MSI Q965MDO

Based on Intel's Q965 chipset, it supports Intel Core2 Duo, Pentium 4,

Pentium D, Celeron D and Quad Core processors. It has 4 DDR2 DIMMs, supporting

up to 8GB. For the network connectivity, it has the Gbps LAN port and also IEEE

1349. Besides, it has Intel Active Management Technology which allows it to

better discover, heal and protect the networked computing assets. It has one IDE

port, which does not support OS installation on hard drive. So if you are

looking for installing new OS on you desktop, then you must have a USB or CD/DVD

ROM connected or you will have to find other ways. It has 6 SATA ports, 1 PCI

Express x16, 1 PCI Express x1, 2 PCI and 4 USB 2.0 ports.

It was tested with 1 GB RAM, 80 GB HDD, Intel Core2 1.8 GHz processor and

Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT for external display. It ticked up to 1761 PCMarks, which

was an average score. In 3D Mark it showed up 3401 3DMarks. In CINIBENCH 9.5,

rendering single core CPU, it ticked up to 249 CB-CPU and for dual core it was

387 CB-CPU. In POV Ray the average render mark came up to 107.10 PPS. As this

motherboard is meant merely for office productivity tools, with Doom 3 test it

gave only 7.9 FPS. Compared to Gigabyte 965P DS3 which we reviewed last month,

this motherboard is a better option as in addition, it has an inbuilt graphics

display adapter.

Bottom Line: Worthy motherboard for business-purpose PCs.