MSI K7T266Pro2-RU Motherboard Review - MSI K7T266Pro2-RU Motherboard Review
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Company: MSI
Product: K7T266 Pro2-RU Motherboard
Availability: In online stores now
Price: $135.00
Now lets take a look at some "Real World" benchmark scores in the form of Quake3. We'll start off with a resolution of 640 x 480 at max settings. Once again, I'd like to thank the guys that are responsible for the Q3 Bench program over @ G256.com. All scores below were ran with the Q3 Bench program in High Quality mode at the specified resolutions. All resolutions were run at MAX settings.
Again, were seeing the DDR based system benefiting from the added memory bandwidth. Seeing a frame per second increase of 20 @1400MHz. As always, scores go up as the CPU speed does as well. Almost 200fps @1400MHz with no tweaks. Not too shabby.
Seeing significant gains in all scores until we come to 1600 x 1200. Hmmm, kinda strange eh? Not really. This is just showing us that our good ol' GeForce3 has reached it's limit. We could toss a 3GHz processor in the mix and would still be seeing less than 105fps most likely @1600 x 1200. Still, you have to admit. over 100fps @1600 x 1200 is quite respectable.
Ok, that finishes off the Benchmarking session of the review. Lets continue on with the final thoughts and conclusions.
Conclusions: I have spent nearly 2 weeks with this board now, and would have to say, once I got her up and running just the way I wanted, I have been extremely happy with it's performance and stability. Infact, the MSI KT266 Pro2 - RU has been the most stable board I have ever run. I was very excited about reviewing this board as well, since making the jump from SDRAM to DDR memory is something that I have wanted to do for awhile now. But with the performance I had with the Abit KT7A RAID, there was simply no reason to upgrade to the KT266 platform. Once news started leaking in that the KT266A had all the bugs and kinks worked out, I was ready to roll with DDR. Fortunately this board has not seen any of the problems the KT266 have had, such as disappearing USB devices at speeds over 138MHz FSB.
There was only one problem with the board that I can really highlight. There are 2 fan headers to the right of the CPU socket. 1 labeled CPU fan and the other labeled PSU fan. Fairly standard. However, if you do not have a 3pin fan running over 2500rpm connected, you will get an annoying audible alarm when you boot the system, and will also have to hit the N key in order to continue booting. Abit had this very same issue with their KT7 and KT7A motherboard, but eventually released a BIOS update that let you disable this. MSI has not done this and should realize those of us that either choose not to connect their fans to the motherboard header, or like me, who have a 4pin fan that needs a Molex connection. I had to pull my Pabst 60mm fan off and install a delta, which you all know is VERY loud. I have discussed this issue with some folks in the official MSI forums and there are several people out there with the same problem. Unfortunately, the MSI homepage has been down for quite some time now so I'm not sure if an MSI moderator has stopped by to suggest any workarounds. I've discovered getting good support for a motherboard is about as easy as rebuilding the engine of a 2 1/2 ton truck, and MSI doesn't appear to be any different. Even when the website is up, it's VERY VERY slow.
One last thing I want to discuss before we head to High's and Low's of the review. I believe MSI has gone the extra mile to make, not only a damn good product, but provide the end users with a sense of quality and commitment. From the box, software and extra items, right down to the beautiful case sticker you get with the motherboard. Why more manufacturers don't do this is beyond me. Most PC builders would LOVE to display a nice nVidia GeForce sticker on their case, or Abit case sticker, or whatever product you decide to purchase. Just something simple to show what products you have inside your case. Here's a shot of MSI's case sticker.
Lets look at some highs' and low's of this motherboard.
Highs:
Very stable while overclocking
Jumperless BIOS settings that will let you easily overclock
Support for AMD Athlon Tbirds and XP processors
Excellent software bundle
Welcomed AGP locking mechanism
8 USB ports that support both USB1.0 and 2.0
D-LED for diagnosing boot-up/device problems
Beautiful red pcb
Lows:
As a bottom line to this review, I would surely recommend this motherboard to anyone getting ready to build a new PC with interest in running DDR type memory. And why not go with DDR? It's nearly as cheap as SDRAM and surely faster. There are only a few manufacturers making the KT266A right now, with many more to join in very soon. MSI has a top quality board on their hands, and being the only company to currently offer the KT266A with onboard RAID, it's surely one to consider. As a final note. I truly wanted to give this motherboard the official OCA Editor's Choice award, yet there were just too many small problems that added up in the end and I did not feel the board truly deserved the award. Nevertheless, if your considering a board with the KT266A chipset, I believe MSI should be right up there at the top of the list. Although time is running out, as Abit has their KR7A RAID on deck, and IWill's soon to be released XP-333R looks to be a serious contender as well.
Thanks for joining us here for the MSI K7T266 Pro2 - RU Motherboard review today. If you have any flames, props or suggestions. Please send them HERE.
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