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MSI P35 Diamond Review
[Abstract]
IntroductionThe past few months have certainly been some of the most interesting in the motherboard market (if like us, you happen to think motherboards are an interesting affair that is). Inte...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Conclusion
Unlike the ASUS P5K3 Premium, MSI's P35 Diamond doesn't really come with any modifications to the motherboard itself. In essence, the P35 Diamond is just a premium packaging of the P35D3 Platinum with all its optional components included. As with any motherboard that tries to give consumers 'something more', there are pros and cons to deal with.
With the P6N Diamond, MSI continued its trend to replace onboard audio with an arguably better chipset (Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio). Although MSI always uses the entry-level chipsets from Creative, they offer the gaming community what HD Audio can never do, and that is full EAX support in all its various incarnations. The P35 Diamond's alternative approach to onboard audio on the other hand, can be seen as a double-edged sword.
Firstly, for someone dead set on getting a separate audio card, and assuming that we're talking about enthusiasts and gamers here who have money to spend on high end gear such as the MSI P35 Diamond, it would be safe to say that they'll have they're sights set on something more powerful such as the X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro. Thus, the P35 Diamond's X-Fi Xtreme Audio bundle may not be of value to this particular group of users. On the other hand, users who aren't as judgmental about onboard audio will also not see the need of an extra bundled sound card when the board already has a decent HD Audio chipset.
That leaves the group of users that believe any sound card will do to replace onboard audio and the bundled X-Fi Xtreme Audio is icing on the cake. Of course, with the premium package pricing attached to the motherboard, it comes up cheaper to just get the P35D3 Platinum and getting an OEM X-Fi Xtreme Audio on the side separately. The cost also includes the SkyTel VoIP card as well; a neat trick to capture the current Skype generation, making setting up your home VoIP service so much easier without the need to buy additional VoIP gear. Most people are more familiar with their home phone than having to fiddle with headsets. However, the SkyTel card is also an optional item for the P35D3 Platinum equipped with the Realtek ALC888T CODEC, so its not something exclusively available only to the P35 Diamond as well.
MSI P35D3 Platinum + SkyTel VoIP card + Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio = MSI P35 Diamond |
Looking at the product itself, the P35 Diamond is an excellent board. Like the P35 Platinum before, the P35 Diamond showed exceptionally strong performance in SYSmark 2004 and impressive memory subsystem performance throughout our benchmarking process, and this time, surpassing the ASUS P5K3 Deluxe in most applications. It is quite obvious that they've optimized performance real well. From what we can tell, the board was rock solid throughout our testing, so whatever MSI has done, they've managed to deliver an exceptional performer in the P35 Diamond without any compatibility or stability complications. On the down side, overclocking still won't be one of the board's main forte, but at 465MHz, it is still considered a capable overclocker.
Still sporting the funky Circu-Pipe cooler. |
One of the things we loved about the P35 Platinum is still what we like best about the P35 Diamond, and that is MSI's new Circu-Pipe cooling. It is not only the most unique, but it is lightweight and still the best performing (by touch) P35 chipset cooler we've come across. If you think the all-in-one packaging bundle of the P35 Diamond is your cup of tea, the board carries an average price of US$280. Alternatively, the standalone P35D3 Platinum can be found for about US$180. Whichever one you pick, MSI's performance speaks out.
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