Introduction
I was in the market for a Core 2 Duo and a decent not too costly Motherboard for the same. The Processor is easy to get, but for the motherboards there is not too much choice around here (Chandigarh). The processor and motherboard were to be given to my Sister later and so stability and reliability were of prime importance rather than overclockability. My main considerations were these.
1. P965/G965 Chipset
2. Full ATX form factor (Clutter free)
3. 4 RAM Slots and 3 PCI slots for expandability in future.
4. Budget limitation of 7k
Most of the boards, the dealer could get were in micro ATX factor and were based on 945G Chipset. So I made a shortlist of motherboards that suit me, the top of which was the Gigabyte 965P-S3. The dealer is a Gigabyte authorized seller and so I thought that getting the 965P-S3 would be a snap. But it is not available with the distributors and they were pushing the 965P-DS3 which sells for around 11k odd. The next on my list was the MSI P965 Neo. He called up the distributor in Delhi and it was readily available for 6.8k Tax Paid and In another two days I got this board in my hands.
[BREAK=Technical Specifications]
Technical Specifications
CPU
• Supports Socket 775 for Intel® Pentium 4 3xx, 5xx, 6xx, 8xx, 9xx, Core 2 Duo processors.
• Supports FSB 1066/800/533 MHz
• Supports EIST technology
• Supports Intel® Hyper-Threading technology.
• Supports Intel® Dual Core Technology up to 1066 MHz.
Chipset
• Intel® P965 Chipset
- Supports FSB 533/800/1066MHz.
- Supports PCI Express x 16 graphics interface.
- Supports dual channel, DDRII 533/667/800
• Intel® ICH8 Chipset
- Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0) controller, 480Mb/sec, up to 8 ports.
- 4 SATAII ports with transfer rate up to 300MB/s.
- PCI Master v2.3, I/O APIC.
- ACPI 2.0 compliant.
Main Memory
• Supports four unbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDRII SDRAM
• Supports up to 8GB memory size (DDRII 533/667).
• Supports up to 4GB memory size (DDRII 800).
• Supports dual channel DDRII memory architecture.
• Supports DDRII 533/667/800 memory interface.
Slots
• One PCI Express x16 slot. (supports PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant)
• Two PCI Express x1 slots. (supports PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant)
• Three PCI 2.3 32-bit PCI bus slots (support 3.3V/5V PCI bus interface).
On-Board IDE/SATA
• One Ultra DMA 66/100/133 IDE controller integrated in JMicron® JMB361.
- Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes.
- Supports Ultra DMA 66/100/133 mode..
• SATAII controller integrated in ICH8/JMicron JMB361
- Up to 300MB/sec transfer speed.
- 4 SATAII ports by ICH8.
- 1 SATAII port by JMicron JMB361.
Audio
• High Definition link controller integrated in Intel® ICH8 chip.
• Audio codec Realtek® 883.
- Compliant with Azalia 1.0 spec.
- Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing.
LAN
• Realtek® RTL8110SC
- Supports 10/100/1000 Mb/s.
- Compliane with PCI 2.2.
- Supports ACPI Power Management.
Internal I/O Connectors
- ATX 24-Pin power connector
- 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
- CPU / System / Power connectors
- CD-in connector
- Clear CMOS jumper
- Chassis intrusion switch connector
- IrDA infrared module header
- Serial port connector
- Front panel audio connector
- Front panel connector
- 3 x USB 2.0 connector support additional 6 ports
- 1 x Floppy disk drive connector
- 5 x Serial ATAII connectors
- 1 x ATA133 connector
Back Panel I/O Ports
- 1 x Parallel port
- 1 x Serial port (COM 1)
- 1 x PS/2 keyboard
- 1 x PS/2 mouse
- 1 x 6 in 1 audio jack
- 4 x USB 2.0 ports
- 1 x RJ45 LAN jack
BIOS
• The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and
expansion cards of the board automatically.
• The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your
mainboard specifications.
Dimension
• 30.5cm(L) x 22.0cm(W) ATX Form Factor
Mounting
• 6 mounting holes.
[BREAK=Initial Impressions]
Initial Impressions
I have been using a MSI K8N Neo Platinum series Motherboard earlier and the fact that MSI P965 Neo is a budget board is evident just from the Initial looks of the box it comes in.
The Platinum series have large snazzy looking boxes filled with goodies. This board In contrast came in a plain looking box which way smaller than my old Platinums box.
The Budget board impression continiues when you open the box and have a look at the board itslef.
It uses a Red colored PCB in contrast to the black one used by the Platinum series. All budget Neo series boards from MSI use the Red PCB and the Platinum ones use a Black PCB. The PCB itself looks inferior in quality and thinkness to the black one used for the Platinum boards. Still this board looks way better in quality than the various "Original" Intel boards I have seen earlier.
The box does not contain nothing much. Just he board, the IO Plate for the cabinet backside, one each of SATA and PATA cables, A SATA Power connector, Driver CD and a Manual.
[BREAK=Board Layout]
Board Layout
The board is pretty well laid out all in all. Only gripe is the positioning of the ATX and 12V Power connectors which are right in the middle of the board rather than towards the edge. But attaching the connectors was not a problem at all. The board uses a 24 Pin ATX connector and a 4 Pin additional connector (Instead of 8 Pin).
There are 4 RAM Slots which can accept up to DDR2 800MHz modules. One PCIx16 slot takes care of Graphics card support The layout of the PCI and PCIe slots is such that all three PCI slots can be used even with a double width graphics card installed.
The cooling of the north and south bridges is taken care of by alluminium heat sinks which seem to be good enough for this board.
The PATA connector and the SATA connectors are located towards the right edge making it easy for doing the connections. One SATA and the PATA are taken care of by the onboard JMicron controller. 4 SATA ports are courtesy of Intel. The JMicron SATA port is color coded to differentiate it from the ones provided by ICH8.
The Front Panel Header is located at the bottom right and the pins are color coded to make it easy for doing the connections.
Overall the board does not look bad at all considering the price it comes for.
[BREAK=BIOS Options and Overclockability]
BIOS Options and Overclockability
This is one section where this board lacks severely. This board uses an AWARD BIOS with all the standard features. The Tweaking options are all located in the Cell Menu which looks pretty bare for this board compared to my K8N Neo Plaitinums Cell Menu.
The CPU Clock can be increased up to 333MHz. But it seems that Tweaktown peole have reveived a board with some Beta BIOS which allowed the clock limit up to 500MHz. But they were only able to go upto 402 MHz only. There is no option to increase CPU Voltage. Memory Voltage can be increased up to 2.4V.
Overall this board is not for hardcore overclockers.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Conclusion
I setup this board pretty easily except for the CPU Heatsink which was more of a problem with the Heatsink itself than the board. The board performs decently at stock settings and I currently I have my E6300 running at 286 x 7 = 2 GHz and Memory at 713MHz at loose timings (5-5-5-13). The board can take much more than that as many have overclocked it to 333MHz at a single go pretty easily. I would say that this board is not the best budget 965P board, but atleast a viable option for someone who wants a stable and decent board for running a Core 2 at stock or with a minimum overclock.
Pros:
1. Low cost 965P based Full ATX board.
2. Easy Availability compared to GA-965P-S3
3. Fairly good Board Layout.
4. Stable and Good performance at stock settings
Cons:
1. Pretty limited Overclockability
2. Inconvinient positioning of Power Connectors
3. No RAID Support
Price: Rs 6800/- Tax Paid.
I was in the market for a Core 2 Duo and a decent not too costly Motherboard for the same. The Processor is easy to get, but for the motherboards there is not too much choice around here (Chandigarh). The processor and motherboard were to be given to my Sister later and so stability and reliability were of prime importance rather than overclockability. My main considerations were these.
1. P965/G965 Chipset
2. Full ATX form factor (Clutter free)
3. 4 RAM Slots and 3 PCI slots for expandability in future.
4. Budget limitation of 7k
Most of the boards, the dealer could get were in micro ATX factor and were based on 945G Chipset. So I made a shortlist of motherboards that suit me, the top of which was the Gigabyte 965P-S3. The dealer is a Gigabyte authorized seller and so I thought that getting the 965P-S3 would be a snap. But it is not available with the distributors and they were pushing the 965P-DS3 which sells for around 11k odd. The next on my list was the MSI P965 Neo. He called up the distributor in Delhi and it was readily available for 6.8k Tax Paid and In another two days I got this board in my hands.
[BREAK=Technical Specifications]
Technical Specifications
CPU
• Supports Socket 775 for Intel® Pentium 4 3xx, 5xx, 6xx, 8xx, 9xx, Core 2 Duo processors.
• Supports FSB 1066/800/533 MHz
• Supports EIST technology
• Supports Intel® Hyper-Threading technology.
• Supports Intel® Dual Core Technology up to 1066 MHz.
Chipset
• Intel® P965 Chipset
- Supports FSB 533/800/1066MHz.
- Supports PCI Express x 16 graphics interface.
- Supports dual channel, DDRII 533/667/800
• Intel® ICH8 Chipset
- Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0) controller, 480Mb/sec, up to 8 ports.
- 4 SATAII ports with transfer rate up to 300MB/s.
- PCI Master v2.3, I/O APIC.
- ACPI 2.0 compliant.
Main Memory
• Supports four unbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDRII SDRAM
• Supports up to 8GB memory size (DDRII 533/667).
• Supports up to 4GB memory size (DDRII 800).
• Supports dual channel DDRII memory architecture.
• Supports DDRII 533/667/800 memory interface.
Slots
• One PCI Express x16 slot. (supports PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant)
• Two PCI Express x1 slots. (supports PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant)
• Three PCI 2.3 32-bit PCI bus slots (support 3.3V/5V PCI bus interface).
On-Board IDE/SATA
• One Ultra DMA 66/100/133 IDE controller integrated in JMicron® JMB361.
- Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes.
- Supports Ultra DMA 66/100/133 mode..
• SATAII controller integrated in ICH8/JMicron JMB361
- Up to 300MB/sec transfer speed.
- 4 SATAII ports by ICH8.
- 1 SATAII port by JMicron JMB361.
Audio
• High Definition link controller integrated in Intel® ICH8 chip.
• Audio codec Realtek® 883.
- Compliant with Azalia 1.0 spec.
- Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing.
LAN
• Realtek® RTL8110SC
- Supports 10/100/1000 Mb/s.
- Compliane with PCI 2.2.
- Supports ACPI Power Management.
Internal I/O Connectors
- ATX 24-Pin power connector
- 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
- CPU / System / Power connectors
- CD-in connector
- Clear CMOS jumper
- Chassis intrusion switch connector
- IrDA infrared module header
- Serial port connector
- Front panel audio connector
- Front panel connector
- 3 x USB 2.0 connector support additional 6 ports
- 1 x Floppy disk drive connector
- 5 x Serial ATAII connectors
- 1 x ATA133 connector
Back Panel I/O Ports
- 1 x Parallel port
- 1 x Serial port (COM 1)
- 1 x PS/2 keyboard
- 1 x PS/2 mouse
- 1 x 6 in 1 audio jack
- 4 x USB 2.0 ports
- 1 x RJ45 LAN jack
BIOS
• The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and
expansion cards of the board automatically.
• The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your
mainboard specifications.
Dimension
• 30.5cm(L) x 22.0cm(W) ATX Form Factor
Mounting
• 6 mounting holes.
[BREAK=Initial Impressions]
Initial Impressions
I have been using a MSI K8N Neo Platinum series Motherboard earlier and the fact that MSI P965 Neo is a budget board is evident just from the Initial looks of the box it comes in.
The Platinum series have large snazzy looking boxes filled with goodies. This board In contrast came in a plain looking box which way smaller than my old Platinums box.
The Budget board impression continiues when you open the box and have a look at the board itslef.
It uses a Red colored PCB in contrast to the black one used by the Platinum series. All budget Neo series boards from MSI use the Red PCB and the Platinum ones use a Black PCB. The PCB itself looks inferior in quality and thinkness to the black one used for the Platinum boards. Still this board looks way better in quality than the various "Original" Intel boards I have seen earlier.
The box does not contain nothing much. Just he board, the IO Plate for the cabinet backside, one each of SATA and PATA cables, A SATA Power connector, Driver CD and a Manual.
[BREAK=Board Layout]
Board Layout
The board is pretty well laid out all in all. Only gripe is the positioning of the ATX and 12V Power connectors which are right in the middle of the board rather than towards the edge. But attaching the connectors was not a problem at all. The board uses a 24 Pin ATX connector and a 4 Pin additional connector (Instead of 8 Pin).
There are 4 RAM Slots which can accept up to DDR2 800MHz modules. One PCIx16 slot takes care of Graphics card support The layout of the PCI and PCIe slots is such that all three PCI slots can be used even with a double width graphics card installed.
The cooling of the north and south bridges is taken care of by alluminium heat sinks which seem to be good enough for this board.
The PATA connector and the SATA connectors are located towards the right edge making it easy for doing the connections. One SATA and the PATA are taken care of by the onboard JMicron controller. 4 SATA ports are courtesy of Intel. The JMicron SATA port is color coded to differentiate it from the ones provided by ICH8.
The Front Panel Header is located at the bottom right and the pins are color coded to make it easy for doing the connections.
Overall the board does not look bad at all considering the price it comes for.
[BREAK=BIOS Options and Overclockability]
BIOS Options and Overclockability
This is one section where this board lacks severely. This board uses an AWARD BIOS with all the standard features. The Tweaking options are all located in the Cell Menu which looks pretty bare for this board compared to my K8N Neo Plaitinums Cell Menu.
The CPU Clock can be increased up to 333MHz. But it seems that Tweaktown peole have reveived a board with some Beta BIOS which allowed the clock limit up to 500MHz. But they were only able to go upto 402 MHz only. There is no option to increase CPU Voltage. Memory Voltage can be increased up to 2.4V.
Overall this board is not for hardcore overclockers.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Conclusion
I setup this board pretty easily except for the CPU Heatsink which was more of a problem with the Heatsink itself than the board. The board performs decently at stock settings and I currently I have my E6300 running at 286 x 7 = 2 GHz and Memory at 713MHz at loose timings (5-5-5-13). The board can take much more than that as many have overclocked it to 333MHz at a single go pretty easily. I would say that this board is not the best budget 965P board, but atleast a viable option for someone who wants a stable and decent board for running a Core 2 at stock or with a minimum overclock.
Pros:
1. Low cost 965P based Full ATX board.
2. Easy Availability compared to GA-965P-S3
3. Fairly good Board Layout.
4. Stable and Good performance at stock settings
Cons:
1. Pretty limited Overclockability
2. Inconvinient positioning of Power Connectors
3. No RAID Support
Price: Rs 6800/- Tax Paid.
