Early Verdict
This board is a good choice for the mainstream home user, with enough SATA ports for a SSD boot drive, a data drive and even a third drive in addition to an optical drive. The board feels solid, with high-quality components, backed by a three-year warranty. The only problem is that there are some cheaper boards out there costing $15-$20 less and offering similar features. If you feel uncomfortable buying the cheapest option available, though (even if the warranty is similar), this board should be a more comfortable purchase.
Pros
- +
Quality components • Plenty of ports for the intended market • Speaker header • Front and rear USB3.0 • 3-year warranty • Support for 84W CPUs per QVL
Cons
- -
Miniature manual • No pilot or diagnostic LEDs • Found minor BIOS anomalies • More expensive than competition
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Introduction
Today's sample uses the basic H81 Express chipset and sells for $59.99 at Newegg, just at the edge of our $60-$80 budget range. The H81M-E35 V2 is a microATX board with a mere 2+1 power phases, but it has the ability to overclock Intel's unlocked Pentium G3258, and MSI's QVL even includes higher-end 84W CPUs. Noting the absence of ports on some competing H81 boards, is this perhaps an example of H81 done right? Let's find out.
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