MSI ATi Xpress 200 Motherboard on Newegg

[Cheesetogo]

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-485&depa=1
Finally the Ati chipset boards are coming out, only $92.

 

[Cheesetogo]

I'm suprised nobody cares that a board based on ati's chipset has finnally come out!

 

[BrokenVisage]

meh.. nf4

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

It's been available elsewhere for a while... this board is targeted at OEMs, it doesn't have any overclocking options at all for example.

 

[CALIKUSH]

I'd be all over that, if it was socket 754.

 

[Zebo]

Don't buy it... it has serious issues as reported here.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=51533&highlight=msi

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
meh.. nf4

Wait till real ATI chipsetted boards come out... They have 30% better mem read performance and should dominate.

 

[crazyeddie]

The "massive recall" on MSI RS480M2-IR boards is an unsubstantiated rumor. MSI was contacted and flatly denied the rumor. If anybody wanted to substantiate it, it would have been simple enough for somebody from one of MSI's distributors or online retailers to repost a memo or e-mail. MSI has always made great products and I'll take their word for it that there is no problem with the boards.

I was quite interested in these boards when they were first announced. The Nforce 4 looks like a great solution but $150 to $200 for a motherboard just seems steep to me.

I'd been waiting for a good, cheap Socket 939 motherboard with PCI-E graphics support. When I saw the MSI board for $92 at NewEgg, I decided to pull the trigger. SATA raid support, Gigabit Ethernet, S/PDIF audio out, Dual Channel memory, and built-in IEEE1394 connectivity are all just icing on the cake.

I have a board coming along with an Athlon 64 3000+ cpu and a 1Gb Dual Channel DDR 400 kit. I'll have the parts for the upgrade by Wednesday of this week, according to FedEx tracking.

My only problem is I got in on the X800XL pre-order at the ATI store for $269 and the card will likely take 2-4 weeks to ship. Channel availability for X800 and X800XL cards is improving rapidly, so I'm hoping I get lucky and ATI not only ships my card, but does so sooner rather than later.

I may actually install it before the video card arrives and play around with the (certainly weak) integrated graphical core. If nothing else, downgrading from my Radeon 9700 to IGP for a couple of weeks will certainly make me appreciate the X800XL all the more.

If street prices on X800 (base) PCI-E cards continue to drop toward their projected $199 street cost, the Radeon Xpress 200 and the X800 could end up being the sweetheart motherboard and graphics combo of everybody who wants super fast framerates without spending $1000 on an SLI motherboard and a pair of 6800GTs. Socket 939 Semprons (heaven knows when they'll ship) will only serve to sweeten the deal for those of us who spend less on their computers than they do for their cars.