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Review: MSI K9N SLI Platinum - nForce 570 SLI

by Steve Kerrison on 4 July 2006, 09:21

Tags: Fatal1ty nForce 570 SLI, MSI K9N SLI Platinum

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NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI & 590 SLI, K9N SLI Platinum specs

For its fifth generation of nForce chipsets, NVIDIA's built upon the success of its nForce 4 efforts and put a bit of thought into how to position the various products within its 500 series to ensure a decent spread of the market. nForce 550 is a mainstream part, while nForce 570 Ultra is a non-SLI performance part. It's the 570 and 590 SLI we're more interested in right now, however, as they're geared more towards the avid gamer and enthusiast. Here's a breakdown of features we might be interested in:

Chipset NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI
HT speed 1GHz 1GHz
Bridge config. Single-chip - MCP Two-chip - MCP+SPP
Total number of PCIe lanes 28 (6 links) 46 (9 links)
SLI: PCIe lanes per card 8x 16x
LinkBoost Tech. No Yes
Optimized for SLI-ready memory No Yes
SATA speed 3Gbps 3Gbps
RAID modes supported 0,1,0+1,5 0,1,0+1,5
Audio High Definition (Azalia) High Definition (Azalia)
Ethernet Controllers 2x 1Gbps 2x 1Gbps
DualNet/FirstPacket support Yes/Yes Yes/Yes
USB2.0 ports 10 10

We've cut out some of the features from the list, because some of the less exciting ones are present in both. There is, of course, some marketing spin going on too, with NVIDIA claiming the nForce 590 SLI will have an enthusiast BIOS, while the 570 SLI won't; surely that's down the mainboard manufacturer? Anyway, the biggest difference, and that one that'll really clinch it for people, is the number of lanes each graphics card will get in SLI mode.

For those who see a few unfamiliar technologies, here's a quick run-through to get you up to speed. SLI-optimised memory and LinkBoost are part of a NVIDIA scheme whereby 'certified components', when installed in the system, allow automatic bus-speed increases to deliver extra performance. DualNet allows the two onboard 1Gbps network controllers to be teamed up to double the bandwidth available, and FirstPacket prioritises outgoing data with an aim to delivering lower gaming pings.

Anyway, back to the main difference between the two chipsets... run an nForce 590 SLI-based board and you get full x16 bandwidth to both cards, but with a 570 SLI you're stuck with the 'original' x8 lanes per card style SLI. Can you live with that? Quite likely, considering that our testing has shown minimal performance gains when switching two high-end NVIDIA cards, in SLI formation, from x8 to x16 lanes. With that in mind, let's take a closer look at the MSI K9N SLI Platinum.

Specification

Apologies for some repeated info - some of the features in the K9N SLI Platinum's spec. sheet have already appeared in the section just above.

Board FeatureImplementation
Single chipsetNVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP
Processor Support All AMD Socket AM2 microprocessors including:
Athlon 64 FX
Athlon 64 X2
Athlon 64
Sempron
HyperTransport 2GHz (1GHz DDR)
Memory SupportDDR2 400/533/667/800
8GiB total, 4 slots
Graphics Support PCI Express
2 PEG x16 slots (electrical, x8 in SLI)
PCI Express2 x PCIe 1X
PCI Conventional3 x PCI 2.3 slots
(PCI3: Orange slot for special MSI dual-function cards i.e. Bluetooth+WLAN)
Networking2 x NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet with NVIDIA DualNet
FireWire VIA 1394a controller on PCI
3 x FW400 ports (1 x on I/O backplate, 2 x Expansion bracket)
AudioRealtek ALC883; HD Audio, 10-channel (7.1+2)
Jack-sensing, optical TosLink digital out
USBnForce 570 SLI MCP; 10 ports USB2.0
Disks6 SATA300, 1 ATA133 IDE, RAID0,1,0+1,5

Lots of SATA and not much PATA, which is what you get with nForce 570 SLI. Everything else is just as you'd expect.