Motherboards in 2001 Preview: Part 2

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The Pro266 Master is their DDR solution for Socket-370. It uses the VIA Apollo Pro266 chipset and has three DDR DIMM slots and two SDR DIMM slots, supporting up to 2GB of DDR SDRAM. Just like the 850 Pro, Microstar also includes the AGP Pro slot. Interestingly, we're seeing a trend towards more integrated USB ports on motherboards, with MSI pushing out to 6 on the Pro266 Master.

There is another flavor of the board called the Pro266 Plus. As the name implies, it also uses the Apollo Pro266 and even has almost the same design as the Pro266 Master. The differences come in that it only has three DDR DIMM slots and 6 PCI slots compared to 5 for the Pro266 Master.

MSI continues to expand their K7 line of motherboards, now with the K7 Master-S, which features the AMD 760 chipset. It supports 200/266 MHz FSB AMD processors and has 4 DDR DIMM slots, supporting up to 2GB of DDR SDRAM. It also has an on-board SCSI controller and an AGP Pro slot.

The name K7 Master-S is quite misleading as it is very similar to the K7T Master, which features the VIA KT133 chipset, on-board SCSI, and IEEE 1394 Firewire. Therefore, we wouldn't be too surprised if its name changes before it hits the streets.

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Besides the K7 Master-S, Microstar also had implemented the ALi MAGiK1 chipset for yet another Socket-A DDR product, known as the MS6375. It has two DDR DIMM slots and 3 SDR DIMM slots, an AGP Pro slot, 5 PCI slots, and 1 CNR slot.

Another interesting board Microstar will be releasing is the 815E Master-S. Just like other boards in the Microstar Master series, the 815E Master-S also includes an on-board SCSI controller and an attractive 6 PCI slots expansion slots configuration. This continues that trend of pushing more towards the high-end market, even though this is Intel's "value" chipset.