Review: MSI MegaPC

MSI have chosen the SiS 651 Northbridge coupled with the SiS 962 Southbridge for the MegaPC. This chipset has been around for awhile and was first utilised in this sector by the Shuttle SS51G nearly a year ago.

SiiS chipsets are not considered to be as fast as their Intel equivalent. The SiS 651 does not offer support for Hyper-Treading or dual channel DDR; this will not suit the enthusiast that is looking for a progressive upgrade path. Performance aside I have always found the SiS chipsets to be very reliable.

The motherboard supports the Intel Pentium 4, Socket 478 processors and is compatible with both 400MHz and 533MHz bus variants. There is no support for 800MHz bus CPU's.

A maximum of 2GB of DDR333, 266 or 200 memory can be installed into the two DDR slots.

The board is crammed with I/O features..

• One PCI slot
• One AGP 4x slot
• Onboard IEEE1394 FireWire using the SiS 1394 controller
• Built in RealTek RTL8101L 10/100Mb/s Ethernet Controller
• Built in MDC modem
• 4 USB Connectors

• Built in SIS M650 Graphics from the Northbridge
• Realtek ALC650 AC97 6 Channel audio
• Built in AM/FM Radio Tuner

Our review unit came supplied with a built in memory card reader but not with the optional TV card.

The MegaPC comes complete with an FM/AM radio aerial, Driver CD, Remote control, user guide and quick setup guide.