Pros: The on-board audio works out-of-the-box with the drivers packaged with Mandriva 2007. Audio is clear, with no extraneous noise. Coupled with the AMD A64 X2 4400+ 2.3G AM2 65N R, I was able to run Windows using the free vmplayer (from VMWare) under Linux, with no noticable strain on performance. Audio output from Windows under this configuration worked well out-of-the-box. It has been a stable platform for (Mandriva) Linux.

Cons: none

Pros: Very quiet

Cons: Died after two and a half years.

Pros: Tidy, compact (less than 7x9 inches), two SATA3 ports for SSD's (yeah!) , two SATA2 ports for large mechanical drives, two USB3 ports (yeah!), two variable speed fan jumpers (+ one single-speed jumper) And oh yes, really inexpensive! Dead simple installation with an I3-4130 and an 8-gig stick of ram, one SSD, and two 3.5" SATA drives. I attached the CPU and stock cooler with the MB on a flat surface, out of the case. Then I inserted the memory stick and installed the MB with 6 screws. The back ports shroud fit the case perfectly, the screw holes aligned perfectly. Installing fan, power, USB, audio, SATA and JFP1 connectors was trivial. Lots 'o room in the case with this small motherboard. Installed Windows 7 (which does not have the necessary ethernet drivers), then inserted the included CD and installed the missing drivers, and it was good to go. Also runs Linux Mint 15(which does have the necessary ethernet drivers)

Cons: The quick installation guide shows jumper layouts for JPF1 and JPF2, but the drawing is a bit ambiguous. However you can go the the "Manufacturers Product Page" and download the manual, and on page 22, in addition to the drawings, there is a link to a Youtube video that resolves any questions.

Overall Review: I can't speak to the overclocking capabilities due to CPU constraints. The graphical BIOS is OK, I guess. But I think the visual clutter clashes with the simplicity (from the user perspective) of the hardware. If I have a lot of information to visually extract from a screen, I want a layout that is also dead simple. Note this seems to be a drawback of all graphical BIOS systems from all manufacturers, not just MSI. After years of assembling my own workstations, (usually with fairly expensive, large, robust motherboards), I have become quite enamored of these really simple, small motherboards that are so much easier to configure and install.

Pros: Inexpensive, small, simple, sturdy, lightweight, and sometimes spacious. I used this with the BIOSTAR H61MGC to build a small office file-server, and there was gobs of room. The trick was to remove both side panels and install the hard drives first. Mount the memory and CPU on the motherboard, outside of the case, and then install the motherboard. And finally, install the power supply. Very few sharp edges. Lots of screws! Hah! And no need to screw in offset posts, the sheet metal is deformed, drilled and tapped to accomdate several standard motherboard sizes. Four 3.5" drive bays. (Three 5.25" drive bays available for 3.5" drives with adapters. ) With both sides off, mounting drives is not too tedious.

Cons: No tool-less hard-drive installation. Who needs three 5.52" external drive bays? Case fan is noisy at full speed. No dust filters. Not a good case if you expect to be swapping drives in and out on a regular basis.

Overall Review: Remove both side panels before removing the plastic face panel. There are 2 locking plastic fingers on each side (out of 3 each side). And on each side each finger needs to be shifted sideways in opposite directions to disengage from the sheet metal.

Pros: Inexpensive. Small. Used in a Rosewill R101-P-BK Micro ATX case and there was gobs of room. Runs OpenIndiana (Open Solaris 5.11), with app-IT with ZFS with mirrored 2TB drives. Permits the OS to spin down drives during periods of inactivity. Used with an Intel G530, 8BG of memory, an old 250GB drive for the OS, and 2 2TBB drives for storage. (ZFS handles the mirroring). Drives 1920x1080 display just fine (no video gaming capabilities needed here)

Cons: No USB 3.0

Overall Review: Small is beautiful. With the video capabilities, the file-server, can be used as a backup developement machine in a pinch.

Pros: It runs a 64bit version of Mageia 1, although I am using a Nvidia video card, and I can't speak to the support of the Intel on-board graphics. It was easy to over-clock all 4 cores of an I5 2500k to 4.2 Ghz, and 1 core to 4.9 Ghz. Works with CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CML16GX3M4A1600C9

Cons: The on-board CPU power supply circuitry seems to introduce noise into the audio leads running off of the mother board and going to the front of the case. (The noise level remains constant regardless of the sound volume level, and there is no noise from the rear jacks. ) The UEFI Bios is very pretty, but rendition of the multi-colored BIOS screens to black and white in manual is dark and muddy, making it very difficult to see the images clearly. The UEFI Bios renders itself significantly to the left of center on my 24" 1920x1200 Dell Monitor. It's not unusable, but it is irritating. I had to review the manual to discover what was falling of the left edge of the screen. I miss the days when motherboards would come with a bag of screws and stand-off posts.

Overall Review: As more motherboard manufacturers adopt these more sophisticated on-board power supplies, they and case-manufacturers need support shielded audio cables running from the motherboard to the front panel.