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MSI RD480 Neo2

21 Mar 2006

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HWZ's Overall Rating: 8.0

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			<h2 class="header-green">MSI RD480 Neo2 (ATI Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire)</h2>
		<span class="byline">Reviewed by Zachary Chan on Tuesday, 21 Mar 2006</span>
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		 		<h2 class="page-title">Introduction</h2>
		 		<h3 class="page_title">Introduction</h3>
<p>In a few short months, ATI CrossFire has turned from being vaporware to being readily available in the retail channel on all levels. From low-end to enthusiast, motherboards to graphics cards, CrossFire has become a reality after more than half a year of speculation and promises. With motherboards pouring in, we've recently reviewed many different CrossFire ready boards based on native and modified Intel chipsets. We've also seen how ATI's own Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire would perform in a reference setting, but what about retail?</p>
<p>We have with us today the MSI RD480 Neo2, one of the few Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire edition motherboards that have made it into the retail channel. The RD480 Neo2 is MSI's first AMD-based motherboard to support CrossFire multi-GPU technology, but unlike the recent market trend to release ultra-high end products first, the RD480 Neo2 is a mid-range product, which should put it well within the grasp of the average Joe.</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="410" width="500" src="/files/images/neo2_top.jpg" title="The MSI RD480 Neo2 CrossFire motherboard." alt="" /></p>
<p class="rteleft">The MSI RD480 Neo2 motherboard comes packed with the following accessories:-</p>
<ul>
    <li>1 x SATA data cable</li>
    <li>1 x SATA power converter cable</li>
    <li>1 x 80-conductor Ultra ATA data cable</li>
    <li>1 x floppy drive data cable</li>
    <li>USB 2.0 (2 ports) and MSI D-Bracket 2</li>
    <li>I/O shield</li>
    <li>SATA RAID driver disk</li>
    <li>Driver CD</li>
    <li>Quick user's guide</li>
</ul>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="166" width="500" src="/files/images/neo2_rear.jpg" title="Quite a packed rear I/O panel with S/PDIF and FireWire connectors built right in too." alt="" /></p>			</div>
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