SATA and eSATA Performance

Website: HD Tach 3.0
We tested the SATA and eSATA performance with an Intel X25-M SSD to maximise the use of the SATA connections to show up any core differences in raw performance.



We had a lot of issues getting the MSI to work, which we will detail when that review is published. By comparison, the Asus worked first time straight out the box. The end result is slightly in favour of the MSI, but considering the hassle to get it working with the correct drivers and BIOS, we'd favour the outcome for the Asus in this test.

Since the eSATA is directly linked to the native southbridge controller for the Asus board the performance is much better than the MSI, which is limited by the PCI-Express bandwidth and separate chipset. On the plus side though, the MSI it does offer all its six SATA ports (plus more) for internal SATA, which is more useful in our opinion.

USB 2.0 Performance

Website: HD Tach 3.0
We tested the USB performance with an Intel X25-M SSD and a SATA to USB adapter to saturate the USB bus in order to look for any performance drops.


AMD southbridges have never been known for their good USB performance, but MSI seems to eke out that bit more here. This is important to know if you have mass storage devices connected over USB since it's nearly 10 percent faster than the Asus.