MSI MEGA651

Is it a hi-fi? Is it a PC? John Gillooly takes out the rubber gloves.

It is often funny to spectate on an emerging market, such as the mini-barebones craze that keeps gaining momentum. We have now seen the second wave of these suckers, and until now they looked like clones of Shuttle’s excellent XPC.

Thank the gods of innovation that MSI has released its MEGA PC range. We’ve been eagerly awaiting this unit since it was first announced, and with a tingle of delight realised MSI was going to do something different. Forget the ambiguous multi-purpose positioning of previous barebones, the MEGA651 is purely about home theatre and comes with hardware and software that turns it into a highly capable beast.

This starts with the most obvious part of the unit, an LCD display with associated audio controls that makes it look like some trendy little micro hi-fi system. What isn’t obvious from just looking at it is that these controls are almost completely self-sustained, working without need to start the PC. This unit is also remote-controlled and can pull audio data from the CD drive or use the inbuilt FM radio tuner. It even works when no PC components are installed in the box.

This is a fun addition, and one that’s truly unique to MSI’s product. It does not stop there though, as the PC itself is also highly targeted to home theatre use. Centred on MSI’s new Media Centre II Deluxe software package, the MEGA651 uses the software to simplify the experience. Music and videos can be accessed from user configurable directories, shortcuts can be set for games and applications and the whole interface is designed to be functional when viewed on a television. The only major shortcoming is that the remote control cannot be used for this menu, something easily worked around by using a cordless mouse.

The functionality that MSI has packed into the MEGA651 is truly outstanding. Going the extra length to not only deliver a unique hardware product but to also provide all the software you need to squeeze maximum functionality out of the box deserves a major pat on the back, and we feel that in the next couple of iterations the MEGA PC will start to shine.

Building a system inside one of these boxes is always a fun experience, and a great way to get a feel for the design. MSI has a very different method of construction from other makers, and some touches are really quite special. The cooler is a great vented unit that shoves air through the case between two side exhausts, minimising the amount of ambient heat inside the MEGA651. The drive mounting mechanisms are also a joy to use, and there is space to add a second hard drive if needed.

It is the hardware itself that holds the MEGA651 back from greatness. Frankly, the old SiS651 chipset is not the best choice for delivering the perfect home theatre experience. For now that accolade rests with NVIDIA’s nForce2 Athlon chipset, but we have fingers crossed and breath bated in the hope that ATI’s RS300 chipset will bring a similar level of multimedia goodness to the Pentium 4.

Some of the limitations are highly annoying, such as the fact that for TV-out support you need to obtain an AGP riser card. The introduction of an nForce2 model will alleviate this, as MSI should be able to integrate TV-out. When this happens the unit will easily fit into its niche. Of course, you could just add a separate video card, which would also solve the poor graphics situation.

That problem is that the integrated graphics in the SiS651 chipset blow ungulates. The graphics core in question is the SiS315, which delivers the same sort of graphical grunt as the GeForce2 MX. This is fine if you want to go and make a coffee in between frames in UT2003, but for the sane, rational quadrant of humanity it is a non-event. At least the nForce2 is capable of decent performance, especially at television resolutions.

By building such an amazing piece of hardware around the crapulence that is the SiS651 MSI has fallen at the finish line. The MEGA PC is certainly destined for greatness, but just like Shuttle’s early XPCs, there is still a way to go before everything clicks into place. This is certainly an accomplished entry into this market, and one of the few that has impressed with its innovative approach. The concept is fantastic, and all MSI has to do is get the underlying hardware right and it’ll be onto a winner.