Pros: For the price, this is probably the best deal for a USABLE multi-function IGP motherboard on the New AMD AM2 platform. XP SP2 setup was a breeze, no special SATA drivers necessary (uses trick to make it look like a an IDE drive). I only used the latest ATI drivers downloaded from their (ATI') web site, and didn't bother with BIOS, which is only a couple months old. Everything worked without a hitch. The board "feels" (and acts) very stable. Highly recommended for those who want to stay away from nVidia chipsets.

Cons: I really expected at least one board to fail (I bought and set up two) but both are working flawlessly.

Overall Review: Using system one: AM2 X2 4200, with FSP 400w, wd2500yd // system two: AM2 3800 (single core), Enlight 300w, with wd1200jb. This is the second ECS system type I've installed, and first with an ATI Chipset. Setup was probably the easiest I ever experienced in 25 years doing this. I'm anticipatating ATI's (AMD) success, it seems they are building quality first, and ECS, for the price, shouldn't be overlooked in conservative systems.

Pros: This little guy never skipped a beat... my initial install was set at 3.5gh, acc @ 0%, all cores enabled, stock voltage, (on msi 790gx-g65), and, like I said, it never skipped a beat. No issues running with anything. Period. More than satisfied, I'm downright thankful that AMD did this, allowed us to use a quad at dual core price. The quad does make a difference, to me.

Cons: I get different temperature readings between msi's utilities and everest. Individual core temps not available from other software packages for some reason... I'll have to check into this, don't know if it's even available...

Overall Review: I don't like my 9850, it works fine, has been a workhorse for me for a couple years now, but I was always dissatisfied with it's temperatures... I wanted a cooler system... That was solved with the Phenom II 940, I am VERY happy with it... but I needed another system and knew I would never go back to less than a quad core. I realized I needed to step up to AM3 system, memory, board, etc, and took a chance on a 555. It never had a moment in my possession as anything but a quad. I have cool & quiet enabled, and it drops down to a 4x multiplier (800mhz). I set (max) multiplier to 17.5, it's max temp so far has been 48'c load, it sits at 31-35'c most of the time, between .95v and 1.3v. Using MSI 790gx-g65, corsair xms at 666mh 9-9-9-24 1t & 1.5 v. Note, I never had to bump the voltage...

Pros: Works as advertised. Price is maybe on the high side, but MSI has got the AMD chipset down and does it as well as anybody. I've been using all the AMD chipset MSI motherboards made over the past several years, and even dared to use 'open box' versions (this one as well) and I am more than satisfied. Do a lot of experimenting with multiple booting, USB booting, unlocking cores, tweaking memory. I have to say that these boards are really a snap to someone with experience: I have never had a serious problem with a MSI board. No issue whatsoever upgrading (online) to the new BIOS, even though I probably didn't have to. Unlocked one additional core in the Phenom II x2 550 and overclocked it to 3.5ghz, no voltage change (max 3 cores draw 1.3v) , way too simple to do, but this particular chip must have a damaged 4th core, for ninety bucks I won't complain, looking forward to the C3 stepping. The board feels, looks, and works as solid as could be imagined.

Cons: People reading reviews should take the extreme negative comments with a grain of salt, even though it must be a very difficult experience to get a lemon and have to go through an RMA process. These boards are very nice, worth the cost. It would be interesting to find out what the actual failure rate is with them, when we see a flame-out negative comment, I'm guessing it's very small percentage. Even though they are not black, the color is so dark brown that its almost black and to me, it really does look as nice, I can't understand why someone would call it ugly.

Overall Review: I haven't tried the 785gx chipset, wanted one this time around, but the features on the 790gx are nicer, especially the on-board buttons. Most of the time experimenting the case is open board is bare and assessable, and they're real handy when you need one, and that is why I went with this board, past experience in screwing up bios settings. Haven't had do use them yet. I've personally abandoned the nVidia chipset for uniformity of drivers on subsystems, and I can't knock them because I haven't used them in a while, but since using AMD chipsets, my life has been much easier. It really seems they are getting better and better. There is no question in my mind over the quality and reliability of this product.

Pros: Overall, a very nice motherboard. MSI has taken its AMD chipset line to a new level, they've improved over the years. Using a Phenom II 940, and I have to say it is very nice for the price. With the old BIOS it booted the 940, didn't have to swap out the processor to update the BIOS, which got it up and running very quickly. A huge advantage of the AMD/ATI platform chipset is that driver setups are very simple, for me, with a dozen or so systems and multiple versions of XP, Vista x86 and x64, and now Windows 7 x86 and x64, it helps to get drivers from one source, cross compatability between systems makes my life much simpler. Also, my OS of choice right now is Windows 7, using x64, build 7000. The system, although difficult to deal with interesting software incompatabilities and sometimes funny behaviors, is just too beautiful for me to turn away from. I'm actually not wanting to use xp for anything, even though w7 doesn't do all I need. Quad is wonderful!

Cons: The board came with v1.2 BIOS, and yes, it was a pain to update. I cannot blame MSI for my grief since floppys are nearly extinct in my lab, ended using a dvd-rw to update the flash the first time. Biggest problem was the BIOS checksum error. Having purchased an openbox version, I was always questioning whether or not there was something wrong with the board. But once I flashed ( and by the way I discovered the window's flash from the AMI website which was not supposed to work, worked very well ) those problems were over until the ati beta w7 beta messed it up again. A resetting of default values (there is a convenient CMOS button on the mother board, and readjusting the sideport memory fixed that problem.

Overall Review: I bought the open box version and it came complete with everything, was very surprised about that, I would sometimes get the right board in a different box, and not a single accessory, but this time all accessories, softdisks (never used), manual, quickguide, etc. was included. Initially started with a Antec Truepower 330, about 3 years old, and it worked fine, no problems, using two hd's and 2x2 gigs: absolutely NO Issues with power. All the OS's worked, I've loaded all, and some a few times on different hd's, Vista x64 sp1 no issues at all, again, I am 'preferring' Windows 7 x64: I have not had a single BSOD once! Running the 940 at full speed, even with a PS at 285W worked fine, not a single real motherboard issue has developed, that I can say, on any OS. All in all, very happy with this MB, w7 graphics performance: Desktop Aero - 4.2; 3D Graphics 5.3. Processor 7.3, Memory 5.9 (skill 1066 running at 400mhz), disk transfer 5.9 (wd3200aaks single platter).