Pros: -Works well with freenas!
-The birds were right! (Cheap Cheap Cheap.... ....)
-It does have a slot for mini PCI-e wifi!

Cons: -not tons of features, not a whole lot of options in the BIOS (ie no overclocking, but...its kabini...)

Other Thoughts: -For a cheap build this is great, and i highly recommend, but i like the ASROCK AM1H-ITX better because of its OS options, "bonus" software, and driver support as well as the laptop jack power capabilities.

Pros: Paired this board with a 5350, 8G RAM and a low cost SSD - Win10 OS. Boots up in seconds - no kidding. Booted before the monitor comes out of sleep mode!! I use the DVI and HDMI ports and they worked flawlessly. The computer is used for basic web surfing, office type applications etc and absolutely no complaints. The 5350 is plenty fast on this board and there is little to no heat build up.
I consider the use of single channel memory a Pro at this price point. An 8G stick can be had for under $30 if you shop carefully.
Note that there are limitations on the amount of RAM you can assign to the integrated video subsystem so while the built-in video works great don't expect miracles.

Cons: The on-board audio is horrible. There is a constant background hiss and a low level hum that prevents hookup to a better audio system. I had hoped to use this to stream music but the built in audio is dead breaker. The simple solution?? Add a cheap USB audio adapter. Problem fixed. Interestingly the hiss / hum is not present on the audio embedded in the HDMI output. So the problem is likely low cost audio components for the analog section.
Only 2 SATA ports but most AM1 boards only have two so not a fault of this particular mobo. Simple fix - I added a USB to SATA adapter connected to the internal USB header. Purists look elsewhere - not as fast as a native SATA connection but who cares??
Also the SATA ports do not support the fastest available standards so don't waste your money on a fancy SSD. Buy something from the value shelf - you'll never know the difference. If your building a PC for speed your not shopping AM1 mobo's - or at least you shouldn't be shopping this category.

Other Thoughts: The 5350 paired with this mobo and 8G RAM (I used the inexpensive Team Elite stuff) makes for a low cost, surprisingly powerful little PC. Streams video off the internet to my 55 inch TV without stutter and the HDMI audio is just fine. No - it won't play games but if you need a low power, low cost solution to check email and surf the web this is perfect. I've used MSI boards before and I fully expect this board to last years with no problems.

Pros: - Fast boot up with Quick boot enabled
- Solid build quality
- Logically laid out components
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Not picky on memory as some other AM1 boards I have dealt with
- Manual is clear (even though i only used it for the front IO)

Cons: -The Sata lay out
- CPU fan header

Other Thoughts: This motherboard is a rock solid and cheap choice for any one in the market for a AM1 motherboard. Over all, it is a fantastic product from MSI, except for a few mistakes. THE SATA LAYOUT. It came with 2 sata cable that have right angle connecters on BOTH SIDES. Seriously? Plus you cant install two sata cables simultaneously with this the two right angle connectors. And another small concern, the CPU fan header on mine has a faulty third pin, it puts out voltage only and does not give RPMs as it should. I have looked on some forums and apparently I am not the only one. But I have to say, I would recommend this to ANY body looking for an awesome AM1 board. Just buy new SATA cables and your set. - RedDubzSmash

Pros: I love the all black look. It is at a great price, has enough features and worked upon arrival.

Cons: There is no USB 3.0 header. I had to order an adapter (sent from China) in my order so the shipping is taking a longer time.

Other Thoughts: AMD Athlon 5350
Thermaltake Core V1
Corsair 430 Modular PSU
MSI AM1i
G. Skill 16GB (2x8GB) 1600MHz
AData SSD 120GB

The computer streams YouTube very well at 1080p on a 55" Sharp HDTV. Skyrim runs really well at about 30-36FPS on my 24" monitor at 1080P. Not bad without a dedicated graphics card. It boots into Windows 10 in about 9 seconds.

Pros: Everything seems to work well, with exception of what's noted below. Measured power draw is very good and Athlon 5350 /R3 offers great performance on it. Good layout

Cons: Manual is lacking detail , especially for BIOS settings. Could use more back USB ports.

There is a significant (at least for me) WOL issue that is a show stopper for my application, whereas I acknowledge the for others might not be an issue at all. The issue is this:
WOL works, but waking the PC via WOL magic packet is causing high CPU loading (constant 15%) resulting from Service Interrupts - Deferred Procedure Calls. Waking the PC using USB devices (keyboard & mouse) does not cause this CPU loading, only when waking via WOL. I have tried both Windows 7 and Windows 10 and the same issue is present in both operating systems. I have tried both the drivers that came with the m/b on the DVD, the drivers from MSI website and the latest (Crimson drivers) from AMD for APU and Realtek for NIC - all resulting in no difference with regard to this issue. Because the issue is independent of driver and OS, I believe that there is an issue with BIOS - note previous versions had issues with WOL as well, at least according to the release notes.

No one was able to help on MSI forums, but I did receive the latest beta version (v3.3) from there and after flashing the m/b, the problem still persists. Since I use WOL intensively for my applications, this board isn't cutting it for me.

BTW, no such issues with the Asrock AM1 boards that I have.

Environment: 8 GB HyperX PC1600 ram, AMD Athlon 5350 R3 (Kabini) BIOS: V10.2 12/24/2014 + also tried beta 3.3 received from MSI forum.

Update: MSI tech support, although helpful and responsive, was unable to resolve this issue. Looks like I am out of luck.

Pros: none, doa

Cons: I cant get a display with this board. No display on led monitor. Switched out with ECS motherboard and no display either. Use display for video gaming with xbox. no vga feed. Sent back motherboard to manufacturer. Received used item in big box without shield, cables or owners manual. This one has no video feed also.

Other Thoughts: I am getting an inferiority complex . Am I a pariah

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valuable Customer
Sorry to hear about the issue you reported. Before considering an RMA can you check following steps below since many reasons can cause the situation like this ,
1. Check and make sure that power are connected firmly, clear CMOS.
2. Check your other major hardware’s (memory, video card, CPU and power supply) to ensure that they are not the cause of the issue.
3. If possible verify the mothebroard outside of the case to eliminate any possible short or grounding issue.
4. If you need further assistant, please feel free to contact our technical support department directly at 626.271.1004 from M to F, 6am to 6pm Pacific standard Time.

Thanks for choosing MSI

Best Regards,
MSI Review Team | usreview@msi.com

Pros: Can't get it to post

Cons: I got this for my birthday from a friend for a media server project. When I removed it from the box I noticed a scratch on the bottom, after installing ram and a new AMD 5150 the system would not post/no video. I attempted to RMA the motherboard over a week ago. I was sent an email a few days after notifying me the serial number was incorrect. I clicked on the link to correct it but the page only lets me correct my personal information. Further I compared the serial number to the picture I took of it on my phone and it is exact. I checked again on the motherboard to confirm. I have now tried to edit it two more times with no option. I emailed their support days ago with no response. For me this has ruined my taste for MSI products, I will be buying from other more reliable manufacturers in the future.

Other Thoughts: Given that the support has been awful at best, I recommend a different brand. I'm not sure that I will purchase an MSI product in the future.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Jonathan,
Sorry to hear about the issue you reported. We do see that you're not a verified owner of the product. Did you purchases through Newegg? What is the motherboard serial number? Before considering an RMA can you check following steps below since many reasons can cause the situation like this ,
1. Check and make sure that power are connected firmly, clear CMOS.
2. Check your other major hardware’s (memory, video card, CPU and power supply) to ensure that they are not the cause of the issue.
3. If possible test system outside of the case to eliminate ground/short issue.
4. If you need further assistant, please feel free to contact our technical support department directly at 626.271.1004 from M to F, 6am to 6pm Pacific standard Time.

Thanks for choosing MSI

Best Regards,
MSI Review Team | usreview@msi.com

Pros: - has everything I need (almost)

Cons: - no USB3 for front connection
- no PC speaker connection

Other Thoughts: my build:
- hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC (Japanese Steel Metal) ITX ITX200B Mini ITX Media Center / HTPC Case
- MSI AM1I AM1 2 x SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Mini ITX AMD Motherboard
- AMD Athlon 5350 AD5350JAHMBOX 2.05 GHz Quad-core Desktop Processor
- Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB Single DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800 CL9 1.5V UDIMM 240-Pin Memory (BLS8G3D1609DS1S00)
- WL 6TB 5700RPM 64MB Cache 5700RPM SATA III (6.0Gb/s) 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (Desktop PC, CCTV DVR, NAS) - w/1 Year Warranty

My purpose was HTPC for another several years, low wattage, high HDD capacity for movies, enough power to play and/or serve a couple of Plex transcodings at 1080p
I don't need 4k video at the moment but this MOBO can play that, too, at 30fps (according to specs)

Some tips:
- make sure ALL power is connected to MOBO before calling support :)
- install win7 with bootable UEFI USB, fat32, with UEFI binary copied from existing x64 installation, use USB2 socket at boot !!!
- boot to install windows, hit shift-F10, run diskpart.exe convert HDD to GPT and create 200 GB partition 0 (system)
- install win7 to that partition
- now always boot your win7 from hdd in UEFI mode to "windows boot manager"
Minor tips:
- download all drivers from MSI website (now you have NIC and USB3 :))
- install your proc/heatsink before putting your MOBO in place, so that it won't bend/break

Pros: it is easy to use

Cons: no usb 3.0 header on board

Other Thoughts: I would recommend this product but i wish it had a usb 3.0 header. It has worked great for my kabini build that i did in october 2014 and it is still going strong. I have 8gb of ram installed. I am writing this review on my kabini pc now. It is an overall good product. It is reliable. The only con was that it did not have a usb 3.0 header.

Pros: Well its all good :-) My system was returned from MSI in working order. Not only that they sent me an email in advance showing my system connected and in operation. They even called me - who even does that kind of outstanding customer service anymore - MSI does. I was actually able to talk to the Tech who worked on my machine.:-) Could not be more happy with the purchase and has since been given to my wife as her primary computer.

Now don't expect this computer to play the latest games. However, it does just about everything else just fine - email, web browsing, youTube and facebook stuff. More than fast enough since my internet connection is only 50 megs. Does Google Photo editing, Google drive, Google Docs and everything else just fine. Excellent Cloud computer. Am seriously considering buying another AMD/MSI Processor and Motherboard for a home theatre build as soon as I understand what I need, ha ha. My sincere thank you to Newegg, AMD and MSI, well done gentlemen.

------------------------------------------------------- original posting -----------------------------------------------------

Small board, good layout, easy to connect, with enough ports to meet my needs. In the end it just didn't function correctly

Cons: Latest update 01/22/2016 Received a phone call from MSI today and they told me they were able to get the chipset drivers loaded. They also sent me an email showing the system up and running. Now that is what I call exceptional customer service. For some history or background information I recommend you read the below initial review.

You will find two MSI AMI motherboards under my name - only this one has my review comments and they apply to both boards since both boards had exactly the same problem. I have probably built and modified and/or improved at least 10 computers from newegg over the last 10 years or so but i FAILED at building is one. Or should I say the motherboard failed to function correctly and I have no idea at this point in time if it is my fault or someone else's fault. I worked with Newegg, AMD and MSI technical support teams and we couldn't get either the original board or the replacement board to function correctly. The board works perfectly fine when the VGA port is used. Windows 10 Pro loads and functions just fine. However whenever I tried using the DVI-D port, Windows 10 would crash, the boot sector of the SSD drive was destroyed and Windows 10 needed to be reinstalled. I have Windows 10 installed on my other computers and it runs really well. My gut feeling is that this is an AMD Catalyst Control Driver issue since I could never get the Catalyst Control Drivers loaded when using the DVI-D port to drive my monitor. My monitor would just go dark when about 75% of the drivers were loaded. My version of the MSI AM1 motherboard is Ver. 2 with a current bios installed just 3 days before I received the replacement board from Newegg.

Other Thoughts: So here is why I like to deal with GREAT companies like Newegg, AMD and MSI.
1. Newegg sent me a new AMD processor [as recommended by AMD Tech. Support] and a new motherboard but neither fixed the problem.
2. MSI Tech. Support stayed with me on the phone for over a 1/2 hours while they walked me step by step through the driver installation process. We could not identify the problem over the phone.
3. MSI recommended I sent the entire computer system to them for analysis. I received my RMA authorization yesterday and today my complete computer system was packaged and sent to MSI by FedEx. I paid for the shipping to MSI and they agreed to pay for the return shipping and any costs needed to get my system functioning. Great Customer Service.

The lesson learned here is that when you deal with well established businesses, look for and strive to resolve a problem, companies that provide outstanding customer service MATTER. Even though my system doesn't work at the moment I believe that in the end these companies will work together to make it right. Thank you Newegg, AMD, and MSI.