MSI™'s New Motherboards

First, there's MSI™'s new K8TM which is based on the VIA® K8T800 chipset. This board supports Athlon 64 (Socket 754) processors and it's made for small form factor PCs judging from its size. It comes with optional Ethernet and IEEE-1394. Other features such as AGP 8X, USB 2.0 and SATA ports are standard specifications supported by the K8T800 AGP bridge and the VT8237 southbridge.

The MSI™ K8TM is based on the new VIA® K8T800 + VT8237 chipset.

For the Pentium 4 platform, there's a couple of new chipsets which we can look forward to. There's VIA's PT800 and PT880. The former supports single channel DDR400 and it's in direct competition with the Intel 848P and SiS 648FX. The latter supports dual channel DDR400 and it will compete with Intel's 865PE and 875P chipsets. Since their pricing are always very attractive, MSI™'s new PT880 Neo is the one to look out for. The PT880 Neo comes with features similar to their 865PE and 875P series, and most importantly, it also comes with MSI™'s CoreCell technology. Let's hope this baby overclocks as well as the 865PE.

The MSI™ PT8 Neo is one of VIA®'s first 'official' chipset for the Pentium® 4 platform. Based on the VIA® PT800 chipset.

The MSI™ PT880 Neo is based on the VIA® PT880 chipset which supports dual channel DDR400 memory.

New Mega PCs on the Way

Be prepared for MSI™'s latest Mega PCs which promises better features, better performance, better eye candy and better thermal management. The Mega PC underwent quite a cosmetic change since the introduction of their first small form factor PCs a couple of months back.

On the front panel, you'll find a 6-in-1 card reader, a microphone jack, a headphone jack, two USB 2.0 ports, an optical S/PDIF port and two IEEE-1394 ports. At the rear end, you'll find an Ethernet jack, two VGA ports and the standard array of I/Os.

The new Mega PCs come in two flavors, one for the Athlon XP platform and another targets the Pentium 4 users. The Mega 180 is based on the NVIDIA nForce2 IGP chipset which comes with integrated graphics. If you'd prefer to use your own graphics card, you'll find an additional AGP 8x slot which enables you to upgrade your PC's graphics. There are also two dual-channel DDR333 DIMM slots and an additional PCI slot for various upgrade purposes.

For the Pentium 4 crowd, there's the Mega 865 which is based on Intel's 865G chipset. There are two DDR400 DIMM supporting dual-channel memory along with an AGP 8x, a PCI and a mini PCI slot. Since it's using the ICH5, you'll also find an additional SATA port for those who wants to keep the casing airflow unobstructed.

MSI®'s new Mega PCs now come with very high class finishing. Available for both the Athlon XP and Pentium 4 platform, these SFF PCs would make wonderful Christmas gifts. Never too early to start shopping for the holiday season.

The top section houses your optical drive, the section right below it houses the display, while below them are buttons, connectors and memory card slots.

S/PDIF optical output, MIC, headphone jack, USB 2.0 and IEEE-1394 ports are all placed in front for easy access.

Looks like the front display is now redecorated with colors. Cool!

Mega Stick

This 128MB USB memory key lets you play MP3s, listen to radio and records voice memos.

MSI™ Diversifies to Other Products

MSI™ is no longer just a motherboard or graphics card manufacturer as we're seeing more communication products being introduced this year. The latest addition to their line of networking products are wireless 802.11g access point and cards. The new RG54GS residential gateway also comes with an additional USB printer server. Along with the gateway/access point, MSI™ will also be introducing 802.11g CardBus and PCI access cards.

MSI™'s new 802.11g access point.

MSI™ offers both PCI and Cardbus based 802.11g access cards.

Those who wants to wire their home but simply too lazy to do so, they'll be glad to know there's the new HomePlug adapter which converts your home power lines into Ethernet cables. The HomePlug standard supports transfer rates of up to 13.75Mbps and it's equipped with 56-bit DES encryption for security purposes. The HomePlug comes in two flavors, one that connects directly to the Ethernet jack and another that connects to the USB port.

The MSI™ HomePlug adapter makes use of your home's power line for networking purposes.

For the digital home, MSI™ will be introducing the home media center which comes with a DVD player, PVR functionality and networking. It supports UPnP (Universal Plug and Play), thus, it will talk to any UPnP media adaptor. You can use the media center to stream music, video and photos to your TV set anywhere in your home through a wired or wireless LAN. Seen in the picture below, the small silver box above the Media Center is MSI™'s UPnP Digital Media Adapter which decodes digital content and display them on your TV.

MSI™'s new Home Media Center products which brings you closer to the Digital Home concept.

For more information, please refer to
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/articles.hwz?cid=18&aid=853&page=1

(News Source From HardwareZone.com)