REVIEWS / MOTHERBOARDS / MICRO STAR INTERNATIONAL (MSI)

MSI E350IA-E45: A Cheaper Brazos Arrives

24 Feb, 2011, 1:13 pm IST | by Rossi Fernandes | Motherboards

Motherboards


MSI's Brazos offering
Missing DVI port at the back of the MSI E350IA-E45
A small cooling solution is all the E350 needs
CMOS battery stuck to the back of the rear panel

PRICE IN INDIA

7,800

TECH2 RATING

8.0

AVERAGE USER RATING

8.5

How we test

CONTACT

Micro Star International (MSI)

 marketing@msi-in.com

 +91 11 4175 8808

 www.msi.com


Design and layout
The smaller cooler means that the MSI E350IA-E45 is a little more spacious and looks less crowded, none of which is advantageous since you won’t be plugging lots of RAM or addon cards such as graphics cards and sound cards in. The SATA ports are placed above the PCIe slot, just like on the Gigabyte E350N-USB3.

CMOS battery stuck to the back of the rear panel

CMOS battery stuck to the back of the rear panel

 

 

One somewhat awkward detail we noticed was that the CMOS battery that’s typically mounted horizontally or vertically on the board itself, was stuck to the back of the back panel ports using a two-sided adhesive pad and connected to the board using a small cable. Awkward, it may be but it's functional.

Performance
With the core components being pretty much identical, we noticed performance numbers matched those of the Gigabyte E350N-USB3. The MSI E350IA-E45 board was slower by a tiny bit in some CPU intensive tests and memory benchmarks. CPU utilization during HD 1080p video playback was also similar to the Gigabyte, not crossing 25 per cent in every scenario. To sum up the performance numbers, we reiterate that the performance of the Brazos platform is great for desktop applications, playing HD video clips but really lacking for things like 3d modeling and graphics intensive applications.

 

 

The smaller cooling solution wasn’t a hurdle either as temperatures like on the Gigabyte E350N-USB3 were very much under control with minimal heating.


Verdict
The MSI E350IA-E45 doesn’t bring a lot more to the table than the Gigabyte board. The missing DVI port might be an issue for those using LCD monitors with no HDMI port. In terms of performance too, there’s little differentiating them.  The only tangible difference that might help make the buying decision easier is the price. The MSI E350IA-E45 is priced at Rs. 7,800, which is a whole Rs. 1,100 less than the Gigabyte E350N-USB3. For the very same performance and a few feature differences, the MSI E350IA-E45 makes very good sense if you are building a basic HTPC for your home.

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Tags:

MSI E350IA-E45 , AMD , E350 , Motherboard , APU , Fusion , Processor , Mini ITX , Low power , USB3 , SATA3

Would you buy it?




MSI E350IA E45 BIOS

28 Feb, 2011, 11:21 pm IST

MSI E350IA E45 BIOS

 


How We Test

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.


Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

What do the ratings mean?

Ratings are simple - higher the score, the better the product. A brief listing of the features and what they mean are given below.

1 - 3

The product is bad in almost every aspect. We strongly advise against purchasing this product.

4 - 6

An average product that isn't the best you can buy, but isn't the worst either.

7 - 8

Product with this rating is highly recommended because it's priced sensibly, has a good set of features and performs well.

9 - 10

Exceptionally excellent product with features and performance unlike any we've seen in the past. A must-have for everyone!

What is the Average User Rating?

We at Tech2 take product reviewing very seriously and every product is tested with the utmost care and level of objectivity. The end user who buys a particular product and uses it over an extended period of time has his own take on a product and there might be nuances that he or she can shed light on. The Average User Rating is present to help readers get the complete picture of how good or bad a product is. The Average User Rating is calculated by averaging the ratings by the thousands of readers visiting Tech2.com every single day. To record your own rating of a product, simply click on the user rating bar. If you disagree with our ratings or our community's product rating, please don't hesitate from voicing your opinion in the comments section below the review.

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