X-bit labs

DDR2 or DDR3: MSI P35 Platinum Combo Mainboard Review (page 14)

Category: Mainboards

by Doors4ever

[ 02/29/2008 | 04:37 PM ]

Conclusion

We all know very well that there are no mainboards without drawbacks. However, very rarely we come across solutions that are so easy to work with and boast so many features that we can simply disregard certain things. Unfortunately, we can’t say that MSI P35 Platinum Combo is one of them.

We much more frequently deal with mainboards that are very hard to characterize as good or bad. For every indisputable advantage there is always some frustrating drawback that is why a mainboard like that may be an excellent choice for one user, and absolutely unacceptable for another depending on their needs and circumstances. Does MSI P35 Platinum Combo mainboard belong to this group? Let’s list all the indisputable advantages we pointed out throughout this review:

• Good PCB layout;
• Rich functionality (USB 2.0, IEEE1394, eSATA, SPDIF, etc);
• Support of two memory types;
• Highly efficient chipset cooling system;
• Allows to connect up to 6 fans;
• A set of diagnostic LEDs;
• Great set of overclocking friendly options;
• D.O.T. dynamic overclocking technology that works together with manual overclocking;
• A lot of small pleasing trifles like additional bracket with an IEEE1394 port. M-connectors, Clear CMOS button instead of the jumper, etc.;
• Relatively low price.

I believe I didn’t miss anything important. And now let’s recall some of the drawbacks we discovered during our experience with this solution:

• Some design flaws (inconvenient FDD location, only four SATA connectors);
• Requires using DDR2 / DDR3 Switch cards;
• Weak overclocking potential with DDR3 SDRAM;
• Inability of DDR2 memory to work at 1066MHz;
• Chipset cooling system may prevent you from installing large CPU coolers;
• We can manage and adjust the rotation speed of only two fans out of six;
• No way to disable multiple LEDs;
• We have to give up EIST to overclock Wolfdale processors, but still cannot achieve the same results as on other mainboards;
• To avoid performance losses during overclocking we have to switch the jumpers, but even that will not help beyond 514MHz FSB;
• The use of brand bundled name software may irreversibly harm your system, but none of the utilities will allow adjusting the rotation speed of a CPU fan with a three-pin power connector.

All in all, if we try to answer the question asked in the title of this article, we can say that you should rather use DDR2 SDRAM, because DDR3 support could have been better. And in this case, you might as well go for the regular MSI P35 Platinum mainboard, which costs even less than $150. Anyway, as we have already said, it may still be a great choice for your needs, it just depends what needs these are…