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Shuttle AK35GTR v2.2 VIA KT33 mainboard (7)
Overclocker 22 Mar 2002

Conclusion

At last, MSI has released their SiS745 board. This is probably the first SiS based Athlon product MSI released into the market. As in any new products, the initial BIOS are not tuned well enough, thus performance is slightly lower than the SiS745 reference board. Well this can be corrected in future BIOS upgrades. When we run at DDR333, the benchmark results is similar or lower than running at DDR266.

As this board is targeted at the SI market, there aren't many features on board. There is no RAID, firewire is optional. The audio codec is meant for 2 channel, not even a 4 or 6 channel audio chip is used. This greatly reduces the price and make it very affordable for building systems that needs minimum configuration. Though simple, it does come with the standard LiveBIOS, PCAlert, FuzzyLogicIII and D-Bracket for monitoring and updating of the system. 

Installation is very straightforward, we did not encounter any major hiccups so far. In fact, we removed the chipset's heatsink and replace it with our Socket 7 heatsin/fan + thermal paste in replacement of the doublesided tape which is not good in conducting of heat.

Overclocking is easy, we are able to POST up to 183Mhz using an AthlonMP1.2G at 7.5x166. We tried to run it at Fast or Turbo mode, the system can't POST. It only works at Normal CAS 2.5 timings. The 1Mhz stepping of FSB also makes it a good option for those who wants to squeeze it up from 150Mhz to 166Mhz.

In conclusion, our feelings of this board is mixed. It seems to be a board made for the SI but it has overclocking features which targets the DIY. I would say that this board will appeal to long time SiS735 users who loves the SiS chipset and likes to overclock it. This is probably the first board that features 1Mhz FSB and full overclocking features based on SiS745 chipset.

Priced at SGD188/- or USD102/-. Available now.


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Discuss 

Below, we list down some pros and cons of this board :

Pros:

  • CPU ratio, FSB (1mhz), Vcore, AGP, DDR voltages adjustable
  • Low Price

Cons:

  • No USB 2.0
  • Heatsink uses double sided tape
  • No Onboard LAN
  • No Firewire (optional)

Ratings

Here are my ratings out of 5 stars.

 Category

Score

 Performance

 Features

 Ease Of Installation

 Overclocking

 Documentation

Overall Rating :



4.2 / 5

 

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