MSI-jeva ploča P35 Neo Combo zasnovana na novom Intelovom čipsetu P35 pokazala se kao zanimljivo rješenje za korisnike koji nemaju prevelike zahtjeve odnosno manji budžet za kupovinu računalnih komponenti. Premda u osnovi nije namijenjena korisnicima koji se namjeravaju igrati s overclockanjem komponenti, P35 Neo Combo u ovom području nije podbacila zahvaljujući u prvom redu Intelovom čipsetu, ali i bogatim overclockerskim opcijama u BIOS-u ploče. Maksimalni takt prednje sabirnice od 430 MHz je vrlo dobar rezultat, a omogućava izvlačenje maskimalnih mogućnosti iz popularnih jeftinijih modela Core 2 Duo procesora.

Implementacija oba tipa memorijskih utora (DDR2 i DDR3) je dvosjekli mač. Malo korisnika će zaista sada ugraditi DDR2 memoriju, a kasnije prijeći na DDR3 memoriju, što zbog izbjegavanja nepotrebnih komplikacija, što zbog činjenice da DDR3 trenutno ne nudi nekakav osjetan porast performansi u odnosu na DDR2 memoriju. Ako čak i prijeđete na DDR3 memoriju, na ploči se nalaze samo dva utora, tako da je neka buduća nadogradnja u pogledu kapaciteta otežana – morat ćete prodati stare module i kupiti nove, veće.

Problemi koje smo imali s konfiguracijom memorije ne bi vas trebali previše zabrijavati. Neki memorijski djelitelji ne rade kako treba, no ima ih dovoljno da to većini korisnika neće stvarati probleme. Problemi s forsiranjem agresivnijih latencija memorije također nisu ništa zabrinjavajuće (osim ako ste hard-core entuzijast) budući Core 2 Duo procesore ionako ne profitiraju previše od niskih latencija memorije. Ono što je pak bitnije je činjenica da od 12 USB utora koje nudi čipset, samo šest možemo iskoristiti (četiti su izvedena na backplate ploče, a dva iskorištavamo pomoću kućišta) bez nabavljanja dodatne opreme – USB bracketa koji nije isporučen u paketu s pločom.

Sve u svemu, ako planirate kupiti ploču za svoj Core 2 Duo procesor, MSI P35 Neo Combo zaslužuje vašu pažnju, no zbog specifičnog dizajna njena glavna prednost (podrška za dva tipa memorije) može predstavljati i veliko ograničenje.

Conclusion

Intel P35 based MSI P35 Neo Combo motherboard is an interesting solution for users who are not overly demanding or those who are not prepared to buy one of the more expensive high-end solutions. Altough not primarily oriented towards overclockers, P35 Neo Combo fares pretty well in this discipline thanks to Intel chipset and abundance of overclocking options in BIOS. Maximum FSB clock we managed to achieve was 430 MHz, very good results which is sufficient for pushing popular cheaper models of Core 2 Duo series to their limits (at least with air cooling).

MSI’s strategy to implement support for both types of memory is a double-edged sword. Rather small number of users will decide to use DDR2 memory now and completely switch to DDR3 memory later, when it becomes more available. Reasons for that are rather simple. First of all, it adds unnecessary complexity to the whole process of building a computer. Secondly, there is the question of how much additional performance will user really gain by switching from 800 MHz DDR2 to 1066 MHz DDR3. By all accounts, not much. Even if someone really decides to migrate to DDR3 memory like this, future upgrades in terms of memory capacity are not possible – there are only two slots of each memory type on the motherboard.

Problems we had with configuring memory shouldn’t bother you much. From six memory dividers, two are not functioning correctly, but this will not pose a problem for majority of users. We also had problems with forcing aggresive memory latencies. Considering Core 2 Duo based systems don’t profit much in terms of performance from tight latencies, this is not a big issue. More important fact we didn’t like is that from 12 USB ports offered by ICH9 southbridge, most users will be able to use only six of them (four implemented on the backplate of the motherboard + two routed to computer chassis). MSI could have included four port USB bracket in the bundle but that unfortunately didn’t happened.

All in all, if you are planning to buy a motherboard for your Core 2 Duo (Quad even) CPU, MSI P35 Neo Combo deserves your attention. Keep in mind though that most prominent feature of this motherboard, support for DDR2 and DDR3 memory, may very well be its greatest problem.