MSI Axis 945GM review

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Verdict:

Review Date: 19 Feb 2007

Price when reviewed: £175

Supplier: http://www.xspo.co.uk

Reviewed By: Chris Finnamore

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

The Axis 945GM is one of two barebones systems in the group that use Intel mobile processors.

These are more expensive than desktop processors, but produce less heat so there's no need for a large cooler. This is the slimmest office system in the group.

Apart from its processor the Axis uses desktop components, and there is room for up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM in its two memory slots. The manual is clear, and tells you exactly which screws to use for each component. The main difficulty is fitting the processor cooler; once the cooler is sitting on the motherboard, you can't see the screw holes in the board. You have to lower a screw down through the processor cooler and feel for the hole, so a magnetic screwdriver is essential. There's no flap covering the optical drive, so you'll need a black drive fascia for it to match the rest of the case.

Although it's slim, the Axis 945GM has room for two SATA hard disks, but there's no connector for an IDE hard disk. It's one of only four systems in the group with a DVI video output. The Axis 945GM produced an overall score of 150 in our 2D benchmarks, which is identical to Gigabyte's mobile processor-based A963-RH.

The Axis 945GM is well designed with room for expansion, but it's expensive and requires a pricy mobile processor. Asus's P2-P5945G is a better buy if you want a slim case, and Shuttle's SS21T gives you more room for expansion.

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