| MSI K8N Neo Platinum: A High-End Offering |
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Page 3 of 8 Basic Features and BIOS: CPU | Socket-754 | Chipset | NVIDIA nForce3-250Gb | Bus Speeds | 200MHz to 300MHz (in 1MHz increments) | AGP/PCI Speeds | Auto, 66MHz to 100MHz (in 1MHz increments) | HyperTransport | 1x-4x (200MHz to 800MHz) in 1x | CPU Ratio | 4 to Default in 0.5X increments | Core Voltage Support | Default to 1.81V in % increments
(with 1.50V, 1.57V, 1.60V, 1.65V, 1.68V, 1.73V, 1.76V, 1.81V) | AGP Voltage Support | 1.5V-1.85V in 0.05V increments | DRAM Voltage Support | Auto, 2.5V to 2.85V in 0.05V increments | Memory Slots | 3 x 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots
Support to 2GB (DDR400) and 3GB (DDR333) DDR 400/333/266 | Expansion Slots | 1 AGP 8X Slot
5 PCI Slots | Onboard RAID/SATA | 2-drive SATA by NVIDIA nF3-250
RAID 0, 1, 0+1 | Onboard USB 2.0 | 8 USB 2.0 ports supported by nF3-250
2 FireWire ports by VIA VT6307 | Onboard LAN | Gigabit Ethernet on-chip by nF3-250Gb | Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC850 8-Channel
With Coaxial and Optical SPDIF Out |
The BIOS is loaded with almost all enthusiast friendly features. Though it’s packed solid with almost everything you want, there are improvements that MSI could’ve done to make this board an even better choice all around. First of all, the memory voltage option goes up to only 2.85v, which is slightly low for enthusiast needs. Once again, this is also one of the things that majority of board makers don’t pay too much attention to. The system bus speeds, AGP voltage and a working PCI/AGP lock are nice additions that should make the system a nice setup for overclocking. Usually, what we have noticed is that even though the boards offer an abundance of enthusiast friendly features, the chipsets usually hold back its true potential. However, that’s not the case anymore with VIA’s K8T800 Pro and NVIDIA’s NF3 line. The voltages also go up in impressive incremental changes, therefore, allowing you to have just the right amount of voltage to all components. Overall, the board packs in impressive BIOS with common problems that face majority of the boards even today.
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