Software
MSI includes a software package designed to interact with the MSI P6N SLI Platinum's CoreCell chip. I did find that the DualCoreCenter, while functional enough, did have an annoying issue of audibly warning me that my CPU Fan (disabled, I was watercooling at the time) was at 0 RPM constantly. Frankly it got annoying enough that in the end I just closed the software without any intention of using it again (after testing of course). Trying out the Vista version of the software I was faced with the same issue, however that aside, the software works well enough. You get monitoring for Voltages, Fan Speeds and Temperatures, as well as control of the FSB and Voltages. If you have a graphics card compatible with DualCoreCell then you can also overclock the card from the same software. Not having a compatible card I was unable to test this feature.
Audio software is provided by Realteks Drivers for the ALC888. First things first, I know that many of you have had issues with a quiet MIC and lack of boost with MSI boards before. I'm pleased to say that the MIC on the P6N SLI Platinum is sufficient and has boost up to 30dB if you still find it quiet. It certainly worked well enough with Vista's Speech Recognition. EQ and effects are available as you would expect and everything is laid out nicely enough, even if the colouring is a little off in my opinion. Under Vista, the software GUI is much simpler and again in my opinion much easier on the eyes.
NVIDIA's Firstpacket technology is also supported which allows you to prioritize traffic of various applications over others, perhaps to ensure your VOIP call remains steady or you gaming ping stays low, while you download files or use your connection for other non latency critical purposes.
Overclocking
When it came to overclocking, we decided to switch CPU's for something a little easier to clock higher than our Intel X6800. This will be our first attempt at overclocking with the E6420 CPU, which is new to Intels line-up as of the 23rd of April. Since it is new to our labs, we are unsure of the CPU's maximum capability, however, using the asetek Waterchill setup for cooling had the CPU idleing at 21C at default speeds. We were hard pushed to get it to break 30C under load, so this gave us high hopes we had a good chip capable of going as high as the MSI board would allow.
Our first attempt was successful enough, but we felt there was more to give. Upping voltages for the Northbridge, CPU and raising the VTT % had little effect. 375MHz FSB (1500QDR) was postable and appeared to be stable, but a reboot after stability testing had us backing down the settings. 362.5MHz FSB was the eventual stable point. I was hoping to be able to drop the multiplier however it appeared to have no effect. At this point I went looking for a BIOS update, and came across the beta (at time of writing) 1.22. A few users had reported success using this version so we decided to flash the board and try again.
The newer 1.22 BIOS, altered things slightly. The previously hidden C1E option was now out in the open, and the multipliers were adjustable down to 6x. So, once again unto the breach. Another wall was found at 375MHz FSB, and no amount of voltage for the CPU or the motherboard components would yield any greater speeds. I was able to post and begin stable testing at 400, but for 8 hours solid Orthos and 3dMark testing, 375MHz was the highest. It's unlikely that the CPU was the limiting facter as the maximum recorded temperature was only 44C, and that was on a very hot day; also, lowering the multiplier should have allowed the CPU to climb higher, so it looks like our motherboard, at least with this iteration of the BIOS tops out at 375 Stable.
Final Words
While a 680i chipset has obvious benefits over the 650i, after looking at this solution I have to question if those extras will be worth the extra cost on most boards. The 680i chipset adds dual PCIe x16 graphics slots (and physics card provision), dual Gigabit NICs with DualNet technology, 6 SATA II and another 2 USB 2.0 ports, LinkBoost, SLI Ready Memory, extra overclocking and memory options. Now weigh those features against the cash saved by using the likes of the , a board that has proven here today to be extremely capable in all areas. Unless you are running a high end SLI setup or planning on extreme overclocking then chances are you and your wallet will be just as happy with a 650i. While the did come in slightly behind our 975x based Abit AW9D during CPU tests, it still performed similarly for multimedia and came out in front for games and memory.
While it's true that higher end boards come with a more extensive contents package, you do get a fair few extras with the , from rounded cables to external SATA cables to colour matched SATA cables. Speaking of external SATA, this is one of the unexpected features of the board and while not a major feature, it is a welcome addition for a board at this price point. It does come at the price of a removed serial port from the rear I/O Panel, however there are pins on the motherboard to add a serial port should you need one. A port is not included in the box however.
Sound is provided by the Realtek ALC888 HD sound codec, and while it isn't quite up to the standards of the Creative X-Fi used on higher end boards, some folks have had a few problems with Creative drivers in the past and again now with Vista. The Dual Zone Audio is also a nice feature. The board is Vista certified but you will need to hit to grab the Vista drivers and software as they are not included on the software CD. We only have a single NIC so DualNet is out, but we do get FirstPacket Technology.
From a performance, stability and overclocking stand point, some of it depends on the BIOS you use. At time of writing, the latest 1.22 BIOS is still beta, but if you want the most from the board, this is the BIOS revision to use if you are overclocking. Standard performance with the original BIOS is quite good, especially in the memory department. CPU performance does fall slightly behind the likes of the 975x chipset in synthetic tests, but most multimedia applications don't suffer noticeably as a consequence. Gaming performance is excellent. are well known for their stability (often at the expense of higher overclocking) and stability of the is pretty good; the board has been rock solid throughout testing, although the torture/stability tests during overclocking stability testing (Prime95, SuperPI, 3dMark looped for a few hours) did have us spending more time than usual determining the overclocking ceiling.
Overclocking was easy enough, although the original BIOS did hide the C1E feature. Despite that, a few options disabled, memory and PCIe set manually, and it was just a case of ramping up the FSB for a general quick overclock. The original BIOS net us a 362.5MHz FSB which wasn't too great, but un updated BIOS allowed us to climb to 400MHz; that 400MHz wasn't completely stable however as random crashes after a few hours of heavy use occasionally appeared. In the end, 375MHz was the completely stable maximum. I'm hopeful that another update to the BIOS in the future may allow the 400 mark to stabalise.
One thing I didn't like to see was the return of the SLI switch board; I much prefer a proper switch or a BIOS option, however if this keeps costs down then it's a forgivable point. I got the impression from using it that the board was capable of a little more than it offered us, especially evident in the overclocking, so the onus now is on to improve on the BIOS. As mentioned before, the beta 1.22 BIOS is certainly a step in the right direction as it came across being more complete than the original, so if you decide on the , you'll want to check the BIOS revision before setting down to any major tweaking.
All in all, the is a good board, especially when you take in to account the price of it ( at time of writing). Take a look at the features, the contents package and the performance seen here today and ask yourself; do you really need to spend more on a board? Assuming your not an extreme overclocker, then your answer will probably no.
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