MSI X48 Platinum: Four PCI Express x16 Slots to go Please....

Specifications

MSI tells us they plan on introducing the board in the mid $200 range, but given the market's propensity to inflate costs close to launch we have quoted a slightly higher estimated cost. Even so, this board will do a fine job filling the low-cost alternative market segment void that will be left when some of the tier one giants release their more expensive X48 elite motherboards in the $330~$350 range.

Along with the use of the Intel X48 Express chipset comes official support for 400MHz FSB and DDR3-1600 memory speed. We also see the inclusion of many features that are normally reserved for more expensive offerings: dual Gigabit LAN ports, onboard 8-channel HD Audio (including an S/PDIF optical port), ICH9R RAID-enabled back panel eSATA ports, and a rich hardware monitoring page by BIOS.

The MSI X48 Platinum comes with a nice balance of features and controls. All the standard voltages, CPU, memory, Northbridge, Southbridge, and a couple of reference voltages are available for manipulation. With CPU voltage support to around 2V (depending on the installed processor's default VID) and DDR3 voltage to 2.75V, even the most demanding overclockers should not be left wanting. We will cover some of these options and our findings in more detail when we look at some of the BIOS screens.

The back plane includes legacy PS/2 ports for keyboard and a mouse, a total of eight (8) USB 2.0/1.1 ports, a IEEE-1394(a) port, two (2) eSATA ports, two (2) RJ-45 Gigabit ports, a single optical S/PDIF port, and jacks for analog audio connections. MSI also includes a mini button for manually resetting the BIOS should the settings become completely unworkable.