MSI X58 Platinum Motherboard
Conclusion
Published: 22nd December 2008 | Source: MSI | Price: £229.99 |
As we have seen from the previous review of the P6T Deluxe, X58 has brought with it performance enhancements that while not on the scale of Pentium IV to Core2 are worthwhile nonetheless - especially where memory bandwidth is concerned. SLI support on some X58 boards is another major plus and this is where the Platinum falls down by not supporting SLI. While this may not be an issue for lovers of ATI or indeed users who do not intend to use a dual-card format the price should be such that it reflects this omission.
Sadly, the MSI Platinum is no cheaper than the standard P6T Deluxe which supports both Crossfire and SLI. Not only that but the Asus also supports SAS should you require this feature, whereas the MSI makes do with an extra pair of SATA ports. With the Asus motherboard also overclocking better than the MSI it becomes clear which board offers the best bang per buck.
At stock, both motherboards performed pretty much equally across the range of benchmarks that we ran today but the difference being that the Asus motherboard ran perfectly straight out of the box. This review was due to be our first review on X58 but sadly the shipping BIOS had issues with the memory divider and hence the review was delayed. MSI did however, quickly release a BIOS that sorted the issue which is a plus for the support MSI have to offer. Hopefully future BIOS revisions will also enhance the overclocking ability of the motherboard, but for now it's nudged into second place by the Asus P6T Deluxe.
If you don't mind the non-SLI support and are not looking for extreme overclocking then there can be no doubting the MSI is a solid, feature packed performer that will serve any enthusiast well. If you desire SLI then MSI do provide an SLI Edition motherboard as well as the range topping Eclipse, but at a premium in price. Credit should also be given to MSI for finally listening to consumers regarding the pink ram slots, but the SATA and IDE ports still look to have been stolen from the LGA775's parts bin which cheapens the overall look of the product.
I can't help feeling that at £235 MSI are asking consumers to make one too many compromises which may be off-putting for some and potentially limit the sales of the motherboard. Giving credit where credit is due, the MSI X58 Platinum is a very good board in its own right and is perfect for the user who is not looking for SLI or extreme overclocks. If these issues concern you then the P6T deluxe is perhaps the better buy, if not, then the MSI Platinum X58 is certainly worthy of consideration.
The Good
- No more Pink DDR slots!
- On board switches
- Layout
The Mediocre
- Overclocking could be better
- BIOS recovery (3 boots)
The Bad
- No SLI
Thanks to MSI for providing the motherboard used in todays review. Please discuss in our forums.
Most Recent Comments
Very good review, was a good read 
1.44V for 3.85gHz Now I'm even more proud of my UD5 doing 3.7@1.35 Did you adjust the VTT voltage too? It's just as important as vCore.
1.44V for 3.85gHz
Now I'm even more proud of my UD5 doing 3.7@1.35 Did you adjust the VTT voltage too? It's just as important as vCore.Great review. Think they're still crazy priced tho.
Hopefully they see some sense l8r in the 09.
Don't have much exerience with MSI mobos, but I am surprized there's no SLI.
Hopefully they see some sense l8r in the 09.
Don't have much exerience with MSI mobos, but I am surprized there's no SLI.
Quality review as always Rich. Bit miffed at lack of SLI seeing as it's such a massive selling point. Puts it at an instant disadvantage. Ah well.
Couple of features I picked up on which I thought were great; the first being the right angled sata plugs.. Such a simple thing! But would make tidy cabling easy - it's just impossible to make the sata cableslook neat if they are sicking up out of the mobo.The other was the bios save feature, thats pretty cool! And a great feature, being able to swop from "warp speed overclock" to "mr easy going day to day" at the press of a button.. 10/10 for that one.
£240 though? Too much I think.. Needs to come with the kitchen sink at that price, and it doesnt.
A fine review.
£240 though? Too much I think.. Needs to come with the kitchen sink at that price, and it doesnt.
A fine review.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='monkey7'
Very good review, was a good read
1.44V for 3.85gHz Now I'm even more proud of my UD5 doing 3.7@1.35 Did you adjust the VTT voltage too? It's just as important as vCore. |
.Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Rastalovich'
Great review. Think they're still crazy priced tho.
Hopefully they see some sense l8r in the 09. Don't have much exerience with MSI mobos, but I am surprized there's no SLI. |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Bungral'
Quality review as always Rich. Bit miffed at lack of SLI seeing as it's such a massive selling point. Puts it at an instant disadvantage. Ah well.
|
.Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='fruityness'
Couple of features I picked up on which I thought were great; the first being the right angled sata plugs.. Such a simple thing! But would make tidy cabling easy - it's just impossible to make the sata cableslook neat if they are sicking up out of the mobo.The other was the bios save feature, thats pretty cool! And a great feature, being able to swop from "warp speed overclock" to "mr easy going day to day" at the press of a button.. 10/10 for that one.
£240 though? Too much I think.. Needs to come with the kitchen sink at that price, and it doesnt. A fine review. |
There are actually two versions listed on MSI's website: one with SLI, one without. The SLI version still seems to be unavailable at the moment, and from what I recall it's still not known whether the current version could be converted with a BIOS flash or not
Iirc someone tried flashing a beta bios to the non sli version and got nothing but BSOD .
It will be nice if they do make it SLI capable tho.
.It will be nice if they do make it SLI capable tho.
I'm curious as to whether there's a difference built-in somewhere that did that. The two boards certainly look the same, though obviously that doesn't mean they are. Wouldn't hurt to perhaps ask them about that.
The Mediocre
- Overclocking could be better
Sorry guys, but i disagree. I have this motheboard and i got these results:
My Maximum Bclk for enter in O.S. Windows Vista X64:
valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=469171 ( Thanks WC Annihilus, now is correct )
My usual clock for 24/7:
valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=469143
Same processor, motherboard and memory of the review.
Sorry for my bad english.
- Overclocking could be better
Sorry guys, but i disagree. I have this motheboard and i got these results:
My Maximum Bclk for enter in O.S. Windows Vista X64:
valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=469171 ( Thanks WC Annihilus, now is correct )
My usual clock for 24/7:
valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=469143
Same processor, motherboard and memory of the review.
Sorry for my bad english.
What voltages? Is it prime stable?
Nice clocks regardless.
Nice clocks regardless.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='webbo'
What voltages? Is it prime stable?
Nice clocks regardless. |
And the 4GHz I didn`t test with prime95, i used the OCCT for 1 hour and got stable. But i think is stable enough for me play my games.
Ow sorry the voltages:
Well for 4GHz I`m using:
CPU VOLTAGE +0.190 ( 1.39 )
QPI +0.180
MEMORY VOLTAGE 1.65
That's all
Well for 4GHz I`m using:
CPU VOLTAGE +0.190 ( 1.39 )
QPI +0.180
MEMORY VOLTAGE 1.65
That's all
You posted 2 links to the same validation
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='WC Annihilus'
You posted 2 links to the same validation
|
valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=469171
See now. I think is correct. :sleep:
Is this using the latest BIOS? I might have to give that a go as there has been a new BIOS released since writing the review.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='webbo'
Is this using the latest BIOS? I might have to give that a go as there has been a new BIOS released since writing the review.
|
IOS Type AMI BIOS File Size 816KB
Version 1.1 Update Date 2008-11-12
But have the 1.2B ( beta )
CSS Valid
Read the review here