Verdict: The least overclockable 975X motherboard

Like the P965 Platinum, the 975X Platinum PowerUp Edition is also a few months late to the Core 2 party. However, MSI seems to have spent the time usefully, ensuring the board has a good PCB layout and sensible features.

For example, the two high-speed PCI-E slots that support CrossFire are separated by the two 1x PCI-E slots, leaving the two far more useful PCI slots free at the far edge of the PCB. Unusually, the 975X Platinum PowerUp Edition has two EIDE ports, which is a useful inclusion if you've yet to upgrade to S-ATA hard disk drives. There are also five RAID-capable S-ATA II ports provided by the Intel ICH7DH Southbridge (an update to the ICH7R), and a JMicron JMB361 controller.

Intel HD Audio with 8-channel support is provided by a Realtek chip, which is supported by a full set of analogue jacks, plus a coaxial S/PDIF output. MSI is the only manufacturer other than Biostar to supply its boards with rounded EIDE cables, which will provide less air resistance in your case than a standard ribbon cable.

The 975X Platinum PowerUp Edition proved to be a solid performer at its stock settings, but a mediocre overclocker. For starters, its BIOS only allows you to increase the vcore to 1.58V and the RAM to a miniscule 2.05V, and raise the Northbridge by a tiny 0.25V. As a result, we could only raise the FSB of our test Core 2 Duo CPU from 266MHz to 310MHz, which is lower than the 320MHz achieved by the DFI and Foxconn 975X motherboards, and well behind the 350MHz and 360MHz of the Asus and Abit 975X motherboards respectively.

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a cheap 975X motherboard, so, whichever brand you buy, you'll end up paying a premium for CrossFire compatibility. The 975X Platinum PowerUp Edition offers solid performance, a sensible layout and two EIDE ports, but otherwise, it's unremarkable. When you can buy the much more overclockable and WiFi-equipped Asus P5W DH Deluxe for just £2 more, it makes no sense to shortlist the 975X Platinum PowerUp Edition.

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