Written By:
Date Posted: January 18, 2002

I have very fond memories of my first retail motherboard. Up until my BX-6119, all my computers were OEM PCs. I forgot why exactly I went nuts putting together this killer rig (at the time), but after a lot of research, I went with MSI. What a gem it was. Rock solid, and it survived 3 CPU upgrades until I decided it was time to retire it. In it's place was the MSI BX Master 6163. It was also a fantastic board, but somehow it didn't impress me as much as the 6119. That was the last MSI motherboard for awhile, as I went Asus and Abit for later upgrades. Although several manufacturers were producing motherboards with nVidia's latest, MSI was the first to market nVidia's superchip. MSI have been first before, but so far their track record has been spotty with their VIA initial launches. Will the K7N420 Pro follow the same fate?

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nVidia shouldn't need any introduction. Without a doubt, the biggest and most popular video GPU developer and manufacturer, they were sitting on top of the world well before the nForce announcement. Why get into motherboards? I'd guess market diversity and eventual domination. Who knows. As long as the products don't suck, do whatever you want. I'll get more into the nForce later on in the review.

Special Features
Live BIOS" (* K7N420 Pro can support only up to BIOS Ver 2.10 )
Live Driver"
D-Bracket" (Optional)

Special Options
Chipset integrated10/100 Base-T Ethernet/Fast Ethernet (Optional)
Audio CNR 6 channel card (Optional)
TV-out daughter card (Optional)

CPU
Supports Socket A (Socket 462) for AMD® Athlon" / Athlon" XP / Duron" processors up to 1800+MHz

Chipset
nVIDIA® nForce 420D Chipset
- IGP-128 (Integrated Graphics Processor)
- Support 200/266MHz FSB
- Twinbank Memory Architecture/128-bit DDR memory controller
- Integrated GeForceMX-class advanced Graphics Processing Unit
- AGP 4x support
- Hyper Transport interface to MCP (800MB/sec max.)

nVIDIA® MCP-D Chipset
- Dual ATA/100 controller
- Support USB UHCI 1.0a, provide up to six USB ports
- IEEE 802.3 compatible MAC (MII)
- Integrated Audio Processor Unit, AC'97 2.1 compliant
- SPDIF output function -- Dolby Digital Interactive Content Encoder FSB 100/133(200/266)MHz clocks are supported.

Main Memory
Support up to three DDR DIMMs
-- Maximum memory size up to 1.5GB
-- Support 128-bit system memory Slots

Slots
- Support AGP 2.0 2x/4x (1.5V only), One CNR slot, Five PCI slots
- 32-bit Master PCI 2.2 compliant
- Support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface

On-Board IDE
-- An IDE controller on the MCP chipset provides IDE HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA 100 operation modes
-- Support up to four IDE devices connection

APU (audio processing unit) integrated in MCP
-- Support up to 256 hardware-processed voices or 64 hardware voice in 3D; support multi-speaker 3D audio.

6 speaker Surround sound can be achieved by 2 means:
1. Digital thru a SPDIF speaker (e.g. Creative DTT3500)
2. Analog thru a CNR sound card (motherboard 2channel + CNR 4channel)

CNR card is not included. It is optional *Yay!*

Video
-- 256-bit 2D/3D graphics accelerator
-- Supports the 2nd generation T&L engine, nVIDIA Shading Rasterizer
-- Supports TV-out daughter card (optional)

On-Board Peripherals
On-Board Peripherals include:
-- One floppy port that supports two FDD with 360KB, 720KB, 1.44MB and 2.88MB
-- Two serial ports COM A+COM 2 (pin header)
-- One parallel port that supports SPP/EPP/ECP modes
-- One VGA connector
-- Six USB ports (2 x rear connectors and 2 x USB front pin header to support four ports)
-- One IrDA connector
-- One Audio/Game port
-- One D-Bracket pin header

BIOS
-- The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS that can detect the periph-eral devices and expansion cards installed on the board automatically
-- Support Desktop Management Interface (DMI) function that can record
your mainboard specifications

Dimension
30.5 cm(L) x 22.5 cm(W) ATX Form Factor

Mounting
6 mounting holes.

Whew! Now that we've dispensed with the obligatory specifications, let's look into the stuff that really matters...

NVIDIA nForce Platform Processing Architecture

nForce SPP/IGP (left), and nForce MCP (right)

So, what is the nForce? Up until now, any motherboard with integrated video and audio generally sucked ass. Ok, it wasn't "generally", but more like "always". With the nForce, nVidia hopes to break into the popular low cost OEM market, as well as the performance market (huh? Both?) and offer a solution unlike any other. An integrated solution, making OEM and system builders happy, plus extremely impressive performance, satisfying the needs of power users. How is this accomplished?

nForce SPP/IGP

There are four main features of the nForce System Platform Processor (SPP) and Integrated Graphics Processor (IGP). Probably the most talked about feature is the integrated nVidia GeForce 2 MX graphics core. Basically, it's a GeForce 2 MX, and performs pretty much like it should, not great, but not too shabby either.

Next on the list is the TwinBank Memory Architecture, supporting dual-channel access, which in theory should allow for faster and more efficient memory performance. The SPP/IGP controller allows for two independent 128-bit data transfer channels (This is the IGP-128. The IGP-64 is similar to everyone else). This is important because with memory intense applications, your system bus takes a severe beating with various requests to the memory, since most manufacturers shove all this down the same path. nVidia increases the bandwidth by doubling the number by two. This sounds great in theory, but since it'll mostly be gamers looking at this motherboard, this double-the-bandwidth doesn't really work, yet. Perhaps in the future, other games or devices will make use of it, but not so much now.

The nVidia Dynamic Adaptive Speculative Pre-processor (DASP) is another feature that is supposed to enhance the performance of the CPU. The DASP watches the CPU and predetermines the requests that the CPU may make with the memory. Much like how cache works with your memory, the DASP works much the same way, where if it predicts correctly, the CPU will never have to go to the memory for information, thus speeding things up. I'm not exactly sure of their claims of more stability, but I suppose you can see it as VIA and their KT266/266A revisions which is pretty much the same idea in terms of stability.

Finally, the SPP/IGP incorporates AMD's Hypertransport technology, a faster I/O interface than previously offered. PCI only has a 133MB/sec, as opposed to 800MB/sec for Hypertransport.

nForce MCP

The nForce Media and Communications Processor (MCP) has three features worth mentioning. Like the IGP, the MCP potentially can free you up an expansion port, or two. Integrated audio (APU) is included, and it boasts quality 3D sound and a Dolby 5.1 Digital encoder. A complete suite of communications devices are supported, but in reality, this will vary depending on the manufacturer. Likely, any nForce board you'll buy will simply have built-in ethernet. Finally, we have StreamThru, which is a technology designed to optimize data communications.

Does any of these things sound familiar? I recall Microsoft making something that has the same things ;)

So, what does all this mean to me?

The obvious benefit for the majority of the OEM market is that we potentially have (I say potentially, cause I've seen good chipsets marred by poor motherboards) a quality integrated motherboard. Consider that the market price of a quality motherboard will run you about 120$, and adding a good budget 3D video card, sound card and a network card may add another 140$. Averaging around 170$ - 200$, the nForce may be suitable for those of you on a budget. Just add a CPU, ram, some drives and shove it into a case, and you're all set. That's what my cousin did, and he now has a speedy system that cost him less than 600$ (take THAT eMachine!). Sure, it doesn't pull down 200fps in Quake 3, but he plays 2D strategy games anyhow.

But, keep in mind that even with the integrated parts, they can all be disabled for add-in cards. I dropped a GeForce 3 in for testing, and it worked fine. So why would an enthusiast want an nForce. As you'll see later, nVidia also designed the nForce to be a performer.

MSI K7N420 Pro (MS-6373)

Like some of their recent motherboards, the comes in fire engine red. If you have a nice case window, this will look damn hot! The motherboard is a standard ATX one, and not abnormally big, so it should fit into most good sized ATX cases.

Let's take a tour...

The MSI K7N420 Pro is a Socket-A motherboard, in case you didn't figure that out yet, and supports Athlon CPUs, from the lower speed Durons (from 950mhz), and the more current Athlon XPs (up to 1800+). Although I am unable to test for faster CPUs, my XP 1800+ worked without any problems. Unlike Asus, MSI reads your CPU temp off the standard thermal probe, thus not supporting the Athlon XP internal diode. The area around he socket is relatively free, and includes the 4 mounting holes for those of you with heatsinks that require it. I placed the Swiftech MCX462 for sizing, and it fit fine. The ATX power connection is well out of the way, but may or may not interfere with the heatsink depending on how well you route it.

The above left picture are the sound input plugs for various components such as your modem and CD. There are 5 PCI slots, which should be more than enough for you considering that you may not have any need for 2 of them (sound and LAN). A nice addition to the AGP slot is the clip included to secure the card. It's not an essential addition, but if you tend to wiggle your VGA cable on and off the video card often, this will help keep it steady.

Nothing special here, just your usual I/O stuff here. We have the standard PS/2 ports, and USB ports. There is only one serial port here, which I don't think is a big deal since the interface isn't widely used much, unless you're still using an external communications device or older PDA. Sound and game ports are logically grouped together, but I find the area around the VGA connection (if you choose to use the integrated video) fairly tight. Score points for the motherboard of removing the clutter from the lower back area of your case (and moved to the top :P).

3 Dimm slots are standard fare here, but good luck using them all. First reported by gamepc.com, it's been reported that slot number 2 (the middle one) cannot be filled with a dual bank Dimm, without a performance drop. This is nVidia's SuperStability mode. You can read more about it from their , but I decided to give it a quick test myself, using two Kingston Dimms and one Crucial, and the performance drop is real. It does work, but the performance loss will be up to you to decide if it's worth it. If you only have two Dimms, simply use slot 1 and 3.

We got the usual IDE connections here, supporting ATA100. ATA133 is supported by the nForce, but the only motherboards supporting that speed, are those that specifically requested them from nVidia. At this time, AFAIK, there are no native ATA133 nForce motherboards.

BIOS

The MSI K7N420 Pro uses the popular Award BIOS. Personally, I prefer this one over the AMI, but to each there own. Having used countless motherboards with the Award BIOS, I immediately felt at home with this one. At least, so I thought...

The BIOS main screen is pretty much identical with other versions, as well some of the more common menus, such as Standard and Advanced features.

For overclockers, MSI accomadates you with memory timings and voltage adjustments. There's even CPU overclocking options, but on my board, I only had multiplier adjustments (!), which was actually something that bothered me, since I originally was planning on dropping in my unlocked Athlon into there and setting up a small gaming rig. I went through all the advanced options, but alas, either I'm blind, or there is no multiplier setting.

Moving on, you can make changes to various integrated peripherals. Your options are fairly limited, as you can only choose to enable or disable your devices. If you plan on using the included GeForce 2, the overclocking is set in Windows, so you don't have much in the way of overclocking it in the BIOS. Be aware that you will lose 32MB of system ram to the video.

Overclocking

Well, since I haven't been able to do anything in regards to the multiplier, I discarded the intended Athlon 1.4GHz, and dropped my Athlon XP 1800+ in there. I may as well mention that I've had a lot of problems unlocking my XP chip, even though I followed overclockers.com's instructions as well as I could. So, since the multiplier was locked, it'd be suitable for testing here, and we'll concentrate more fully on FSB. I went through a barrage of overclocking attempts, and this was my success story:

FSB= 157... No post
FSB= 154... Post, BIOS splash corruption (!)
FSB= 147, 145... Post, ESCD Success, Starting Windows 2000, corrupt system files
FSB= 140...Success (140/280/70)

Temperatures, when checking the BIOS, were not terribly high, so I don't really think heat was the likely culprit. Ram was set to CAS 2.5, and the vCore set to 1.85v. I did try disabling the sound (not video), and managed a post into Windows at FSB=141, but it was a bit unstable (crashes constantly), so I dismissed it. My guess, is since the multiplier was clocked so high (11.5), that probably what was causing me so much grief. Still, I've seen others with more success, but 11.5x140 is still fast (Athlon XP 1900+ speeds).

*Update* - At the time of the original testing, the multiplier settings were unavailable in the BIOS. There is a BIOS update available that allows for multiplier adjustments.

Performance

First things I'll get off my chest is that the hype regarding StreamThru wasn't so obvious to me. My Internet connection didn't seem to feel any faster, nor did it feel any less laggy. I did a file transfer from one PC to another and sometimes it was faster than my regular NIC, and sometimes it was slower, whether or not it was small or large files. This isn't a bad thing, since it meant it didn't perform any worse than my 3Com card. Anyhow, for something free (though in reality, you paid for it), it didn't bother me
too much.

The sound did impress me though. I wasn't able to test the 5.1 features, given I only have a 4.1 setup, but the sound quality didn't sound any worse than my Sound Blaster Audigy. I tried a friend's Senheiser headphones after, since admittingly, my speaker setup isn't all that impressive, and the only real difference I could pick out, while listening to my N'SYNC CD, was that the Audigy sound was deeper and perhaps clearer. It was tough to tell, but certainly, if you're building a nForce system from scratch, and if you had intended to buy a 5.1 sound card, there is no need to. Unless you're an audiophile or need a breakout box like the ones offered by Creative and Hercules, the one here will suit you fine. Hey! It's free. (See comments in last paragraph :P) Be aware that for the Dolby Digital, the southbridge will be labeled MCP-D, which this one was.

The video is essentially a 32MB GeForce 2 MX. I'm not going to go into much detail here, but it's a fully compliant Direct X 7 video GPU (At least compliant with the stuff that matters), has Transform and Lighting, and runs cool enough that only passive cooling is required. You can place a beefier heatsink and fan combo on it I suppose, but I don't really see the point. Unlike a dedicated video card, you can fry a lot more than just the GPU this time around.

Benchmarks

Test Bed:
Athlon XP 1800+ (stock speed), 512MB - 768MB (2 or 3 Dimms), MSI K7N420 Pro, IGP/GeForce 2MX, Asus V7100 GeForce 2 MX400, MSI StarForce GeForce 3, Windows XP Professional, Detonator 23.11

Athlon XP 1800+ (stock speed), 512MB (2 Dimms), Abit KG7-RAID, MSI StarForce GeForce 3, Windows XP Professional, Detonator 23.11, VIA 4 in 1 v4.35a - Video not tested

Athlon XP 1800+ (stock speed), 512MB (2 Dimms), Gigabyte GA-7VTXH+ (not yet reviewed), MSI StarForce GeForce 3, Windows XP Professional, Detonator 23.11, VIA 4 in 1 v4.35a - Video not tested

I decided to buck our usual trend around here, and start with the memory benchmarks first. As you can see, there is a significant performance loss when Dimm slot #2 is used in any combination (I only have double sided Dimms to test with). When occupying slots #1 and #3, performance outperforms the KT266A by a fairly large margin. If any other combination is use, performance falls under the KT266A, and barely manages to outperform the AMD760. Although the KG7 is one of the highest performing 760 motherboards, the nForce doesn't leave it too far behind, unless you stick with the two slots that work best. I would imagine that most casual gamers, or consumer users, will likely not have problems since it's not as likely that they will have 3 Dimms (I know plenty of you do).

Nothing terribly remarkable here, as it appears that the CPU is equally fast, regardless of platform. The nForce does out perform everyone else, but you'll be hard pressed to notice it in real world applications.

Quake 3 is great, in that it scales well with video card, CPU, or motherboard changes. We're focussing exclusively on video performance now, and the nForce integrated video seems to perform as advertised. It doesn't deviate too much from the stock GF2 MX, but as expected, can't compete with the GeForce 3.

Nothing new. Move along...

No surprises here.

What we can conclude, in terms of benchmarks, is that the MSI K7N420 Pro is a fast motherboard, and outperforms both the AMD 760 and the KT266A boards we have here in the lair. Video wise, the IGP is more than enough if your needs aren't demanding, but still good enough for all of todays games.

Final Words

The MSI K7N420 Pro is a great performing, and very stable board during testing. So long as I kept my overclocking to 140 FSB or less, things were fine and dandy. For the money, it has great sound, a network interface, extra USB ports (which I neglected to mention earlier), and a decent video solution. Add a high performance board with your own video, sound, and NIC and most likely, you'll be paying more.

On the other hand, although the overall chipset performs well, what if you already got a GeForce 3 and decent sound card? Granted, the nForce has a lot, but it's one of the most expensive motherboards on the market, when compared with competitors such as VIA. I'd gladly trade the sound and video for a RAID option, but it likely won't be for another few weeks, or so, until the nForce 415-D (nForce with no video) is released. Add to the problems, ...a potentially poor performing memory subsystem. It is possible that future BIOS updates may remedy the problem, but IIRC, the memory issue will likely not ever be fixed. I should point out that this "flaw" is buy design, and although performance suffers, the board remains stable. It's nice nVidia thought about stability, but I'd wish there was an option in the BIOS for you to decide whether the performance lost by Superstaility mode is worth it.

Despite the high price of the board, anyone on a budget, and/or who needs to build a system from the ground up, should consider the MSI K7N420 Pro. Buy a case, CPU, ram and disk drives and you're set. Even those of you AMD fun-boyz, who are migrating from SDRAM to DDR, may want to give this board a look. Who knows, the integrated stuff may even be better than what you already own. If you already got a DDR solution though, and a decent video, and/or sound solution,... you might want to wait for the manufacturers' next product cycle.

MSI:

88%

Pros: Very fast, stable, integrated components that don't suck! Alot for your money.

Cons: Memory performance issues with various ram types. Questionable value for anyone with Post-GeForce 2 video and modern DDR systems.

Agree? Disagree? Discuss it in our forums.

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