MSI G41TM-E43 Spec Sheet
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Part Number	G41TM-E43
Manufacturer	MSI
Price Check	Find Best Price
Downloads	BIOS Drivers Manuals
Chipset	Intel G41
North Bridge	Intel G41
Socket	LGA775 Socket
Processor Types	Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium Dual-Core
Number of CPUs	1
Front Side Bus	1333/1066/800
Memory Type	DDR2
Memory Channels	Dual
Maximum Memory	8GB
External Graphics	PCI Express x16
IGP	Intel GMA4500
South Bridge	Intel 82801GR ICH7R
Audio	8-channel
IDE	100/66/33
SCSI	None
SATA	3.0 GB/s
RAID	0, 1, 0+1, 5, 10
LAN	10/100/1000
Firewire	None
USB	USB 2.0
Expansion Slots
BIOS	AMI
Form Factor	ATX

MSI includes several features unique to their design including MSI Live Update Online, Dual Core Center and an Easy OC Switch. MSI Live Update Online updates the BIOS and drivers of the motherboard automatically by downloading it off the Internet. MSI Live Update 3 updates the files automatically, allowing hassle-free updating of the BIOS. Dual Core Center monitors the hardware. The Easy OC Switch automatically overclocks the FSB to 400MHz (1600MHz effective with quad pumped bus)

Logo

Active Phase Switching dynamically controls the demand for power from the CPU, Memory and Chipset PWM. It saves power depending on the loading. In other words, more power is required for 3D gaming than is required to use Wordpad. The board has LEDs which show when the board is on full load and when lower loading is in operation. APS saves up to 27.6% energy compared to without it on the board. Solid capacitors are used on this board boosting the life of the capacitors beyond that of the regular capacitors used in other boards.

The MSI board is based upon Intel’s G41 chipset. This chipset supports all Core 2 Duo/Quad CPUs with VRD 11.1 compliance. The list includes the QX9650 and the Celeron E1500 CPUs but does not include earlier CPUs such as the Prescott or Dual Core CPUs. The motherboard supports CPUs with a FSB of 1333/1066/800MHz, meaning that the Yorkfield QX9770 CPU is not supported as it uses a 1600MHz FSB. Integrated graphics have been much maligned and rightly so for many years. The fact of the matter is, most people cannot enjoy the full game experience on integrated graphics that you would find even on a $30 add-on video card. Intel’s GMA4500 graphics is their first to fully support DirectX 10.0 but is not very playable in most games. Intel’s Game Compatibility list for the chipset has a listing for World In Conflict suggesting the lowest settings.

The GMA 4500 is manufactured on a 65nm process at Intel’s Fabs. The chip has a clock speed of 667MHz for the core. There are 10 Shader Processors on the GMA 4500 compared to 16 on the GeForce 9400 on NVIDIA’s latest integrated platform. Performance is much increased in games compared to the G35 found on earlier Intel motherboards but, and you knew it was coming, the performance in most games is not sufficient with a Core 2 Quad in most demanding games. Games like The Sims 2 are playable, but be aware that you need to dial down settings in most games to even think of enjoying them. One good feature of this board is onboard HDMI and DVI connections meaning you can use this board for a HTPC where the integrated graphics doesn’t run as hot as an add-in video card would in an enclosed space.

Layout

Board

CPU Socket

CPU Socket area

Capacitors

The MSI board is a micro ATX board meaning that it will fit in any case designed to fit either a mATX or ATX form factor. The board itself is a red color which MSI favors with their motherboards. The upper right hand corner of the board sports a 4-pin power connector. Below that is the CPU Socket. MSI does not have any fancy chipset coolers on the board, meaning that oversize CPU coolers can fit without problems.

4-pin power

Northbridge

Southbridge

24-pin power

The 4-pin CPU cooler header is below the CPU Socket along with a 3-pin fan header. The board has two DIMM Slots that can take up to 8GB of DDR2 800MHz memory. The bottom of the board has a row of solid capacitors with the 24-pin power connector. Next to the power connector is the IDE connector, with four sideways facing SATA ports next to that. The left side of the board starts with the FP IO, then the JTPM1 header and two USB headers. The JSP1 header, the FDD connector, the JAUD and the JCD1 headers round out the connectors on the left side of the board features.

SATA

DIMM Slots

Fintek

PWM

The Northbridge has a heatsink to cool it. Note that the G41 chip does not have dedicated memory for the onboard graphics as Intel doesn’t support adding a memory chip to the motherboard like AMD and NVIDIA do with their boards. The graphics chip uses shared memory with the system with up to 2GB of system memory available to the integrated graphics. There is a Easy OC Switch which is red in the middle of the board. When enabled the Realtek RTM875T-605 Clock generator supports up to 400MHz FSB or 1600MHz on the CPU.

Expansion

USB

Solid capacitors

JTPM

Expansion on the board consists of a single PCI Express x16 slot, a PCI Express x1 slot, and two PCI slots. The PCI Express x16 slot is of course for an add-on video card if you want better graphics than the GMA-4500. Long video cards won’t block the SATA ports as they are sideways facing. The ICH7R Southbridge is located under the first PCI slot. Limited expansion is due to the micro-ATX size of the board and is adequate for most users as the board has onboard video. If a dual-slot video card is installed, the first PCI slot will also be in use.

FP IO

FDD

Sysfan and CPUFan

ALC888S

Onboard audio is provided by a Realtek ALC888S CODEC. The ALC888S supports up to 10 DAC channels that support multi-streaming (7.1+2 channel) simultaneously. The ALC888S integrates two stereo ADCs that can support a stereo microphone, and feature Acoustic Echo Cancellation, Beam Forming and Noise Suppression technology. The ALC888S incorporates Realtek proprietary converter technology to achieve 97dB dynamic range playback quality and 90dB dynamic range recording quality. ALC888S is fully HD Audio compliant.

RTM875T-605 Chip

SysFan

IDE

Rear IO

The rear I/O on the board consists of a PS/2 mouse and PS/2 keyboard port. Most people will have moved to USB mice and keyboards, but if you need them they are there. To the right of the PS/2 area is a VGA and DVI-D port. Note the lack of the four pin holes for DVI analog, you need to use a DVI Digital connector on this board. The next item on the board is a HDMI port. This allows you to connect a HDMI monitor or HDTV with HDMI to the motherboard. Four USB ports, a RJ-45 jack for the onboard Gigabit LAN, and six audio jacks round out the I/O on the board.

Bundle

• MSI G41TM-E43 motherboard
• 1 SATA Data cable
• 1 IDE Cable
• IO Backplate
• User Guide
• Driver and Utilities DVD
• MSI Quick Installation Guide

Box

Box rear

Box open

Bundle

MSI bundles their motherboard in a white box with a purple left side. The front of the box has the HD Video logo, the Intel CPUs supported by the motherboard, the G41 Express chipset. Also on the front is a list of the main features including Active Phase Switching, All Solid Capacitors, DVI and HDMI support. The rear of the box has the main features of the board and outlines what they do.

Opening the box we find MSI has gone the minimalist route with the motherboard bundle. A single SATA cable, an IDE cable, the Driver DVD, the Backplate, a Quick Installation Guide and a User Guide is the sum total of the bundle. One of the issues with today’s economy is that manufacturers have to cut costs especially on mainstream motherboards that retail under $70 on Newegg. Adding another SATA cable would have been cool but not a deal breaker.

The User Guide is in a smaller size than I am used to for a motherboard manual. The Guide is barely bigger than a modern phone. You can always download the manual from MSI’s website if you want to read it and need glasses. The Driver DVD contains the drivers, Norton’s Internet Security 60 day free trial version and the Live Update 3 utility. Also included is eSobi which is a News Reader, an Internet Search engine and an Information Library utility.

BIOS & Overclocking

MSI uses the American Megatrends Inc AMIBIOS with their G41TM-E43 motherboard. The main menu is split into Standard CMOS Features, Advanced BIOS Features, Integrated Peripherals, Power Management Setup, H/W Monitor, Green Power, BIOS Setting Password, Cell Menu and M-Flash. M-Flash allows you to update the BIOS from a USB Flash drive.

The Standard CMOS Features allows you to check and change the Date, Time, Detect the various SATA devices, the FDD A, Hold on error, and gives system information which includes the CPU installed, memory amount and BIOS version. The Advanced BIOS submenu is where you set the Full Screen logo, the quick boot, the CPU Features (like Execute Disable Bit), the Chipset features the Boot Sequence and Trusted Computing.

Battery

Easy OC

The Cell menu is where you tweak the motherboard frequencies and voltages. The top of the menu shows the current CPU frequency and Current DRAM Frequency. CPU Specifications shows the information of installed CPU including what technologies the CPU supports. EIST allows you to enable SpeedStep on CPUs that support it to save energy when not under heavy load. Adjust CPU Frequency allows you to change the FSB of the CPU. Adjusted CPU Frequency shows the adjusted CPU speed.

Standard clock E5200

Overclock to 3.32GHz

Memory-Z is where the board’s memory is changed. DIMM1/2 SPD Information is where the SPD information on the installed memory is displayed. Advanced DRAM Configuration is where the tweaking to the memory is done. You can change the CAS Latency, the tRCD, the tRP, the tRAS the tRTP, the tRFC, the tWR, tRRD, and the tWTR. FSB/DRAM Ratio can be changed to allow higher FSB while lowering the ratio, Adjust PCI-E Frequency allows you to change the PCIE frequency. As this board is not meant for the hardcore enthusiast there are no voltage modification options. The Easy OC switch on the board operates by changing the FSB of the CPU with the flip of a couple of switches. A 1333MHZ FSB CPU would operate at 1600MHz FSB assuming it can handle the clock speed. The E5200 which has a 12.5 multiplier and a 200MHz FSB would overclock from 2.5GHz to 3.5GHz (280MHz FSB) with the switch. It works as advertised with the E5200 we tried. The CPU would not overclock to 1333MHz FSB from the 800MHz default but that was a bit much to expect from an E5200.

Bios Screenshots