Next up, we have the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Edition. Although their names are very similar, this board and the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI we reviewed a few months back are actually quite different. For one, this board is based on the nForce 4 Ultra chipset and doesn't have official support for NVIDIA's SLI technology (although thanks to some creative engineering it can support more than 1 graphics card). The K8N Neo4 Platinum also lacks the Creative Labs audio controller found on the SLI model, and its equipped with a different secondary SATA controller as well. The K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI sports a PCI Express Silicon Image 3132 SATAII controller, whereas the K8N Neo4 Platinum is equipped with only a PCI Silicon Image 3114 to compliment the NF4 Ultra.
|
| Specifications of the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum |
| MSI Uses The Force |
|
|
Processor
•_Supports 64-bit AMD Athlon™ 64FX/64 processor (Socket 939)
•_Supports 3000+, 3200+, 3500+, 3800+, 4000+, FX
Chipset
•_NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset
•_HyperTransport link to the AMD Athlon 64/Athlon 64FX CPU
•_HyperTransport supporting speed up to 1GHz (2000MT/s)
•_Supports PCI Express X16/X4/X1 interface
•_Two independent SATA controllers, for four drives
•_IEEE 802.3 NVIDIA MAC for 1000BASE-T
•_Dual Fast ATA-133 IDE controllers
Main Memory
•_Supports dual channel DDR 266/333/400, using four 184-pin DDR DIMMs
•_Supports the memory size up to 4GB
•_Supports 2.5v DDR SDRAM DIMM
Slots
•_One PCI Express X16 slot (supports PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant)
•_One PCI Express X4 slot (supports PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant)
•_One PCI Express X1 slot (supports PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant)
•_Four 32-bit Master PCI Bus slots, one orange slot reserves as communication slot
•_Support 3.3V/5V PCI bus Interface
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
Supports boot from LAN, USB Device 1.1 & 2.0 and SATA HDD
LAN
•_1 LAN supports 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Marvell 88E1111 PHY
•_1 LAN supports 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Marvel 88E8053
|
On-Board IDE/SATA
•_An IDE controller on the nVIDIA nForce4 Ultra chipset provides IDE HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA133/100/66 operation modes
•_Can connect up to 4 IDE devices
•_NV RAID supports 4 SATA ports (SATA1-4). Transfer rate is up to 300MB/s
•_NV RAID (Software)
•_Supports up to 4 SATA plus 2 ATA 133 Hard drives
•_RAID 0 or 1, 0+1, JBOD is supported
•_RAID function work w/ ATA 133 + SATA H/D or 2 SATA H/D
•_Silicon Image's SATARAID5 supports another 4 SATA ports(SATA5-8). Transfer rate is up to 150MB/s
•_RAID 0 or 1, RAID5, RAID10, and JBOD groups are supported
•_Support up to 4 SATA devices connected to a single controller
Audio
•_7.1 channel audio codec RealTek ALC850
•_Compliance with AC97 v2.3 Spec
•_Meet PC2001 audio performance requirement
IEEE1394
•_VIA 6306 chipset
•_Supports up to 2 x 1394 ports
•_Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps
On-Board Peripherals
•_1 floppy port supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes
•_1 serial port
•_1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode
•_1 audio jack (5-in-1), coaxial/fibre SPDIF out
•_10 USB 2.0 ports (Rear x 4 / Front x 6)
•_2 RJ45 LAN jacks
•_2 IEEE 1394 a connectors (Rear x 1/ Front x 1)
Dimension
•_11.96 in (L) x 9.61 in(W) ATX Form Factor
•_9 mounting holes
Accessories
•_D Bracket 2
•_Serial ATA Power Adapter
•_2 Serial ATA Cables
•_Round Cable
|
When compared to some of the other motherboards currently available, the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum's accessory bundle may seem a bit dull, but MSI makes up for this by packing the board with a slew of integrated peripherals. What MSI does include with the K8N Neo4 Platinum is a pair of user's manuals, a quick reference guide, and three driver / utility discs (two floppies, one CD). MSI also included four orange SATA cables, a pair of Molex-to-SATA power adapters, a rounded floppy cable, a rounded 80-wire IDE cable, a custom I/O shield, and a single case bracket. MSI calls the included bracket the "D-Bracket 2." This custom bracket houses two USB connectors, along with four diagnostic LEDs. The LEDs blink in certain combinations should there be a problem with the motherboard. These diagnostic LEDs function similarly to the POST code read-out found on the Abit Fatal1ty AN8.
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
