MSI's and Foxconn's motherboards (P45)
| MSI P45 Neo | Foxconn P45A-S |
| Chipset | Intel P45 | Intel P45 |
| CPU | LGA775 Pentium 4 FSB 1066/800/533 MHz
Celeron Conroe-L/Prescott FSB 800/533 MHz
Dual-Core Pentium4
Yorkfield, Wolfdale FSB 1333/1066/800 MHz
Quad-Core Kentsfield, Dual-Core Conroe/Allendale
HyperThreading |
LGA775 Pentium 4 FSB 1066/800/533 MHz
Celeron Conroe-L/Prescott FSB 800/533 MHz
Dual-Core Pentium4
Yorkfield, Wolfdale FSB 1333/1066/800 MHz
Quad-Core Kentsfield, Dual-Core Conroe/Allendale
HyperThreading |
| Memory | DDR2 667/800/1066 | DDR2 667/800/1066 |
| HDD | 1x UltraDMA/133
6x SerialATA | 1x UltraDMA/133
7x SerialATA(RAID) |
| Extras | Audio Intel HDA
12 USB 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet | 2 IEEE-1394a
Audio Intel HDA
12 USB 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet |
| Price | ~$105-110 (Price.ru) |
n/a (Price.ru) |
Today, we are reviewing two motherboards built on the P45 chipset. Both the products are aimed at middle-end systems and offer support for the basic set of expansion options. Along with that, Foxconn P45A-S offers two PCI Express x16 slots onboard, which makes it rank a step higher. At the same time, it supports the FireWire and basic overclocking tools.
Some overclocking tools are also available on MSI P45 Neo which is a typical "workhorse" with a standard feature-set and expansion options. However, we haven't yet been able to try them in action.
Specifications
Foxconn P45A-S
MSI P45 Neo
| Foxconn P45A-S | MSI P45 Neo |
| CPU | - Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott (2M)/Gallatin/ CedarMill) with the bus speeds 1066/800/533 MHz
- Dual-core Intel Pentium D / EE (Smithfield/Presler) with the bus speeds 800/1066 MHz
- Intel Celeron-D (Conroe-L/Prescott) with the bus speeds 800/533 MHz
- Support for Intel Core 2 Duo (Kentsfield (4 cores), Conroe/Allendale (2 cores)) with the bus speeds 1066/800 MHz
- Support for Intel Yorkfield, Wolfdale with the bus speeds 1333/1066/800 MHz
- Socket LGA775
- Support for HyperThreading processors |
| Chipset | - North bridge Intel P45 (MCH)
- South bridge Intel ICH10R
- Interbridge communications: DMI |
- North bridge Intel P45 (MCH)
- South bridge Intel ICH10R
- Interbridge communications: DMI |
| System memory | - Four 240-pin slots for DDR2 SDRAM DIMM
- Maximum memory capacity 8 GB
- Supported memory DDR2 667/800/1066
- Dual-channel memory access |
| Graphics | - Two PCI Express x16 slots | - One PCI Express x16 slot |
| Expansion options | - Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots
- Two PCI Express x1 slots
- Twelve USB 2.0 (4 integrated + 8 additional) ports
- Two IEEE1394 ports (FireWire; 1 integrated + 1 additional)
- Integrated High Definition Audio 7.1
- Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller | - Three 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots
- Two PCI Express x1 slots
- Twelve USB 2.0 ports (4 integrated + 8 additional )
- Integrated High Definition Audio 7.1
- Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller |
| Overclocking options | - FSB adjustable within 333 to 800 MHz in 1 MHz increments
- Adjustable voltages on the CPU, memory, FSB, and chipset (MCH)
- FoxOne utility | - FSB adjustable within 333 to 800 MHz in 1 MHz increments; adjustable multiplier
- Adjustable voltages on the CPU, memory, FSB, and the chipset (MCH + ICH)
- MSI D.O.T;
- Dual CoreCell |
| Disk subsystem | - One link for UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (JMB361; with support for up to 2 ATAPI devices)
- Support for SerialATA II (6 links - ICH10R, with support for RAID)
- Support for eSATA (1 link - JMB361)
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM | - One link for UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (JMB368; with support for up to 2 ATAPI devices)
- Support for SerialATA II (6 links - ICH10)
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM |
| BIOS | - 8 Mbit Flash ROM
- AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features
- Foxconn LiveUpdate, Logo utilities | - 8 Mbit Flash ROM
- AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features q - MSI LiveUpdate utility |
| Misc | - One port for FDD, one serial port, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard - STR (Suspend to RAM)
- SPDIF Out | - One port for FDD, one serial and one parallel ports, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard
- STR (Suspend to RAM)
- SPDIF Out |
| Power management | - Wake up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer, and USB
- Main 24-pin ATX power connector
- Additional 8-pin power connector | - Wake up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer, and USB
- Main 24-pin ATX power connector
- Additional 4-pin power connector |
| Monitoring | - Monitoring the temperatures of the CPU, system, voltages, rotational voltages of the 3 fans
- Smart Fan | - Monitoring the temperature of the CPU, system, voltages, rotational speeds of the 2 fans
- Smart Fan - Dual CoreCenter utility |
| Dimensions | - ATX form factor, 245x305 mm (9.63" x 12") | - ATX form factor, 220x305 mm (8.65" x 12") |
Retail boxes
The package of the Foxconn board looks more impressive.
Package bundle
| Foxconn P45A-S P45A-S:
- motherboard;
- user's manual + brief user's guide;
- 1x software & drivers CD;
- one ATA-133 cable, one FDD cable;
- 2x SerialATA cables + two power supply adapters (2 connectors);
- a cap for the rear panel of the housing.
|
MSI P45 Neo:
- motherboard;
- user's manual, a guide for the audio subsystem, a brochure for the backup utility;
- 2x CD with software & drivers (for XP and Vista); a disk with a backup utility;
- one ATA-133 cable;
- 1x SerialATA cable + a power supply adapter (1 connector);
- a cap for the rear panel of the housing.
|
The package bundles of both the boards are minimum but fully meet the retail price.
Now, regarding the user's manual and the software. We had nothing to complain about the main documentation of both motherboards, nor about the CDs with drivers, utilities and third-party software (antivirus software). The Foxconn's board also offers a brief assembly and system setup guide.
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