MSI Eclipse SLI Review

ccokeman - December 22, 2008
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Specifications:

CPU	Supports Intel® i7 based processors in LGA1366 package.
Chipset	• Intel® X58 Chipset - Supports QPI up to 6.4GT/s • Intel® ICH10R Chipset - Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0) controller, 480Mb/sec, up to 12 ports. - 6 SATAII ports with transfer rate up to 3Gb/s. - PCI Master v2.3, I/O APIC. - ACPI 2.0 compliant. - Serial ATA RAID 0/1/5/10. - Integrated AHCI controller
Main Memory	• Supports six unbuffered DIMM of 1.5 Volt DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600 SDRAM, 24GB Max - Supports 1Gb/ 2Gb/ 4Gb DRAM size - Supports x8 / x16 data lines per DIMM - Supports up to 3 channel mode
Slots	3 PCI Express gen2 x16 slots - two Black PCIE x16 slots (PCI_E2 &PCI_E4) support up to PCIE x16 speed, one Blue PCIE x16 slot(PCI_ E5) supports up to PCIE x4 speed - supports ATI® Crossfire™, NVIDIA® SLI • 2 Black PCI Express x1 slots • 2 PCI slot, support 3.3V/ 5V PCI bus Interface
On-Board IDE/SATA	• One Ultra DMA 66/100/133 IDE controller integrated in JMicron® 363. - Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes. - Can connect up to two Ultra ATA drives. • SATAII controller integrated in ICH10R/JMicron® 322 / 362 chipest - Up to 3Gb/s transfer speed. - Supports six SATAII ports by ICH10R - Supports four SATAII ports by JMicron 322, support SATA RAID 0/1/JBOD. - Supports two eSATA ports by JMicron 362. - Supports AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0/1/5/10 by ICH10R.
Audio	• Creative® SB X-Fi Xtreme H/W Audio Card (MS-4132) - 24-bit / 96KHz audio quality - 100dB SNR clarity - Up to 7.1ch EAX 5.0 Surround Sound
LAN	• Supports two PCI Express LAN 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek 8111C.
EEE1394 / FireWire	• VIA® VT6308P chipset - Supports up to two 1394 ports. (Rear panel x1, pinheader x1) - Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps.
Internal I/O Connectors	- ATX 24-Pin power connector - 8-pin ATX 12V power connector - CPU / System x 5 FAN connectors - CD-in connector - Front panel audio connector - Front panel connector - 1 x chasis intrusion connector - 1 x serial port pinheader - 2 x USB 2.0 connectors - 10 x Serial ATAII connectors - 1 x ATA133 connector - 1 x IEEE1394 connector support additional 1 port - 1 x GreenPower Genie connector - 1 x Reset Button - 1 x Power Button - 1 x SPDIF-out connector - 1 x D-LED2 connector - 1 x TPM module connector
Back Panel I/O Ports	- 1 x Clear CMOS button - 1 x PS/2 Keyboard - 1 x PS/2 Mouse - 2 x eSATA ports - 1 x IEEE1394 port - 8 x USB 2.0 ports - 2 x RJ45 LAN jacks - 1 x 5 in 1 + Optical SPDIF out Audio Card
BIOS	• The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically. • The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.
Dimension	• 30.5cm(L) x 24.4cm(W) ATX Form Factor
Mounting	• 9 mounting holes.

Features:

DrMOS: DrMOS has integrated Driver IC, Top-MOSFET, Bottom-MOSFET
GreenPower: GreenPower Technology is the Best efficient power saving solution for end-users.
XpressCool: DrMOS offers lower temperature when it is working. No More Noise!! No More High Speed Fan!!
RapidBoost: DrMOS delivers the high quality power transfer to bring the “Stable Overclocking Environment”.
APS: APS is Active Phase Switching, that is complete function to Control Power Demand With Switcing Dynamically, it’s for CPU, Memory and Chipset PWM. Benefits: Saving Power under Variable Loading. Power Usage More Efficiency.

Easy OC switch

Help end-users upgrade CPU FSB directly
• Buy an essential CPU but want to reach higher performance
• Skip the complicated BIOS OC setting and enjoy the higher level CPU performance

All Solid Capacitors:

Help end-users upgrade CPU FSB directly
• Buy an essential CPU but want to reach higher performance
• Skip the complicated BIOS OC setting and enjoy the higher level CPU performance

All Shielded Chokes:

Help end-users upgrade CPU FSB directly
• Buy an essential CPU but want to reach higher performance
• Skip the complicated BIOS OC setting and enjoy the higher level CPU performance

Hich C Cap on PWM:

Hi-c CAP (Highly-conductive polymerized Capacitor)
• High voltage derating / heat resistance → higher over-voltage / overclocking possibility
• Best stability & long lifespan → Average life 44800 Hrs @ 85℃ chamber

MSI M Connectors:

Hi-c CAP (Highly-conductive polymerized Capacitor)
• High voltage derating / heat resistance → higher over-voltage / overclocking possibility
• Best stability & long lifespan → Average life 44800 Hrs @ 85℃ chamber

X-Fi Audio:

Make MP3 music sound better than CDs
• Transform to surround sound (speakers/headphone) from stereo audio source
• EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0 provides the fidelity of gaming audio effect
• World’s 1st PCIe interface X-Fi audio card

User Freindly:

Functions designed with button to be easy use.
• Help power-users tweaking process in-chasis enviornment
• Onboard SATA ports are stacked on the mainboard to avoid mechanical issue with giant graphic cards like 8800 Ultra.

ATI CrossfireX:

Equip with 2 or more PCIe x16 slots, ATI CrossFire Ready.
• The ultimate multi-GPU performance gaming platform.
• Provides 2.7x faster performance than single graphic card solution.

NVIDIA 3-way SLI

Nvidia 3way SLI Technology build the fastest gaming solution available with NVIDIA nForce® chipsets and three NVIDIA® GeForce® high-end graphics cards.(*Note:For Windows Vista Only.)
• Compared with single graphic card solution, it brings 2.8X faster performance gained.

Live Update on line:

The MSI Live Update online is designed to automatically download and update the BIOS and driver when there’s a new version online. It helps reduce the risk of getting the wrong file and minimize the trouble of searching the files from MSI website.

Live update 3 :

Live Update 3 is a single utility software that automatically checks BIOS, driver and utility updates and installs for you , which can save your time for searching and lower the risk while updating.

All information courtesy of MSI @ http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=&prod_no=1695