MSI G33M and K9NGM3: new MoBos on integrated chipsets
Author:
Date: 22.10.2007
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MSI G33M
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| Chipset |
Intel G33 |
| CPU |
LGA775 Pentium 4 FSB 1333/1066/800/533 MHz
Celeron FSB 800/533 MHz
Dual-Core Pentium4
Core 2 Duo (+ Yorkfield, Wolfdale)
HyperThreading |
| Memory |
DDR2 533/667/800 |
| HDD |
1x UltraDMA/100
5x SerialATA II (RAID)
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| Extras |
2 IEEE-1394a
Audio Intel HDA
12 USB 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet |
| Price: |
$112 |
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MSI K9NGM3
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| Chipset |
NVIDIA GeForce 7050 |
| CPU |
Socket AM2 Athlon64 HTT 200 MHz |
| Memory |
DDR2 533/667/800 |
| HDD |
1x UltraDMA/100
4x SerialATA II (RAID)
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| Extras |
2 IEEE-1394a
Audio Intel HDA
10 USB 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet |
| Price: |
$75 |
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After the release of new integrated Intel chipsets (i.e., G31, G33 and G35; Q33 and Q35), we got the question: what is their performance in 3D applications as compared to integrated chipsets for the AMD platform? The number of the latter has complemented a whole series of NVIDIA products, in particular, GeForce 7050 and GeForce 7025.
These chipsets offer an integrated graphic core with the architecture of the GeForce 7 series, however, the number of pipelines has been reduced to two pixel and one vertex. The frequencies of GeForce 7050 and GeForce 7025 equal 425 MHz, which is somehow lower than in the previous GeForce 6150 (475 MHz). But the functionality of series 7 is higher: the chipsets support HDCP encoding, offer support for two video outputs (both digital and analogous). Besides, GeForce 7050 and GeForce 7025 offer support for the TV-out, as well as high resolutions up to 1920x1440 (75 Hz; the RAMDAC frequency = 300 MHz).
The differences between GeForce 7050 and GeForce 7025 are in that 7025 supports DVI-output only but has no support for the PureVideo technology. The idea about the latter is in the support for hardware acceleration of H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2 video decoding, as well as improved playback of HD- and SD-video (up to the 1080p resolution). As you have understood, support for the PureVideo is a privilege of the GeForce 7050 chipset. Therefore, motherboards on this chipset may have the HDMI-output, unlike motherboards based on GeForce 7025.
Another important feature of GeForce 70?? is in its single-chip architecture: the south bridge nForce 630a is "integrated" into the chip. In the end, the basic expansion options include 12 USB2.0 ports (7050; in 7025 - only 10 ports), a Gigabit LAN controller, four SerialATA II lines (with support for RAID of level 0,1,0+1,5), one ParallelATA line, and integrated HDA. The number of PCI Express bus lanes equals 20, which allows the developers of motherboards to install a full-featured PCI Express x16 slot for the external graphic card, as well as three PCI Express x1 slots for expansion cards (the last "vacant" line is meant for the Gigabit LAN controller).
As you can see, the specifications of NVIDIA chipsets are up to date with modern standards, and we'll also compare their expansion options versus the functionality of Intel products. To this end, we'll be comparing two motherboards made by MSI. These are G33M based on Intel G33 and K9NGM3 (NVIDIA GeForce 7050).
Specifications
 
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MSI G33M |
MSI K9NGM3 |
| CPU |
- Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott (2M)/Gallatin/CedarMill) with the bus speeds 1066/800/533 MHz
- Dual-core Intel Pentium D / EE (Smithfield/Presler) with the bus speeds 800/1066 MHz
- Intel Celeron with the bus speeds 533/800 MHz
- Support for Intel Core 2 Duo (+ Yorkfield, Wolfdale)
- Socket LGA775
- Support for HyperThreading processors
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- AMD Athlon 64/Sempron with the bus speed 200 MHz
- Socket AM2 |
| Chipset |
- North bridge Intel G33 (GMCH)
- South bridge Intel ICH9
- Interbridge communication: DMI
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- Chipset NVIDIA GeForce 7050+nForce 630a |
| System Memory |
- Four 240-pin slots for DDR2 SDRAM DIMM
- Maximum memory capacity 8 GB
- Supported memory DDR2 533/667/800
- Dual-channel memory access
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| Graphics |
- Integrated graphic core Intel GMA X3100
- One PCI Express x16 slot
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- Integrated graphic core GeForce 7050
- One PCI Express x16 slot
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| Expansion options |
- Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots
- One PCI Express x1 slot
- Twelve USB 2.0 ports (6 integrated + 6 additional)
- Two IEEE1394 ports (Firewire; one integrated + 2 additional)
- Integrated High Definition Audio 7.1
- Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller
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- Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots
- One PCI Express x1 slot
- Ten USB 2.0 ports (4 integrated + 6 additional)
- Two IEEE1394 ports (Firewire; one integrated + 1 additional)
- Integrated High Definition Audio 7.1
- Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller
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| Overclocking options |
- FSB adjustable within 200(266) to 600 MHz
- Adjustable voltage on the CPU, memory, chipset (nb+sb), and the FSB
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- FSB adjustable within 200 to 300 MHz in 1 MHz increments
- Adjustable voltages on the CPU, memory, and the chipset
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| Disk subsystem |
- One link for UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (Marvell 88SE6111; with support for up to two ATAPI devices)
- Support for SerialATA II (4 lines - ICH9; support for RAID 0,1, 0+1)
- One SerialATA II line (Marvell 88SE6111);
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM
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- 1 line for UltraDMA100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (nForce 630a; with support for up to 2 ATAPI devices)
- Support for SerialATA II (4 lines - nForce 630a; support for RAID 0,1,0+1,5
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM
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| BIOS |
- 8Mbit Flash ROM
- AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features
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| Misc |
- One serial port, FDD port, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard
- STR (Suspend to RAM)
- SPDIF Out
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| Power management |
- Wake-up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer, and USB
- Main 24-pin ATX power connector
- Additional 4-pin power connector
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| Monitoring |
- Monitoring the temperature of the CPU, system, voltages, rotational speeds of the two fans
- Smart Fan
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| Dimensions |
- ATX form factor, 245x245 mm (9.63" x 9.63") |
Next
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Content: |
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- Page 1 - Specifications, package bundle
- Page 2 - Layout and Features; Expansion options
- Page 3 - BIOS, monitoring, overclocking tools
- Page 4 - Overclocking and stability
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Page 5 - Performance and conclusions
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