Installation

The MSI 845 Ultra installation went about as smoothly possible. It was a simple process of adding in the required components and attaching the various interface cards and cables. This is all standard fare for motherboard installs, but there was not a single jumper or switch we needed to touch with the 845 Ultra. And best of all, it booted up perfectly the first time with absolutely no problems.

Windows XP Pro also loaded up without any issue and we were running in no time flat. The only niggling problems we experienced related to the USB 2.0 and Promise RAID controllers, which were fixed up with a quick driver update/XP patch. USB 2.0 is support is still in its infancy, but now that Microsoft is in the act, it is getting better. Other than that, the absolute simplicity of both the physical and software installation cannot be understated, and we even tested Win XP extensively before bothering to even load the driver CD.

MSI has done just about everything to make the 845 Ultra an extremely easy motherboard to install, such as a full software BIOS setup, excellent user manual and an superb motherboard design philosophy. The 845 Ultra would be a great choice for the experienced user looking to catch a break, or for the newbie looking to setup their first PC.

The System BIOS

MSI has long been known for the excellent system BIOS features, and may only take a back to seat to ABIT in that regard. The MSI 845 Ultra is another strong product, with just about every BIOS option imaginable and then some. All of the standard options are present and accounted for, and we'll be going into some detail concerning the features most important to performance and tweaking.

Although MSI moved away from detailed memory timings in their last-gen motherboards, their newer products have reversed this trend. The 845 Ultra allows full control over all CAS and RAS timings, which can really make a difference in overall memory performance. Many name brand CL2.5 DDR modules can actually hit CL2, but if the motherboard is one of those lame auto-detect types, then you'll never get the chance to try it. The 845 Ultra also allows user control over 200/266 MHZ DDR speeds, which can also come in handy when overclocking higher-end PC1600 DDR. MSI certainly gets top marks for the wealth of memory timings available and their ease of use.

MSI has also tucked some incredible overclocking features into the Hardware Monitor Setup section of the BIOS. Why it's located there is anyone's guess, but you'll be glad you found it. The first option is the CPU Ratio selection, which will display a grayed out "locked" notification when dealing with a locked processor. Next up is the standard FSB Clock area, which allows a setting from 100-200 MHz, in 1 MHz increments. Although MSI does allow the standard CPU Voltage control, but also gives an AGP/DDR voltage setting to potentially increase stability when overclocking. The MSI 845 Ultra is one mean overclocking machine and the BIOS features are bound to please even the hardcore crowd.

One of the better features of the MSI 845 Ultra BIOS is the virtually every piece of on-board hardware can be disabled. This includes not only the basic AC'97 sound and modem features, but the C-Media sound chip and USB headers as well. And brace yourself, but those with RAID models can also disable the on-board ATA-133 controller as well. This is a great feature, since in previous MSI models, you would have to twiddle your thumbs through the RAID BIOS setup whether you were using the feature or not. Now, one BIOS setting later, and you can bypass that whole process entirely.