MSI - MSI K8 Neo Platinum nForce3 250Gb Motherboard Review

Today, we are taking a look at MSI K8N Neo Platinum motherboard, one of the first nF3 250GB motherboards to become available in retail channel. Before we dive into the review, let us take a brief look at different versions of Nvidia nF3 chipset:
Nvidia nF3 250 - The vanilla nF3 250 chipset, does not have gigabit LAN or onboard hardeware firewall.
Nvidia nF3 250GB - The high end nF3 250chipset, comes with gigabit LAN and firewall.
The same chipset is used for AMD939 chipset, with the only difference being the support for 1000 HyperTransport. The 939 chipsets are called nF3 250Ultra and nF3 250GB Ultra.

…In terms of nF3 250 chipset, it is a more refined K8 chipset than Nvidia’s first attempt, the nF3 150; it now comes with a speedier HT bus, native SATA, and gigabit LAN (only on GB model) supports. It is sad to see the absence of Sound Storm technology, as it is used by many enthusiasts who have enjoyed multi-channel digital output via SPDIF since the nForce1 age.

As for the MSI K8Neo-Platinum, it’s a featured packed board with rich overclocking options embedded. (We will touch on the performance side in the next review) However, the board can be a bit buggy when SATA drives are used, as the PCI lock does not extend to the SATA channels. All in all, MSI K8Neo-Platinum is a sleeping lion, which is yet to be fully awakened, due to the PCI locking issue mentioned before.

MSI K8N Neo Platinum nForce 3 250GB Motherboard Review @ Overclockers NZ