Although the next generation Intel Core i7 launch is due out next month, the current Core 2 series will continue to sell like hot cakes for quite some time to come. With processors such as the Core 2 Duo E8400 priced at just $180 US it is now very easy to build a very powerful computer on a reasonably tight budget. Making the time to build your next gaming PC even better is the fact that there is now a large foray of Intel P45 motherboards.
Perhaps one of the first Intel P45 motherboards to be released, and certainly the first to be reviewed by us, was the ASUS P5Q Deluxe which weighed in at a little over $200 US, where it remains today. More recently we checked out the Gigabyte EP45-DS4R which was priced slightly under $200 US, while still offering many of the features found on the more expensive ASUS motherboard.
Now we have an even cheaper high-end P45 motherboard, as we take our first look at the MSI P45 Platinum which is currently selling for just $170 US. At this discounted price users still seem to get many of the features found on the more expensive P5Q Deluxe and EP45-DS4R, while the quality does not appear to have suffered.
When it comes to features the P45 is actually the most fully packed chipset Intel has on offer, and this is primarily due to the inclusion of the ICH10R south bridge. The P45 actually supports a wider range of official memory frequencies than any other Intel chipset, along with a broader range of system buses. The second generation Intel Matrix Storage Technology2 is also found on this new chipset, supporting a total of six SATAII ports.
So the Intel P45 certainly delivers when it comes to features and the chipset appears to be reasonably affordable when compared to previous high-end products. Performance wise the P45 chipset stands up to the more high-end X48 very well, offering almost identical performance. In fact, most users will find very little incentive to spend more on an X48 motherboard when there are already so many great P45 examples out there!
The list of integrated peripherals includes; Gigabit LAN, Firewire, 8-Channel Audio, USB 2.0, Serial ATA RAID and eSATA. Of course there is also a great deal more packed into this board and we will cover all these features shortly. The board not only sports the new P45 chipset, but it also comes with the ICH10R south bridge. First let’s look at the chipset features…
In order to support the latest DDR2 memory types, the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) features wider buses that support Dual-Channel DDR2 at 667/800/1066, for up to an incredible 16GB of memory. MSI also supports native DDR2-1200 memory with the P45 Platinum, though this is a feature that most P45 boards offer. However, keep in mind the Intel P45 chipset also supports DDR3 memory, which is not supported by the P45 Platinum motherboard.
Another chipset feature is the Intel High Definition Audio (Intel HD Audio). This technology features eight independent DMA audio engines that support multiple audio streams with audio codecs. Other audio features include jack-sensing, re-tasking functions, and multi-streaming technology, that simultaneously sends different audio streams to different destinations. The Realtek ALC888T audio controller is a unique addition to the P45 Platinum and should work very well.
In an effort to remove the conventional IDE ATA standard, the P45 chipset has removed IDE support altogether. However, MSI has included a JMicron 363 controller chip that utilizes the PCI Express bus to deliver support for two additional SATAII ports and a single IDE port. The JMB363 supports both AHCI and Legacy IDE, including Native Command Queuing (NCQ), Hot Plugging, and ATAPI Device Supporting. Additionally the P45 Platinum also supports a single eSATA port using the JMicron 362 controller.
The ICH10R south bridge also offers up to six Serial II ATA ports, boasting data transfer rates up to 300MB/s. Intel also offers RAID functions for these six SATA ports, supporting RAID 0 for performance and RAID 1 for protection, along with RAID 5 and RAID10. Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) further boosts performance with Native Command Queuing (NCQ), and provides native hot plug for drive swaps.
The P45 Platinum supports IEEE1394a (FireWire 400), offering bandwidth up to 400 Mbps and this time the JMicron 381 controller has been used. This technology supports longer distances and is a much higher-powered bus, making it more suitable for bandwidth-intensive applications like digital video (DV), professional audio, and hard drives, which often consume hundreds or even thousands of megabytes of data per file.
The board provides support for two 1394a ports, one of which is located on the I/O panel. The other can be installed via the supplied I/O bracket which also features an additional two USB 2.0 ports. Of course the P45 chipset also supports USB 2.0 and therefore the P45 Platinum does support a total of twelve ports.
The networking capabilities of the P45 Platinum are quite limited by today’s standard, though we have found the single Realtek 8111C Gigabit LAN controller to be sufficient. This controller offers maximum throughput, as it uses the PCI Express bus which does not restrict performance like the traditional PCI bus. Unfortunately there is no wireless network support featured on this motherboard, though that is probably something that will not faze too many users.