Verdict: DDR3 and an X-FI, but it's a poor overclocker and pricey too.
We had our first glimpse of the MSI P35-series of motherboards when MSI sent us a video revealing the eye-catching Circu-Pipe heatsink mounted on a P35 Platinum (see http://tinyurl.com/2qo6sg). However, while MSI has already released the mid-range P35 Platinum, the board it sent us for review was the high-end P35 Diamond.
The upper side of the P35 Diamond is dominated by the massive Circu-Pipe heatsink, which is supposed to cool not only the P35 Northbridge, but also the ICH9R Southbridge and VRMs. This is quite a tall order for a passive heatsink, despite its a large surface area, as it's spread out over the motherboard by several intertwining heatpipes. MSI claims that Circu-Pipe will reduce heat in PC systems, although we're more than a little concerned that cooling efficiency has taken last place to style and elegance on the Circu-Pipe's list of attributes. Still, unlike a lot of oversized Northbridge heatsinks, such as that fitted to the Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6, the Circu-Pipe isn't so large that it prevents you from mounting a large CPU HSF. However, fitting your HSF of choice is quite fiddly, as the heatpipes obstruct the access of fingers and thumbs to the LGA775 push-pins. In addition, the 8-pin EPS12V socket has been raised by an extender block, which means that the power cable can't be neatly tucked away, and will instead snake across the motherboard and look messy.
As the P35 Diamond is the top-end model of the P35-series, MSI has opted for the DDR3 version of the P35 Northbridge. As with all P35 motherboards (bar the two Asus Blitz boards), the P35 Diamond has two high-speed PCI-E slots, one providing 16 lanes of bandwidth and the other four lanes. This means that although it theoretically supports CrossFire, it will run around 3 per cent slower than a motherboard on which the second slot has eight lanes of bandwidth, such as these Asus Blitz models with their CrossLinx chip. Like the two Blitz boards, the P35 Diamond doesn't have integrated WiFi, and only a single LAN port. This makes the two PCI and two 1x PCI-E slots more precious than they are on a board such as the Asus P5K3 Deluxe WiFi-AP. Even so, MSI wants you to use one of each with the two bundled daughterboards.
The first of these daughterboards is a tiny 1x PCI-E card that houses an X-Fi chip and its circuitry. You might want to eschew the 1x PCI-E slots altogether for this, and use the second high-speed PCI-E slot instead, though, especially if you're using a dual-height graphics card. This will allow that high-performance graphics card more room to breathe and keep the sound circuitry separate from high-speed fans and intense heat sources. The chip used for the sound card is the Creative CA0110-1BG, making it essentially an OEM version of the Sound Blaster Xtreme Audio PCI Express. Unlike the more sophisticated X-Fi cards, such as the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer, it doesn't accelerate game audio or support EAX 5. However, the card sports CMSS 3D and the Crystalizer, so music sounds far better than it does with the Intel HD Audio codec.
Yes, the wording there is correct: 'the' Intel HD codec, as the P35 Diamond also has an on-board audio codec via a Realtek chip. This links with the second daughterboard, which looks suspiciously like a modem. In fact, it's a SkyTel card and resides in a spare PCI slot, even though there are no electrical connections. Instead, it receives data via its cable and the appropriate motherboard header located at the bottom edge of the board. The backplate has two standard telephony RJ-11 ports, one in and one out, with the card acting as a pass-through. It allows you to use your telephone as a Skype phone when the PC is switched on, and a standard phone when it's turned off. This might sound like a cool idea, but we can't see that there's much use for SkyTel. Even assuming you have a telephone in the same room as your PC, the PC would have to be whirring away 24/7 to glean the Skype benefits. We'd rather use one of the Skype phones from this month's Custom Kit. Also, using your gaming headset is far more convenient and comfortable than having a telephone perched on your shoulder for hours.
In all other regards, the P35 Diamond is a fairly typical motherboard. For example, the ICH9R Southbridge provides four S-ATA II ports, plus a further two eSATA ports, while a Marvell controller provides a further S-ATA II port and a single EIDE port. If you're a big fan of Custom Kit then you'll no doubt appreciate the 12 USB 2 ports and two FireWire ports, which will allow you to plug in a silly number of gadgets.
Performance
At its stock settings, the P35 Diamond performed almost identically to our reference PC, which has the same spec, apart from its Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP motherboard and 2GB of Corsair XMS2-8500 DDR2 RAM. However, it isn't surprising that both rigs performed similarly, since DDR3 memory isn't much faster than DDR2 at the moment. Even the 1,333MHz FSB Core 2 Duo E6750 we use doesn't benefit from the increased bandwidth of the higher-frequency RAM, while the high latencies of our test RAM (as with all current DDR3) makes memory performance near-enough identical to that of lower-latency DDR2 modules.
The BIOS sports the usual near-useless automatic overclocking option, DOT, which can increase the CPU frequency by up to 12 per cent. However, any self-respecting overclocker will want to manually tweak the BIOS, which is exactly what we did. There's a wide range of voltage controls, although we aren't sure how a Core 2 Duo would respond to 2.0875V being sent through it, or what DDR3 memory would think of 2.75V (a full 1.25V above the JEDEC spec). Quite clearly, the BIOS has been set up to provide overvolting options for older, voltage-hungry components such as NetBurst architecture CPUs and (incompatible) DDR2 RAM, rather than their modern, power-efficient successors.
Unlike the other DDR3 motherboards we've tested, the P35 Diamond was unable to max out our test CPU, which we know is capable of running stably at 3.66GHz with an FSB of 458MHz (1,832MHz effective). The P35 Diamond wouldn't overclock the CPU above 3.28GHz, with the FSB topping out at 410MHz (1,640MHz effective). This would be considered a poor result for a mid-range motherboard, so given the P35 Diamond's high price, it's awful.
By dropping the CPU multiplier from 8 to 6, the P35 Diamond benchmarked stably with an FSB of 480MHz (1,920MHz effective). However, this is beaten by other high-end motherboards, which are usually capable of a 500MHz (2,000MHz effective) or higher FSB.
Conclusion
Given that DDR3 DIMMs are more than twice as expensive as DDR2 DIMMs, and currently provide barely any performance benefit, it's incredibly important for DDR3 motherboards to deliver something special. The P35 Diamond tries, with its eye-catching cooling hardware, and the X-Fi and Skype daughterboards. However, closer examination reveals its flaws. The X-Fi card is based on the Creative CA0110-1BG sound chip, which lacks the full suite of X-Fi features, such as EAX 5 hardware acceleration for game audio. However, it does provide better sound quality than standard integrated audio codecs for music playback. However, for gamers, it's a half-way house. The SkyTel daughterboard, on the other hand, is pure gimmick - we'd prefer to use a gaming headset with Skype when the PC's on, or one of the dedicated Skype devices from this month's Custom Kit.
Finally, there's the biggest faux pas of all: the P35 Diamond isn't as good at overclocking as the other DDR3 motherboards boards we've tested. It isn't even as good as the el cheapo ECS P35T-A. As such, it fails in the most crucial test and, with such underwhelming extras, it fails to provide any other reason for you to buy it.
Ultimately, you'd be far better off investing in the Asus P5K3 Deluxe WiFi-AP or Blitz Extreme and adding the gaming X-Fi of your own choice.
