Introduction

As most of the PC world counted down to the launch of Windows 7, analysts were predicting the likely surge in PC sales from the release of Microsoft's latest operating system. Most were upbeat and optimistic, fueled by positive reviews for Windows 7 and signs that the world economy is gradually getting back on track.

Hardware manufacturers too were timing their product launches for the magical October 22nd date. Now that Windows 7 has been officially launched, one can now look forward to a host of refreshed products, all running on the new OS. As for those who deal in components, like AMD, the company continued to drum the mainstream value of its processors. The semiconductor firm announced several new processors, predominantly low-power versions and more importantly, slashed the prices of certain models.

Seeing as that's about the only message AMD can tout, what with Intel's continued dominance of the performance and high-end segments, we don't blame the company for playing the same tune. Besides, there's certainly a market for the affordable triple and quad-core products that AMD has been hawking. For instance, pair them up with a decent chipset like AMD's 785G or 790GX and one gets a system that is more than adequate for HD multimedia content, with some basic gaming on the side.

It's definitely not for everyone, but for those who are going the budget route, it's worth considering. Here to widen your choices even more, we're looking today at one such motherboard based on the AMD 785G chipset, the micro-ATX (mATX) MSI 785GM-E51, which is a AM3 version that uses DDR3 memory and throws in some of MSI's own proprietary technologies to jazz things up a little.

The MSI 785GM-E51 looks pretty packed, no doubt due to its mATX form factor.