There was nothing fancy about the BIOS on the MSI 785GM-E51, just the standard MSI implementation, with some of the vendor's proprietary technologies like GreenPower and M-Flash. It's a rather straightforward and easy to use BIOS, with a touch of overclocking thrown in that we have seen previously on MSI's AMD boards. This includes a BIOS auto-overclocking tool (Max FSB) that works, but not all the time, and a useful multi-step OC Booster, which allows users

• CPU Frequency: 200 - 600MHz
  
• CPU Ratio: x4 - x15 (0.15x steps)
  
• PCIe Frequency: 100 - 150MHz
  
• GPU Core Clock: 100 - 999MHz
  
• Memory Ratio: 1:2, 1:2.66, 1:3.33, 1:4
  
• CPU Voltage: 0.988 - 1.976MHz (0.001V steps)
  
• Memory Voltage: 1.50 - 2.42V (0.05V steps)
  
• NB Voltage: 1.108 - 1.337V (0.0025V steps)
  
• SB Voltage: 1.228 - 1.472V (0.0025V steps)

• AMD Athlon II X2 250 (3.0GHz)
  
• 2 x 1GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1333, 7-7-7-20 (MSI 785GM-E51)
  
• 2 x 1GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1333 @ 1066, 7-7-7-20 (ECS A785GM-M)
  
• 2 x 1GB Patriot DDR3-1866 @ 1333, 7-7-7-20 (ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO)
  
• 2 x 1GB Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 @ 5-5-5-16 (Gigabyte GA-MA785GPM-UD2H)
  
• Integrated GPU Memory size set to 256MB
  
• AMD SB Driver version 8.631 and Catalyst driver 8.631 for AMD 785G motherboards
  
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB SATA hard disk drive (one single NTFS partition)
  
• LG GGW-H20L Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Disc Rewriter & HD DVD-ROM
  
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (and DirectX 9.0c)
  
• CyberLink Power DVD
  
  Ultra version 8.0.2021.50

SYSmark 2007 Preview

Not having SidePort memory like some of its competitors did not prevent the MSI from scoring second in SYSmark 2007. To be fair, this system suite will hardly be affected by the extra 128MB of local graphics memory.

Futuremark PCMark05 Pro

The SidePort issue however became quite prominent in PCMark05, especially the Graphics segment. Here was where the MSI and ECS boards fell behind and probably dragged down the overall score too. Besides the lack of dedicated graphics memory, the MSI performed admirably in the other areas, doing well in both the memory and hard drive segments.

SPECviewperf 9.0

Similar to SYSmark, SPECviewperf 9.0 pegged the MSI at second spot. Though this benchmark taxes both the memory and graphics subsystems, it had heavier emphasis on the memory subsystem, thus MSI fared reasonably overall.

Results - Synthetic Gaming Benchmarks

Although synthetic gaming benchmarks are probably not the best reflection of how a system performs in reality, it does help us examine where they stand from a certain theoretical point of view. In this case, the SidePort memory issue cropped up clearly in these benchmarks, particularly in AquaMark3. One can see here how the CPU segment saw the MSI finishing second, yet the Graphics segment highlighted its weakness. In short, expect gaming performance to suffer slightly compared to its rivals.

Temperature

When it came to onboard temperatures, the MSI 785GM-E51 was not as cool as the ASUS, being on similar terms as the ECS. However, it was still almost 10 degrees Celsius better than the Gigabyte board, which counts for something.

When it came to onboard temperatures, the MSI 785GM-E51 was not as cool as the ASUS, being on similar terms as the ECS. However, it was still almost 10 degrees Celsius better than the Gigabyte board, which counts for something.



Power Consumption

The MSI board topped this segment, with lower idle and peak power measurements. It's difficult to pinpoint the exact reason, but MSI's active phase switching technology

and its GreenPower feature will obviously take the credit. However, one shouldn't forget the fact that the MSI has slightly less features (no SidePort memory, no FireWire

controller) than other boards like the ASUS and these also help reduce its power consumption figures.

Conclusion

Although AMD appears to be heading towards six-cores in the near future, its consumer processors are treading water in the performance

and enthusiast segments. The entry level quad-cores and low-power processors will retain a certain place in the market, with Intel's Core 2 series nearing the end of its life cycle. What will worry AMD are the future Lynnfield and Clarkdale processors expected to arrive early next year. In which case, even the AMD 785G chipset's performance may not be sufficient to halt the tide.

At the moment though, users have quite the choice when it comes to the AMD 785G chipset. The 780G created a decent amount of mindshare and the 785G builds on it. MSI and Gigabyte are examples of vendors that have invested heavily in the chipset, with multiple models available. The MSI 785GM-E51 is unfortunately not one of the manufacturer's stronger models and lacks some features that are found on its competitors, with SidePort memory probably the most significant omission. Of course, MSI has other models with such an option, like the MSI 785GM-E65.
The MSI 785GM-E51's proposition hence lies in its pricing and the MSI-only technologies that it has. Locally, the MSI 785GM-E51 is available for around S$172, which is somewhat affordable, if not exactly entry-level pricing. Compared to the ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO which goes for S$188, the MSI is certainly slightly cheaper.

Personally, we find the power efficiency ones to be the best of the bunch while the overclocking ones to be extraneous when it comes to an integrated, mainstream board likethe AMD 785G. In short, there are more choices available out there so do the proper comparisons and get the one that fit your requirements closely. We did our sums and while the MSI 785GM-E51 is a decent board, it's probably not one that shines out from the competition when factoring all its aspects.