MSI K9A Platinum

Zitat

I think the key message here is that keeping things simple can really work well. MSI has a regular layout with things that are obvious to find and unobtrusive. Only the necessary things like Firewire and simply four SATA 2 ports are included, although the need for dual Gigabit Ethernet is questionable. Integrating Wi-Fi or eSATA would be arguably better than the second Gigabit Ethernet port, and it would add that bit extra functionality. We say this because MSI appears to like catering for everyone a little bit instead of going all out down one path.

We subjected the MSI K9A Platinum to our usual stress test that is in excess of anything anyone would normally put a board through; the board lasted a solid 19 hours before hard locking. That's not a bad showing, in all honesty, although we would have liked to see it pass a full 24 hours. Keep in mind that we also set the ram to 3-3-3-9-1T at 2.3V which is outside of its recommended operating specifications.

[...]MSI's K9A Platinum is an excellent performer at stock speeds, but it's overclocking capabilities are a little bugged and somewhat limited. If you're looking for an overclocker's motherboard, you're better looking at more expensive boards from DFI, Abit and Asus. If heavy overclocking isn't your cup of tea, there's no denying that this board is tremendous value for money for anyone looking to build a fast gaming system on a budget.