abit AN52 vs. MSI K9A2 Platinum
Author:
Date: 31.01.2008 |
|
|
abit AN52
|
| Chipset |
NVIDIA nForce 520 |
| CPU |
Socket AM2 Athlon64 HTT 200 MHz |
| Memory |
DDR2 533/667/800 |
| HDD |
1x UltraDMA/133
4x SerialATA(RAID)
|
| Extras |
Audio HDA
10 USB 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet |
| Price: |
~65$ (Price.ru) |
|
|
MSI K9A2 Platinum
|
| Chipset |
AMD 790FX |
| CPU |
Socket AM2 Athlon64 HTT 200 MHz |
| Memory |
DDR2 533/667/800/1066 |
| HDD |
1x UltraDMA/133
8x SerialATA(2xRAID)
|
| Extras |
2 IEEE-1394a
Audio Intel HDA
10 USB 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet |
| Price: |
~195$ (Price.ru) |
|
If we look two years back, at the time of release of Intel Core 2 Duo processors, we can see how this architecture has been gradually expelling AMD products. As of the start of year 2008, we can establish an almost complete victory of Intel, in all the directions and fronts. Some sort of the "acid test" is the assortment of motherboards by leading manufacturers, which most precisely expresses the real alignment of forces. In particular, the list of models that support AM2 processors has shrunk to the minimum, and currently large manufacturers are offering either top-end motherboards with a set of unique features or explicitly cheap products with a basic feature-set.
These are just the boards we are reviewing today. The former is made by MSI, MSI K9A2 Platinum, and is based on the AMD 790FX chipset. The key trait of this board is in the four PCI Express x16 slots implemented due to the good specifications of the north bridge RD790. As the south bridge, the outdated chip SB600 that lost its competitive edge a year ago is used. In order to somehow equal the board's specifications with those of the competitor product by Intel, engineers at MSI had to install a rather expensive Promise PDC42819 chip (for comparison, the expansion card Promise FastTrak TX2650 based on this chip costs about 80$).
The latter board is called AN52 made by abit and is based on the single-chip NVIDIA nForce 520. Its feature-set is minimum, but at the same time this board costs three times as cheap versus MSI K9A2 Platinum. So, there won't be a straightforward comparison of the motherboards: each of them is playing in its own league.
Specifications
abit AN52
MSI K9A2 Platinum
|
abit AN52 |
MSI K9A2 Platinum |
| CPU |
- AMD Athlon 64/Sempron with the bus speed 200 MHz;
- Socket AM2; |
- AMD Athlon 64/Sempron with the bus speed 200 (and higher) MHz;
- Socket AM2+; |
| Chipset |
- Chipset NVIDIA nForce 520; |
- North bridge AMD 790FX;
- South bridge AMD SB600;
- Interbridge communication: A-Link 2; |
| System memory |
- Four 240-pin slots for DDR2 SDRAM DIMM;
- Maximum memory capacity 8GB;
- Supported memory DDR2 533/667/800;
- Dual-channel memory access;
- Power indicator; |
- Four 240-pin slots for DDR2 SDRAM DIMM;
- Maximum memory capacity 8GB;
- Supported memory DDR2 533/667/800/1066;
- Dual-channel memory access;
- Power indicator; |
| Graphics |
- One PCI Express x16 slot; |
- Four PCI Express x16 slots; |
| Expansion options |
- Three 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots;
- Two PCI Express x1 slots;
- Ten USB 2.0 ports (4 integrated + 6 additional );
- Integrated High Definition Audio 7.1;
- Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller; |
- Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots;
- One PCI Express x1 slot;
- Ten USB 2.0 slots ( 4 integrated + 6 additional );
- Two IEEE1394 (Firewire; one integrated + 1 additional);
- Integrated High Definition Audio 7.1;
- LAN controller: Gigabit Ethernet; |
| Overclocking options |
- FSB adjustable within 200 to 400 MHz in 1 MHz increments; multiplier adjustable;
- Adjustable voltage on the CPU, memory, chipset, HT, and the chipset; |
- HTT adjustable within 200 to 600 MHz in 1 MHz increments; multiplier adjustable;
- Adjustable voltage on the CPU, memory, HTT, and the chipset (NB);
- The MSI D.O.T. technology; |
| Disk subsystem |
- 1 link for UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (nForce 520; with support for up to 2 ATAPI-devices);
- Support for SerialATA II (4 links - nForce 520, with support for RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5);
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM; |
- 1 link for UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (SB600; with support for up to 2 ATAPI devices);
- Support for SerialATA II (4 links - SB600, with support for RAID 0,1,0+1, 5);
- Support for SerialATA II (4 links - Promise PDC42819, with support for RAID 0, 1, 0+1,5) ;
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM; |
| BIOS |
- 4 Mbit Flash ROM;
- Award BIOS Phoenix with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features, and Trend Chip Away Virus;
- abit FlashMenu; |
- 8 Mbit Flash ROM;
- AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features;
- MSI D-LED;
- MSI LiveUpdate; |
| Misc |
- One port for FDD, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard;
- STR (Suspend to RAM); |
-One port for FDD, one serial port, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard;
- STR (Suspend to RAM);
- SPDIF Out;
- "Power-on" and "Reset" buttons; |
| Power management |
- Wake-up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer, and USB;
- Main 24-pin ATX power connector;
- Additional 8-pin power connector; |
- Wake-up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer, and USB;
- Main 24-pin ATX power connector;
- Additional 4-pin power connector;
- Additional 4-pin Molex power connector; |
| Monitoring |
- Monitoring the temperatures of the CPU, system, power supply module, rotational speeds of the 4 fans;
- abit EQ;
- abit uGuru; |
- Monitoring the temperature of the CPU, system, voltages, rotational speeds of the 3 fans ;
- Smart Fan;
- Dual CoreCenter; |
| Dimensions |
- ATX form factor, 245 mm x 305 mm (9.63" x 12") |
Retail boxes
Design of the packages:
Package bundle
- Motherboard;
- User's Manual in English;
- 1x software & drivers CD;
- One ATA-133 cable, one FDD cable;
- 2x SerialATA cables;
- 1x cap for the rear panel of the housing;
- A sticker with the jumpers layout diagram.
|
- Motherboard;
- User's Manual in English;
- 2x software & drivers CDs (for XP and Vista);
- One ATA-133 cable, one FDD cable;
- 4x SerialATA cables + 2x power supply adapters (2 connectors);
- 1x cap for the rear panel of the housing;
- A bracket for 2 additional USB 2.0 and D-LED;
- 1x bracket for an additional Firewire port;
- 2x Crossfire bridges.
|
The package bundle of abit generally meets its low price. But that can't be said about the MSI product: K9A2 Platinum costs almost $200, with out any non-standard components. Moreover, even the standard bundle items don't fully unveil the board's capabilities.
So let's keep to the point: both the motherboards offers a kit of PATA and FDD cables, a mandatory cap for the rear panel, and a few SerialATA cables. The MSI board has the required power supply adapters, whereas the abit product doesn't.
Since K9A2 Platinum supports the Crossfire technology, two flexible bridges to connect video cards into an array are put into the box.
Now, regarding the user's manual and the software. The documentation of the MSI board is highly detailed and reveals all the specific traits of the system assembly and setup. The brochure for the abit product also contains all the required information, however, the description seems to have been drawn up in a haste. We had nothing to complain about the software of both the boards. We note it separately that the MSI board comes bundled with two CDs for both XP and Vista.
Only the MSI board offers additional items. These are two brackets: one with a Firewire port, the other one - with two USB 2.0 ports and D-LEDs for initial diagnostics.
We rate the package bundle of the abit product as "3.5/5", and "2.5/5" for that of the MSI board.
 |
Content: |
 |
|
|
Top Stories: |
|
 |
|
MoBo:
|
|
|
|
VGA Card:
|
|
|
|
CPU & Memory:
|
|
|
