Introduction
MSI E7205 Granite Bay GNB MAX2-L Motherboard
Dual-channel DDR is the future of motherboards, at least if Intel and NVIDIA have their way. The success of the present Granite Bay and nForce2 motherboards do seem to verify this fact. Although Intel don't like to admit it, the E7205 chipset has largely replaced the i850E as the performance leader for their socket 478 processors. With the promise of 200FSB Canterwood and Springdale chipsets, both utilising dual-channel support, the future for high-speed DDR looks secure.
Near the end of last year, a number of big-name motherboard manufacturers released boards based on the DDR-266, dual-channel Granite Bay chipset. MSI, obviously, decided to release their own version under the moniker of GNB MAX. So why are we looking at another MSI G.B-based motherboard a few months later ?. The answer seems to lie in the fact that MSI are gearing their newest version squarely towards the enthusiast. A revised layout, a revised BIOS, and some decent voltage options should make it more appealing than the incumbent MAX.
There's only one way to see if this board is better. Time to take a closer look.
