MSI P6N SLI Platinum Basic Features

MSI P6N SLI Platinum Specifications
Market Segment:	Mid-Range Performance - $165
CPU Interface:	Socket T (Socket 775)
CPU Support:	LGA775-based Pentium 4, Celeron D, Pentium D, Pentium EE, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme
Chipset:	NVIDIA 650i SPP (C55) + 430i MCP (MCP51)
Bus Speeds:	Auto, 400 to 2000 (100~500) in 1MHz increments
Memory Ratios:	Auto, Sync
Memory Speed:	400MHz~1400MHz in various increments
PCIe Speeds:	100MHz~200MHz in 1MHz Increments
Core Voltage:	Auto, +0.125V to +0.3875V in 0.0125V increments
FSB Options:	Auto, Linked, Manual
CPU Clock Multiplier:	Auto, 6x-11x in 1X increments - Core 2 Duo, downwards unlocked, Core 2 Extreme 6x-16X
DRAM Voltage:	Auto, 1.80V to 2.80 in .05V increments
DRAM Timing Control:	Auto, Manual - 10 DRAM Timing Options
NB Voltage:	1.25V to 1.50V in .05V increments
SB Voltage:	1.50V, 1.60V, 1.65V, 1.70V
FSB VTT Voltage:	0% to 20% Increase, various increments
Memory Slots:	Four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM Slots Dual-Channel Configuration Regular Unbuffered Memory to 8GB Total
Expansion Slots:	2 - PCIe X16 (2-x8 electrical for SLI or Multi-GPU) 1 - PCIe x1 3 - PCI Slot 2.2
Onboard SATA/RAID:	4 SATA 3Gbps Ports - 430i MCP (RAID 0,1, 0+1, 5, JBOD) 1 e-SATA 3Gbps Ports - Silicon Image SiL3531
Onboard IDE:	2 ATA133/100/66 Port (4 drives) - 430i MCP
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394:	8 USB 2.0 Ports - 4 I/O Panel - 4 via Headers 2 Firewire 400 Ports by VIA 6308P - 1 I/O Panel, 1 via Header
Onboard LAN:	NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet - PCI Express - RTL8211BL PHY - 1 port via 430i MCP
Onboard Audio:	Realtek ALC888 - 8-channel HD audio codec
Power Connectors:	ATX 24-pin, 8-pin EATX 12V
I/O Panel:	1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Parallel Port 1 x S/PDIF Optical - Out 1 x S/PDIF Coaxial - Out 1 x IEEE 1394a 1 x Audio Panel 2 x RJ45 4 x USB 2.0/1.1
BIOS Revision:	AMI 1.1, VP.02, 1.22
Auto Overclocking:	D.O.T. , Manual, 1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, 10% overclocking rates
Board Revision:	v1.0

MSI offers a moderate level of BIOS options available for tweaking the board, with significant emphasis placed on the available memory settings. We found in memory testing that switching to manual settings and changing the CAS, tRCD, tRP, and tRAS was required to ensure optimum performance as our performance results will show shortly. The FSB VTT voltage setting was a welcome addition during quad core overclocking but we did experience one quirk when initially setting up the board for overclocking. The user will have to press the F4 key in order to gain access to the C1E option in order to disable it. Why MSI hid this option and did not mention it in an otherwise top notch user's guide is beyond us, but it was easily changed after a visit to the MSI technical forums.

We tested the board with the release 1.1, beta VP.02, and the soon to be released 1.22 BIOS releases. Our test scores are based upon the 1.22 release. This release fully enables downward multipliers on the Core 2 Duo processor series, fantastic stock performance, and offers decent overclocking performance. We have not found any real show stoppers in this BIOS from a component compatibility, stability, or features viewpoint, although the BIOS still requires some performance tuning in the areas of overclocking and enabling memory speeds above 1067 in our experience. Our other complaint about the BIOS is the fact we typically have to run our voltages slightly higher than on other boards to match the same timings or overclock levels.

The board also features MSI's D.O.T. (Dynamic Overclocking Technology) overclocking system that will "intelligently" overclock the system based upon CPU load from predetermined settings that range from 1% to 10%. This system generally overclocked our setup without issue when using the five or seven percent settings. D.O.T. is designed for users who want a little extra performance without worrying about tuning multiple BIOS settings. Considering most people won't notice anything less than a 10% performance boost, the D.O.T. is of limited use for most users - though admittedly 5% saved on something like video encoding tasks might prove useful.