MSI Pro266 Master R socket 370

Monday, June 25, 2001


Introduction

The MSI Pro266 Master has no equal in the current marketplace. It's literally packed with features, sports an integrated RAID controller, PC-2-PC communications, and a D-LED diagnostic panel - among other things. It's main attraction however, is its VIA Pro266 chipset, which not only allows it to support 133MHz FSB processors, but also both DDR and SDR SDRAM memory.

MSI Pro266 Master R Hardware characteristics
CPU
Intel® Pentium® III (FC-PGA)/Celeron™ Processor or VIA® Cyrix™ / Samuel™ III Processor.
  • Celeron 433-733MHz or faster.
  • Pentium III 500-800MHz @100MHz FSB.
  • Pentium III 533MHz-1.13GHz @133MHz FSB.
  • Cyrix III 500-733MHz @133MHz FSB.
    • Chipset
    VIA Pro266 VT8633/VT8233
    Form factor
    ATX
    Expansion
    5 PCI - 0 ISA - 1 CNR - 1 AGP - 6 USB - 4 IDE + 4 IDE RAID
    Memory
  • Three 184-pin DDR DIMM, maximum size up to 3GB.
  • Two 168-pin SDRAM DIMM, maximum size up to 2GB.
    • FSB
    66Mhz ˆ 166Mhz in steps of 1Mhz
    Vcore adj.
    Ajustable between -0.1v and +0.15v in 0.05v increments
    Vio adj.
    NA
    Audio chipset
    embeded into the chipset


    As mentioned in the introduction, the Pro266 Master supports a number of features. Among them, we can note its 5 memory slots - which permit support for both SDR-SDRAM, and DDR-SDRAM. The Pro266 Master also comes with PC-2-PC network communications technology - which allows 2 of its 6 USB ports to be pressed into service as a network link. The list doesn't end there though. In fact, the Pro266 Master includes online BIOS updates through the LiveBIOS system, Overclocking from within Windows by using the Fuzy Logic 3 application, the quad-diode D-LED diagnostic panel, and the PC-Alert, Windows-compatible hardware monitoring program.

    Clearly, not a single competing board on the market can boast the Pro266 Master's sheer range of features.



    Configuration

    Despite all the integrated features, this board is thankfully bereft of jumpers.

    A single jumper labeled JP5 can, however, be used to set the FSB to either 100MHz or 133MHz.

    All other adjustments are made from within the BIOS. Among those to be found in the "Frequency/Voltage Control" menu, we noted (The ability to...):

  • Set the clock multiplier to between 3x and 9.5x.
  • Set the FSB frequency to between 66MHz and 166MHz in 1MHz steps.
  • Adjust the Vcore voltage by between -0.1v and +0.15v in steps of 0.05v.

    Most other adjustment options can be found in the "Advanced Chipset Features" menu, where users can tinker with a variety of settings related to memory timing, the AGP bus, and the PCI bus - albeit in a manner slightly different than usual.

    For example, within the "DRAM Clock Drive Control" sub-menu, one can find the following options:

    Change the memory bus frequency, adjust the memory timings to a DRAM Cycle Length of 2 or 2.5, and, finally, the ability to set the BANK Interleave to Auto or disabled.

    Index:

    Suite: Technical details.

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