Digital-Daily : Motherboard Reviews : msi_abit_am2

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abit AN52 vs. MSI K9A2 Platinum

Author: Aleksandr Mitrofanov Date: 31.01.2008

- Contents -Стр.1 - Specifications, package bundleСтр.2 - Layout and Features; Expansion optionsСтр.3 - BIOS, monitoring, overclocking toolsСтр.4 - Performance and conclusions

abit AN52 Chipset NVIDIA nForce 520 CPU Socket AM2 Athlon64 HTT 200 MHz Memory DDR2 533/667/800 HDD 1x UltraDMA/133 4x SerialATA(RAID) Extras Audio HDA 10 USB 2.0 Gigabit Ethernet Price: ~65$ (Price.ru)

MSI K9A2 Platinum Chipset AMD 790FX CPU Socket AM2 Athlon64 HTT 200 MHz Memory DDR2 533/667/800/1066 HDD 1x UltraDMA/133 8x SerialATA(2xRAID) Extras 2 IEEE-1394a Audio Intel HDA 10 USB 2.0 Gigabit Ethernet Price: ~195$ (Price.ru)

If we look two years back, at the time of release of Intel Core 2 Duo processors, we can see how this architecture has been gradually expelling AMD products. As of the start of year 2008, we can establish an almost complete victory of Intel, in all the directions and fronts. Some sort of the "acid test" is the assortment of motherboards by leading manufacturers, which most precisely expresses the real alignment of forces. In particular, the list of models that support AM2 processors has shrunk to the minimum, and currently large manufacturers are offering either top-end motherboards with a set of unique features or explicitly cheap products with a basic feature-set.

These are just the boards we are reviewing today. The former is made by MSI, MSI K9A2 Platinum, and is based on the AMD 790FX chipset. The key trait of this board is in the four PCI Express x16 slots implemented due to the good specifications of the north bridge RD790. As the south bridge, the outdated chip SB600 that lost its competitive edge a year ago is used. In order to somehow equal the board's specifications with those of the competitor product by Intel, engineers at MSI had to install a rather expensive Promise PDC42819 chip (for comparison, the expansion card Promise FastTrak TX2650 based on this chip costs about 80$).

The latter board is called AN52 made by abit and is based on the single-chip NVIDIA nForce 520. Its feature-set is minimum, but at the same time this board costs three times as cheap versus MSI K9A2 Platinum. So, there won't be a straightforward comparison of the motherboards: each of them is playing in its own league.

Specifications

Retail boxes

Design of the packages:

Package bundle

Motherboard; User's Manual in English; 1x software & drivers CD; One ATA-133 cable, one FDD cable; 2x SerialATA cables; 1x cap for the rear panel of the housing; A sticker with the jumpers layout diagram.

Motherboard; User's Manual in English; 2x software & drivers CDs (for XP and Vista); One ATA-133 cable, one FDD cable; 4x SerialATA cables + 2x power supply adapters (2 connectors); 1x cap for the rear panel of the housing; A bracket for 2 additional USB 2.0 and D-LED; 1x bracket for an additional Firewire port; 2x Crossfire bridges.

The package bundle of abit generally meets its low price. But that can't be said about the MSI product: K9A2 Platinum costs almost $200, with out any non-standard components. Moreover, even the standard bundle items don't fully unveil the board's capabilities.

So let's keep to the point: both the motherboards offers a kit of PATA and FDD cables, a mandatory cap for the rear panel, and a few SerialATA cables. The MSI board has the required power supply adapters, whereas the abit product doesn't.

Since K9A2 Platinum supports the Crossfire technology, two flexible bridges to connect video cards into an array are put into the box.

Now, regarding the user's manual and the software. The documentation of the MSI board is highly detailed and reveals all the specific traits of the system assembly and setup. The brochure for the abit product also contains all the required information, however, the description seems to have been drawn up in a haste. We had nothing to complain about the software of both the boards. We note it separately that the MSI board comes bundled with two CDs for both XP and Vista.

Only the MSI board offers additional items. These are two brackets: one with a Firewire port, the other one - with two USB 2.0 ports and D-LEDs for initial diagnostics.

We rate the package bundle of the abit product as "3.5/5", and "2.5/5" for that of the MSI board.

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	Content:
	Стр.1 - Specifications, package bundle Стр.2 - Layout and Features; Expansion options Стр.3 - BIOS, monitoring, overclocking tools Стр.4 - Performance and conclusions

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