Motherboard: MSI 645-Ultra Review :: Features

MSI 645-Ultra Features
Board Revision	1.X
BIOS Version	1.5 02/07/2002
Default Clock Speed (MHz)	2000
North Bridge	SiS 645
South Bridge	SiS 961
Number of PCI slots	5
Memory type	PC2100/2400/2700
Number of memory slots	3
Maximum Memory (GB)	3
Universal AGP support *	YES
AGP Pro Support	N/A
Number of Physical USB 1.1 ports **	4
Number of Physical USB 2.0 ports **	0
Active Cooling on Chipset	N/A
Adjustable AGP Voltage	N/A
Adjustable Memory voltage	N/A
Southbridge UDMA 133 Support	N/A
IDE or RAID Controller other than Southbridge	N/A
Auto speed-down/shutdown on fan failure	N/A
Auto speed-down/shutdown on heat alarm	YES
On-board Sound	Realtek ALC201A
On-board LAN	N/A
* Voltage and Physical support for previous generation of AGP
** Not just pin headers onboard

MSI 645-Ultra Scores
Features	17|40
Ergonomics	6|10
Stability and Compatibility	25|25
Package & Support	8|10
Performance	4|15
Total	60|100

The 645-Ultra is built on a red-colored four layer PCB that is based on the standard ATX Form Factor and sizing in at 30.5cm(L) x 22.0cm(W). This will fit into any standard ATX mid to full tower enclosure. The MSI 645-Ultra uses the latest SiS 645 North Bridge chipset that together with the South Bridge, the SiS 961 MuTIOL media I/O counterpart, controls your motherboards functions.

This 645 chipset is based on Intel technology that was bought and licensed by SiS from the Intel giant and features a quad-piped 400MHz FSB the same as the i850/i845 chipsets. Performance should be adequate and stability should not be an issue with this board. With the 645-Ultra you can use any of the Socket 478 P4 CPU's from Intel including the latest Northwood series.

The 645-Ultra supports the latest PC2700/DDR33 DDR SDRAM and can utilize a total of 3GB via its three on-board DIMM slots. You can use older PC2400/2100 if that is what you have handy but your performance will suffer as the board is designed to operate at peak efficiency with PC2700. Your audio needs are taken care of via the ever-popular AC97 Codec that works well enough for the average user.

With only five PCI slots, two standard IDE controllers, no RAID, no USB 2.0, and only basic AC97 sound features one has to ponder where the Ultra really comes into play on the 645-Ultra. There are some cool things included in the package such as the D-Bracket that plugs into headers located on the board and has an additional four 1.1 USB ports along with a set of four LED's used for determining system problems.

There is nothing that really stands out on the 645-Ultra as it is very straightforward in its design and layout leaving plenty of room for feature expansions. MSI was looking for an audience in the low-end market with this one and it shows. That raps it up folks as far as features are concerned lets move on to the setup and performance section of the review.

Package Contents

• 1 Motherboard
• 1 Manual
• 1 ATA cable
• 1 Floppy cable
• 1 D-Bracket