AMD has officially launched the AMD Phenom II X6 with 6-core processors or nicknamed Thuban and to coupe with it AMD also launched its new 800 series chipsets. MSI as the famous motherboard manufacturer certainly don’t want to miss the moment. They released the MSI 880GMA-E45 motherboard with AMD Phenom II X6 compatible.
AMD 800 Series Chipset
Phenom II X6 also compatible with the old motherboard chipsets with AM3 socket type. AMD chipset nForce 700 series or 900 series and 700 from NVIDIA, for example. But of course, to maximize the latest technologies (such as turbo feature of Thuban or SATA 3.0), you need a
new motherboard ready to accommodate the latest devices and future, just like MSI 880GMA-E45 Motherboard designed for. Northbridge of chipset AMD 800 series is divided into several variants with naming similar to its predecessor, the 700 series chipset. The table below
briefly describes important differences among the four.
MSI 880GMA-E45 use the AMD 880G Northbridge chipset. According to the table above, the 880G has a close resemblance with the 890GX. Both chipsets use the same 55nm fabrication process and has on-board graphics. The difference is the type used on board graphics. Embed 890GX ATI Radeon HD 4290, while the 880G is equipped with the Radeon HD 4250. Shortly, the 880G is an affordable version of the 890GX.
However, as can be seen from the test results later, this chipset was quite powerful and quite adequate for everyday use. AMD 880G chipset-based motherboards are also equipped with PCI-Express x16 slot which allows the user to use add-on graphics card, because of the
limitations of PCI-Express space, it can’t support multi-GPU solutions.
On the Southbridge, herein lies the advantage of the AMD 800 series chipset compared to its predecessors, both made by AMD and other manufacturers. AMD 800 series chipset Northbridge paired with the also new Southbridge, the SB850.
The basic difference between the SB850 and SB710 are 6Gbps SATA support (SATA-3) in SB850. Here, AMD is doing the right steps to integrate the SATA controller-3 in the Southbridge chipset that will be paired with a Phenom processor II X6. Soon, will be popping up a lot of storage device that is able to utilize the extra speed of SATA-3. The SSD is becoming increasingly mature and affordable, not to mention the application of RAID would be greatly assisted by this new interface. Unfortunately AMD doesn’t provide USB 3.0 support.
On the rear panel, MSI 880GMA-E45 provides complete connectors. Three types of output displays are available: D-SUB, DVI, and HDMI. Graphics ATI Radeon HD 4250 integrated in the AMD 880G chipset is the third full support of this display output functions. In addition, there are 6 USB ports, the two USB 3.0 ports colored in blue. Even, the SB850 doesn’t support the USB 3.0 but MSI has put the NEC chips to provide the USB 3.0 controller. Installation of the chip to fulfill support the latest peripherals that you can find on this motherboard: SATA 6Gb / s and USB 3.0.
Because the MSI use a Micro-ATX form factor, this motherboard doesn’t offers many expansion slots. Available slots are the PCI-Express 16x slot, 2 PCI-Express 1x, and one PCI slot. Uniquely, SATA slot number 1 and 2 are placed in a vertical position so suitable for the boot
drive, while the rest took a horizontal position at the edge of the motherboard PCB.
In addition to the drivers and utility software package innate (such as overclocking Center and Control Center, as well as AMD Overdrive), MSI also provides a bonus in the form of security software is Norton Internet Security 2010. Given 60 days active trial period. If you buy the product before expired date, than you will receive a discount of 21% of MSI.
Quick Specs:
Processor : AMD Socket AM3
Chipset : AMD 880G
On-board Graphics : ATI Radeon HD 4250
Onboard Graphics
Card Output : D-SUB, DVI, HDMI
Multiplier : Auto
Form Factor : Mini-ATX
DDR3 Slots : 4
Package includes : User’s Manual, Quick Installation Guide, and Software Guides MSI Control Center, DVD Driver and software, backpanel, SATA Cable (x1), IDE cable (x1)
Key Features:
• SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Technology
The MSI 880GMA-E45 equips the revolutionary SuperSpeed USB 3.0 technology to deliver up to 5Gbps bandwidth which is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 boosts data transfer rate between the PC and USB device.
• SATA 6Gb/s Compliant
The MSI 880GMA-E45 features next-generation SATA Revision 3.0 compliant internal SATA ports to provide 6Gb/s data transfer rates for optimal performance, efficiency, convenience and flexibility.
• 140W AMD AM3 Processor Support Based on the AMD 880G and SB850 chipset The MSI 880GMA-E45 supports AMD’s Phenom II processors, as well as Athlon II and Sempron 100 series processors up to 140W in AM3 socket, providing unprecedented computing power to match the performance levels you are looking for.
• ATI Hybrid Crossfire Based on ATI CrossFireX multi-GPU technology ATI Hybrid Graphics allows you to combine the performance of the HD4250 integrated GPU with an applicable ATI Radeon graphics card to bring enhanced gaming performance, productivity and power efficiency.
• Blu-ray Audio
The MSI 880GMA-E45 features lossless content protection technology with full-rate audio enjoyment from Blu-ray Disc. The audio chipset comes with a 24-bit/192KHz sample rate and 7.1 channels which offers high quality digital decoders and speakers.
• Green Power Saving Technology
The MSI 880GMA-E45 features APS (Active Phase Switching) energy saving technology for controlling power supply with auto phrase switching for CPU and other components
Performance Tests
Here is a complete description of testing platform.
Hardware
Processor : AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
Memory : Kingston Hyper X PC-16000 DDR3, 2 GB (2 x 1 GB)
Hard disk : Western Digital Caviar Black 500 GB (32 MB Cache)
Power Supply : Gigabyte 460 watts
Monitor : AOC E936VW, 18.5 “(1366 × 768)
Input : Genius mouse and keyboard
Software
Operating system : Windows 7 Ultimate (32-bit)
Driver chipset : AMD North Bridge Filter Driver (1.3.1.49), AMD SATA AHCI Driver (1.2.0.164)Driver on-board
Graphics cards : ATI Display Driver (8.7)
Conclusion
AMD is providing an adequate platform with Phenom II x6 plus 800 series chipset. Assessed in terms of price, with AMD 800 series chipset the MSI motherboard so woth of money and also affordable for most users. Overall this MSI 880GMA-E45 with USD 133 price tag, you could have a motherboard without the need to increase fees for add-on graphics card. Quite competitive when compared with similar products which also use AMD’s 880G chipset. On the motherboard is still available also the added value of quality components and complete support for future peripherals (USB 3.0 + SATA 6Gb / s). With a mini-ATX form factor, this motherboard also come in compact casing.
MSI 880GMA-E45 suitable for multimedia systems that are not too focused for gaming purposes, but the playback and encoding content.
Especially when paired with Thuban AMD-based processor with 6-cores. Game enthusiasm still be satisfied with the performance of this motherboard, provided that adds the add-on graphics card in PCI-Express x16 slots are available.
Pros:
* Complete features
* Additional USB 3.0 port
* Quite good performance
* Affordable price
* Good layout for a mATX board
* Decent BIOS
* Overclocks well, especially on the IGP
Cons:
* No additional equipment included
* Limited expansion slots
* No second x16 mechanical PCIe slot
* No performance-enhancing SidePort memory
* Slower-than-reference IGP speed
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