MSI X48 Platinum Intel Mainboard Reviewed

The MSI X48 Platinum mainboard gets a thorough test at X-bit Labs. The motherboard has the following features:

• Intel Yorkfield, Wolfdale, Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium 4, Pentium D, and Celeron processors support (LGA775 package)
• 1600 / 1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz FSB support
• Intel X48 Express northbridge / Intel ICH9R south bridge chipsets with Intel Viiv technology
• 4 x DDR3 memory slots
• PCIE and Giga LAN
• 2 x PCI Express 2.0 and 2 x PCI Express x4 slots

"... mainboards based on Intel flagship chipsets such as X48 Express and X38 Express do not look as attractive as their younger relatives from the Intel P35 Express series. The chipset price is very high, around $70, which is twice as much as the price of P35. ... why would we go for the flagship solution if it doesn't differ that much from the well established Intel P35 based product neither in speed nor in functionality?" [X-bit Labs]

For now, the Intel P35 chipset still looks to be the top dog. One should consider this over the new X38 or X48 chipsets, when building a new Intel-based rig.

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