The K7T Pro2 retains the same dimensions as the first generation board - a slim 12" x 8." Board layout has changed very little, meaning that there is still more than enough room around the Socket-A interface for mounting large heatsinks on the processor. Whereas the K7T Pro utilized seven 3900uF capacitors for power storage, the K7T Pro2 makes use of four 3900uF and three larger 4700uF units.

Since the board is so narrow, it only stands to reason that the IDE connectors would be very close to the DIMM slots, which in turn is very close to the ATX connector. We don't foresee any problems with this layout, but it's a tight fit, so be prepared to scrape a knuckle or two.

Unlike the other heavyweight boards, MSI's latest does not offer ATA/100 support. With the original K7T Pro, MSI bundled a controller card, but to keep costs down they have left it out of the K7T Pro2's package.

A 1xAGP/6xPCI/1xCNR slot configuration appeals to the computer aficionado with more than a few PCI expansion cards (we could forgo the CNR slot altogether). All six PCI slots are bus-masters thanks to the arbiter chip. The K7T Pro is also available with an ISA slot at the expense of a single PCI connection.

Additionally, the VIA 8363 North Bridge is turned 45 degrees (in much the same way as the KT7-RAID and the original K7T Pro). MSI claims that this setup provides for a cleaner signal due to shorter trace lengths, and the absolute stability of the board is how they prove it.