MSI H61M-P23 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Stable, worked right out of the box, and has continued to work without any major problems. All the ports work as they should.

Cons: Because this is a micro ATX, its difficult to upgrade. I wanted a new CPU heatsink/fan combo, but was unable to get it to fit without taking out a DIMM. I chose to return the cooler because there are only two slots on the mobo for RAM. The SATA ports are only 2.0, so my SSD is limited. Plenty of PCIE ports, but only one PCIE x16 port.

Other Thoughts: Its a good board for the price. My computer as it is, is running pretty solid. But for an enthusiast who finds myself upgrading alot, this board is a little lacking. It does what it should though, and I find it does is rather well.

Pros: ...?

Cons: DOA on arrival, never booted. I can't tell if the CPU or mobo but I'm almost positive the mobo is bad.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued MSI Customer,

We would like to apologize for the issue you have experienced with this particular MB. Please email me directly via USUserSupport@msi.com or call us at 1-626-271-1004 Press 1 your MB's serial number and your complete contact information, subject heading "MSIH61M-P23". I would like to help you get this resolved.

Best Regards,
User Support
MSI Product Support

Pros: Cheap, stable, and does what I need it to do.

Cons: Only has two DIMM slots
Only 3 fan headers

Other Thoughts: So far I guess I'm pretty happy with this board so far. I haven't had any major problems. It booted up quickly and installed the drivers fast. The only two things I don't like about the board is that it only has two DIMM slots and three fan headers. If you're getting a case with lots of fans you're going to have to do a "Y" cable split (thats what I did) or a different motherboard. It's not a perfect board but for the price it's not horrible either.

Pros: it works

Cons: none

Pros: Cheap, stable, and does what I need it to do.

Cons: Seems poorly optimized out of the box. After the software was up and running I popped back to the BOIS to check things out (not sure how that wasn't the very first thing I did). Normal features such a Hyper-Threading, Turbo Boost, Speed Step were all turned off (why?).

Other Thoughts: All in all... it was cheap and it works so far. I actually purchased this an a 2600 to pop in to an existing system. I unplugged the hard drive from a Athlon X2 4200+ (the original X2) and plugged it straight in to this MB. Booted up and aside from having to re-activate Windows, I encountered no issues. While I still plan to do a clean install, it's always nice to know I'm not dealing with any exotic components that will cause drama down the road.

Pros: Great price-point. Easy to install. Kudos to Newegg support though.

Cons: First board lasted 4 hours... after loading OS, updates and copying personal files, it wouldn't power on. Easy to get a replacement from Newegg (THANKS), but would like to bypass the ground shipping both ways. After a month and a half, and following a power outage, the second board again won't power on, although other PCs in the house will. Time for a different MB!

Pros: It works.

Cons: No DVI port. I mean, really? No DVI port on a motherboard made for on-die CPU graphics? Where are we, the 1990s?

Other Thoughts: Not a great option for a simple low-power workstation since there is no DVI. Not a great option for something you'd add a dedicated GPU to since it's weak on overclocking/features.

Pros: Worked very well for 3 months. Good price.

On-board VGA continued to work after the PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot went bad.

Easy install.

Cons: PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot went bad after 3 months. The image became blurry, colors distorted, and sheared diagonal and elliptically. I tried other graphics cards, drivers, and monitors to confirm it was the motherboard.

No on-board DVI (only a con, once the graphics card slot stopped working).

Other Thoughts: Arrived early. Thanks Newegg!

Pros: Great for the price

Cons: Poor for the quality... 1st. Bd I bought as part of a newegg combo deal - worked for about 8hrs then quit. Contacted MSI and they replaced the Board. Second Bd. in for a couple of months and it's giving me the same symptoms. Doesn't want to power up at all. In search of another Board as we speak.

Pros: Low price
Low power usage
Works great
3 year warranty
Supports AHCI (after Bios update)
Parallel port and Serial port (for whoever needs these)

Cons: Has bare minimum number of slots
Has no DVI or HDMI (the E23 model has this)
Must update Bios to support AHCI before installing Windows

Other Thoughts: I got mine from other place with i3-2120 combo for $120 after rebate. It's an amazing combo for people like me (occasional gamer). I have 8GB ram, GTX460 graphics card, 1 HDD, 1 SSD, Corsair 460W 80plus power. On standby power consumption is just 1W. On idle, it's about 46W. The whole system is very cool and quiet, and stays that way even on hard gaming. Resume from standby is very quick, and it's very easy to mod the Bios to contain SLIC2.1 by yourself. Now I see that my AMD Athlon II X3 435 system sucks (always runs hot, and slow).