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
Nice review mate and a decent board to boot!
Now all that MSI need to do is remove Zippy, Bungle and George from the "board colour scheme" team, and they'll have a perfect board
Seriously tho...surprisingly decent OC results from an Nvidia chipset.Quote
Now all that MSI need to do is remove Zippy, Bungle and George from the "board colour scheme" team, and they'll have a perfect board
Seriously tho...surprisingly decent OC results from an Nvidia chipset.Quote
Yes, i mean thats better than the 780i boards which are a 'better' chipset..Quote
That is some serious overclocking results.. I mean it beat the others by quite a chunk! Also the 0% CPU utilization was quite impressive.Quote
Great review.
I`m still feeling these 780 boards are `good` without being great.
Some excel with something in 1 area and lose something in another, all very minimally. But appear solid.
Like to see an SLI vS CF of the `best` of the 780i`s vS the `best` 35/38. From a gaming pov, be pretty interesting. All the same stuff cept the gfxcards, that perhaps are close as single cards maybe.
With the prices tho, I don`t think u can turn ur nose up at them.Quote
I`m still feeling these 780 boards are `good` without being great.
Some excel with something in 1 area and lose something in another, all very minimally. But appear solid.
Like to see an SLI vS CF of the `best` of the 780i`s vS the `best` 35/38. From a gaming pov, be pretty interesting. All the same stuff cept the gfxcards, that perhaps are close as single cards maybe.
With the prices tho, I don`t think u can turn ur nose up at them.Quote
if they combined that boards performance and features with the DFi black and green colour scheme, you'd be onto a winner
performs sweet though
Quote
performs sweet though
QuoteDam good looking (oc wise...) board tbh. May invest in one for the bench rig. Quote
QuoteVery nice review Matt....bargain!!Quote
Absolutely...
Why not test 35/38 against 780i with the same gfx card (single) to keep things simple... i think i know which ill put my money on.Quote
Why not test 35/38 against 780i with the same gfx card (single) to keep things simple... i think i know which ill put my money on.Quote
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='teknokid'
Absolutely...
Why not test 35/38 against 780i with the same gfx card (single) to keep things simple... i think i know which ill put my money on. |
Edit: And 10...Quote
Wow, very surprising indeed. MSI loves to boast their boards on paper and break them on the bench table up until lately. Very pleased with them. Plus, a great review, Kempez
I take it I'm the only one who LIKES the boards looks & color scheme? Maybe because I'm used to my P35 Neo2-Fr's and it's the same scheme.Quote
I take it I'm the only one who LIKES the boards looks & color scheme? Maybe because I'm used to my P35 Neo2-Fr's and it's the same scheme.Quote
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='Rastalovich'
Great review.
I`m still feeling these 780 boards are `good` without being great. Some excel with something in 1 area and lose something in another, all very minimally. But appear solid. Like to see an SLI vS CF of the `best` of the 780i`s vS the `best` 35/38. From a gaming pov, be pretty interesting. All the same stuff cept the gfxcards, that perhaps are close as single cards maybe. With the prices tho, I don`t think u can turn ur nose up at them. |
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='NickS'
Wow, very surprising indeed. MSI loves to boast their boards on paper and break them on the bench table up until lately. Very pleased with them. Plus, a great review, Kempez
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='NickS'
I take it I'm the only one who LIKES the boards looks & color scheme? Maybe because I'm used to my P35 Neo2-Fr's and it's the same scheme.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='teknokid'
I was refering to this...
|
CF vs SLI would be interesting although I don't have a lot of faith in either solution due to ongoing software and hardware quality/issuesQuote
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3766/testmc6.jpg
Specs:
MSI P7N SLI PLAT
Intel Q6600
8800GT
PSU
2x2GB 800
Problem is , it only detects 2cores... bios doesnt even have any option..... Any users got this problem?
Freshly installed XP and Vista.... both same
I think it this board is compatible but wont work with Q6600.....Quote
Specs:
MSI P7N SLI PLAT
Intel Q6600
8800GT
PSU
2x2GB 800
Problem is , it only detects 2cores... bios doesnt even have any option..... Any users got this problem?
Freshly installed XP and Vista.... both same
I think it this board is compatible but wont work with Q6600.....Quote
Hey Kempez, when testing a quad, how much vDroop did you encounter?Quote
From what I recall it droops about 0.02v, but that's from memoryQuote
Dang that's not bad, at ALL.Quote
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?Quote
and does it support tri sli?Quote
No it was 2GB of RAM but that wouldn't matter as you can unlink it
I would expect the Thermalright to fit, yes
I do not believe it supports Tri SLIQuote
I would expect the Thermalright to fit, yes
I do not believe it supports Tri SLIQuote
Thank you for the response Kempez and nice review seems like a great board I
might get one with two 8800gt the second slot not being 16x wont hamper performance too much right? and was the oce you achieved stable for gaming?Quote
might get one with two 8800gt the second slot not being 16x wont hamper performance too much right? and was the oce you achieved stable for gaming?Quote
I'm not too sure about the second x16 slot as the 8 series have got to the point where I think they saturate 8x bandwidth
The OC was stable for 1 hour Prime95 on all four coresQuote
The OC was stable for 1 hour Prime95 on all four coresQuote
Anyone tried to OC this with a 1333MHz FSB CPU yet? I'll be trying it with an E8400 next week.Quote
Just ordered the board and a q6600 and will receive today. BUT there is a problem of which many have encountered. One is the fact that many people with q6600 can only see two cores with this board, will a bio's update fix that? Also I have read that this board has a mean "FSB HOLE" anything around 1333Mhz to 1400Mhz from what I know of, which will keep me from getting my overclock I want to achieve (3.6Ghz maybe a little higher if doable) 
. If anyone has encountered this hole or have had any q6600 problem's with this board please inform me because right now I am thinking of an RMA and I haven't even recieved it yet. After I get it and test it anything I learn I will try to inform any who are wandering.
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 YouQuote
. If anyone has encountered this hole or have had any q6600 problem's with this board please inform me because right now I am thinking of an RMA and I haven't even recieved it yet. After I get it and test it anything I learn I will try to inform any who are wandering.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 YouQuote
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 voltsQuote
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
Quotethank 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 ideasQuote
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 ideasQuote
Sorry, cant help you thereQuote
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='mehdi19'
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? |
(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.Quote
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+ :-)Quote
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+ :-)Quote
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)!Quote
Thanks for the quick reply (and fantastic review, big factor in me choosing the board)!Quote
Keep it on topic guys, those posts have been moved to a new thread in the overclocking sectionQuote
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)Quote
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
-------------------------------------------------------------
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 sata2Quote
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
-------------------------------------------------------------
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 sata2Quote
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