Digital-Daily : Motherboard Reviews : msi_intel_amd

MSI G33M and K9NGM3: new MoBos on integrated chipsets

Author: Aleksandr Mitrofanov
Date: 22.10.2007

Performance

While determining the starting FSB/HTT speed, it turned out that MSI G33M overstates it by merely 1 MHz, whereas MSI K9NGM3 downstates it equally.

In our test setup, we used the following hardware:

Test setup
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 LGA775 (2.66 GHz; Conroe) AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (real clock speed 2.2 GHz) AMD Athlon X2 6000+ (real clock speed 3.0 GHz)
Cooler	Gigabyte 3D Cooler GP Edition
Video Card	Integrated graphic core Intel GMA X3100 NVIDIA GeForce FX 5750; PCI Express x16 Driver version: 91.31 Integrated graphic core NVIDIA GeForce 7050
Sound card	-
HDD	Samsung HD160JJ
Memory	2x512 MB Corsair DDR2 TWIN2X1024-8000UL1
Housing	Inwin506 with PowerMan 300 W PSU
OS	Windows XP SP1

Let's first take a look at the results of synthetic benchmarks. But we should note first that Gigabyte 965G-DS3 and MSI G965M are based on Intel G965. MSI G965M uses the slowest PCI-E video card, namely, GeForce FX 5750. Therefore, we'll be comparing the performance of systems with the integrated and discrete graphics. Another interesting comparison is in the difference of operating speed of MSI K9NGM3 with the single-core Athlon 64 3500+ and DDR2-800 memory, and the same board with the dual-core Athlon X2 6000+ plus DDR2-667 memory of the same capacity. And despite the impressive difference in speed, there is absolutely no difference at speed!

Now on to the gaming benchmarks.

Another test - WinRar (Kb/s.; the more, the better)

Conclusions regarding the performance in 3D applications. Of course, the operating speed of the integrated graphic is twice as slow versus the weakest PCI Express video card, however, we should note a performance gain of the former. First, the chipset G33 with Intel's latest drivers is well ahead of its predecessor (that is, G965). But in combination with a CPU of the Core 2 Duo architecture it is well ahead of the integrated AMD platform.

However, the GeForce 7050 chipset is functionally superior to any Intel's graphic solutions and supports all 3D applications which we have just tried. But the Intel chipset has a number of incompatibilities: the outdated Comanche does not work (Intel Gxxx does not support T&L ), nor works GunMetal (problems with drivers), and at X2-Threat the Intel chipset won due to the worse and more simplified details in the 3D image. Moreover, the functional superiority NVIDIA's graphic core provides a high speed in modern 3D games like Doom 3, Far Cry, and Half Life 2. In particular, at Doom 3 and Far Cry the operating speed of GeForce 7050 is much higher, and in Half Life 2 - absolutely the same but attained with a very weak processor (Athlon 64 3500+).

Final Words

In choosing a value integrated motherboard, we should keep two important factors in mind: the 2D quality, and the retail price. At the quality of the image, there is nothing to complain about any of these boards, and at the price - the MSI board based on GeForce 7050 costs $30 less. At the same time, the expansion options, package bundle, and the functionality of both the boards are approximately equal. So the conclusion is simple: of the two tested motherboards, MSI K9NGM3 looks more attractive. And we recommend to use it in combination with a cheap single-core CPU and DDR2-800 memory.

Of special mention is the good overclocking capability. At that, the superiority is with MSI G33M which showed simply fantastic results (FSB = 474 MHz). In other words, this board is an excellent buy for overclocking for both value Intel CPU of 800 MHz bus and CPUs of middle level of 1066 MHz bus.