Customer Reviews Of MSI Media Live DIVA 5.1 AM2+/AM2 AMD 780M HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Customer Reviews

MSI
Media Live DIVA 5.1
AMD Motherboards

Customer Reviews for MSI Media Live DIVA 5.1 AM2+/AM2 AMD 780M HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
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Review Summary (44 Reviews):
Excellent	14ReviewsExcellent	32%
Good	10ReviewsGood	23%
Average	4ReviewsAverage	9%
Poor	5ReviewsPoor	11%
Very Poor	11ReviewsVery Poor	25%
Excellent	0Reviews	0%
Good	0Reviews	0%
Average	0Reviews	0%
Poor	0Reviews	0%
Very Poor	0Reviews	0%
Excellent	1ReviewsExcellent	14%
Good	0Reviews	0%
Average	2ReviewsAverage	29%
Poor	1ReviewsPoor	14%
Very Poor	3ReviewsVery Poor	43%

Reviewer	Product Review
MAS Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	10/29/2009 10:36:26 AM Pros: Good specs for a HTPC motherboard. i like the 5.1 amplifier card and HDMI output. Cons: Dead board. sent back for new one and same issue. motherboard is now at MSI for bios update and port checkput. suspect BIOS doesn't support Phenom II until bios update. Other Thoughts: if you don't need the amplifier card, buy another board for HTPC setup Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Kristian Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	9/25/2009 7:23:27 PM Burnt out Pros: Awesome feature set for an HTPC. Cons: It worked for ~3wks, and then it died. It looks like one of the MOSFETs (marked nikos p70n02ldg gn19k** (with being unreadable) burnt. Don't know if something else shortcircuited before tha happened. Other Thoughts:** I'm just about to figure out how to RMA this to MSI (since the 30 day return period for newegg just expired). Guess I'll learn more about it once I get a replacement. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
HTPCfanatic Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	9/2/2009 4:49:40 PM Working great for me Pros: Impressive audio, onboard HD decoding makes for smooth Blu-ray playback, MSI's latest bios makes this board compatible with AM3 CPUs Cons: Amp card requires some finesse to fit it into a microATX case. No PCI slots (only PCIe). Board only came with one SATA cable. Other Thoughts: I bought the open box model and paired it with a Sempron 140. The BIOS will recognize this particular AM3 CPU and Windows 7 had all the appropriate drivers. With the 45W CPU this thing runs exceptionally cool, even when playing Blu-ray disc. The 5.1 audio quality is exceptional and I've eliminated my old amp from under the television. This is a unique board which requires a bit of patience in the set-up but which is well worth the effort. So far no reliability issues either with drivers, BIOS or excess heat. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
bob Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/27/2009 5:19:56 PM Innovative but not perfect Pros: Very innovative HTPC mobo with regards to the audio codec and amp card. sound is amazingly good and warm, extremely effieceint, low power requirements. MATX format makes case selection flexible. 780g with 128mb side port is perfect fit for blu ray HD playback. Cons: MSI BIOS update tools do not support x64, found USB Flasher tool in the MSI fourms but its a extremely crude tool given the competition out there. Build quality is a generation behind ASUS and Gigabyte in terms of using quality heat sinks and solid state capacitors. eSATA and DVI would have been nice for more storage and video options. IO Panel was not designed properly, like other users I had to remove the foam to fit the mobo in the case. Speaker wire connection is a pain to connect - a flexible dongol design that attaches to the amp card would be a better idea since space for the card was the concern. Other Thoughts: The amp card runs fairly hot, so you need to be creative with case ventation and air flow. built this with a thermaltake dh101 case, PII X4 905e, western digital green 1tb, 8gb kingston hyper x 1066 RAM, Pioneer DVDR 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Writersblock73 Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/26/2009 12:34:44 PM One box in the place of many Pros: The D2Audio chip simply has to be heard to be believed. Because of it, I've put my old receiver in storage and haven't so much as dusted it off since. It's that good. It's also a breeze to set up, since it uses Windows' audio drivers in Windows 7 and Vista. Integrated graphics remove the need for purchasing a video card. Cons: My board came with foam padding on the inside of the backplate that needed to be removed in order to fit the board into my HTPC case. My board also shipped with the first version of BIOS, which had some limitations on CPU recognition. The amp card bracket on my board is also too high: I made washers out of pieces of the mentioned foam padding to give the screw something to tighten against. All of these problems, to my understanding, have been corrected in later shipments--but understand that you may run into them. Also, no Windows XP support... so if you have an old copy of Windows MCE laying around, you might not be able to use it without jumping through a lot of hoops. Other Thoughts: I'm trying not to grade the board down on problems that are software-related, since I'm using Windows 7 RC. Rather, I'm reviewing the concept, and how well it's been implemented. For audio, I'd give it ten eggs if I were able to. For video, I've found Blu-ray playback to be problematic--but, again, software related (and you'll likely want to look at a Quad Core instead of the 5050e Dual Core I'm using for the faster Hypertransport speeds). DVD plays flawlessly. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
jnAZ Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/11/2009 9:19:59 PM A Wonderful Decor Now Pros: Excellent feature set Cons: Bum piece of hardware; fans turn on and nothing else. I tried it at the barest configuration and tried different processors and memories (using the QVL). A waste of my hard-earned $ and a waste of space. Other Thoughts: Returned to newegg and replaced right away. Replacement mobo also not working and contacted MSI right away. Board got sent to MSI and returned in approximately after 3 weeks. Still not working... Got an Asus board and THAT worked flawlessly. Had the same experience with another MSI board about 3 years ago but problem was fixed. I gotta stay away from MSI at this time. 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
bri Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/11/2009 6:50:50 PM I wish it lasted Pros: When it works, it's wonderful. 1) The Amp card works great, sound is amazing. Awesome option for a HTPC. 2) Onboard video is plenty for a HTPC, handles HD without issue. 3) Overall performance is good. Cons: I've had two of them die on me. Each lasted for a few weeks and then suddenly stopped (while I was in the middle of a show on Hulu.. both times!). The issue is with the northbridge overheating. The heatsink is completely inadequate. The second time around, I added another fan to the case, and increased the speed on the existing fans, disabled PWM and ran everything on full blast constantly, but it still didn't last. Everything else in the machine runs cool. Other Thoughts: The CPU is an Athlon 5050e, which is low power and runs very cool. I'm using a SFF HTPC case, but it's still well ventilated and there's absolutely no excuse for the northbridge to burn up like it does. Some people on the MSI Diva thread on AVS forums have reported receiving boards with a more substantial northbridge cooler, but both of mine had the puny little one. I'm a little frustrated: I've gotta deal with MSI's RMA dept, which was fine the first time around, it just took a while and I have to pay shipping to return the dead one. At this point, I'd rather just get a refund as I don't want to have to deal with this board anymore. I'm pretty disappointed because this board has so much potential for a HTPC. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Eric B. Smith Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/6/2009 2:54:02 AM A great idea, with a few flaws Pros: This is my first HTPC build; I've had this board for 5 months and it's been working great! D2Audio Amp puts out great sound, IGP is good enough you won't need a dedicated Video Card if you're not into gaming. Cons: Windows Vista or Win7 only - won't work with XP or Linux. Bottom PCIe slot has a capacitor that may block some TV Tuners from seating properly. Bracket for the Amp card is incorrectly cut, meaning you'll have to use a spacer on it. Other Thoughts: Some people have complained of quality problems, but I've not seen anything major, though minor issues do pervade the board (the capacitor & bracket, lack of Linux or XP drivers for the D2Audio chip used by the amp). All-in-all this is still a good board well worth the money for what you get. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Mitoi Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/2/2009 5:10:06 PM Home Theatre 5.1 Delight! Pros: Works well with Vista & Win 7 (XP too outdated apparently, NO support... no great loss there) MC remote works very well, controls VOLUME, programs in MC and shutdowns. Plays BD, Hd and Dvd very well without ANY issues, with proper software and latest drivers. Movie 5.1 sound does equal or surpass most typical 5.1 amps, music less so. (amp only adds about $100 to MB) Quality of speakers will affect output somewhat, but will do wonders with most. Cons: I rate this board 4.6 for the Home Theatre experience it provides, however.... Documentation is terrible, manual of minimal value. Setup could be near painless with a few instructions. Early shipments had sound card bracket too long, easily fixed, current shipments should have it fixed by now. Don't plan on using amp for any plug-in devices, support promised, but nothing yet. (probably never). 5.1 Amp card only fits one slot, this disrupts placement of TV cards, I use external, not an issue for me. Most companies provide easy bios updates, as does MSI, except for this board, auto updates don't work, and this is the first board I have had to reinstall drivers after flashing... quite annoying. The terminal block is somewhat antiquated and finicky to identify outputs and insert wires upto 14ga., and suggest a tyrap to carry the strain of the hanging wires. Other Thoughts: Using almost daily with a 5050e 45W cpu since Dec 2008 with no failures, but having followed the AVS forum for months, one gets the impression that even using a 95W cpu may lead to early board failure. I use my Diva with a projector and a TV via HDMI, perfect for this setup... (50"TV just OK as home theatre) I have another system with a 5.1 amp and prefer the sound from the Diva, more theatre like in its sound immersion. Music is another story, will likely disappoint. Highly recommend this system for playing movies, little else. It is a delight to use with win 7 and MediaBrowser playing movies from a server, Home theatre is almost Home. 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
doug Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/1/2009 2:24:30 PM great motherboard!! Pros: I'm extremely pleased with this setup in my HTPC. I've looked at a lot of the reviews before mine and since then as well and felt that I should send in my review. I haven't had any of the problems mentioned in previous reviews except for the bracket problem that others have mentioned. however, this was really only a slight annoyance as I solved it with a motherboard standoff which was close enough to fill the gap and secure the amplifier card the sound is amazing!! I kept my old stereo speakers. 11"woofer, 5 1/4 mid-range and 2 1/2 tweeters. I had a pair of old baby advent speakers that I had from Crutfield back in the day so I only needed a center channel and sub-woofer which I bought both from newegg. did I say the sound was amazing!! Cloverfield, and Defiant (in blu-ray) sounded fantastic. can't wait to do more with this rig. the video playback in Blu-ray was excellent, smooth as could be and great clarity. Cons: none so far. I had an issue with the CPU fan not spinning back up after coming out of S3 sleep mode, but a slight change in BIOS settings solved that and now the fan comes on every time. Yes I do get the three to four thumps in the sub-woofer when the system comes out of sleep mode, but it's not a big deal. i suppose if the volume were set to high on the sub then it could be a problem for some. Other Thoughts:** I've had absolutly no problems with this board. maybe I was just luck considering the issues that some folks have mentioned in the previous reviews, but not me. everything is working great and I'm now using Boxee to get all my TV viewing. the system also worked very well with CD's right away. I think it's important for people to just play around with all the speaker settings until you get it setup just right. I played with mine and tried a few different things just to learn what it could do. I wanted to give this motherboard 5 eggs because so far it has been great for me with no issues at all. plays blu-ray disks great, and the sound is unbelievable. I'll also agree with others that this is a great idea from AMD and I hope they continue to develop the Maui platform. I would also like to see MSI and others continue to develop their motherboards with the newer chipsets and CPU's coming out from AMD 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Flook Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	7/13/2009 10:43:40 AM Also on my 3rd motherboard!!!!!!! Pros: 1. Amazing features Cons: 1. Does not fit properly in my Silverstone HTPC case even though the case can fit full sized boards. 2. Sound card does not fit properly either First board lasted seconds, the second board lasted two weeks and I will soon see how long the third lasts. Not sure where the problem lies but I am waiting to receive my 3rd board today. Other Thoughts: HTPC Specs: AMD Phenom 8750 Toliman 2.4GHz 3 core 95w MSI Media Live Diva 5.1 4 x 1 terabyte sata segate 7200.12 hard drives 4 case fans - 3 x ENERMAX UC-8EB 80mm; 1 x Scythe KAMA FLEX 92mm Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum front panel, 0.8 mm SECC body LC17-B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case 1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: less than 1 day This user purchased this item from Newegg	7/8/2009 8:31:13 PM Awesome Sound!!!!!!!!!!! Pros: Less than $200 for an amp plus a Blue Ray Capable HTPC mobo is crazy cheap. I unplugged my hot heavy amp and hope to never use it again. Easy install and config on Win7. Hasn't broken yet. (day 3) Cons: Less than $200 for an amp plus BlueRay Capable HTPC means it's built crazy cheap. Crazy tiny Northbridge Heatsink. The voltage stabalizers are set to burn up at any point. Well-established reliability and Quality probs with this board. Also, NO XP drivers for amp card available means you cannot run XP on this machine. I did not know this when I bought it -- No indication of supported OS's on documentation or NE. Documentation is pretty poor in general, but I relay on AVSforum's huge forum for info. Other Thoughts: Win7 Antec Fusion Case, with Fans turned around to blow into the case to facilitate cooling. Mini Ninja CPU heatsink Artic Silver CPU paste on Northbridge Heat Sink Antec True Power 430 Athlon BE 2300 cr7ppy Kingston Hyper X something memory MCE Remote Don't run AHCI or RAID on this machine -- Stoopid slow performance. will be switching from Win7 Media Center to XBMC 1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
keezymeezy Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	7/6/2009 9:04:02 PM On my third board Pros: Everyone agrees that the onboard amplifier is a great idea! Cons: Almost everyone seems to agree: this board has quality/reliability issues. My first board lasted 3 weeks and then failed to even post. My second board lasted 3 months until the sound controller failed. I will send this second board back but that is the last time. After the third board -- it won't last -- it's going into the garbage, i'll take the $200 loss and never buy MSI again. 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	7/2/2009 7:05:58 PM Good concept, lousy implementation by company with no QA Pros: The integrated amp card. Great concept. Allows you to get rid of your amp/receiver. You can boot with the HDMI so you can start OS install right away, as opposed to having to have to install the driver before you can use it, as some boards do. In the short period that it worked, it was great! Cons: As some have mentioned, the reliability of this board is terrible. This is my 3rd board and it's RMA'd again. First I bought it from a local outfit, so I could return it quickly should there be a problem. And there was. Then I ordered from Amaon. Some parts broke off while mounting (gently, I might add). Then I ordered from Newegg, worked perfectly for about 4 hours. Hooked up the speakers and the sound was incredibly good. Then POP! The motherboard went out never to come back. I gave it a benefit of doubt and checked the PSU and even the chassis. But nope it was the mobo AGAIN, from three different distributors mind you. Other Thoughts:* If you already have an amp/receiver and/or you have many devices whose audio you want to connect into one central component (PS3,Xbox etc), DO NOT get this board. I only got this because I was interested in the whole AMD Maui platform idea and I also wanted to get rid of my clunky old amp/receiver. If I would have known what a pain this board would be, I would have gotten either the Asus M3A78-EM or Gi Gigabyte A-MA78GPM-UD2H, both of which are infinitely superior in terms of quality, and they're about $100 cheaper to boot. I have dozens of cuts and bruises from mounting and dismounting this stupid board, and it has yet to work correctly. I'll try one more time before going with one of the above. Either way, this will be the last MSI board I ever buy. 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Flook Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	6/15/2009 8:03:43 AM Great Motherboard Pros: Everything works as it's supposed to. 1080p HDMI works perfect. Just attached my new polk audio speakers to the sound card and works great. I never had any issues with any of the drivers. All audio playback devices worked perfect. Cons: First one from newegg started to smoke right away. After an RMA the new one worked perfect. Sound card dimensions seam off like many others have said. I contacted msi support and let them know about the sound card and back plate problems. They said that it's not an issue with all major cases and must be the pc case. I'm using what seams to be the best selling htpc case from newegg. The Silverstone black aluminum case. I guess they don't count that one. Other people said to remove the padding layer from the backplate to help it fit better in the case. Just want to let people know that this does not help at all. 1/2 a mm when compressed will not help. Just takes some elbow grease. Other Thoughts: Sucks having to pay RMA shipping for getting a bad mobo. The whole RMA process took over two weeks. The worst feeling in the world is to get all you new parts to build a htpc and have to wait two more weeks due to the RMA process. 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
lelou Tech Level: average Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	5/25/2009 10:01:46 PM Stay away Pros: Sound amplifier on board. Good IGP Cons: Reliability, My first lasted 3 days, my second 3 hours. 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Using 911-7411-002 Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year	5/24/2009 9:02:12 AM 95 Watt Maximum for CPU Pros: Has PCIe 2.0 contrary to the other poster. Cons: Can't use Phenom II X4 955 because it is a 125 Watt CPU. Requires 95 Watt or less CPU. Other Thoughts: This is intended for Home Theater use. And yes, you are paying for Audio in the league of Auzentech and Xonar (Asus) for about the same price but it includes a motherboard with HD capable video (Blu-Ray) and onboard HDMI and component outputs. 0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Mike Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week	5/10/2009 12:36:35 AM Taking A Step Backwards On This High End Board Pros: Great Sound on the board. Uses the newest AMD CPU the AMD Phenom II X4 955. Has a built in graphic that uses HDMI port Cons: All high end MSI motherboard offers 2 LAN 10/100/1000 ports and 6 SATA ports, and at lease 2 PCI Express 2.0 slots. Well this board does have any PCI Express 2.0 slots. Only 1 LAN port and only 4 SATA ports and 0 E-SATA ports. Uses the old 800Mhz style memory up to 8 GIGS on system board Other Thoughts: I guest that you're paying the big bucks for the built in graphics and the sound. The main drawback of this board in my opion is not enough SATA ports and none E-SATA ports or PCI Express 2.0 slots. 0 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
savnac Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	4/23/2009 9:21:51 AM Close but no cigar Pros: Ok, so I've had this mobo for about 3 months now, so here is my official review. Pros: (1)Got rid of my conventional stereo receiver. (2)Audio quality is great when playing movies using the 5.1 amp card. (3)Low power consumption. Cons: Cons: (1)Amp bracket is too high. (an easy fix but come on, haven't PCI slots been the same height since 1972?) (2)Subwoofer thumps 3 times every time the computer is started or coming out of sleep mode. (3)Every once in a while there is a super loud horrid screech that blasts out of the speakers when the computer is coming out of sleep mode. (4)Audio quality for music is bad right out of the box and requires tweaking to get it working like it should. (5)780m chip was artifacting while watching HD content(lots of red dots), problem was fixed by adding a cheap 3450 gpu. Other Thoughts: While I love the concept there are major flaws and too many tweaks required to get everything working properly. I hope this platform gets refined and improved. If you aren't willing to spend some time working out the bugs and if you don't have a lot of "tweaking" skills then don't get this mobo. My setup: AMD Athlon X2 4450e 2.3GHz, MSI Media Live DIVA 5.1 780M, Asus 3450 gpu, Corsair 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800, DVD burner, 1tb & 500gb hd's, PCI-E tuner card, all powered off of a 300w power supply. There will probably be people that think I was getting artifacts because my cpu wasn't fast enough or the power supply wasn't big enough. That is B$, Tom's Hardware did a review of the 780g chipset when it first came out and they got smooth HD payback on a single core Sempron 3200+ 1.80 ghz. And the power supply is plenty, haven't had a single HD playback problem since I put in the 3450. 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Burgermeister Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year	4/15/2009 9:31:42 AM Updating review Pros: Since others have updated their reivew, I thought I would do the same. Have had the platform for almost 6 months now. It has been very stable with great performance for both audio and video. I am very pleased with the solution. I have since updated to Win 7 and I think it enhances the overall usefullness even more. Cons: Some have raised the concern over the amp card bracket. While I agree this is an issue, it took me all of 10 mins to fix it with a dremel tool. Don't let a minor bracket issue sway you away from purchasing this board. It is very easy to fix on your own. Again, minor annoyance? Yes, but very minor indeed. Others have mentioned the cap issue. I can only say, my board did not have that issue. I am sure others did see it, but I did not. I can run multiple tuners (using win 7) without issue. This may be more "luck of the draw" I don't know. Other Thoughts: Overall, still think this is an excellent board with great value and performance. 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Link Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	4/12/2009 11:56:32 AM Not what expected Pros: All in one system. No need for specialized video card or sound card. Just need to add TV tuners. Audio and video is as advertised. Not oustanding but acceptable. Cons: Lower PCI slot is uselss. If you plan on using more than one TV tuner, like me, you have to use the PCI x16 as your second slot. The tall circuits next to the slot block just about any PCI card you try to put in. At least any that have multiple input/output ports like a TV tuner. Audio amp card is soo long that it covers two of the 4 sata ports and the back mounting plate is too tall. Called MSI and they basically told me that this is the only mobo out there like this... take it or leave it. But they are sending me the correct sized back plate, when they get some. Who knows when that will be. Other Thoughts: If you can wait for the next revision or another manufacture, you should. This board is not quite there. Great concept, just no follow through. 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year	4/9/2009 4:04:37 PM Home theater dream Pros: I reviewed the board last time pointing out the many flaws with measurement. However, after using this for a while, I have to say. I like it a lot. The sound is great even without the sub. I only turn on the sub when watching Blu-ray. I have an almost perfect HTPC and I save so much space. All I need is my htpc, 42" lcd and speakers. I would love to buy the next board provided that it will be a step up from this. Oh, also make it a little cheaper. 2 bills is a little high considering the status of the economy. I was searching for a separate speaker card but to my luck I found this mobo, I have to give MSI the credit for their innovation. I love the board but please improve on it. Cons: No more cons, only when I was installing it. Now it runs smoothly. Don't be discourage about the reviews, if you know what you're doing, it will be fine. Other Thoughts: My htpc. Antec Fusion 430 case with OCZ ExtremeStealth PSU, 9950 Quad, 8gb DDR2 8500, 1.5Tb hd. 4850 vga card. Blu-ray drive. Gyration remote to boot. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
scrapper Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week	3/30/2009 12:55:25 PM Caution to those who buy Pros: This motherboard in theory is a HTPC dream. It definitely wants to live, but there are many design issues. I battled through many of these little things by reading review after review where people call out the stuff that I thought was just in my imagination. Cons: Honestly, i do not want to bash this board too much. 1. The amp does not fit right. You will read many people talking about this. It actually worked for me and then would shut down the board. It took me several hours pinpointing this issue. 2. The ethernet or network adapter is very sensitive. You have to make certain nothing updates from the 8111c or you will constantly be dealing with no internet. 3. When I finally did get it online, i went to MSI and updated everything only to restart and be without internet again. Oh yea...I forgot to add, it shipped without several parts. Needless to say I am RMAing today. Other Thoughts: Dont buy it 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
tvarad Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week	3/17/2009 9:50:18 AM Great concept; iffy quality Pros: Merging of computer, amp and video processor is made for the digital age and does away with just about all previous entertainment center components and opens up intriguing possibilities. The concept works; sound is excellent with flexible menus to cater for different audio and video setups. I am still getting used to the small microatx box doing everything that my bulky separates used to handle. Cons: Looks like MSI handed off the project to a junior engineer to execute. Others have mentioned the ill-fitting amp clamp (I used a long screw with a nut to fit in the offending space). BIOS is quirky; system will hang if you choose a flash drive as the first device, remove it and try to boot; you have to go back into the menu and reorder boot priority. My first board was faulty; the replacement works fine. Other Thoughts: Make sure the tabs on the IO plate USB/networking blocks rest on top of them; you could push them into the slots itself and make it difficult to seat the motherboard. The knowledge base on avsforum for this board is an excellent place to have all your questions answered. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
MOART Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	3/10/2009 8:22:38 PM MSI Media Live Pros: This is an update to my last review. The AMD ATI support website now has Windows 7 Beta Catalyst Control Center and video drivers for the onboard ATI Radeon HD 3200 chipset. I am running Windows 7 Build 7000 as OS and was having problems with the ATI Vista Drivers I had loaded. After installing the Windows 7 Beta Catalyst and video drivers the package name is 9-2_vista32-64_ccc_lang1_75978.exe), everything is working perfectly. Also, after finding and installing the correct Realtek drivers, all audio is now working correctly, including the subwoofer output that wasn't working previously. Cons: Lots of work and trial and error to get all the software and drivers set up properly, but to be fair, this is a brand new product, plus I am running Windows 7 Beta for the OS. A word of caution: I got several blue screen of death crashes while getting the video to work correctly, and with onboard surround sound, the blue screen now includes AUDIO. The first time it happened, the surround speakers screeched and I thought the subwoofer was going to tear loose from it's cabinet. I suggest you remove the audio amp card until you get the system stable! Other Thoughts: After getting all the driver issues sorted out and the system was stable, I finally connected the HDMI output to an LG 52" LCD. I ran the ATI Catalyst Control Center app and it recognized the LCD and auto configured all settings to work perfectly. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	2/25/2009 9:07:13 PM No more MSI for me Pros: This is an update to prior reviews. The original board burst in flames and had to be RMA'd Cons: Well...after the other problems with this board, it literally burst into flames. Fortunately I was home when this happened. In the RMA, I itemized that problem, the capacitors obstructing the lower expansion slot, and the mis-manufactured amp bracket. They sent me back another board with the exact same obstructing capacitors and mis-manufactured amp card bracket. MSI has apparently fixed the cap issue, and I have seen pics of builds on the web to confirm this. MSI's tech support denies this and went on to claim there had never been a single complaint about this, when I know for fact that is simply not the case. The replacement amp card had a very loud coil whine, making it utterly useless for HTPC duty, let alone sanity. The original amp card had a similar whine, though it was far less pronounced. Other Thoughts: To sum things up, the amp card's bracket didn't fit. Capacitors blocked the lower expansion slot from accepting an Avermedia combo tuner, an ATI 650 (on an AMD platform!) and who knows what other tuners. The integrated amp card had a coil whine that was annoying in one instance, and unusable in another. MSI lied to me about the capacitors that blocked the lower slot and sent me a replacement board with 2 of the 3 problems unchanged. Who knows? Maybe this one will burst into flame as well, and give them a perfect score. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Ra Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week	2/15/2009 4:57:29 PM Great board but with flaws Pros: Sound is good, I have small space therefore I need an all-in-one machine and don't have to resort to clunky receiver. I don't use the hdmi but I bet the picture is better than most board this size. Lucky I have Antec Fusion 430 case with nice cable management space. Perfect for my casual gaming and music listening. Cons: There are some serious measurement issues with this board. First I couldn't get the board to line up with the holes. I had to rip out the foam pad from the backplate. Then I have to spend half a day trying to flash the bios because it wouldn't register the Quad 9600. It was a pain and to my luck I had a spare AMD cpu. The live updates was no use, it says my bios is up to date but on the site the bios is 1.2 and I had 1.1. I wouldn't flash thru the site either because for some reason it crashes most time I use it. Lucky I got the Hiren's disk and used one of the good old Dos in there. The speaker card doesn't fit snuggly in place and I actually bent the bracket trying to screw it in. Lastly, why does the VGA slot had to be next to the speaker port. I think the designers did not actually want people to add VGA card. Just move the VGA slot over and place that 1X slot in between. Well, I got a single slot VGA card but I'm quite concern about heat issue. Everything is packed tightly. Other Thoughts: I need help with the Subwoofer output. I couldn't make it work. The speakers are fine. Is there a way to enable the Subwoofer port to go with the D2Audio. Or do I have to route the speakers cable to the Sub, and from the Sub to the bracket? I currently have an RCA running from the Sub to the Sub port on the board but nothing happening. Please let me know how I can get the Sub sound. Much appreciated. 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
moart Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	2/11/2009 3:02:18 PM MSI Medial Live DIVA 5.1 Pros: I used this mobo/audio amp combo to build my first HTPC. It was an easy build. Great video, and great audio from audio amp board- see Cons Watching a movie using PowerDVD, video and sound are great! This HTPC cleared my home entertainment center of a BUNCH of boxes, wiring and cables (OK, some of them were legacy and not really needed...) Plus, I can now listen to my music library using iTunes in my home theater room. 15 years ago who would have thunk a PC could do all this, and do it so well? Cons: MSI documentation and support is terrible. Spent hours trying to get sound amp working, no useful help from MSI support. I Still am having problems with low volume from "sub" RCA jack for powered subwoofer audio. I'm sure I'll get it solved, but it would be nice to not have to beat technology into submission this way. Other Thoughts: I had lots of fun with audio drivers! First, the Realtek drivers (from the motherboard CD, from Realtek website, and from MSI website) simply wouldn't install. I finally let Windows 7 (build 7000) detect hardware and install all the audio drivers. Still no audio. MSI support website says in RED LETTERS regarding the D2 Audio driver: ******** Note : This driver be use only if you do not have optional 5-channel Amplifier Audio card (MS-4140) or 7-channel Pre-Amplifier Audio card (MS-4141). ** I'm guessing MSI doesn't speak English and used Babelfish for translating, and GOT IT WRONG. SO... Ignoring this warning I installed the D2 Audio driver, and presto: sound from the audio board! ** All in all, I would recommend this motherboard/amp combo to anyone wanting to build an HTPC. Just be prepared for the usual issues. 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	2/11/2009 9:45:28 AM Pros: I'm very happy with this board. The audio quality from the 5.1 channel amplifier card is fantastic, and the integrated video has been sufficient for smooth playback of all my media. My PC based around this board has replaced my amplifier and DVD player in my entertainment center, and the sound quality has improved. Great quality for the price. Cons: -The bios needs to be updated for the board to recognize some 95W processors. This is a challenge if you only have on processor available because you can't flash the bios without a functional processor installed. -SATA ports are located under the back of the amplifier card. This makes connections difficult, but not impossible. Other Thoughts: -This board does not work with processors with thermal power greater than 95W. some of the combos currently posted with the board include incompatible processors - be careful and check compatibility with MSI before purchasing. -The 5.1 Amplifier card is a tight fit in an Antec Fusion case. It does fit, though. 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Campbells Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/22/2009 2:58:43 PM Great Board!! Pros: Where to start, the board is micro so you can fit it in just about any case. The sound off the amp is awesome!! HDMI video is great and works on post. It alls seems to run pretty cool (35C). Boards video and sound do not miss a beat when playing BD's in 5.1 surround at 1080p Cons: Like other said the amp bracket is to tall, but it worked ok with the dh101 case since it is toolless. MSI has also fixed that problem on the boards they are making now. The other minor con is that the back plate for the jacks has a padded liner on it and if you dont remove it, you really have to push on the board to get all the screw to line up.. Other Thoughts: thermaltake dh101 case...630w raidmax ps...amd tri-core 8650 processor..2x2 gb g.skill ram...lg hd/bd drive...640gb WD HD...Vist ultimate....5.1 surround speakers 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/19/2009 6:27:59 PM great specs, not so great implementation Pros: The specs list everything I want in an HTPC board. Cons: I can't make component output work to my HDTV in Windows Vista, the screen just flickers. The 5.1 card doesn't attach to my case correctly, the bracket is like a centimeter too tall. The motherboard IO panel has some wierd padding stuck to it I had to remove before it would fit my case at all. Other Thoughts: I really wanted this board to work as well as it is supposed to, it should have been a great platform for a HTPC. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Todd Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/10/2009 8:06:04 AM Excellent Sound Pros: Sound is excellent. I'm using this board in a SILVERSTONE LC13B-E Case with AMD Phenom 9350e and Hauppauge HVR-2250 and am extremely pleased. Cons: MSI documentation and support is lacking. A wiring diagram for the speakers is not supplied but can be found on MSIs site if you look under barebones systems NOT motherboards. The documentation might also mention that the AMP board requires the attachement of a molex power connector. The bracket on he amp board was too high as has been mentioned by others. I used a couple of thin plastic washers to remedy. I spent hours trying to get sound through attached speakers before realizing that the MS High Defintion Audio Device needed to be selected and not the Realtek Audio drivers supplied. I submitted an Online Technical Support Request Form on the MSI site (the amount of detail requested is absurd!) regarding the audio issue and the response was to check my speaker wiring... Other Thoughts: The best resource I found for this board is the AVS forum (see MSI 7411 Motherboard Sneak Peek). All the issues I encountered configuring this board were encountered by others and solutions are posted here along with a lot of additional useful information. The Hauppauge 2250 presented it's own challenges to get ClearQAM via MCE and TV pack. Thank goodness for online forums! 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Chris Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/9/2009 3:35:02 PM Decent Motherboard Pros: It has a 5 channel amplifier. No cords or adapters to output to a television. Cons: The 5 channel amp is about 1-2mm to big and hangs over the top making it hard to impossible to screw in. Other Thoughts: Its a bit on the expensive side with some obvious draw backs. I would recommend this if you are good with cable management to get all the cables out of the way of the amp card! 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Metallicastr2k Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/7/2009 1:10:11 PM Couldnt be any better. Pros: This mother board was built for media center! Even with the mobile chipset its a great and very fast board. Built in Component, HDMI, and VGA make set up easy. I currently have a 720p LCD TV but I notice the difference on quality. Has a Sony DVD player and this thing knocks it out of the water with DVD quality. Cons: CPU fan bracket was loose but was an easy fix. Other Thoughts: Should have came with popcorn and pizza! 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
JoeWPgh Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	12/29/2008 11:29:37 PM Upgrading my previous comments Pros: Same Cons: Same Other Thoughts: For reasons that mystify me, the video quality has drastically improved. Why? I got no clue. I can't see how "burn in" would accomplish this. Perhaps it was an issue with my cable? Again, no clue. I changed nothing. Anyway... SD playback/deinterlacing is now everything you should expect from a 780 chipset and then some. As for music...... 0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
JoeWPgh Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	12/26/2008 10:30:45 PM Underwhelming Pros: It has an integrated amp Cons: Capacitors on the lower rear of the board can block the lower PCIe 1x slot - You CANNOT install 2 Avermedia combo tuners in the 2) 1x slots. Fussy about memory. SD video off cable is truly awful. Ghosting/artifacts make it almost unwatchable. I don't understand this problem at all. I have machines with a 780g chipset (this board has the mobile version, 780m) and the difference is impossible to not notice. The amp bracket is wrong. Just plain mis-measured in development - OOOPS! Other Thoughts: The sound is decent. Not great by any measure when it comes to music. The only adavantage to the integrated amp is that you can use unpowered speakers. Otherwise, you could get just as good a sound buying a cheap receiver at Wall*Mart. But the real drawback is the lost lower PCIe 1x slot. This means to be able to run 2 tuners, you have to either scrap the amp, or forgo a decent video card - which this mobo desperately needs for SD video. This board is a nifty concept that unfortunately misses the mark in most regards. 0 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
logan30 Tech Level: somewhat low Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	12/13/2008 7:52:02 PM Tricky MB Pros: Once installed and working it has great sound and video via the HDMI output. Cons: Had two of these motherboards one was DOA, the new once had the same issues, had to move the memory around to get video signal. HDMI drivers must be downloaded from the internet at RealTEK to make HDMI sound. Other Thoughts: As a beginner this was a big challenge to get built, but seems to be working now. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	12/5/2008 5:58:10 PM 7.1 pre-amp (5.1 Amplified version uses same drivers) Pros: Has much better audio than usual integrated solutions. Uses D2 Audio technology that some AV receivers and televisions use for audio. Very smooth HD play back (TMT): this means Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, OTA TV and internet video. Very stable so far. Cons: Need matched motherboard to get the great audio. Manually balancing the speakers using the Microsoft driver not easy enough. Some expected functionality is missing in the driver. The driver needs to be augmented with software that would make the platform a true competitor to AV receivers. But, reports exist that D2 Audio has software in the works to address this. Other Thoughts: This is really intended to be a replacement for AV receiver or pre-amp. When easier more flexible configuration software becomes available it will excel as a HTPC in the living room. Now you can get really good audio out of a PC and with this model you will need non-powered 5.1 speakers like those used with a receiver or amplifier. 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
BioHzrd Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	11/23/2008 6:36:47 AM Perfect setup for HTPC! Pros: The audio is amazing! I was skeptical about the sound quality at first, but this amplifier is excellent. It has quickly become the only system I use for Blu Ray, DVD and music. Having HDMI out built in is a big plus - plays all my media flawlessly. Cons: NB chipset fan should be replaced with an active cooler. Used in an Antec Fusion case which has poor air flow - after adjusting the case fans, the system is working well. Other Thoughts: This is an excellent system for replacing my DVD player and stereo tuner. With a blu ray player recently added, I no longer need anything but this system. I've had a number of HTPC setups to date, but none have really been used much for more than music due to less than ideal audio quality for movies. This has completely changed with this system. I now use only this for all my media. I would recommend this for anyone looking for a complete home theater solution. 2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	11/21/2008 7:19:27 PM CAUTION: Manufacturing Error Pros: Nice motherboard, seems to have all the features I would want in a board....except.... Cons: The bracket for the accessory card has a manufacturing defect so that you cannot screw it into the chasis. MSI's manufacturing has placed the card too far down on the bracket so once the card is fully seated in the PCI slot the bracket sits too high for a screw to secure it. Other Thoughts: The component out will only work on high-def TV's. I have an older TV that has component in, however it is not a high-def and the built in GPU will not output a resolution other than HD. 5 out of 19 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	11/16/2008 8:13:37 PM Excellent! Pros: Sound quality better than my other digital amp (panny XR57) and a mid tier Denon receiver. Overclocking my BE-2400 to 2.8Ghz was extremely easy. Lots of outputs, the component out has been the best I've seen to date. Cons: No PCI slots, No PS2 key/mouse connector. Can't use a video card with a large cooler as it interferes with the amp card in the next slot. Other Thoughts: So far I'm loving this setup, it's one of the best machines I've built since beginning in this hobby 18 years ago. The sound integration in Vista works seamlessly and the picture on my RPTV via component is the best I've seen. HDMI into my projector isn't too bad either:) Every time I boot this up I'm just amazed at the sound quality. As soon as the application comes out to allow routing from the inputs to the amp card I'll be ditching my receiver. 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
smonsees Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	11/14/2008 6:36:29 AM Awesome sound Pros: Great sound equal to a high end receiver. Lots of video ports. Plays Blu-ray and hulu.com without a beat. It sounds so good, I am going to buy another one. Cons: I had to switch the RCA audio inputs and outputs to produce a second zone for my in ceiling speakers. Other Thoughts: FYI, the subwoofer RCA output is tied to the d2audio channels, not the realtek channels. It slightly confused me since the subwoofer channel sits between the realtek inputs and outputs on the backplane. 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
shayking Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	11/10/2008 1:39:09 PM Simple Bedroom setup Pros: Very simple setup, took 2x 4gig sticks easily . Sound is very Warm, Deep & full compared to my modified z5300 system . Handles Blu & HD discs easily. simple HDMI connection & Bios posts with HDMI Cons: mount bracket is a lil taller than the PC slot brace. and there is a subwoofer thump at boot up. But this does not take away any quality of the components. Other Thoughts: This is great for a bedroom system to eliminate cables and confusion, (inwall setups) Worlds 1st 5ch amp ahy! 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Burgermeister Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	10/26/2008 8:15:02 AM Pros: I bought this for an HTPC build. I wanted something to store all my video, music and photos. This seemed like a great choice, and after using this for a while, I believe it was the right choice. Video: 1080P support for Blu Ray playback. No dropped frames or stuttering at all. I have been renting a lot of blu ray discs, and this has handled it all without a single problem. Great I/O connections with HDMI, VGA and Component Video 128MB of onboard dedicated graphics memory. Good expandability with 2 extra PCIe x1 and 1 PCIe x16. Audio: Incredible sounding audio. I could not believe how good it sounds, rivals that of my Denon 2807 which cost me almost $1K almost 2 years ago. Integrated Amp is a really nice feature. Allowed me to remove boxes from under the TV. Down to my Dish Network STB, HTPC and Wii under TV. Did I mention the killer audio, it really is good. Amp card is low profile, so this works in low profile chassis. Cons: 780 chipset is a great IGP chipset and it does OK for gaming. It does support DX10 gaming, but if you are a serious gamer, no IGP solution is good for that. This can do some decent mainstream gaming (RTSs work fine as do some older FPS like Medal of Honor), but if you plan on doing some high frame rate, first person shooters like Crysis, then you should probably add a discrete graphics card. I also wish this had eSATA on it as well. That would be a nice touch. Adding a discrete card limits you to a single slot wide GPU card because the amp card sits next to x16 PCIe slot. While not an issue for me, there are no PCI slots. If you have an older card using PCI, can't use it on this board. Though I have found that most cards have a PCIe version now. Other Thoughts: Overall, this is a great board for HTPC. In fact, it is probably the best board I have seen for this space. Audio is amazing, Video is pretty dang good for an IGP chipset. Saves the cost of adding a discrete card. It can do most mainstream gaming fine, but for higher end stuff, add a GPU card. I definitely give this one a Thumbs Up!!! 13 out of 14 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!