Tags : 1600fsb   45nm   DDR3   intel X48 chipset   Motherboard   msi x48 platinum   penryn   Review  

Introduction Features and Specifications Photos and Pictures Installation, Test Setup and BIOS CPU-Z and Everest Information Benchmarks: Sandra Pro XII (SP1) Benchmarks: FutureMark Suite Benchmarks: Call of Juarez and Crysis (DX10) Benchmarks: F.E.A.R. and Science Mark 2 Overclocking Part 1: 1600FSB Overclocking Part 2: 1900FSB Verdict and Conclusion

MSI debuts Intel's flagship X48 chipset in the form of the X48 Platinum ... Is it more than just a cherry picked X38?

 

INTRODUCTION

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Towards the end of 2007, Intel released their high-end X38 chipset. It's a decent chipset that offered good performance and was well received among enthusiasts and overclockers alike. The main features of the X38 chipset include the support for 1333FSB, with unoffical support for overclock speeds of upto 1600FSB. It also supported DDR3 ram, the new 45nm Penryn processors as well as ATI's Crossfire multi-GPU configuration. Although the X38 chipset was really designed for DDR3, Intel didn't just stop there. They made this high-end chipset available to the masses, by allowing motherboard manufacturers to use the X38 chipset to support DDR2 ram upto DDR2-1066 spec. So now, users had a choice ... if you get a X38 chipset based motherboard, you can either use existing DDR2 ram or go all-out and really spoil yourself with DDR3 ram. The latter being the more expensive option ... which would give you a pretty poor price/performance ratio to be honest. But if you're a hardware junkie or enthusiast and you've got the cash ... then going DDR3 shouldn't be a problem.

 

 

We now turn our attention to Intel's latest flagship chipset ... the X48. This chipset was announced shortly after the release of the X38 chipset only a few months ago. It was meant to be released towards the end of 2007, but there have been reports that Intel had purposely delayed its release. The reason being, it allows manufacturers the chance to make a little profit on the X38 based motherboards. The release of the X48 would be too soon, not allowing the X38 to mature ... it would also undermine market pricing of the X38.

 

 

 

So what is so special about the Intel X48 chipset? Well, to be honest with you, there is nothing that I can see which tells me it's a "Next-Gen" chipset. I think one of the advantages of the X48 is the fact that it officially support 1600FSB. Does that mean we will see 1600FSB processors from Intel in the near future? We've already tested the MSI X38 Diamond a few weeks ago, and by looking at the MSI X48 Platinum, the motherboard layout is exactly the same. Some say the X48 chipset is actually "cherry-picked"  versions of the X38 chipset ... allowing better overclocking potential and a little extra performance boost. So, is this true? ... or is the X48 chipset just a re-branded X38 chipset on adrenalin?

 

 

In this review, we'll be taking a look at the MSI X48 Platinum motherboard. It utilises Intel's latest X48 chipset and supports the new 1600FSB, DDR3-1600 ram, the new 45nm Penryn processors as well as ATi's Crossfire multi-GPU configuration. It will be interesting to see what the performance will be, using this new chipset from Intel. We're expecting the X48 to perform just like the X38 at default speeds using a Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor.

 

 

However, something tells me that when I cranked up the FSB to 1600Mhz, then we will see the true colours of the X48 chipset. Right now, we can only archieve 1600FSB by overclocking our Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor from 2.4Ghz (9x266) to 3.2Ghz (8x400). A lower multiplier is always good for overclocking ... allowing us to push the FSB higher.

OK, let's take a closer look at the specifications of the MSI X48 Platinum motherboard

 

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Introduction Features and Specifications Photos and Pictures Installation, Test Setup and BIOS CPU-Z and Everest Information Benchmarks: Sandra Pro XII (SP1) Benchmarks: FutureMark Suite Benchmarks: Call of Juarez and Crysis (DX10) Benchmarks: F.E.A.R. and Science Mark 2 Overclocking Part 1: 1600FSB Overclocking Part 2: 1900FSB Verdict and Conclusion