NVIDIA Firewall

We've already seen some impressive hardware performance from the board's NIC, but the other major selling point is the system level firewall integrated into the chipset. The technology would take a while to explain and outside the scope of this review, so you can read .

Installing the latest ForceWare drivers installs the NIC's control panel software. You can take a look and configure various network settings and more.

After enabling (or turning off) the firewall, there are a number of basic security settings to limit access to the computer. Both inbound and outbound traffic can be monitored or restricted, and for a "free" firewall, it is very good.

The NVIDIA Firewall is a Stateless firewall. What this means is you can define a set of rules where only packets that are allowed to pass through will do so. If it does not pass the rule, the packet is dropped. This process can be CPU intensive which is why the NVIDIA Firewall also a Stateful firewall. The firewall is capable of comparing packets in a new connection against its rules. If the packet is permitted, it will pass, as well as being entered into the connection table. Future connections that match this entry will be allowed to pass immediately.

We did not do extensive testing due to time constraints, but I do feel comfortable with it (along with our Linksys router and NAT) that I do not see much need for a software based firewall. Of course, if you participate in, um, illicit online activities, feel free to add ZoneAlarm to the mix.

Final Words

MSI scored a winner with their implementation of the nForce 3 250Gb as we've seen here today. Although we received a late production sample of the board, it was very polished and rock solid throughout testing. Certainly, from an enthusiast standpoint, the K8N Neo Platinum is more suited for the tweaking we wished we were able to do with pretty much all K8T800 boards.

The BIOS leaves little to be desired, as the most important options are available for end users to adjust. As mentioned earlier, a new BIOS provided by MSI may allow you to push the board up to 300FSB. Granted, we used a decent water cooling setup, and were not able to reach that high, but the board has proven willing to hit overclocks we have never seen with the Athlon 64 until now. The PCI/AGP locks were obviously contributing factors, as was the ability to lock down memory speeds in case your ram is unable to handle the speed boost.

Performance was excellent, besting the VIA K8T800 in almost every application benchmark. We have also seen that in many cases, there were large gaps in performance, rather than a percentage point here and there. This is quite an accomplishment for a new chipset, though it can be argued that NVIDIA used the nForce 3 Pro 150 as the guinea pig to work out the kinks. Before dismissing VIA, keep in mind that we have not looked at the K8T800 Pro yet, which addresses many of the K8T800's shortcomings. The K8T800 was also stronger in the Quake 3 based benchmarks.

Regarding the onboard peripherals, all of the components included with the K8N Neo are what I would categorize as acceptable. I was very impressed with the networking aspect of the board, but less so with the audio, as the mic-in was very poor. There is no 3rd party SATA controller, but the board does provide SATA RAID support. The great thing about the nForce 3 250Gb is when you're using the SATA as a single drive controller, you do not need a driver disk during Windows setup for it to be recognized. As somebody who packed away his floppy drive ages ago, the fact that the K8T800 requires a driver disk for SATA was an exercise in frustration. Kudos to NVIDIA for getting around this inconvenience.

The problem right now with the MSI K8N Neo Platinum is availability. We were unable to find any boards locally (Northeastern Canada), as many shops in my area do carry MSI branded products, so be ready to do an online search for the board. We also weren't impressed with the passively cooled MCP, and if you're going to be running in an overclocked environment for an extended period, it would be wise to upgrade to an active cooling solution.

Another problem I can see is for those of you waiting on AMD's Socket 939 Athlon 64 rather than going for a Socket 754. The Socket 939 isn't something you'll find on store shelves for awhile though, so I don't see this as a major issue, especially when you consider the A64 3000+ is priced at about which won't be a huge investment if you're uncertain. For those of you ready to make the 64-Bit jump, the K8N Neo Platinum will serve you well.

Pros: Excellent stability, great performance, NVIDIA Firewall, PCI/AGP locks.

Cons: Decent but not great OC experiences. Mic-in issues.

Bottom Line: If you've been holding out on the Athlon 64, particularly the more consumer based Socket 754 version, the K8N Neo Platinum is as good a reason as any to jump on board now. With the great performance, stability and system level firewall, you won't be disappointed with it.