Wednesday, April 26, 2000

Additional features (continued)

Additional features of the MSI K7 Pro (MS-6195), include: Wake on LAN, Wake on Modem Ring, PS/2 connectors, 4 USB ports on the rear panel, RX/TX connectors for infrared functionality, and start-up from the keyboard/mouse/or at a pre-set time. Hardware monitoring of fan speed (up to 3 fans), and of CPU temperature is also offered as a standard feature on this PC99-compliant motherboard. An integrated sound card featuring the Creative Labs CT5880 is also made available as an option.

Below, a photo of the MSI K7 Pro.

Installation

Anyone can install the K7 Pro without problems the first time around. Since there are no jumpers to position, it suffices to place the board in its case, plug everything in, and start it up to make a pass through the BIOS to finalize any needed adjustments.

The software bundle

The installation CD contains the VIA 4-in-1 patches, the USDM utility for monitoring the hardware, audio drivers, PC-Cillin 98 and its recent update, Adobe Acrobat Reader, a bunch of utilities from MSI, and Microsoft DirectX 7.

Next: The test results.

K7 Pro / (MS-6195)

CPU: Slot A for AMD Athlon(TM) processor. Supports 500/550/600/650 MHz or higher processor.

Memory: Supports three memory banks using three 168-pin unbuffered DIMM sockets. Supports a maximum memory size of 768MB for SDRAM. Supports 3.3v PC100 SDRAM DIMM.

Slots: 1 AGP, 6 PCI, Supports 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface.

Audio: None

Form Factor: ATX

BIOS: Plug & Play BIOS. Desktop Management Interface(DMI).

Chipset: AMD Irongate chipset. (Northbridge) 200MHz EV6 System Interface speed. 100MHz SDRAM. 1x/2x AGP. AMD 756(TM) (Viper) chipset. (Southbridge). OHCI USB. APIC. ACPI Power Management.

Additional Features: Microsoftš PC99 Compliant. D-LED(TM) (Onboard Diagnostic LEDs) (Reserved). T.O.P. Tech(TM) III (Thermal Overheat Protection Technology) (Optional). PC Alert(TM) III (System Hardware Monitor). Supports Accelerated Graphic Port (AG) Add-On Card. TCAC (Built in Trend Micro Anti-Virus Protection on BIOS). LAN Wake Up Function. Modem (Internal/External) Ring Wake Up Function. Vcore & Vi/o setting through BIOS.

Front Side Bus: 100 MHz clock is supported. (200MHz Internal System Bus)

On-Board Peripherals: 1 floppy port supports 2 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88 Mbytes. 2 Serial ports. 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode. 2 USB ports. 1 IrDA connector for SIR.