Used primarily in servers and workstations, SMP, which stands for Symmetric Multi processing, allows two operations, or threads, to be processed at a time within the OS. This splits the load between the processors, which in turn allows for speedier, more stable operation. SMP is a very costly alternative, which has relegated it mostly to servers, workstations and home users with deep pockets.

Why is it so costly to build an SMP capable system? There are several reasons. The biggest reason is motherboard costs. A decent motherboard that is capable of running two AMD processors in SMP mode will cost you $250. The processor themselves will run you anywhere from $100 to $300 a piece. You also need to buy high-quality memory. When you add up the costs of the motherboard, memory and processors, your total can easily add up to $600 or more. Many people fail to see any reason to pay $600 for a mainboard, memory and processors when they can get a decent KT333 combo for under $300. Is building an SMP capable system worth all of the cash? It is really a matter of personal taste. SMP systems do tend to be more stable and perform better than their single-CPU cousins, but whether or not the extra stability and performance is worth an extra $300 can be debated forever.

The AMD Athlon XP processors are not guaranteed by AMD to run in SMP mode, although lower speed models will run in SMP mode out of the box, higher speed models require the L5 bridges to be connected to run in SMP mode. If you do not want to worry about compatibility and stability issues, I suggest buying Athlon MP processors, as they are guaranteed by AMD to run in SMP mode. A very popular site that caters to the SMP community is . Instructions on unlocking the XP for SMP use and an SMP FAQ can be found at 2CPU.

MSI made quite an impression when they released the K7D Master Mainboard. PC enthusiasts wanting a motherboard that not only performed but offered stability as well flocked toward the K7D Master. While Symmetric Multi Processing is still not an option for many people, those who have adopted it have been very impressed with MSI's offering. Rather then rest on their laurels, MSI has released an updated version of the K7D Master, the K7D Master-L. First, the obligatory "ripped-from-the -website" specifications...

Features

CPU
- Supports dual Socket A (Socket-462) for AMD® Athlon" MP processors
- Supports up to Athlon MP 2100+ or higher

Chipset
" AMD® 762" chipset (949 BGA)
- Supports 200MHz High speed, split transaction system bus
- A 66/33MHz 64/32bit PCI 2.2 compliant bus interface supports up to seven bus masters
- The 66MHz AGP 2.0 compliant interface supports 1x, 2x, and 4x data transfer mode

" AMD® 768" chipset (492 BGA)
- Host (primary) PCI bus utilizes a 66 MHz, 32-bit interface.
- Enhanced IDE controller (through ATA100)
- LPC bus to connect peripherals such as super IO and BIOS
- Extensive ACPI-compliant power management logic
- IO APIC controller
- AC97 soft audio controller

FSB: 100/133MHz clocks are supported (266 MHz Internal System Bus) Main Memory
- Supports eight memory banks using four184-pin DDR DIMM
- Supports DDR SDRAM DIMM
- Supports a maximum memory size of 4GB (registered DDR only)

Slots
- One AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) Pro Slot (4X mode)
- Two 64-bit/66MHz and three 32-bit/33MHz PCI Slots
- Supports 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface

On-Board IDE
* An IDE controller on the AMD-768" chipset provides IDE
HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA 100
operation modes.
* Can connect up to four IDE devices.

Network (Optional, for K7D Master-L only)
" Intel® 82559ER LAN Controller
- Integrated IEEE802.3 10-BaseT & 100-BaseTX PHY

Audio
- Direct Sound AC97 Audio

4 port USB2.0 USB card (Optional, for K7D Master-L only)
- Compliant with USB specification Revision2.0 (Data Rate 1.5/12/480Mbps)
- Compliant with Open Host Controller Interface specification for USB Rev 1.0a
- Root Hub with 4 external and sharing with 1 internal downstream facing ports

On-Board Peripherals include:
- 1 floppy port supports 2 FDDs with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes.
- 2 serial ports (COMA + COM B)
- 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode
- 1 IrDA connector for SIR/FIR/ASKIR/HPSIR.
- 4 USB ports (Rear * 2/ Front * 2)
- 1 audio/game port

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) func-tion which records your mainboard.

Dimension
30.5 cm(L) x 25.2 cm(W) ATX Form Factor

Mounting
9 mounting holes.

In my previous review I only had two relatively small issues with the board. The K7D Master-L solves these issues and several that didn't affect me. I knocked the original K7D Master for not being based on a red printed circuit board, like other MSI products. This time around MSI got it right and released the board on a red Six-Layer PCB. Which would you rather own, an ugly green board or an awesome looking red board? That is what I thought.

MSI includes their D-Bracket in the package. The D-Bracket is a USB/LED device that occupies a PCI slot cover. It helps you troubleshoot problems by providing a using a combination of 4 LED's to tell you what the board is doing. The D-Bracket also has two USB 2.0 ports, which makes it even more practical.

Also in the package are an 80-pin IDE cable, a floppy drive cable, a driver CD, MSI sticker and manual. Maybe one day, before I die, a mainboard manufacturer will actually include two IDE cables with their product. It just doesn't make any sense to me why they wouldn't include an extra $.50 cable with such an expensive product. Oh, well. The driver CD included the latest chipset and audio drivers from AMD. While the manual was very basic, it did provide useful information such as BIOS setting definitions.

Also included was the MSI branded trial version of WinDVD. The program was a bit out of date, and there is far better software out there, such as Cyberlink PowerDVD.

Overall MSI put together a very basic, yet functional package for the K7D Master-L. The sticker was pretty nice, and it is on the front of my case now. MSI, I asked you nicely once, now would you please listen? Put two IDE cables in the box!

The K7D Master-L is very expansion friendly. An AGP Pro slot and 5 PCI slots are present. Two of the PCI slots are of the 64-bit, 66/33 MHz variety, which are indeed backward compatible with not 64-bit PCI devices. The PCI device simply has to be keyed for use in these particular slots and most PCI cards are.

While the early revision of the AMD 768 Southbridge had issues with onboard USB, the latest Southbridge release from AMD fixes the issue. MSI has decided to include a USB 2.0 card still, even though the onboard USB is functional and including the card is no longer necessary.

Like other 760MPX-based mainboards, the K7D Master-L only allows for Buffered DDR Memory in all four slots. Unbuffered DDR will only work in the first two slots. Several users of the K7D Master have reported issues when using certain memory with the board. A BIOS revision from MSI helps eliminate memory compatibility issues. I haven't had any memory compatibility issues with the K7D Master or the K7D Master-L so the BIOS' claim of improved memory compatibility remains untested.

Not willing to gamble with stability, MSI has covered the 762 Northbridge with an active heatsink. This should help keep things stable if you decide to overclock with the board. If you are not overclocking you may be able to unplug the fan in order to make your PC a little quieter. While the fan was not extremely loud, it did produce a noticeable humming sound. The humming sound may or may not disturb you, but be aware of its presence.

Another upgrade from the original K7D Master is the onboard 10/100 Mbps Ethernet courtesy of the Intel 82559ER chip. The onboard Ethernet worked quite well, and never dropped from my local network or DSL connection.

Interestingly enough, an Intel chip powers the Ethernet, meaning your AMD-powered machine will have at least one Intel part in it.

It seems like every motherboard released these days comes with onboard audio. The onboard audio on some boards, such as those with nForce chipsets, is nice. The onboard audio that comes on the K7D Master-L is to be avoided. During music playback it will crackle and pop. It is almost torture to watch a DVD, as the audio will drop off and sometimes not be in sync with the action. With quality sound cards available for under $50, I see no reason to use the onboard audio unless you plan on putting the board in a server, which doesn't need sound.

The IDE and floppy drive connectors are parallel to the PCI slots on the K7D Master-L. I am not a fan of this orientation because it can force you to drape IDE cables over your RAM in a smaller case, which would lead to unnecessary heat and airflow obstruction. It is a very minor issue, but may lead to problems.

The ATX cable connector on the K7D Master-L is in the "normal" position, right behind the PS/2 and USB plugs. With most motherboards this orientation causes the cable to drape over the CPU, interfering with airflow. This isn't an issue with the K7D Master-L, since neither of the CPU sockets are near the connector.

If you plan on using dual CPU's, an AGP Pro card, or both, you have to feed extra power to the motherboard via the ATX 12V power plug located above the AGP pro slot. If your power supply doesn't have the necessary connector you will need to buy one. The carries the connector, which gets its power feed from two four-pin Molex connectors. Your best bet, however, is to buy a high quality power supply, since low end power supplies are known to cause lockups, random errors and reboots in Athlon machines. Rather than give the obligatory "Go with Enermax" comment, I recommend Fortron Source power supplies, which are available at Coolerguys also.

While the K7D Master-L is not geared toward overclockers, MSI had the foresight to place mounting holes in the mainboard. These holes are for use with high-performance heatsinks such as the Alpha PAL 8045. The holes are also for use with waterblocks. So do big heatsinks fit on the K7D Master-L? The Alpha 8045 doesn't, although the Thermaltake Volcano 7 will.

As you can see in the picture above, the Volcano 7 is a tight fit, but manages to sit on the socket without pushing any capacitors aside.

Issues with IDE connector layout and lack of space around the sockets aside, the K7D Master-L sports a very impressive layout and nice list of features. The onboard audio had its share of problems, but any true audiophile should be using a real soundcard anyway. The fact that the ATX connector isn't near the CPU sockets is quite nice. Now that we have examined the layout and features, lets take a look into the BIOS.

BIOS AND OVERCLOCKING

On June 1st, 2002 MSI released version 1.3 of the K7D Master/K7D Master-L BIOS. The BIOS claims to update two things, but there is another thing MSI didn't advertise with the update. PCI Latency is now adjustable within the BIOS under the Advanced Features section.

Within the advanced chipset features section you may adjust memory timings, video and BIOS caching options and AGP timings. While the menu doesn't offer a deep amount of user customization options, it is enough to satisfy most enthusiasts.

When it comes to FSB options, the K7D Master-L is weak. Users can adjust the BIOS in 138, 140, 144 and 150 MHz increments. This is definitely not the board to get if you plan on overclocking. In my tests I was able to get the board to complete a SiSoft Sandra 50 run loop test without it locking up while running at 138 MHz. At 144 MHz the board locked up during Windows boot up. Keep in mind the board had PC2700 memory installed, so the memory was not stopping the board from going any further. At 138 MHz the PCI bus is running at 34 MHz, which is just 1 MHz over normal operating speed. With no PCI devices installed the system still locked at 144 MHz. I am not sure where the fault lies, as the CPU and video card installed can run fine at 154 MHz in my Abit KX733 mainboard. My best guess is that the AMD 760MPX just doesn't take well to overclocking.

MSI built the K7D Master-L with stability in mind. The multiplier goes up to 12.5, which is not very high when compared to performance boards from Abit. Options in the BIOS are in no way geared towards overclockers or tweakers, they are geared to people who want stability paired with a little bit of control and some overclocking options. If you want an overclockers board I would suggest the Abit KX7333 series.

So far we have looked at the boards features and BIOS, now lets see how it does in the most important area of all, performance.

Benchmarks and Stability Testing

Test Sytem
MSI K7D Master-L mainboard
2x AMD Athlon XP 1700+ processors
2x256 Meg Kingmax PC2100 non-registered DDR RAM
MSI GeForce 4MX 420
30 GIG ATA100 7200 RPM Maxtor hard drive
Mitsumi 48x CD-Rom drive
Sony 12x CD-RW
nVidia Detonators 28.32

Benchmark software
SiSoft Sandra 2002 Standard (CPU and Hard drive)
Prime 95 (Burn in)
Mad Onion 3D Mark 2001se (Direct 3D)
GL Excess (OpenGL)

Comparison benchmarks will be carried over from the last K7D Master review.

People who intend on building an SMP system want it to be extremely stable system and perform as well. Typically you have to sacrifice stability for performance and vice versa, but the K7D Master-L makes no compromises. Let's take a look at CPU performance under SiSoft Sandra.

SiSoft Sandra CPU (Dual)

SiSoft Sandra MMX (Dual)

The graph shows the K7D-L Master to be a very strong performer. The K7D Master-L actually manages to best the reference 1700+ scores. The K7D Master trailed the SiSoft reference scores in our previous test. Why don't we take a look at single CPU scores next?

SiSoft Sandra CPU

SiSoft Sandra MMX

The single processor test has a single XP 1700+ processor in the K7D Master-L beating the reference scores by a few points yet again. Now let's take a look at some memory scores.

The memory was tested at 133 MHz with timings set by the SPD on the memory modules. Two KingMax PC2100 modules were used.

Stress Test

SiSoft Sandra has the ability to stress test your processors memory and hard drives, making it the ideal stability tester. The K7D Master-L ran Sandra for 48 hours straight with both processors at 100% usage at High stress setting. After 48 hours I stopped Sandra and decided to play a few games and surf the net. The system was very stable and never stuttered, despite being under a full stress attack for the past 48 hours.

The K7D Master-L not only performs quite nicely, it provides unmatched stability as well.

SiSoft Sandra Memory

The K7D Master-L manages to beat out the reference AMD 760 chipset score during this round of testing. I believe that the latest BIOS revision may have something to do with the higher scores.

Scoring just a tad below the reference ATA 100 30 GIG hard drive, the K7D Master-L shows us that it's hard drive controllers allow for optimal performance under normal conditions.

OpenGL Test: GL EXCESS

GL Excess still has what it takes when it comes time to test OpenGL performance. Let's take a look at some scores.

Although the KT333 managed to perform slightly better, the K7D Master-L still had a strong showing here.

When the CPU is the determining factor, the K7D pulls off slightly better scores than the K7T333-Ultra.

Direct3D Test: 3D Mark 2001SE

Even though it is showing its age, 3D Mark 2001SE is still the best way to test Direct 3D performance. Until Mad Onion releases 3D Mark 2002 we will continue to benchmark using 3D Mark 2001SE.

All tests were done using an MSI GeForce 4 MX420 using Nvidia 28.32 drivers at default settings.

The 3D Mark 2001SE scores the K7D Master-L put out are just a little ahead of what we were getting out of the K7D Master.

While the scores are not very impressive, please consider the graphics card we were using.

Conclusion

While it doesn't manage to break any performance records, the K7D Master-L is still one of the best motherboards on the market and its rock-solid stability can't be matched. Having two processors provides obvious enhancements in everything from browsing the Internet to burning CD's. Despite the terrible onboard audio and having an awkward IDE connector layout, the K7D Master-L is a perfect motherboard. The fact that the board is based on a red PCB is the icing on the already delicious cake. When I reviewed its big brother, the K7D Master, I proclaimed it as the best motherboard I have ever tested. Let me change that statement just a little bit. The best motherboards I have ever tested belong to the MSI K7D Master family. If price isn't an issue, than look no further than the K7D Master-L as the base of your Ultimate PC.

PROS
Stable
Excellent performance
From a reputable company
Onboard LAN

CONS
Expensive
Unbuffered RAM only works in first two memory slots
Onboard audio is forgettable
Lack of overclocking options

Bottom Line
The K7D Master-L packs a one-two stability and performance punch. If you are looking to build an awesome SMP system go buy the board, now. Are you still here?