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MSI releases one of the first AM2+ motherbaord (AMD 790FX) that supports 4 PCIe slots for 4-way Crossfire X configuration. 

INTRODUCTION

In our recent review of the AMD Phemon processor, we concluded that the current B2 stepping with its TLB bug was a little disappointing. However for gaming, it wasn't so bad. Still, it will be difficult for AMD to attract the true hardcore enthusiasts that only want the best. That maybe true ... but there is one advantage that AMD do have in its hand, and that is ... its affordability. A complete high-end AMD bssed system is still much cheaper than Intel's equivalent. 

AMD's recently announced Spider platform is aimed at the enthusiast market. And according to AMD, the Spider platform would consists of a motherboard that uses a AMD 7-series chipset, a Radeon HD3800 series graphics card, and of course a Phenom Quad Core processor. It's supposed to give users the most complete computing platform ever. Offering the ultimate computing experience with amazing scalability and exceptional efficiency.

In this review, we will be taking a look at the MSI K9A2 Platinum motherboard which utilises the AMD 790FX chipset. It features AMD's newer AM2+ scocket, Hyper Transport technology upto 3600 MT/s, and supports DDR2 ram and as well as AMD's latest quad core Phenom processors. We will also be using a Radeon HD3870 graphics card and a Phenom (2.6Ghz) CPU in our tests, and this will complete our setup for a Spider platform.

Gamers who've always envied users with high-end SLI/Crossfire setups will love what I am about to say. ATI have recently released their latest Catalyst drivers v8.2. These drivers will allow users to "unofficially" Crossfire two totally different Radeon cards from different manufacturers ... giving a massive performance boost. You can read our article on how to do Crossfire a Radeon HD3870 with a cheaper HD3850 ... HERE. Now with this in mind, it will make AMD's Spider platform a little more attractive for normal gamers. Just imagine, getting hold of a AMD 790FX based motherboard, a Phenom processor, a Radeon HD3870 and a HD3850 (both of which are now extremely affordable), some DDR2 ram and then building it all up into a fairly decent gaming platform. This is exactly what I've done for our test In terms of costs ... you'll see the difference below:

 - AMD Phenom processor = Cheaper than Intel Core 2 Quad
 - AMD 790FX based motherboard = Cheaper than most X38 based motherboard
 - Radeon HD3870 = Cheaper than most Nvidia 8800GT or GTS
 - DDR2 ram = Much cheaper than DDR3 ram.

           

The MSI K9A2 Platinum offers a wealth of features just like any MSI product. On the rear ATX I/O panel, you'll find the usual PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors, firewire, SPDIF/Optical connectors, 2 x eSATA, 4 x USB ports, a gigabit ethernet port and, an array of audio connectors. The motherboard itself features which I find very interesting. These include the onboard power on/off and reset switches, MSI' new Circu-Pipe chipset cooling as well as 4 PCIe slots for graphics cards ... supporting 4-way Crossfire X configuration (which is still under developement by AMD).

I'm expecting the MSI K9A2 Platinum (using AMD's Phenom processor) to produce acceptable results during our benchmarks. I know for a fact that it won't beat a system based on Intel's Quad Core Q6600 processor, but for our gaming benchmarks ... it should be OK.

OK, let's not waste any more time and take a closer look at the MSI K9A2 Platinum motherboard ...