Page 10: MSI
MSI
About
MSI is a manufacturer that has been around quite a while. They are also known as Microstar, and sell some boards under that label, although MSI has a better reputation. They are known as a middle quality manufacturer, but have a following like they were a massive innovator.
website
http://www.msicomputer.com/
Performance:
MSI rarely performs well, they are usually around the middle of the pack in terms of performance. MSI tends to put their boards for sale very fast, and do not spend the time necessary to fix performance issues. Unfortunately, release date seems to be a higher priority for them. Their only top performing board actually had a large price gap between their normal boards.
Rating: 5.5/10
Stability
During the super 7 days MSI boards were awful, they were not worth for sale, in my opinion. Today they are much improved, but still not great. Their rush to the market approach leaves testing little time to alter any issues that might occur.
Rating: 7/10
Overclocking
The overclocking features of their boards don't seem to suffer too much as the rest of their features. They offer some good bios options, but their boards only overclock moderately. They have never topped the charts.
Rating: 6.5/10
Price
MSI boards are priced well, for what you get. They usually include some decent features, which are almost always the greatest selling point of their boards. Overall they are a decent investment for what they give you.
Rating: 8/10
Features
The one highlight of MSI boards is that they always throw in some feature to their boards. Their latest board has USB 2.0 chips, they offer red PCB on some boards, RAID, and sound on a few designs.
Ratings: 10/10
History
MSI's history is bleak. They have gone from awful to mediocre. Their current boards have a few compatibility problems, and a large number of their Athlon boards have gone inexplicably dead after just over a year of use. This seems to be a very poor quality control issue on their part.
Rating: 2/10
<b>
Support
</b>
MSI does provide decent support via the web, and in person. Their webpage is full of tools that you can use, and you can get actual human response from your questions.
Rating: 8/10
Products worth mentioning
K7T Turbo Limited Edition w/RAID was a great board, unfortunately the board was one of the ones that just goes dead after some use. Usually after the warranty period.
Rating: 1/10
Overall Rating: 6/10 MSI is the height of mediocrity. They aren't really fast, not especially stable, and don't overclock amazing.... priced decently, and have a good set of features. If you want
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