MSI 848P Neo-LS: 800MHz FSB on a Budget

Company: MSI
Product: 848P Neo-LS
Street Price: $89 USD
Date Reviewed: October 13, 2003
Reviewed By: Joey Chao

Introduction:

MSI (Micro-Star International) entered the PC industry in 1986. Since then, they have become one of the top five motherboard manufacturers in the world. They work very closely with chip designers such as Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, and VIA, designing high quality mainboards and add in cards. MSI is known by many PC enthusiasts for their support and excellent quality. The company is always supplying new products based on the latest technologies and innovations.

When the Intel 875/865 chipsets were released, they became an instant success with the incorporation of an 800MHz FSB, dual 64-bit memory controllers, native serial ATA, and official support for DDR400. These features are nice, but do not come cheap. Not everyone can afford to dish out $100-$200+ just for a motherboard. MSI has come up with a solution to this problem by designing the 848P Neo-LS. This mainboard sports most of the same features as the higher end 875/865 boards minus a few key things such as dual channel DDR.