MSI K8N Neo Platinum: First nForce3-250Gb

Final Words

Since the MSI K8N Neo is the first shipping board with the nVidia nForce3 chipset, we don't know whether it is the harbinger of the great things to come, or whether the K8N Neo Platinum is just a unique and stunning motherboard. There are many other nF3-250 boards on the way, and we should be able to answer that question more definitively in the near future.

What we do know is that MSI chose to use the top nForce3-250Gb chipset on an extremely well-conceived motherboard. MSI included all the breakthrough features of nF3-250, like on-chip Gigabit LAN, 8 "any-drive" RAID, and nVidia Firewall. MSI then added 3 firewire ports driven by a VIA chip, 7.1 channel audio with the newest Realtek ALC850 codec, and a complete set of audio IO for both analog and digital audio. Even additional brackets for extra rear USB ports, diagnostic LEDs, and a bracket for 2 more rear Firewire ports are included. With all these ports and options, there are still a couple of spare USB for those with front USB ports on the case. Nothing seems to be missing from this board, unless you really expect built-in Audigy 2 sound.

On top of that, the K8N Neo positively has a working AGP lock. It reaches the highest overclock at default settings that we have ever achieved with the Athlon 64. It has been very frustrating in the early A64 chipsets to see such mediocre overclocks when so much more could be done in overclocking with a Pentium 4 still hampered by locked ratios, or even a Socket A Athlon XP. The frustration was the incredible, but unrealized, promise of pushing the Athlon 64. It looks as if those days are finally starting to end, as chips and boards are both making giant leaps. This is only likely to accelerate even more with the pending introduction of Socket 939 and Dual-Channel unbuffered memory with the Athlon 64. The upcoming 64-bit Operating Systems just sweeten that pie even further.

As much as we are impressed with the MSI K8N Neo Platinum, there is still room for improvement. The location of the floppy and SATA 1/2 connectors could definitely be improved. As much as the option to 300FSB improved the board, we now see 350 or even more would be even better. We might wish for a higher range of memory voltages to get the best performance from recent high-speed memory that are warranted to 3.0 volts or more. The overclocking watch-dog functions are also a bit too aggressive on the K8N and it is likely that even higher overclocks, particularly with memory at 1:1, could be achieved with a little rework of a future BIOS. We would also strongly suggest that MSI replace the small passive nF3-250 cooler with a much larger passive heatsink or an active cooling solution. The current chipset sink gets far too hot for our liking. Consider these suggestions for improvements only because all-in-all, the K8N Neo is quite an impressive board.

Some will argue that with Socket 939 near, the K8N Neo will have a short life. We doubt that, simply because the K8N Neo is so good and Socket 754 will be around as a high-end socket now (and a value socket later) for at least another year. It also appears that MSI will have a very easy transition to a 939 design, since the Engineering is already done, and done very well, on the K8N Neo Platinum.

One thing is for sure, and that is you will not be disappointed with the MSI K8N Neo Platinum. If all the upcoming nForce3-250GB boards are this good, then it's a very good time to be running an Athlon 64 processor. It is not that the MSI stands out in performance in any one area; it is just that the overall balance, flexibility, and features of the K8N Neo are sure to please.