..:: K8T Neo2-FIR Layout: Northbridge Area ::..

     

     As far as Northbridge cooling goes, MSI has chosen to opt for a rather small, gold anodized heatsink solution. MSI has also opted to go with a passive cooling solution for the Northbridge, which should be fairly obvious given the fact there is no fan. Throughout our testing time with this board, we found that this heatsink did provide adequate cooling for the Northbridge as it ran a little cooler than I was originally expecting. The heatsink is held down via the typical spring-loaded pin method, with the usual thermal pad for cooling.

     The main items of interest that are located in this portion of the motherboard are located to the left and right of the K8T800 Pro Northbridge. To the right of the Northbridge, we find the second three-pin power connector for a rear exhaust fan, or for added cooling to the Northbridge should the user decide to add their own form of cooling. Along the opposite side of the Northbridge chip, we find the four-pin, secondary 12V power connector. This is the typical location for this connector, though I prefer to see it positioned higher on the PCB when possible. Other than these few items, all that can be found around the K8T800 Pro Northbridge chip are some small electrical components. This portion of the board is as clean as the processor socket area. Let’s see if this trend continues.

           

     The expansion slot portion of the MSI K8T Neo2-FIR features a single AGP 8x slot, along with five regular PCI slots. At the bottom of the board, find that MSI has color-coded the bottom PCI slot to orange. This setup has been the norm for some time now, though as we see AGP solutions fall back into the distance, and as more PCI Express enabled chipsets begin to hit the market for AMD processors, we’ll begin to see the move towards a single x16 PCI Express slot, and multiple x1, x2, and x4 PCI Express slots. We’ll see the beginnings of this move with the up and coming NVIDIA and VIA chipsets. Let’s see what else this portion of the board has to offer.

     The majority of the components in this area of the PCB are, as always, located along the rear edge of the motherboard. At the top of this section, right under the rear I/O panel we first find the main component dealing with the MSI K8T Neo2-FIR‘s onboard IEEE1394 support, VIA VT6306 IEEE1394 controller. This is a regular PCI implementation, and is typically used on several of the VIA chipset based motherboards on the market today. Located just underneath the far left edge of the AGP 8x slot, we find a single 24.5MHz clock crystal for the IEEE1394 controller.

     Located a little farther down from the VIA IEEE1394 controller chip, we find the next item of importance to us, the Realtek RTL8110S Gigabit LAN controller. This again, is quite a common implementation among both AMD and Intel based motherboards. Even with the advent of PCI Express, we’ve seen several manufacturers of i915P/G and i925X/XE motherboards opt to add in an additional PCI based Gigabit controller. In the picture above, we see that we cannot get any visual confirmation that this chip is the Gigabit controller, as it is covered with a sticker. This area also houses another clock controller, this time coming in at 25.015MHz.

     The remaining items scattered throughout the bottom of the expansion slot portion of the motherboard are generally dedicated to the support for the MSI K8T Neo2-FIR’s audio support. The MSI K8T Neo2-FIR features the VIA ALC850 audio CODEC. We’ve seen some solid improvement in AC 97’ CODEC’s over the past few years, but they still can’t compare to the quality achieved by the new Intel spec. HD Audio CODEC chips. The front panel header is the one featuring two green jumpers on it, right under the ALC850 CODEC. This is optimal positioning for the front panel header as it will allow for better cable routing throughout the case interior. To the right, we see the dark green IEEE1394 header for use with the included expansion bracket.