MSI X58 Platinum Review

Zertz - March 1, 2009
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Specifications:

CPU	Supports Intel i7 based processors in LGA1366 package.
Chipset	Intel X58 Chipset Supports QPI up to 6.4GT/s Intel ICH10R Chipset Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0) controller, 480Mb/sec, up to 12 ports. 6 SATAII ports with transfer rate up to 3Gb/s. PCI Master v2.3, I/O APIC. ACPI 2.0 compliant. Serial ATA RAID 0/1/5/10. Integrated AHCI controller
Main Memory	Supports six unbuffered DIMM of 1.5 Volt DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600 SDRAM, 24GB Max Supports 1Gb/ 2Gb/ 4Gb DRAM size Supports x8 / x16 data lines per DIMM Supports up to 3 channel mode
Slots	2 PCI Express gen2 x16 slots supports ATI Crossfire 3 PCI Express gen2 x1 slots 2 PCI slot, support 3.3V/ 5V PCI bus Interface
On-Board IDE/SATA	One Ultra DMA 66/100/133 IDE controller integrated in JMicron 363. Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes. Can connect up to two Ultra ATA drives. SATAII controller integrated in ICH10R/JMicron 322 / 362 chipest Up to 3Gb/s transfer speed. Supports six SATAII ports by ICH10R Supports two SATAII ports by JMicron 322, support SATA RAID 0/1/JBOD. Supports one eSATA ports by JMicron 362. Supports AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0/1/5/10 by ICH10R.
Audio	Chipset integrated by Realtek ALC888 Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing Compliant with Azalia 1.0 Spec Meet Microsoft Vista Premium spce
LAN	Supports two PCI Express LAN 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek 8111C.
IEEE1394 / FireWire	JMicron 381 chipset Supports up to two 1394 ports. (Rear panel x1, pinheader x1) Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps.
Internal I/O Connectors	ATX 24-Pin power connector 8-pin ATX 12V power connector CPU / System x 5 FAN connectors CD-in connector Front panel audio connector Front panel connector 1 x chasis intrusion connector 1 x serial port pinheader 2 x USB 2.0 connectors 8 x Serial ATAII connectors 1 x ATA133 connector 1 x IEEE1394 connector support additional 1 port 1 x GreenPower Genie connector 1 x Reset Button 1 x Power Button 1 x SPDIF-out connector 1 x D-LED2 connector 1 x TPM module connector
Back Panel I/O Ports	1 x Clear CMOS button 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 2 x eSATA ports 1 x IEEE1394 port 8 x USB 2.0 ports 2 x RJ45 LAN jacks 1 x 6 in 1 audio jack 1 x Optical SPDIF-out
BIOS	The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically. The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.
Dimension	30.5cm(L) x 24.4cm(W) ATX Form Factor
Mounting	9 mounting holes.

Features:

DrMOS

Excellent energy-saving capability and offers high-computing performance.
Provide superior energy-saving function and maintain an ultimate low temperature operation.
Comes with three incredible features.

Active Phase Switching

APS is Active Phase Switching is complete function to Control Power Demand With Switcing Dynamically, it’s for CPU, Memory and Chipset PWM.
Saving Power under Variable Loading.
Power Usage More Efficiency.

All Solid Capacitors

Longer lifespan than electrolytic capacitors
Endurable to operation under higher frequency & temperature
Avoid exploding capacitors to cause mainboards failure

All Shielded Chokes

A choke is an inductor responsible for storing power and regulates the current.
All shielded choke could reduce core power loss, lower EMI interference.
Store energy longer at higher frequency, achieving higher efficiency.

Easy OC switch

Help end-users upgrade CPU FSB directly
Buy an essential CPU but want to reach higher performance
Skip the complicated BIOS OC setting and enjoy the higher level CPU performance

MSI M-Connectors

Easy connect to front panel & chassis cable
2x USB, IEEE 1394, front panel (JFP1/2)& audio(JAUD1) M-connector in the package
Easy to tell the definition of each pin

User Friendly

Functions designed with button to be easy use.
Help power-users tweaking process in-chasis enviornment
Onboard SATA ports are stacked on the mainboard to avoid mechanical issue with giant graphic cards like 8800 Ultra.

ATI CrossfireX:

Equip with 2 or more PCIe x16 slots, ATI CrossFire Ready.
The ultimate multi-GPU performance gaming platform.
Provides 2.7x faster performance than single graphic card solution.

Live Update Online:

The MSI Live Update online is designed to automatically download and update the BIOS and driver when there’s a new version online. It helps reduce the risk of getting the wrong file and minimize the trouble of searching the files from MSI website.

Live update 3 :

Live Update 3 is a single utility software that automatically checks BIOS, driver and utility updates and installs for you , which can save your time for searching and lower the risk while updating.

All information courtesy of MSI @ http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&prod_no=1696