nForce2 6-way Motherboard Roundup - December 2002

MSI K7N2-L: Basic Features

The MSI K7N2-L will be the only nForce2 SPP motherboard MSI produces, as MSI has decided to concentrate a bit more on the nForce2 IGP side of things this time around. Therefore, MSI is going to have two IGP products ready come mid-January, which is when they expect mass production.

The first of the two IGP products is dubbed the K7N2G-L, which comes with nForce LAN, nForce sound and integrated graphics for an estimated MSRP of $118. The K7N2G-ILSR comes with nForce LAN, nForce sound, FireWire, Serial ATA RAID and integrated graphics for an MSRP of $138. MSI says these prices aren't definite yet, but if the final price is even remotely close to this, they'll be quite the bargain.

Onboard LAN is included with the K7N2-L, and is powered by the PH163112 controller. This controller accesses one of the two MAC's integrated into the MCP-T; the nForce MAC in this case. Once again we see that only one of the two integrated MACs are taken advantage of.

As usual, the Realtek ALC650 acts as the controller chip for sound processing on the K7N2-L. Remember that the nForce2 APU only acts as a DSP, final sound quality is still greatly determined by the DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) in the ALC650 AC'97 codec.

The K7N2-L I/O configuration is like most of the other nForce2 boards. Included are two PS/2 ports, one serial port, one parallel port, four rear USB 2.0 ports, one LAN port, and three 1/8' jacks, which are driven by the onboard sound. All in all, quite acceptable for most users.

This motherboard, like most of the other nForce2 boards, lacks more than just Primary/Secondary IDE support. The Primary and Secondary IDE connectors support two channels each, or up to four IDE drives total. This isn't enough for some people, although most users should be satisfied.

The MCP-T South Bridge supports USB 2.0, six USB 2.0 ports altogether. There's a single USB 2.0 header located towards the bottom of the motherboard, just below the last IDE connector if you feel the four rear USB 2.0 ports aren't acceptable. MSI is good enough to bundle a two-port USB 2.0 bracket, which is slowly starting to become a standard accessory in high-end desktop motherboards nowadays. This is becoming standard even with value motherboards.