors your CPU temperature a great program for over clockers. If you aren't comfortable with over clocking via your BIOS, MSI has included Fuzzy Logic III which automatically over clocks your computer. It adjust the FSB slowly to find the highest stable frequency safely allowing you to boost your performance. Also included is Trend Micro PC-Cillin, a handy virus checker. I think PC-Cillin is as good or better than Norton antivirus, as it is very good at scanning, and frequently updates its virus patterns.
This is a great motherboard for the budget gamer to get as it is easily upgradable, and according to MSI can even support the new Athlon XP processors. If you aren't willing to step up a notch and snag a DDR motherboard, the K7T Turbo is a great choice. I am currently waiting for Athlon prices to drop further, at which point, I may buy an Athlon.
Note to Epinions: On your selection menu you list both MSI and Microstar, they are the same company.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 120
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
bobtheguardian
|
|
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 3 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.