MSI RS480M2-IL: My review

[taken]

thanks Alien tech for the re but have still some confusion.

reg the DDR400 etc.. am cleared. but what am a bit confused is that there comes DDR1 (184 pins module) and DDR2 Models (240 pins module). does the MBD suport both or just DDR2.

as the future is for DDR2 RAM's, as per my tech knowledge goes, why go for lower when we have faster ones, isnt' it??

any clearification???

 

[drvarunmehta]

DDR2 RAM is not faster than DDR RAM as of now. Although the clock speed is higher, it also has a higher latency. Until DDR2 RAM crosses 667 Mhz, it won't be significantly faster than DDR RAM.

 

[AlienTech]

You can read the specs here

*www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=RS480M2-IL&class=mb

I am not sure ANY motherboard currently uses DDR2. Except some high end Intel ones. AMD plasn to use DDR2 next year or something.

 

[wizrulz]

@alientech can u please specify the versions n driver which r best for RS480 mobo wrt ti bios and onboard graphics?

 

[cyrux]

Sata 1 has a transfer rate of 150Mbits/sec and Sata 2 has faster rates of 300 Mbits/sec/. Altough we have boards supporting sata 2 it will still take longer to get hdds supproting sata 2. Sata 1 hdds also isnt too common due to its higher cost compared to the pata ones

 

[KHUBBU]

Can a 20 pin Power supply work on this mobo. My dealer says it 'll work w/o any problems. Digit says that u cant add other extra devices if u use 20 pin PSU.

I have 2 hdds, cd writer, dvd rom, dlink modem pci, pinnacle pv tv tuner. Will it work ?
I'm going for Amd 64 3000+ with this mobo.

 

[AlienTech]

Yes the 20 pin power supply with work with this mother board.

As yet another new GFX driver...
CATALYST 5.8 Windows XP - Motherboard/IGP Drivers

*support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=1699

WARNING!!!!! WARNING!!!!! WARNING!!!!! WARNING!!!!!

You have to disable Windoes XP virtual Memory!!!!! Other wise the system will spontaneously reboot. Anywhere. Even if you are not doing anything. This only started happening after some Windows updates. Not the original SP2 update pack but the newier ones.

The windows updates are getting as bad as Windows 95 bugs. Every update seems to cause more and more bugs.

 

[technoteen]

As yet another new GFX driver...
CATALYST 5.8 Windows XP - Motherboard/IGP Drivers

*support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=1699

WARNING!!!!! WARNING!!!!! WARNING!!!!! WARNING!!!!!

You have to disable Windoes XP virtual Memory!!!!! Other wise the system will spontaneously reboot. Anywhere. Even if you are not doing anything. This only started happening after some Windows updates. Not the original SP2 update pack but the newier ones.

The windows updates are getting as bad as Windows 95 bugs. Every update seems to cause more and more bugs.

its a BSOD which you are getting but the opion for restarting when BSODed must be on and your system is restarting, to disable it do the follwing
Go to system properties by right clicking on my computer
select the Advanced tab
Under it select the startup and recovery settings
uncheck the automatic restart option in the sytem failure area

now when you get the BSOD please post the information displayed in it

no probelms for me on the same motherboard with virtual memory enabled and my machine runs continiously for about 9 to 10 hours daily and 14 - 15 hours on weekends

i am using catalyst 5.8, bios 3.8, kaspersky antivirus (ya antivirus can also cause bsod), all available updates for xp prof applied and the latest network drivers from realtek website

only i had to uninstall the ati catalyst control center in 5.8 and revert back to the catalyst control panel as it slowed down the games

 

[AlienTech]

Its not a BSOD, its an ISOD. There is nothing between the reboots. Sometimes when you click on the ATI icon the screen turns black before it comes up with the control panel other times it reboots here. But the screen turns black on many things, I know Hu-Go does it when ever it changes screen modes or something. Hu Go is a TG16 emulator.
It just rebooted right now after I entered a message and clicked the icon to test and dont feel like retyping it all here. But before it used to reboot at any time and any place with no warning even if you are not touching anything. Others reported the same. Using older versions of the drivers dont fix it. My computer is on 24x7.

 

[AlienTech]

Just had a really weird problem. Seems while I was asleep the system locked up. Could not reboot. Could not reinstall WinXP. The bios said the CPU was running at over 60C. But touching it, it was pretty cool.... But it still would not boot all the way into windows. Used ERD commander to boot up and check out the hard disks and stuff and they seemed fine.

The south bridge was hot.. Hot enough to burn fingers.... So I shut down the system for 10 Min's and the temperature dropped by 1C to 59... Still too hot to touch. Did it 3 times and it just is not dropping... Still cant boot or install Winxp....

So I shut off the power by switching off the power strip... The temperature dropped in under a minute and it rebooted and works fine...

So Just shutting down the system does not mean the system is actually shut down. Even if all the lights go off and the drives stop and fans stop. Seems the south bridge was still running. Running something that locked it up since it was as hot as I have ever seen it. Much higher than 60C maybe 80 or 90C's since you could not touch it for more than a second.

Its running now for 20 minutes and it is just warm. All I did today was try to use speedfan to see if they had it working with this mother board and guess not.

 

[AlienTech]

New version of Everest is now available. This is the only program I have foudn to be realiable and works with this mother board. It pretty much chows you everything you want to know but dont allow you to change anything since it is the free home version.

New features in EVEREST version 2.20


Upgrade to the latest version of EVEREST to own the most accurate and powerful system diagnostics solution by getting up-to-date hardware information databases, support for the latest graphics processors and motherboard chipsets.


*www.lavalys.hu/products/download.php?pid=1&dlid=2&lang=en

If the download does not start automatically, please click on the following link: *www.lavalys.hu/downloads/everesthome220.zip

Advanced hardware monitor with OSD panel and cooling fans monitoring
Real-time alerting for hot-plug devices
Portable computer information
Extended Intel E8500 server chipset details
Extended optical drive details
Bluetooth PAN support
Support for the latest graphics technologies
File Scanner filtering
User benchmark results manager
Sharpness test (Monitor Diagnostics)
download EVEREST Ultimate Edition 2.20

*www.lavalys.hu/downloads/everestultimate220.exe

 

[blackleopard92]

I have MSI graphics Drivers,sound drivers,network drivers.
Should I install ATI catalyst v3.8?

Someone said that realtek drivers load up the PC?I have a spare network card.should I install it?

 

[AlienTech]

realtek drivers load up the PC if you use the Microsoft SP2 updated updates.. Or maybe they fixed it. Who knows. Microsoft seems to be playing their old games again and its a royal pain. I am using the realteck right now but got anothe rcard installed just in case... But I havent updated my WINXP SP2 for a while now because of all the problesm I encountered.

The GFX drivers seem to not make much difference... Unless you want to use some of the special stuff like ATI tool to over clock the GFX core and stuff... maybe if I played more games I would notice a difference.

 

[blackleopard92]

No, realtek drivers do not load.i want to play half life 2 and doom 3.
i heared Doom 3 have probs with ATI.
i have upgraded form i810(played serious sam on it )

graphics don't matter, everthing looks awesome

 

[AlienTech]

New updates.. MSI now has a monitor program to see the CPU temp and other things..

*www.msi.com.tw/program/support/download/dld/spt_dld_detail.php?UID=640&kind=1

MSI PC Alert 4 ReleaseDate: 2005-9-15

Version 4.1.0.6 Support OS Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP File size 2.352MB

The utility is just like your PC doctor that can detect the following PC hardware status during real time operation:
• monitor CPU & system temperatures
• monitor fan speed(s)
• monitor system voltage
• monitor chassis intrusion

*66.96.84.4/support/swr_exe/mbd_swr/PCAlert4_MB.zip
*66.96.84.4/support/swr_exe/mbd_swr/PCAlert4_MB.zip
*download.msi.com.tw/support/swr_exe/mbd_swr/PCAlert4_MB.zip



Also new system drivers

*66.96.84.4/support/dvr_exe/mbd_dvr/ATI_RS480_MA30001.zip
*66.96.84.4/support/dvr_exe/mbd_dvr/ATI_RS480_MA30001.zip
*download.msi.com.tw/support/dvr_exe/mbd_dvr/ATI_RS480_MA30001.zip

 

[del_x]

Nice review buddy, this board is really good option for a budget system.

 

[AlienTech]

There seems to be some problem with this new driver @ 1280x1024x32bit color... It looses H&V sync on the monitor and this is the first time I have ever encountered this. It makes your sreen turn weird like windows in the left will suddenly show up on the right side as it looses H sync stability. Even reinstalling the old versions seemed not to fix it. So they must have added something that autostarts.

 

[p_d5010]

Hi All people, Can anyone please tell me that msirs480ml2 motherboard with geforce6200 pcie 128 mb is a good performer or not?I am thinking of buying this combination as winfast distributors(DIGIT best buy winner) are not available here in Nagpur..........so this is the only option......Also please recommend me a good gaming pc upgrade.....i want to upgrade my pc to gaming needs.........my budget is rs.10000-11000
my current config. is:
amd2000+xp
384ddr ram 266 mhz
nvidia geforcefx5200 128mb agp card
asus a7n266vm se motherboard


Please Help!

 

[asdf1223]

u need a cpu upgrade also since rs480 is s-939 motherboard.the onboard graphics is a derivative of the x300 gpu.therfore a 6200 wont give u great boost vs.the onboard if u good ram.

 

[AlienTech]

This board is not for people that only want to spend 10K. You need 2 pieces of DDR400 at least and a AMD3000+ 939 CPU as well. So its not an upgrade board but an entry level high performance start up board for around 20K. Other wise go for the 64bit sempron's which cost half the price and gives 75% of the performance.