MSI P7N SLI Platinum 750i based motherboard
Introduction and Specification
Published: 18th February 2008 | Source: MSI | Price: £118 |
Introduction
Look around the stores for motherboards and one of those that will be filling up that list in all categories is MSI. One of the worlds biggest motherboard manufacturers, Micro Star International has been around for a while and established itself as a company who cater for the enthusiast.
Some info from MSI's website:
Established in August 1986, MSI has always upheld the business philosophy "Award-winning product quality and outstanding customer service." MSI is a specialist in the design and manufacture of motherboards, add-on cards, servers/workstations, barebones, communication devices and CE Products and Notebooks. Surmounting a challenging industry, we've raced to the head of the pack and are now ranked within the world's top 3 motherboard manufacturers and one of the top 5 server manufacturers. What's more, MSI graphics card has the most amazing sales performance over the past years, making it to the no. 1 position in the world for four consecutive years. Did you know that one MSI graphics card is sold every 2.8 seconds? So far, there are more than 60 million users worldwide enjoying MSI graphics cards.
Overclock3D is always striving to bring our readers the latest and greatest technology products so naturally, MSI was on our list of "things to do". We've been sent MSI's P7N SLI Platinum to torture on the benching table, so let's get in to the board and see what we can see.
Specification
CPU
• Supports Socket 775 for Intel® Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, P4, P4EE, Pentium D, Pentium XE processors.
• Supports FSB 1333/1066/800/533MHz.
• Supports EIST technology.
• Supports Intel® Hyper-Threading technology.
Please refer to CPU Support for compatible CPU; the above description is for reference only.
MSI Reminds you...
1. NVIDIA nForce Series boards DO NOT support Windows® 98/ME
2. SLI Technology only supports 32-bit and 64-bit Windows XP
3. For the best performance and commitment of convenience, please use memories listed in MSI approved memory module vendor list (Please check memory test report), which provides the easiest, up-to-date memory configurations.
Chipset
• NVIDIA® nForce 750i SLI (C72P) Chipset
• NVIDIA® nForce 430i (MCP51) Chipset
Main Memory
• Supports dual channel DDR2 533/667/800, using four 240-pin/1.8V DDR2 DIMMs.
• Supports a maximum memory size up to 8GB
Slots
• Three PCI Express x16 slots
- the mazarine slot PCI Express x 16 slot (PCI_E1) supports PCIE 2.0 x 16 mode.
- the two light-blue PCI Express x 16 slots (PCI_E2 & PCI_E3) support PCI Express x 8 mode only.
- supports SLI technology.
• Two 32-bit v2.3 Master PCI bus slots (support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface)
On-Board IDE
• An IDE controller on the NVIDIA® nForce430i chipset provides IDE
HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA133/100/66 operation modes.
- Can connect up to 4 IDE devices.
On-Board SATA
• nForce 430i supports 4 SATA II ports (SATA 1 to 4).
- Transfer rate is up to 300 MB/s.
- 2 eSATA port by JMicron JMB363 (back panel, optional)
NV RAID
- 4 SATA ports support RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 or JBOD is supported
- 2 eSATA ports (back panel) support RAID 0/1 mode
MSI Reminds You...
• The RAID setup floppy disk is optional depending on the districts. You can download the files from the website to make the setup disk.
Audio
• Chip integrated by Realtek® ALC888
- Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing
- Compliant with Azalia 1.0 spec.
LAN
- Supports 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek® RTL8211BL
IEEE1394
• VIA® VT 6308P chipset
- Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps
Internal I/O Connectors
- ATX 24-Pin power connector
- 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
- CPU / Systemx3 FAN connectors
- CD-in connector
- Front panel audio connector
- Front panel connector
- 1 x IEEE1394 connector (optional)
- 2 x USB 2.0 connector support additional 4 ports
- 1 x Floppy disk drive connector
- 4 x serial ATA connectors
- 1 x serial port connector (optional)
- SPDIF-out connector
- 1 x TPM module connector (optional)
- 2 x ATA133 connectors
- Chassis intrusion switch connector
- Clear CMOS button
MSI Reminds You...
• The floppy disk cable will be optional.
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 Optical SPDIF out
- 1 x 6 in 1 Audio jack
- 1 x IEEE1394 port (optional)
- 4 x USB 2.0 ports
- 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack
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
• 30.4cm(L) x 24.5cm(W) ATX Form Factor
Mounting
• 9 mounting holes.
• Supports Socket 775 for Intel® Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, P4, P4EE, Pentium D, Pentium XE processors.
• Supports FSB 1333/1066/800/533MHz.
• Supports EIST technology.
• Supports Intel® Hyper-Threading technology.
Please refer to CPU Support for compatible CPU; the above description is for reference only.
MSI Reminds you...
1. NVIDIA nForce Series boards DO NOT support Windows® 98/ME
2. SLI Technology only supports 32-bit and 64-bit Windows XP
3. For the best performance and commitment of convenience, please use memories listed in MSI approved memory module vendor list (Please check memory test report), which provides the easiest, up-to-date memory configurations.
Chipset
• NVIDIA® nForce 750i SLI (C72P) Chipset
• NVIDIA® nForce 430i (MCP51) Chipset
Main Memory
• Supports dual channel DDR2 533/667/800, using four 240-pin/1.8V DDR2 DIMMs.
• Supports a maximum memory size up to 8GB
Slots
• Three PCI Express x16 slots
- the mazarine slot PCI Express x 16 slot (PCI_E1) supports PCIE 2.0 x 16 mode.
- the two light-blue PCI Express x 16 slots (PCI_E2 & PCI_E3) support PCI Express x 8 mode only.
- supports SLI technology.
• Two 32-bit v2.3 Master PCI bus slots (support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface)
On-Board IDE
• An IDE controller on the NVIDIA® nForce430i chipset provides IDE
HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA133/100/66 operation modes.
- Can connect up to 4 IDE devices.
On-Board SATA
• nForce 430i supports 4 SATA II ports (SATA 1 to 4).
- Transfer rate is up to 300 MB/s.
- 2 eSATA port by JMicron JMB363 (back panel, optional)
NV RAID
- 4 SATA ports support RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 or JBOD is supported
- 2 eSATA ports (back panel) support RAID 0/1 mode
MSI Reminds You...
• The RAID setup floppy disk is optional depending on the districts. You can download the files from the website to make the setup disk.
Audio
• Chip integrated by Realtek® ALC888
- Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing
- Compliant with Azalia 1.0 spec.
LAN
- Supports 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek® RTL8211BL
IEEE1394
• VIA® VT 6308P chipset
- Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps
Internal I/O Connectors
- ATX 24-Pin power connector
- 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
- CPU / Systemx3 FAN connectors
- CD-in connector
- Front panel audio connector
- Front panel connector
- 1 x IEEE1394 connector (optional)
- 2 x USB 2.0 connector support additional 4 ports
- 1 x Floppy disk drive connector
- 4 x serial ATA connectors
- 1 x serial port connector (optional)
- SPDIF-out connector
- 1 x TPM module connector (optional)
- 2 x ATA133 connectors
- Chassis intrusion switch connector
- Clear CMOS button
MSI Reminds You...
• The floppy disk cable will be optional.
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 Optical SPDIF out
- 1 x 6 in 1 Audio jack
- 1 x IEEE1394 port (optional)
- 4 x USB 2.0 ports
- 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack
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
• 30.4cm(L) x 24.5cm(W) ATX Form Factor
Mounting
• 9 mounting holes.
This Platinum model 750i based board has a nice mid-range set of features and includes SLI technology from Nvidia. Let's take a look at the packaging and package...
Most Recent Comments
Yep I got all Core's there in CPU-Z :) Didn't find an FSB hole either.
I did tend to use the VTT voltage a fair bit as Quad's thrive on those volts :)
I did tend to use the VTT voltage a fair bit as Quad's thrive on those volts :)
thank you, got my board it was DOA I believe, no post, checked all hardware and it all checks out (played with the q6600 for a while on a MSI P35 board 3.6ghz overclock was nice 5310 on 3dmark06 cpu score).
All I could go by was that the board would display a red led on the bottom and blue led right above it. Don't know what that means but no video display on the screen, video card checked out though. Any ideas
All I could go by was that the board would display a red led on the bottom and blue led right above it. Don't know what that means but no video display on the screen, video card checked out though. Any ideas
Hi guys a have a few question about the board where you able to achieve that oce with 4gb of ram? does the thermalright ultra extreme fit on the board?
and does it support tri sli?
Just got the board in from the egg. You will have to VERY carefully bend that curving top heatpipe about 1 or 2 cm toward the first pci slot to fit, it's not even enough that you notice but it does work with my TRUE with about 1 cm clearance after the bend. I do advise you pull the heatsink/heatpipe array off and replace the dope with some AC Ceramic. My southbridge wasn't making ANY contact :o (seems to be a very common problem on every manufacturers boards now days, not exactly a tough QC problem so go figure). On that note the heatsink seems pretty cheap so I may look at replacing the array with some other sinks. Couple of the Thermalright HR-05 SLI's on the north and south bridges, they're HR-09 type 3 on the mosfets, and a Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II on the 200 chip between the PCI-E's for some color :) But only if I can get it to clock better than my xfx 680i LT (I sure hope it does because right now the best I can get is 3.3g stable with a G0 stepped chip 1.25vid).
will let everyone know my results in a few days when I have time to play with it.
How did you manage to get the FSB to 470?
I have tried OCing my E8400, but the best I've managed is 3.6GHz stable using:
400MHz FSB (1600MHz in BIOS)
9x Multiplier
CPU @ 1.24V (+0.0350V in BIOS)
NB @ 1.32V (+ 2 steps in BIOS)
I'm getting CPU temp of 23-25 idle, 33 under load. Cores are between 33-39 under load.
I managed to raise FSB to 1667, giving 3.75GHz, which booted into Windows, but kept locking up fairly regularly. Temps were one degree higher.
Any advice? I have almost no experience overclocking, sorry - but I've heard the processor is capable of 4.4GHz+ :-)
I have tried OCing my E8400, but the best I've managed is 3.6GHz stable using:
400MHz FSB (1600MHz in BIOS)
9x Multiplier
CPU @ 1.24V (+0.0350V in BIOS)
NB @ 1.32V (+ 2 steps in BIOS)
I'm getting CPU temp of 23-25 idle, 33 under load. Cores are between 33-39 under load.
I managed to raise FSB to 1667, giving 3.75GHz, which booted into Windows, but kept locking up fairly regularly. Temps were one degree higher.
Any advice? I have almost no experience overclocking, sorry - but I've heard the processor is capable of 4.4GHz+ :-)
Try using the VTT voltage, upping that a bit helps :)
Can't remember the whole BIOS
Can't remember the whole BIOS
Yeah, I wondered about that. It's default at the minute (1.2 I think?). What do you recommend I up it by, one or two steps in the BIOS? Or to a specific amount, say +0.1V etc?
Thanks for the quick reply (and fantastic review, big factor in me choosing the board)!
Thanks for the quick reply (and fantastic review, big factor in me choosing the board)!
Keep it on topic guys, those posts have been moved to a new thread in the overclocking section
Kempez could u tell me ur bios settings to get past 1333fsb, because my windows wont boot over that number, so i think maybe something needs being disabled or enabled in bios (p7n platinum q6600)
hi guys i have a question for u....
i bought this mobo and i wanted to buy an Cooler Master Sphere cooler ...but i do not know if will fit beacause of the zalman cooler onto the chipset ....
should i'll try another cooler like Cooler Master GeminII s?or the Sphere
i like a lot the Sphere but i do not know if will fit...thx
ps:sorry for my bad english:p
-------------------------------------------------------------
config:
case:antec nine hundred
power_s:780w sli ready
mobo:msi P7N SLI Platinum
cpu:intel q9450
mem:Mushkin quad pack 4x 2GB
gpu:leadtek 9800gtx+
hdd:2x500 seagate sata2
i bought this mobo and i wanted to buy an Cooler Master Sphere cooler ...but i do not know if will fit beacause of the zalman cooler onto the chipset ....
should i'll try another cooler like Cooler Master GeminII s?or the Sphere
i like a lot the Sphere but i do not know if will fit...thx
ps:sorry for my bad english:p
-------------------------------------------------------------
config:
case:antec nine hundred
power_s:780w sli ready
mobo:msi P7N SLI Platinum
cpu:intel q9450
mem:Mushkin quad pack 4x 2GB
gpu:leadtek 9800gtx+
hdd:2x500 seagate sata2
CSS Valid
By the way nice review, did each core check out at 3.8Ghz in CPU-z, because many ppl haven't been able to pass 1333MHz FSB. If so, how did you get it to work?
Thank You