The white PCI Express x16 is the primary slot so if you're only using a single videocard, put it there. The secondary physical PCI Express x16 slot internally operates at PCI Express x4 speeds. There are two PCI Express x1 slots for high bandwidth devices and two PCI slots round out the expansion slots. If you plan on running two videocards in CrossFire mode, don't forget to plug in the aux power molex power connector just above the first PCI Express x1 slot.

The bottom right hand corner of the motherboard has five Serial ATA II connectors, three USB headers, an IEEE 1394a header, the CMOS battery, the read Clear CMOS button and the front I/O jumper. Placed on its side is the lone IDE connector.

The Intel P35 Express chipset is compatible with either DDR2 or DDR3 memory. The MSI P35 Platinum has four memory slots which only support DDR2 RAM. It's recommended that you run the motherboard with an ATX 2.0 spec compatible power supply.

Space around the LGA775 CPU socket appears tight, but MSI state that there is enough space around its Circu-Pipe heatsink that users can easily install large after market CPU heatsinks like the Zalman CNP9500. If you install a waterblock, make sure you point a fan in the direction of those copper heatpipes and heatsinks which surround the CPU socket. The system is designed to work with airflow generated by a CPU fan, and if that is removed there may not be sufficient airflow to keep the P35 Express chipset, MOSFETS and other logic devices running cool.

We're happy to see two eSATA ports located at the rear I/O of the MSI P35 Platinum motherboard. External HDD enclosures are widely available and the logical route to go since eSATA is much faster than USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394b.