An inexpensive representative on the market of advanced motherboards, the MSI 770-C45 chipset, attracts the attention of not only gamers, but also users who want to create a true multimedia center at home. The fact is that this is one of the few motherboards in the segment of computer components, which has great functionality and is able to cope with any tasks. In this article, the reader will become more familiar with the popular device: specifications, instructions, a review and reviews will provide complete information on the MSI 770-C45 chip.
Global Positioning
It's rather strange to see a fully functional gaming solution in the budget segment. This is exactly what the manufacturer did with a motherboard supporting the installation of a large amount of RAM and multiple expansion cards. Apparently, at MSI, technologists came to this conclusion for a reason. This explains the low cost of the MSI 770-C45 chip in the domestic market (within 6,000 rubles).
In any case, no one will be able to deprive the system board of gaming capabilities, so the choice and purchase, as always, remains with the buyer. The main thing is to understand what this remarkable multifunctional device is capable of and whether it makes sense to give money for it.
Very attractive features.
When you first get acquainted with the device, a tempting advertisement on the packaging display that comes with the MSI 770-C45 motherboard comes into the view of the buyer. The manufacturer decided to place the characteristics of the power supply system on top of the device image - only solid-state capacitors were involved in the production of the sip. This is great news for all enthusiasts who like to use overclocking the processor in work or games. Hence, apparently, a three-year manufacturer’s warranty.
The ATX form factor allows you to place a large number of slots and expansion cards on the motherboard, and, as practice shows, MSI technologists did an excellent job. The board is provided with everything necessary, and, as the owners note in their reviews, the device is an intersection of several generations of system devices.
Multi platform support
The MSI 770-C45 motherboard is designed for AM3 socket and is designed to install AMD Athlon II / Phenom II processors with support for HyperTransport technology and multiple cores. When studying the appearance of the system device, it seems that the manufacturer was more concerned not with the support of processors, but with the installation of a cooling system for them. The socket of the socket is huge, there are no batteries on its surface.
Even around the nest, technologists left a few centimeters of free space. You can install any cooler and calmly deal with overclocking the processor. Between the socket and the interface panel, the manufacturer placed all the batteries and voltage phase distributors. In their reviews, many owners recommend (in case of overclocking) to install a passive radiator for better cooling. Since this is the only dead zone on the system board, which is not cooled by air circulation in the system unit.
Media Fans Expansion Cards
We can say with confidence that the MSI 770-C45 motherboard, an overview of which is given in this article, is one of the few on the market that has three full and always available PCI interfaces. Apparently, the company's technologists have guessed that someone might need 3 interfaces. The manufacturer placed the connector for installing the PCIex16 video adapter under the north bridge, and the expansion cards under the south bridge. Accordingly, even installing a powerful video game accelerator with a three-level cooling system will not block the PCI interfaces.
Otherwise, technologists with PCIex1 expansion cards entered the walls of the company. They were identified separately, on both sides, from the PCIex16 interface. That is, after installing the video card, one port will be unavailable. A very strange approach to the user, given that the motherboard does not have integrated graphics - the 100% slot will be closed.
Low cost upgrade
Great news awaits users who prefer from year to year to improve the performance of the gaming system by adding RAM modules. Four full-featured DDR3 slots with dual channel support have an MSI 770-C45 motherboard. The instruction supplied with the device recommends that the owner use chips operating at a frequency of not more than 1333 MHz. However, many owners in their reviews claim that the board supports a frequency of 1600 MHz.
Another oddity of the device is also not to the liking of users. The manufacturer said that the maximum amount of RAM that is supported at the controller level is 16 gigabytes, but many users claim that their platform works freely with 32 GB. Many owners claim that such changes are peculiar to updating the BIOS platform.
Hard drives
There is also a weak link in the motherboard MSI 770-C45. The performance characteristics of hard drives can slow down the entire system. The fact is that the device implements the old SATA II interface . Six separate ports, an integrated RAID controller and support for creating arrays of all levels can not improve the situation with the speed of work. For many gamers, only installing SSD memory in the PCIex1 slot will help solve the problem with the bandwidth of the drive.
A pleasant moment for users who switched to a new platform from outdated PCs was the presence of an IDE interface. You can connect not only your favorite optical drive, but also an old hard drive with personal documents and multimedia content. Looking at the board, the owner will also find the FDD port for connecting a magnetic drive. This is clearly too much, because floppy disks have lost popularity in the past millennium.
Decent platform integration
Although the MSI 770-C45 motherboard does not have an integrated graphics core, the manufacturer tried to provide the device with all the interfaces that are always in demand by many users. The PS / 2 interfaces for the keyboard and mouse will definitely please users, because USB manipulators are still a curiosity to many computer owners. And since it was about USB, then there are 6 of them on the motherboard (though they are all of the old USB 2.0 format).
Music lovers do not need to worry about sound quality - a 7-channel system with an integrated receiver and DVD-audio support allows you to enjoy high-quality sound with a decent audio system. There is a COM port on the motherboard. Many owners of old equipment (synthesizer, UPS, MFP) of this particular port are not enough to work with modern computers.
Gameplay and overclocking
The manufacturer recommends using processors with heat up to 110 watts with the MSI 770-C45 motherboard. This oddity is caused by the fact that the power controls and the north bridge do not have decent cooling. In the media there are a lot of ready-made solutions for installing active cooling on heating elements and, as practice shows, the improvement allows the installation of processors with heat dissipation of 165 watts.
With overclocking the processor and memory chips, it is not so simple - the difference can be made only with a step of 33 MHz. And in the BIOS of the motherboard there is no “sandbox” (an environment for conducting tests without restarting the computer). There is no spare BIOS on the system board. That is, in other words, overclocking can lead the motherboard to an inoperative state.
Finally
Motherboard MSI 770-C45 will appeal more to those users who after the acquisition will not produce performance improvements by overclocking. The device is functional, supports many platforms and is adapted for expansion, however overclocking is a weak point of this board.