14 DAY TRIAL // With all the new CPUs that have come out over the past few months, and after NVIDIA finally launched its DirectX 11-capable graphics adapters, motherboard makers have been quite eager to flood the market with newer, better and more expandable enthusiast and mainstream platforms. MSI is, of course, one of the best representatives of this phenomenon. However, the company has apparently decided to once again turn its gaze towards the SFF and HTPC market, by putting together a motherboard based on the AMD 740 chipset.
The new mainboard that Micro-Star International will soon start shipping is known as the 740GM-P25 and uses the micro-ATX form factor. Meant for entry-level mini PCs and home-theater personal computers, it is powered by a combination of the AMD 740 and SB710 chipsets and only supports AM2 and AM2+ CPUs. Despite being intended for affordable computers, however, a number of more or less advanced technologies are present.
The MSI 740GM-P25 has two DDR3-1333 memory slots and a PCI Express x16 slot, which means that end-users will still be able to put together a configuration capable of handling most multimedia formats and even recent games. The hardware maker even implemented APS (Active Phase Switching) and a core-unlocking software. There is also an integrated ATI Radeon HD 2100 graphics controller, six SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, Gigabit Ethernet, a D-Sub output and 7.1 channel audio.
Since it doesn't support AM3 CPUs, the motherboard won't be able to be outfitted with any of AMD's more recent chips, including the six-core Thubans. Nevertheless, thanks to the decent memory slots and the existence of the graphics adapter slot, performance can still reach a high enough level for consumers on a budget. Unfortunately, it is still unclear when MSI will start shipping this product, though it should not take long, considering that the 740GM-P25 is reportedly already available for pre-order, at a price of only 49 Euro.