MSI P965 Platinum Motherboard - Great OC without huge price

Final Thoughts

Intel's P965 chipset has really shown us lately there is really no great point in getting a more expensive 975X chipset based motherboard but why? P965 has native DDR-2 800 memory support, its FSB overclocking potential is usually higher and it supports more peripherals on the ICH8 Southbridge. With Crossfire reorganisation from ATI, it has all the features of the 975X and more.

MSI's second P965 motherboard they have sent us left a much sweeter taste in our mouths. The cheaper P965 Neo that was originally sent to us really should not have been considered, however, we can say that the P965 Platinum has some major pull here and it's quite a capable product. And it's really not that much more expensive than the Neo version.

One of the major benefits of the MSI P965 Platinum (around $195 AUD) over the Gigabyte DQ6 is its price. It's pretty well close to half the price of the feature-packed and overclocking monster DQ6 (around $335 AUD) but with a couple PCI Express x16 slots to support Crossfire and some very decent FSB overclocking, this motherboard from MSI is definitely a very good motherboard for the price.

It lacks some of the kicks and thrills of the more expensive motherboards on the market at the moment but if you're looking for a no fuss motherboard for your Core 2 processor that will provide very good overclocking and most of the features you will need without the huge price tag, MSI have answered your prayers.

- Pros

Price is very good - 40% cheaper than DQ6

Crossfire Ready

Good overclocking results

Quad Core support

Silent passive cooling

Plenty of room around the CPU for large heatsinks

- Cons

Placement of the onboard power connectors could reduce airflow

- Latest Pricing

Rating - 8.5 out of 10 and TweakTown's "MUST HAVE" Best Value Award!