MSI only got into the enthusiast game a couple of years ago, but since that time the company has certainly come a long way. The first thing we did with the K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI was to set the CPU multiplier to 8x, and the memory to 166 MHz mode. This way neither component would affect the motherboard's maximum overclockable speed. Starting at 200 MHz we slowly raised the motherboard clock speed a few MHz at a time.

We easily passed the 214 MHz mark that the Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI was limited to, but at 221 MHz we ran into a few problems. Raising the chipset voltage to 1.75V solved those issues, but at 232 MHz we again ran into stability issues and had to raise the chipset voltage to 1.85V. In the end, the fastest stable speed we were able to achieve was 238MHz. We think that heat might be an issue as the nForce4 MCP HSF was too hot to touch. Replacing that cooler would probably allow for higher overclocking.

There are a whole host of memory options available, definitely more than we're used to. Tweakers will love playing around inside the K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI BIOS!

MSI allows for a multitude of system adjustments to be made, from changing HyperTransport speed and width to enabling and disabling dynamic overclocking to adjusting the motherboard clock speed between 200-400 MHz in 1 MHz increments. CPU multiplier adjustment is also possible; Athlon64's can access lower multipliers while Athlon64 FXs have total multiplier control. Maximum CPU voltage is 1.55V + 8.3%, memory voltage is 2.85V and chipset voltage can go as high as 1.85V.

PCStats Test System Specs:

processor: amd athlon64 4000+ clock speed: 12 x 200 mhz = 2.4 ghz motherboards: asrock k8 combo-z/asr (ali m1689)* soltek sl-k8tpro-939 (k8t800 pro)* msi k8t neo2 fir (k8t800 pro)* msi k8n neo2 platinum (nf3 ultra)* epox 9nda3+ (nf3 ultra)* gigabyte ga-k8nxp-9 (nf4 ultra)** gigabyte ga-k8nxp-sli (nf4 sli)*** videocard: asus x800xt/vtd* msi rx800xt-vtd256** msi nx6600gt-td128e*** memory: 2x 512mb mushkin pc3200 special ed. hard drive: 40gb western digital special ed cdrom: aopen combo 52x powersupply: seasonic super tornado 400w software setup windowsxp build 2600 via 4in1 4.55v forceware 6.10 beta catalyst 4.12 workstation benchmarks sysmark 2004 business winstone 2004 content creation 2004 super pi sisoft sandra 2004 pcmark04 3dmark2001se 3dmark05 aquamark3 comanche 4 x2: the threat ut2003 ut2004 doom 3

*using the asus x800xt/tvd which is based on the radeon x800xt pe gpu. **using the pci express-based msi rx800xt-vtd256 which uses the radeon x800xt gpu (slightly slower than the asus card). *** gigabyte motherboard was tested with both the rx800xt-vtd256 and two msi geforce 6600gt (nx6600gt-td128e) in sli mode.