MSI GX720

MSI is getting serious about its gaming series. In addition to its other models, the GX720 is ready and able to meet your performance needs. The GX720 offers the Penryn-based, 2.53Ghz Intel Core Duo CPU. Overclockers will appreciate the Turbo Drive Engine button-they can give the processor a 16% jolt with the press of a finger.

Right away, I was impressed with the GX720's multimedia features, and more specifically, the audio capabilities. The speaker system on this notebook is worth noting; it will apease your eardrums thanks to the virtual Dolby 4.1 surround sound (four speakers and a subwoofer). The audio was crystal clear, even when I listened from across the room.

As for the 17-inch widescreen display, MSI has added the Eco Power Management System, which lets you adjust your power settings according to five preset modes: gaming, movie, presentation, office, and turbo battery. The Eco Power UI is convenient, especially since it includes a playback pad, Web cam (2MP) launcher, and Bluetooth activator.

The GX720 features a full-numeric keypad to the right of the standard QWERTY board. Further, I liked the uniquely marked WASD button that provide an at-a-glance directional reference. And, for the aesthetically minded, the deep red casing, and black brushed aluminium do the GX720 justice.

by Joanna Safford

MSI GX720
$1,799 (as tested)
MSI
www.msimobile.com

Computer Power User January 2009

Read More ..

MSI R4870X2-T2D2G-OC

Factory-overclocked Radeon HD 4870 X2 cards have begun hitting retail shelves recently, with MSI's R4870X2-T2D2G-OC being one of the first. MSI's overclocked spin on the Radeon HD4870 X2 features 2GB of onboard GDDR5, 1 GB per GPU, and a pair of RV770 GPUs.

Unlike reference 4870 X2s, MSI gooses the frequency on each of the card's GPUs to a speedy 780MHz, 30MHz higher than stock. The extra 30MHz give MSI's offering a slight boost in performance, where its 1,600 stream processor can crunch through complex shaders quicker than lower-clocked 4870 X2 cards. MSI doesn't tweak the memory frequency though.

Other than its slightly higher GPU clock, the MSI R4870X2-T2D2G-OC differs from other Radeon HD 4870 X2 cards only by the custom decal affixed to its fan shroud. The actual fan, cooler, PCB, and outputs match AMD's reference design.

As you probably expect, given the Radeon HD 4870 X2's reputation, the higher-clocked MSI cards performed very well in the benchmarks. Except for one instance where the test system was CPU-bound (3DMark06), it outperformed a reference Radeon HD 4870X2 in every test. Considering the card's performance and the fact that MSi doesn't charge a premium for the factory overclock, I can't help but like the R4870X2-T2D2G-OC. If its accessory bundle was a little better and included a current game, this card would be tough to beat.

by Marco Chiappetta



R4870X2-T2D2G-OC
$549
MSI
www.msicomputer.com

Computer Power User January 2009

Read More ..

MSI Wind U100

Tiny system delivers big value


IN THE NEW BUDGET ultraportable laptop class, the $499 MSI Wind U100 strikes the best balance yet between portability and performance.
Powered by Intel's 1.6 GHz Atom N270 processor, the 2.3-pound Wind performs better than netbook competitors like the early Asus Eee PC models and HP's 2133 Mini-Note PC. It includes 1GB of RAM and currently ships with Windows XP Home Edition; the company's planning a lower-cost SUSE Linux version, as well. Storage comes from an 80GB hard drive-roomy compared with the solid-state drives used in some budget netbooks-but as with those other systems, there's no optical drive on the Wind.
The keyboard doesn't feel quite as sturdy as that of the 2133 Mini-Note PC, but its sculpted keytops are more comfortable to type on. The 10-inch screen, meanwhile, features a 1,024x600 wide-screen resolution. The Sound Blaster-compatible audio is fine when using the headphone jack, but the built-in spekers are poor, adding lots of distortion to the Wind's output.

Due to battery shortages, MSI shipped the first Wind units with a meager three-cell unit; at press time, MSI said that a larger six-cell battery would soon be available. With the three-cell unit installed, we were able to use the Wind for 2 hours and 22 minutes with Wi-Fi and power saving enabled.
As for connections, there are no PCMCIA for ExpressCard slots, but the Wind does include three USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, an SD/DHC memory-card slot, and a VGA connector. Wireless connectivity includes 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. -Denny Atkin
source: Computer Shopper October 2008.
www.msi.com.tw

Read More ..

Instant Overclocking

Instant Overclocking
MSI may have been busy with its Wind U100 netbook, but we're happy to see that the company has found time to introduce the GX620 and GX720 gaming laptops. The 5.6-pound GX620 comes with a 15.4-inch display,2.4GHz Core 2 Duo P8600 CPU, 4GB of RAM, Nvidia Geforce 9600M GT (512MB) graphics, and a Blu-ray player/DVD burner. The GX720 bumps the display up to 17 inches and offers an option for a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo P9500 processor.
Both notebookss offer quick-launch buttons that activate MSi's on-the-fly overclocking technology and its battery-conserving ECO Engine Management function.
MSI,www.msimobile.com.
source: Computer Shopper October 2008.

Read More ..

Computing the breeze

Budget ultraportables have been booming this year, and now it's MSI's turn to get in on the action.
The MSI Wind is a business notebook available for both Linux ($399) and Windows ($499). You get mostly the same components in each model: A 1.33Ghz Intel Atom processor, a 10-inch display, an 80GB 2.5-inch SATA hard drive, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and a 1.3-megapixel webcam. Battery life and memory vary between models, but each weighs less than three pounds-perfect for slipping in your briefcase.

source: Computer Shopper August, 2008.
www.msi.com.tw

Read More ..

Motherboard Review: MSI P35 Diamond

Motherboard Review: MSI P35 Diamond



Diamond is elegant. Luxury. That's the concept behind MSI P35 Diamond motherboard from MSI. The most luxury features from MSI P35 Diamond is a Creative X-Fi Extreme sound card and a Skytel modem.

Creative X-Fi Extreme sound card have better quality than onboard Realtek ALC888T sound card on MSI P35. Skytel modem is a strange feature. MSI may think that there's still a lot of dial up internet user around.



Intel P35 northbridge support LGA775 socket. It means P35 support Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors. P35 supports native 800, 1066, until 1333 MHz FSB.

P35 southbridge use ICH9R. It support SATA RAID 0,1,5 and 10. There's 5 SATA ports and 2 eSATA ports. 4 of SATA ports use ICH9R chip and the rest use Marvel 88SE61111 chip.



P35 supports DDR3 memory. There are 4 slots (2 pairs). Each with different colors to show dual channel support.

There's another inovative feature from MSI called Circu-Pipe. Circu-Pite is a pasive heatsink with circullar design like roller coaster.

Another added value from P35 is indicator lamp near battery area. This indicator shows information about PC malfunction. The description about indicator lamp written on manual book.

MSI P35 Diamond is the right motherboard for enthusiastm who looking for newest memory and processors support.

Specification
MSI P35 DIAMOND
Processor Type: Intel Celeron/Pentium
4/D/Core 2 Duo/Core 2
Quad (Socket LGA775)
Chipset: Intel P35+ICH9R
Memory: 4 DDR3-800/1066 dual channels 8 GB max
Graphics Card: 2x PCI Express x16
Expansion Slot: 2xpCIe x1, 2x PCI
Storage: 5x SATA, 1x IDE, 1xFDD, 2x eSATA
RAID: Raid 0,1,5, and 10
Sound Chip: Realtek ALC88T (8 channels)
LAN Chip: Gigabit Realtek RLT8111B
I/O: 1x PS/2 Keyboard
1x PS/2 Mouse
1x Firewire
1x Optical SPDIF Out
1x LAN
6x USB 2.0
2x eSATA
1x 6in1 audio

TEST RESULT
Sysmark 2004
Rating: 371
Internet Content Creation Overall: 483
Office Productivity Overall: 285

SiSoft Sandra 2007
Dhrystone ALU: 27356 MIPS
Video Encoding: 10 minutes 51 seconds
Audio Encoding: 2 minutes 5 seconds
PCMark 2005 (1280x1024): 7239 PCMarks
3dMark 2006 (1280x1024): 3985 3DMarks
Doom 3 (1024x768 high quality): 152,4 fps
Maximum FSB: 460 MHz

Testing Platform:
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Processor, Kingston DDR3 2GB Memory, Asus GeForce 7800 GT VGA Card, Seagate Baracuda 7200RPM 80 GB Harddisk.

www.msi.com.tw

Read More ..