Bundle and warranty
When you're paying this sort of money on a board, which currently amounts to a jaw-dropping £310, you expect everything bar the kitchen sink, and in that regard the MSI Eclipse, for the most part, doesn't disappoint.
Bundled with no less than five quick-user guides in addition to two full-blown manuals it's unlikely - or, perhaps, likely - you'll be left confused with the abundance of printed documentation on offer.
On the software front, things aren't quite so generous. You get the usual drivers and motherboard utilities for both Windows XP and Vista on separate discs, along with the drivers and utilities for the supplied Creative soundcard, but other than that you only receive MSI's own HDD-imaging software on the separate disc labelled MSI Extras.
In terms of bundled accessories, apart from the Creative X-Fi card, there's the D-LED 2 OLED postcode and multi-function display - the one shown above is a pre-production form without the proper casing - you also get an interesting gadget called MSI GreenPower Genie. This works in conjunction with the BIOS and provides power-usage information to a section in the BIOS and to the supplied GreenPower Centre software. This is used to inform the user about current power consumption through the 24-pin connector and it can also, therefore, more accurately inform about the level of power-consumption reduction achieved when the board's power-saving technology is enabled.
The cabling supplied is pretty generous, with MSI supplying enough SATA data cables to utilise all six ports attached to the ICH10R. Further, all of the latching type, which we like.
In addition PATA-SATA power adapters are supplied for use with up to three drives, and the eSATA bracket is also supplied with both an eSATA data cable and a PATA-SATA power adapter cable.
In addition to this, the usual four-port USB bracket is bundled in, and the ever-useful M-Connector system is present to make connecting the chassis front-panel LEDs and switches a breeze. It's not all rosy, however, as there are no expansion bracket for an additional FireWire port, and there aren't not enough included flexible SLI bridges to run a 3-way SLI setup despite the board supporting it. We're advised by a representative from MSI that UK-based end-users of this board can purchase the full set for of £9.99, and this would be reasonable if it weren't for the already high price of this board.
Warranty
MSI provides a two-year warranty on its motherboards that begins on the date of the customer's invoice. The warranty is transferable, should the board be sold on, and it's up to the reseller from which the board was purchased from to ensure a speedy turnaround. MSI also states that support can be provided directly should the supplier cease trading, in which case MSI aims to turn around the RMA within three weeks of receiving the board - which, unfortunately, is average for the industry.
Further warranty details can be found on MSI's U.S. , European and UK support pages.