MSI K9AGM2-FIH Motherboard Review

The MSI K9AGM2-FIH is an affordable Micro ATX motherboard, designed for use with AMD’s Socket AM2 processors. It is based on the AMD 690G Northbridge, with the ATI Radeon X1250 integrated graphics, and the SB600 Southbridge.

Although it is small and low-priced, the MSI K9AGM2-FIH provides users with all features found in a decent Home Theater PC system. Its HDMI port, which is HDCP-compliant, enables an easy one-cable audio/video connection to HD TVs and monitors, while the Realtek ALC888 chip manages the 8-channel sound system.

The K9AGM2-FIH supports AMD Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64, Athlon FX and Sempron AM2 CPUs and has a HyperTransport FSB speed of 1GHz. There are two DDR2 DIMM slots (240pin / 1.8V) supporting up to 4GB of dual DDR2 400/533/667/800MHz system memory.

The ATI Radeon X1250 integrated GPU can handle the Aero user interface of Windows Vista operating system. This graphics solution includes Avivo technology for vibrant images and smooth video playback, and supports DirectX 9.0.

Along with HDMI and VGA outputs, on the motherboard’s back panel there are a 6 in 1 audio jack, four USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a Firewire, PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, and a Parallel port.

Regarding internal slots and I/O connectors, there are a PCI Express x16 slot, a PCI Express x1 slot, two PCI slots, four Serial ATA 2 connectors with support for RAID 0, 1 and 0+1 mode, one ATA 133 connector, and a Floppy drive connector, as well as three USB 2.0 pinheaders supporting additional 6 ports, SPDIF In and Out connectors, TV-Out, audio and Firewire pinheaders, and a CD-In connector.

The reviewed motherboard is not overclocking friendly. In its BIOS, for better performance, you can setup only memory timing options, such as CAS Latency, Min RAS Active Time, RAS Precharge Time, and RAS to CAS Delay. In addition, you can select how much system memory the integrated GPU can utilize for graphics purposes.

Besides the K9AGM2-FIH, in the retail box there are MSI driver/utility CDs, SATA, SATA power, and IDE cables, a backpanel I/O shield, and a user manual.

MSI K9AGM2-FIH, ATI Radeon X1250 Benchmark

The tested system includes the MSI K9AGM2-FIH, the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ processor, 2GB of DDR2 800MHz memory, a Western Digital’s 320GB 7200rpm hard drive, and Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit operating system.

The PCMark05 score of the benchmarked system is 3833 points.

I have tested the ATI Radeon X1250 chip in the MSI K9AGM2-FIH motherboard and found that it really enables flawless playback of videos, including high definition formats. Coral Reef Adventure trailer in a high-definition 1080p .wmv format, played in Windows Media Player consumed around 50% of CPU power. However, the playback was smooth and without a glitch.

As expected, the gaming experience is not as great as in systems with dedicated video cards, including the most affordable newer GPUs. The motherboard with its integrated X1250 scores 308 3DMark06 points and 1052 3DMark05 points. For comparison, the Asus GeForce 8400GS low-end video card, paired with the same motherboard, achieved 1580 3DMark06 and 3412 3DMark05 points.

The recommended setup for Quake 4 game under the MSI K9AGM2-FIH and ATI Radeon X1250 GPU are low graphics detail settings and 640×480 pixels resolution. With these settings game runs smoothly, with 109,4 frames-per-second on average during benchmark. World in Conflict Demo at 800×600 and very low settings gives an average of playable 25fps. The integrated GPU cannot handle hardware demanding Crysis Demo, but F.E.A.R. is playable at lowest settings and resolution.

Conclusion

The K9AGM2-FIH mainboard is a good solution for building a silent small home theater PC, since it features a Micro ATX form factor, an HDMI port, and the ATI Radeon X1250 quiet and cool integrated graphics, and currently has a price tag of around $70. On the other side, some AMD 690G-based Micro ATX motherboards have a DVI-D port in addition to a VGA, so users requiring DVI-D or dual monitor connections should take a look at mobos such as the Asus M2A-VM HDMI.

Buy: MSI K9AGM2-FIH at xPCgear | Asus M2A-VM HDMI at xPCgear