MSI P35 Neo2-FR: Platinum performance for under $100
by Gary Key on December 5, 2007 11:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Media Performance
We will take a brief look at general media performance with our test suite that includes Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0. We utilize the PC WorldBench 6.0 Test for measuring platform performance in Adobe's Photoshop CS2. The benchmark applies an extensive number of filters to the test image and heavily stresses the CPU and storage systems. The scores reported include the full conversion process and are in seconds, with lower numbers indicating better performance.
This test requires a balance between CPU speed and a fast storage subsystem. The Neo2-FR board scores within two seconds of the top board.
Our next test is one recommended by Intel, but the test itself appears to be fair and results are very repeatable. This test simply measures the amount of time required to fix and optimize 103 different photos weighing in at 63MB. We report results in seconds, with lower times indicating better performance
The Neo2-FR board scores well in this CPU intensive test and is only 0.4 seconds slower than its big bother. With the memory timings set identically, the board is just as fast as the Platinum version.
Media Encoding Performance
We are utilizing Nero Recode 2 and Sony Vegas 7.0e for our video encoding tests. The scores listed include the full encoding process represented in seconds, with lower numbers indicating better performance.
Our first series of tests is quite easy - we take our original Office Space DVD and use AnyDVD to rip the full DVD to the hard drive without compression, thus providing an almost exact duplicate of the DVD. We then fire up Nero Recode 2, select our Office Space copy on the hard drive, and perform a shrink operation to allow the entire movie along with extras to fit on a single 4.5GB DVD disc. We leave all options on their defaults except we uncheck the advanced analysis option.
We find in this CPU and disk intensive test that all of the boards are within 1% of each other with the Neo2-FR board finishing one second slower than the fastest boards. Over the course of a year, that difference might add up to an extra five minutes of your life back. However, if you are burning that many DVDs, you are probably in need of much more than five minutes of saved time.
Our Sony Vegas 7.0e test converts several of our summer vacation files into a plasma-screen-pleasing 1080/24P format with a 5.1 audio stream. We ensure our quality settings are set to their highest levels and then let the horses loose.
In a test that really stresses the CPU and memory subsystem, we see the Neo2-FR board trailing the other P35 boards. This result once again confirms the slower memory timings make a difference, however slight - 1.5% in this case.
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drebo - Friday, December 7, 2007 - link
I'll forgive your ignorant comment since you obviously do not work in retail computer sales. People aren't interested in buying adapters and add-on cards that they don't feel they should need because "their old computer had it." In a managed IT environment, yes, you can just give everyone converters and it works fine, but your average joe who walks into a computer shop with a 10-year-old dead computer and an ancient Epson parallel printer isn't ever going to understand why his old connections are going by the way-side.So, yes, legacy support in the retail market is important, even for most small business users. Not a day doesn't go by when I get a call or someone comes in needing a parallel card or serial card because the off-the-shelf computer they bought doesn't come with one. Most people don't need 16 USB ports, but I'll bet a good number do need a parallel port.
AssBall - Saturday, December 8, 2007 - link
"I'll forgive your ignorant comment since you obviously do not work in retail computer sales."Right... because a good retail computer salesperson would sell someone who is inexperienced enough to not RTFM a 10$ adapter instead of reccomending a better and higher profit margin 10 year newer replacement product for 150$ with built in factory support$
Salesman indeed...
kmmatney - Thursday, December 6, 2007 - link
Serial mice? Come-on! I used serial mice back in the day, but there is absolutely no need to get a USB mouse - I just bought a spare optical mouse for $3 at Microcenter - works great. You can get a USB-RS232 adapter for around $15 as well. Or you can buy a PCI add-on card, with RS232 and Parallel ports, for around the same price. I'd way rather have the extra USB and e-Sata ports instead of the legacy crap.I do a lot of RS-232 and RS-485 programming, and my main computer is a laptop, so I've been using USB-Serial converters for some time now.
theslug - Thursday, December 6, 2007 - link
They sell these:http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Sub...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...iption=u...
OndrejSc - Thursday, December 6, 2007 - link
Cheer up! It does exist. :-)http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&a...">http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func...=1342&am...
drebo - Thursday, December 6, 2007 - link
Hmmm, good news. I wonder when we'll have availability and what the pricing will be like.LoneWolf15 - Thursday, December 6, 2007 - link
"MSI also offers the Creative Lab's X-Fi audio codecs on their high-end boards as a nod to the gaming community."No...MSI puts the X-Fi XtremeAudio chip on the boards, which is a tweaked Audigy SE chip (note: the Audigy SE isn't even a true Audigy chip), not a true X-Fi. No hardware EAX or DirectSound3D acceleration, and the drivers, like the X-Fi XtremeAudio card, are completely different than the rest of the X-Fi line. So, serious gamers STILL need to buy a sound card.
I really like MSI and use their boards a lot, but this audio solution is really only slightly better than what is used on other boards --and those who don't like Creative might argue that the drivers actually make it worse. If MSI had used the real X-Fi chip, I'd be very impressed.
ultimatex - Thursday, December 6, 2007 - link
are u retarted ? serious gamers need to buy a seperate sound card? A real serious games would not be worrying about some sound options but more about performace of the board. I smell some Asus Gybabyte fan boys here on these forums.as long as boards have 5.1 sound U dont need no special features that dont do anything specialy for games. Serious games wear headphones.
these NERDS here are sounding like if a serious gamer has to have a sound card . Well ill tell u from a X-Cal P Css Player here. A videocard and Fps is the most important thing for a Hardcore gamer..
Etern205 - Friday, December 7, 2007 - link
Your the retarded one.If he's right and that the onboard X-FI does not have hardware accelerated audio, what it means it it uses the cpu to process the audio singal which leads to reduce FPS. Gamers needs to know where their enemies are and that's where the EAX comes in. Onboard will have EAX as well as mutli-channel speaker support (ie 5.1 surround sound) but without a higher version of EAX (ie EAX 5.0) all your hearing are just sounds coming at you with no sense of direction.
So if you got a 5.1 speaker setup but with a crappy onboard Audio or onboard X-FI with crappy EAX support then it won't help you as much as a dedicated sound card.
dazy - Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - link
Thanks for pointing out his utter ignorance before I had to, lol.[quote=ultimatex]serious gamers need to buy a seperate sound card?
as long as boards have 5.1 sound U dont need no special features that dont do anything specialy for games. Serious games wear headphones.
A videocard and Fps is the most important thing for a Hardcore gamer..[/quote]
The sheer number of stupid statements for a "gamer" in his post is outstanding. Maybe he thinks we are talking about his XBOX360? ;-)