MSI P35 Neo versus MSI P35 Neo Combo
                      
                        
                          
  
                          Author:  Date: 16.07.2007
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                      Today, we are reviewing two motherboards built on the P35 chipset: MSI P35 Neo and MSI P35 Neo Combo. Both these products are aimed at middle-end systems but the retail price is rather high because of the chipset's novelty. In our view, the time for the P35 chipset has not yet come: it does not bring an essential expansion of functionality, nor provides a performance boost in combination with the DDR3 memory. As regards support for CPUs having the 1333 MHz bus, there is a lot of motherboards based on previous-generation chipsets which also officially support such processors. 
                      
  
                      
                        
                          
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                                MSI P35 Neo Combo
                               
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                                MSI P35 Neo
                               
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                            | Chipset | 
                            Intel P35 | 
                            Chipset | 
                            Intel P35 | 
                           
                          
                            | CPU | 
                            LGA775 Pentium 4 FSB 1066/800/533 MHz 
                            Celeron Prescott FSB 533 MHz 
                            Dual-Core Pentium4 
                            Core 2 Duo 
                            HyperThreading | 
                            CPU | 
                            LGA775 Pentium 4 FSB 1066/800/533 MHz 
                            Celeron Prescott FSB 533 MHz 
                            Dual-Core Pentium4 
                            Core 2 Duo 
                            HyperThreading | 
                           
                          
                            | Memory | 
                            DDR2 667/800 
                            DDR3 800/1066 | 
                            Memory | 
                            DDR2 667/800 | 
                           
                          
                            | HDD | 
                            1x UltraDMA/133 
                            5x SerialATA
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                            HDD | 
                            1x UltraDMA/133 
                            5x SerialATA
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                            | Additional | 
                            2 IEEE-1394a 
                            Audio Intel HDA 
                            12 USB 2.0 
                            Gigabit Ethernet | 
                            Additional | 
                            2 IEEE-1394a 
                            Audio Intel HDA 
                            12 USB 2.0 
                            Gigabit Ethernet | 
                           
                          
                            | Price: | 
                            n/a | 
                            Price: | 
                            $145-155 | 
                           
                        
                       
                      Specifications
                      
                      
                      
                        MSI P35 Neo Combo
                       
                      
                      
                      
                      
                        MSI P35 Neo
                       
                      
                      
                        
                        
                          
                            
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                              MSI P35 Neo Combo | 
                              MSI P35 Neo | 
                             
                            
                              | 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 speed 800/1066 MHz; 
                              - Intel Celeron-D (Prescott) with the bus speed 533 MHz; 
                              - Support for Intel Core 2 Duo (Kentsfield (4 cores), Conroe/Allendale (2 cores)) with the bus speed 800/1066/1333 MHz; 
                              - Support for Intel Yorkfield, Wolfdale with the bus speeds 1333/1066/800 MHz; 
                              - Socket LGA775; 
                              - Support for HyperThreading processors;
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                              | Chipset | 
                              
- North bridge Intel P35 Memory Controller Hub (MCH); 
                              - South bridge Intel ICH9 (Enhanced I/O Controller Hub); 
                              - Interbridge link: DMI;
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                              | System memory | 
                              
- Two 240-pin slots for DDR2 SDRAM DIMM; 
                              - Two 240-pin slots for DDR3 SDRAM DIMM; 
                              - Maximum memory capacity 4 GB; 
                              - Supported memory DDR2 667/800; 
                              - Supported memory DDR3 800/1066; 
                              - Dual-channel memory access;
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- Four 240-pin slots for DDR2 SDRAM DIMM; 
                              - Maximum memory capacity 8 GB; 
                              - Supported memory DDR2 667/800; 
                              - Dual-channel memory access;
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                              | Graphics | 
                              - One PCI Express x16 slot; | 
                             
                            
                              | Expansion options | 
                              
- Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots; 
                              - Three PCI Express x1 slots; 
                              - Twelve USB 2.0 slots ( 4 integrated + 8 additional ); 
                              - Two IEEE1394 (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 to 500 MHz in 1 MHz increments; multiplier adjustable; 
                              - Adjustable voltages on the CPU, memory, PCI-E, and the chipset (nb + sb);.
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                              | Disk subsystem | 
                              
- 1 UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE link (Marvell 88SE6111; with support for up to 2 ATAPI-devices); 
                              - Support for SerialATA II (4 links - ICH9); 
                              - Support for SerialATA II (1 link - Marvell 88SE6111); 
                              - Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM;
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                              | BIOS | 
                              
- 4Mbit Flash ROM; 
                              - AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features;
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                              | Miscellaneous | 
                              
- One port for FDD, one serial 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 processor, system, voltages, rotational speeds of the three fans 
                              - Smart Fan
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                              | Dimensions | 
                              - ATX form factor, 220mm x 305mm (8.65" x 12"); | 
                             
                          
                         
                       
                      Retail boxes
                      
                      
                      
                      
                      
                      The package bundles of both motherboards is absolutely identical 
                      
                        - Motherboard;
 
                        - User's Manual in English + Quick Setup Manual;
 
                        - 1x software & drivers CD;
 
                        - One ATA-133 cable;
 
                        - 1x SerialATA cable + a power supply adapter (1 connector);
 
                        - 1x cap for the rear panel of the housing;
 
                       
                      and contains only the items most needed for assembly. 
                      
                      
                      
                      
                        
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