MSI K9N SLI Platinum test

Configuration of the system tests and memory
To test the performance of the MSI K9N SLI Platinum, we have used the following configuration:

• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT (without Dual CoreCell function)
• Power supply: Enermax ELT620AWT
• Memory: 1GB made from 2 Kingston KHX6400D2LLK2/1G sticks

(Kingston Technology memory kit)

The drivers used during our tests are the most recent available from the MSI and nVidia web sites:

• Bios version: 1.3
• Motherboard drivers: 9.16
• Video card drivers: 91.45

As we have already mentioned, the video card does not posses the Dual CoreCell technology.

During our tests we encountered a small problem with the memory. It was not correctly recognised in the motherboards bios which meant that it was only recorded at a speed of 667Mhz instead of the correct 800Mhz. We soon noticed that the motherboard had assigned a voltage rate of 1.8V in auto detect instead of the correct 1.95V which is needed to correctly operate memory at 800 Mhz. We therefore had to change this setting manually in the bios so that the power supply and memory would detect the correct speed. It seems that the bios chose the default current of 1.8V (the optimal setting for most models) so as to reduce the risk of deterioration to the memory modules.

How was the performance?
We performed a series of tests so as to evaluate the performance of the MSI K9N SLI Platinum under Windows XP SP2. We were especially surprised by the performance gain encountered thanks to the “D.O.T Express” function which we have previously mentioned.

• PC Mark 2005

We will first of all start with PCMark 2005. This program performs a number of tests on the hard drives, processor, memory as well as the 2D and 3D functions with a synthetic result. The higher the value is, the better the result.

• Audio et vidéo encoding