PC WORLD'S REAL world benchmarking suite, World¬Bench 6.0 returned a score of90 for the MSI K9AGM4V that is based on the AMD 690V chipset. This is margin¬ally higher than the 88 that we saw with the Asus M2A VM HDMI that has a similar chipset (the AMD 690G with HDMI out). The various com¬ponents of World Bench show similar scores for these two boards, with the MSI being slightly faster of the two. For example, the MSI K9AGM4V took 362 seconds to complete the Multitasking test, while the Asus M2A VM HDMI did the same test in 368 seconds. The 690V series use the ATI Xpress 1200 video chipset and we were surprised to see the faster Xpress 1250 chipset on this MSI. However, HMDI is not available.

Gaming performance is impressive for an onboard video card. DOOM 3 was smoothly playable at 46 fps at 800 x 600 resolution with low quality settings. So long as you don't wish to run the latest games or higher resolu¬tion and details, this X1250 will serve you well. It's a pity that HDMI is not available on this board, a feature that the X1250 is capable of.

THIS IS ONE of the most spartan motherboards that we have seen till date, MSI having taken the word mini¬mal very literally. There are only two RAM slots that can address a maximum of 4GB together. Almost all mother¬boards these days can handle 8G B or higher with four slots. There is just one IDE connector and two SATA ports. Of course, there is no RAID.

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The back panel surpris¬ingly has a COM port - an interface that is almost obsolete now. Otherwise, the connectors are fairly standard. There is no 7.1 audio - you have only 5.1 available through 3 audio ports. So you cannot have line-in and surround sound simultaneously. There are two standard PCI connectors and one PC Ie for an external video card. There is no PCI xl option here. FireWire is another omission.

COMPACT IS THE name of the game with the K9AGM4Y. With its micro-ATX avatar it can fit into any cabinet and is in fact ideal for a thin cabinet (used typically for an HTPC). Of course, you will need to use a video card that outputs analogue / digital video to use this motherboard for an HTPC.

GAMING PERFORMANCE IS certainly impressive with the onboard video, while over¬all performance is equal to or better than leading AM2 boards. The lack of features could have been forgiven had it been for a sensible price point. And this is something that MSI have missed. it is costs the same as the better equipped ASUS M2A VM HDML This board would have been a good choice for budget buyers had it not been for the pricing.