by Doors4ever
03/14/2008 | 06:28 PM
Intel X48 Express chipset was first promised to launch in January 2008 and the mainboard manufacturers received engineering samples of this core logic set last year. Then the launch was delayed until the second half of March, so we have already seen quite a few of engineering samples of mainboards based on this chipset by now.
<%BANNER[article]%>It is quite hard to find differences in the technical specifications between the new Intel X48 Express and its predecessor. It also supports all new LGA 775 Intel processors including quad-core ones, works with second generation PCI Express interface, supports DDR2 and DDR3 SDRAM, comes equipped with Intel ICH9 South Bridge. Looks like the only feature distinguishing this core logic set from Intel X38 Express is the official support of 400 (1600) MHz FSB, however we all understand perfectly well that this is a purely formal difference. Even some Intel P35 Express based mainboards did support this bus frequency already, not to mention X38 Express based ones. By support we certainly mean the availability of appropriate memory dividers that could allow it to work with 400MHz FSB at the nominal frequencies of 800, 1066 and 1333MHz. Because even the mainboards based on older chipsets, such as i965 and i975 could easily work at these and even higher frequencies, but only incase the memory frequency was increased accordingly.
So, Intel X48 Express chipset may be regarded as a formally improved X38. We are going to look at a new MSI X48 Platinum mainboard today from this particular stand point. We will discuss its PCB design, features and functionality, BIOS options and overclocking friendly abilities.
MSI X48 Platinum mainboard ships in MSI’s traditionally designed box with the major features of the solution listed on the front of it:
On the reverse of the box you can find a little more detailed list of the mainboard specifications:
The accessories bundle includes a common set of cables such as FDD and IDE cables, power adapters for Serial ATA HDDs and four SATA cables. This time, however, they are all packed into a single unit:
Moreover, the box also contains an I/O Shield, and additional bracket with one IEEE1394 port and two USB ports, and a set of connectors for easy connection of the major interfaces to the front panel USB, IEEE1394 and audio ports called M-connectors.
The board is also accompanied with a user’s manual, colorful poster with brief installation instructions, all necessary utilities and drivers for Windows XP and Windows Vista.
We have already seen all these accessories before, but this time the package also included something new:
MSI X48 Platinum mainboard is equipped with four graphics card slots that is why it is bundled with a pair of MSI Multi-GPU CrossFire Video Link Cards. In other words, these are two flexible bridges for pairing the installed graphics cards.
MSI X48 Platinum mainboard looks very nice from the technical as well as aesthetical standpoints. As for the aesthetics, it deserves our best praises for very well-balanced, harmonious color scheme, sophisticatedly curved heatpipes… The only discord brought into this pretty picture is the too bright LEDs that are not that functional. However, you will only see them when the mainboard is powered up and they may annoy only those of you who have transparent panels or windows in their system case.
However, aesthetics and harmony are not the primary topics of our examination, so let’s move on to the technical side. MSI X48 Platinum has very good layout, close to classical, I would say. All components seem to be very conveniently located and do not stand out at first glance:
As usual, let’s get to the roots of things starting with the most noticeable component – fanless Circu-Pipe cooling system that has changed a lot since the first appearance on MSI platforms. We have already come across this cooling solution when we talked about MSI P35 Platinum Combo and MSI P35 Platinum mainboards, and in both those cases the Circu-Pipe cooling system used was exactly the same. This time, the first heatpipe originates not from the ICH9R South Bridge heatsink but from exact same heatsink marked as PCIe Expander. The heatsink tops IDT PES16T7 controller that manages the work of two additional PCI Express x16 slots.
Missing the first two smaller heatsinks, this heatpipe passes through the base of the large heatsink on the chipset North Bridge and loops into half a ring above it.
However, the second half a ring of the other heat-pipe is missing, now this heatpipe starts not above the heatsink, but at its base and then goes straight to the heatsink on MOSFET transistors together with the other two heatpipes.
The plate array on the remaining half a ring became larger to make up for the absence of the second half a ring, however the heatsinks on the chipset North Bridge and MOSFET transistors remained of the same size. They just started to look a little rougher because they no longer have rounded corners, but they remained of exact same size, even though the fourth heatsink - that used to be next to the memory slots on MSI P35 Platinum mainboard - has also disappeared. The absence of the fourth heatsink is definitely a good thing because it ensures much better mainboard compatibility with large processor coolers, however, it has a negative effect on the cooling efficiency. The platform now has an additional PCI Express controller, the chipset North Bridge heats up noticeably greater, but the heat dissipation area of the Circu-Pipe cooling system got smaller, which immediately showed in our tests.
We use Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor based on Kentsfield B3 revision core to test the efficiency of chipset cooling systems reviewed mainboards. The CPU is overclocked to 3.4GHz by raising the voltage. The system is then loaded to its maximum with Prime95 utility. When we tested Circu-Pipe cooling system on MSI P35 Platinum mainboards, it just warmed up quite tangibly, but coped with its cooling task perfectly well without any additional efforts on our end. Now the heatsinks heat up so greatly that I can’t hold a finger on top of any of them for long, even though there is an additional fan installed and a Zalman CNPS9700 LED processor cooler working at its fool fan rotation speed.
MSI is especially proud of their processor voltage regulator circuitry design implemented on MSI X48 Platinum mainboard. Here is a quote from the official company press-release: “In order to provide the most stable environment for overclocking, MSI X48 Series comes with a revolutionary “Dual-Channel PWM” (PWM: Pulse Width Modulation; controlling analog circuits to provide a CPU's power). The advanced design of two pairs shielded choke and MOSFET base on the basic 4-phase PWM provide the best convert rate of CPU power to make the highest power efficiency.”
The lower part of the mainboard PCB carries two blue second-generation PCI Express x16 slots. Besides that MSI engineers managed to squeeze in there another two PCI Express x16 slots, two PCI Express x1 slots and one PCI slot. The number of additional controllers for hard disk drives connection is also not quite standard. There are two of those: Marvell 88SE6111 supports two Parallel ATA devices while Silicon Image 5723 adds support for another pair of Serial ATA ports to the four ports laid out on the mainboard (the Intel ICH9R South Bridge supports the total of six). The remaining two chipset SATA are laid out on the rear panel as eSATA connectors.
I have to point out a few definite advantage of MSI X48 Platinum design, such as very convenient color coding of the connectors, Power On and Reset buttons, SATA and PATA connectors positioned sideways. However, I would like to specifically draw your attention to the lower left corner of the mainboard PCB with a four-digit indicator called TroubleShoot Poster.
It is a very convenient and truly great replacement for the traditional POST indicator. Four positions are more than enough to report the boot-up status in text format and give up the codes that require additional decoding. As the start-up POST goes through the LEDs display the entire process step-by-step: CPU → DRAM → DDR3 → ICH → CLOCK → VGA → POST → ATA. In case of a problem you will see right away at what stage it occurred. It is very simple, quick and effective!
The rear panel of MSI X48 Platinum mainboard carries PS/2 connectors for keyboard and mouse, IEEE1394 connector (VIA VT6308P), optical S/PDIF and six audio-jacks (eight-channel Realtek ALC888 codec), two eSATA, Clear CMOS button, two network RJ45 connectors (Realtek 8111B and 82566DC) and eight USB ports. There is no COM port, but it is laid out on the mainboard as a pin-connector and if needed can be used with an additional bracket that you will have to purchase separately.
Summing up our visual examination of the MSI X48 Platinum mainboard I have to mention that it allows connecting six fans, two of which (including the processor fan) may have a four-pin connector.
The following table from the user’s manual will help us sum up all the technical specifications of the new MSI X48 Platinum mainboard:
MSI X48 Platinum mainboard uses the BIOS on AMI micro-code, so we are pretty familiar with its functionality from our previous MSI P35 Platinum mainboard series reviews.
However, we found small differences even in the standard functions list for most mainboards, which we normally do not pay special attention to. Namely, MSI X48 Platinum mainboard meets hardware requirements to Intel VIIV platform. That is why besides the regular Realtek 8111B Gigabit network controller, it also features the second one – Intel 82566DC. For the same reason there is an additional item in the menu called Power Management Setup – Intel Quick Resume Tech.
In the H/W Monitor section you can now roughly adjust the rotation speed of two fans already connected to the board besides the processor one (by 50, 75 or 100%). The rotation speed of the processor fan can be changed from 0 to 87.5% with 12.5% increment depending on the CPU temperature set in the interval from 40ºC to 70ºC with 5ºC increment only if the fan is connected via a four-pin power connector. The mainboard still can control the same number of voltages and the new Efficiency parameter lacks explanation.
The options for saving user setting profiles remained the same as before. We can still save and load two BIOS settings profiles, but cannot add any descriptions or user defined names to them.
Cell Menu section that contains all overclocking friendly features MSI X48 Platinum mainboard has to offer gives MSI every reason to be proud. Let’s walk briefly through the options available there one by one.
D.O.T. Control parameter, which we have discussed in detail in our MSI P35 Platinum Combo review, can no longer overclock graphics cards. Maybe the complexity of simultaneous overclocking of four graphics cards that can be installed into MSI X48 Platinum was the reason for removing this feature. However, it still allows three-stage processor overclocking by up to 20% above the frequency set in the BIOS.
To change the processor clock frequency multiplier we have to disable Intel EIST technology, i.e. the board can no longer reduce the multiplier and processor Vcore in case of low workload at a given moment of time. This technology works perfectly fine when the CPU is running at its nominal speeds or is overclocked by raising the FSB bus frequency without changing the clock multiplier. I believe I should clarify this situation a little bit more.
Most mainboards support Intel’s power-saving technologies not only in nominal mode but also during overclocking. For Conroe processors it shows in lowering of the processor frequency by reducing the clock multiplier to the minimal possible value of x6 and simultaneous lowering of the processor Vcore to 1.1-1.15V. However, it turned out that ASUS mainboards stick to other working principles. Their clock frequency multiplier will get lower in idle mode even if it has been previously changed in the mainboard BIOS. This is, certainly, cool, because lower frequency allows reducing the heat dissipation and slowing down the fans. However, processor voltage still plays the most important role for the heat dissipation parameter, although there is an unpleasant surprise ASUS mainboards have up their sleeve for us here. It turned out that these mainboards will lower the processor Vcore in idle mode only if it remained unchanged in the BIOS. And even the fact that you overclock your processor without increasing its Vcore will not help you. By default, Vcore is set to Auto, and if the FSB has been set relatively high, “smart” ASUS mainboards will increase the processor voltage on their own thus depriving you of Intel EIST technology. You will end up with high power consumption, high temperature and high level of noise generated by the fans rotating at their maximum speed.
We discovered this phenomenon not so long ago that is why we couldn’t help sharing this news in our review of pretty good ASUS Maximus Extreme mainboard. However, although we believe this is unacceptable behavior for ASUS mainboards, there are some users out there who approve of it. They assume that a well-overclocked CPU will not be able to work stably with Vcore at 1.1V that is why it makes perfect sense to give up Vcore lowering possibility. What they do not realize, is that the core voltage will be reduced not to 1.1V, but proportionally to the nominal Vcore or the settings in the BIOS. The higher is the initial Vcore setting, the higher will be the lowered Vcore in idle mode that is why it will not affect the processor operational stability. I have been overclocking processing for quite some time now, and during all those years I have never encountered any negative effect from Intel EIST or AMD Cool’n’Quiet technology with the same functionality. If the CPU reports errors, it happens under heavy workloads and not in the absence of it.
So, non-operational Intel EIST technology during CPU overclocking with Vcore increase on ASUS mainboards is a significant drawback from the consumer standpoint for many users out there, although this problem has definitely become less acute once Intel launched their 45nm Penryn processors. These CPUs have low nominal core voltage, there is little difference between the nominal and reduce Vcore in default mode as well as during overclocking. That is why you no longer see the dramatic difference in heat dissipation and power consumption between different Intel EIST modes, unlike the situation with 65nm Conroe family.
But let’s get back to the Cell Menu options available in the BIOS of MSI X48 Platinum mainboard. FSB frequency may be adjusted from the nominal value to 800MHz with 1MHz increment. The board supports “halved” clock frequency multipliers that first appeared in Penryn processors. The resulting CPU frequency will be immediately displayed in the Adjusted CPU Frequency field. Although if you take a closer look at the previous screenshot, you will see that the board has some problems with arithmetic calculations, when fractional multipliers are used. For example, 540 x 7.5 = 4050 and not 3780MHz, as MSI X48 Platinum mainboard claims.
Memory timings can be set on a separate page. There is no Auto setting for each individual parameter.
The memory frequency is set with Mem:FSB dividers and the resulting value will be immediately displayed in the Adjusted DRAM Frequency field. PCI-E frequency may vary from 100 to 200MHz with 1MHz increment, while PCI bus frequency may be set at 33.3, 33.6, 37.3 or 42MHz.
All voltages except CPU Voltage can be adjusted with a variable increment of 0.02V-0.05V:
All in all, the above discussed options show that MSI X48 Platinum mainboard has everything one might need for successful overclocking. Now let’s check out how well they work in practical experiments.
To check out the above discussed features and potential of MSI X48 Platinum mainboard we used an open testbed built with the following components:
For our preliminary tests of MSI X48 Platinum mainboard we used an old Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 processor. By raising its Vcore to 1.45V it can overclock from the nominal FSB frequency of 266MHz to 490MHz FSB, which is 3.43GHz frequency. This tests the board passed flawlessly, it only set very strange timings for some reason, which we had to correct manually afterwards and the Performance Level was different for each channel, but this is something MSI X48 Platinum mainboard cannot really fix.
In our previous articles we have already mentioned that for our tests we also use Intel Core Extreme QX6700 processor. It overclocks to 3.4GHz with Vcore increased to 1.45V and thanks to its “hot temper” serves to load the voltage regulator circuitry and cooling systems during our test sessions. Unfortunately, the Circu-Pipe cooling of the MSI X48 Platinum mainboard failed to cope with this task successfully. The CPU overclocked just fine, but the heatsinks warmed up excessively. We had to install an additional 50x50x10mm fan, because the standard 25mm fan would not fit between the chipset North Bridge heatsink and the installed graphics card. However, this measure didn’t really help that much: the heatsinks remained scorching hot.
It could be insufficient chipset cooling that in the end affected the performance of MSI X48 Platinum mainboard. The mainboard BIOS formally allows increasing the chipset NB Voltage to 1.83V that tells a lot on the platform stability during CPU and memory overclocking. However, in reality we had to stick to maximum 1.5V. Variable adjustment increment for this voltage setting allows setting it to 1.46V, then to 1.5V and then to 1.58V. While 1.5V was not enough to ensure desired stability and the platform reported errors during the test session, the next available setting of 1.58V produced a completely opposite result: instead of improved stability the errors started to pop up even sooner, probably because of extreme overheating.
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 and Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processors were used only for the preliminary tests of the MSI X48 Platinum mainboard. The main work had to be done by Intel Core 2 Duo E8400. As far as we know, this processor can overclock beyond 4.2GHz on abit IP35 Pro and ASUS Maximus Extreme mainboards. This result can be achieved by pushing the FSB frequency to 470MHz with the default x9 clock frequency multiplier, or to 530MHz with a lower x8 clock frequency multiplier. The processor Vcore should be raised to 1.55-1.6V.
The first attempt to work at 470MHz FSB with 1.55V Vcore setting failed: the board would boot but couldn’t load the Windows OS and displayed the BSOD. When we increased Vcore to 1.6V we could see the desktop, but BSOD would inevitably follow after the first seconds of Prime95 test. Lowering the bus frequency to 460MHz didn’t improve the situation that much: BSOD would now appear after a few minutes into the test. We tried playing with the memory timings and increasing a few other voltages. It did help and the system worked stably for some time at 460MHz FSB, but we had to interrupt the test when the processor temperature reached 76-78ºC. It is way too much even for an open testbed. Maybe the CPU was additionally warmed up by the hot heatsink on top of the chipset North Bridge located nearby.
We decided to lock the CPU Vcore at 1.55V and check out the results in this case. At 455MHz FSB the system ran for about 5 minutes, however at 450MHz FSB we ran Prime95 test for half an hour and the processor temperature didn’t exceed 72ºC. Some of you might be pretty frustrated with these results and could probably give up at this point blaming MSI X48 Platinum for poor overclocking potential, but not us. We decided to check if our Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor still overclock as good as it used to on other mainboards, before making any conclusions about our today’s hero.
On ASUS Maximus Extreme we set the same parameters as before when it overclocked our Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU to 470MHz FSB. It was especially easy to do since all our BIOS settings were saved. So, we start the system at 470MHz bus frequency, boot the Windows, launch Prime95 and in a few seconds get the familiar BSOD. We drop the FSB to 465MHz – the result is the same. Then we check out 460MHz, increase memory timings, but cannot reach any stability whatsoever. It was a shocking discovery, as nothing changed and just recently the system worked flawlessly with the CPU overclocked to 4.23GHz! We had to admit that the overclocking potential of our Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor worsened, degraded, and it happened not in a year and even not in a few months, but after just a few weeks! So what happened?
I am sure you remember our recent review of MSI P35 Platinum Combo mainboard. As we reported, there was a software error that made the system send over 1.8V to Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor although the setting in the BIOS was of 1.55V or 1.6V only. Extremely high processor temperature indicated that there was a problem and the MSI Dual Core Center sidebar that was responsible for it was immediately removed from the system, even before we launched any tests. However, looks like this particular incident has gravely affected the overclocking potential of our Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor.
Frankly speaking, we are not 100% sure that this is how it all happened, maybe long-term tests at 1.55-1.6V voltage eventually let to this effect, as it is still relatively high core voltage for a CPU with the nominal setting of only 1.225V. However we first tested Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor on ASUS Maximus Extreme mainboard where it worked at 470MHz FSB with 1.55V Vcore. Then we continued the tests on abit IP35 Pro mainboard and the same result could only be achieved at 1.6V Vcore. After that we returned to ASUS Maximus Extreme testing and didn’t observe any changes in the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 overclocking potential: it was still running fine at 470MHz and 1.55V Vcore. And now, right after we completed our MSI P35 Platinum Combo tests, we notice significant changes. We tend to believe that it is the core voltage beyond 1.8V that caused it.
However, this is when another question pops up: how far can we now push our Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor? Instead of proceeding with our MSI X48 Platinum mainboard tests we had to go back to ASUS Maximus Extreme to investigate the new overclocking potential of our Intel Core 2 Duo E8400. I will not describe all our experiments in detail this time. All I have to say is that we managed to achieve acceptable stability only at 455MHz FSB. Despite lower frequency, we couldn’t reduce the Vcore setting, it remained at 1.55V. Of course, lower FSB speed required lower memory frequency, so we could also reduce the timings and Performance Level parameter. However, it could hardly make up for the significant worsening of our Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 overclocking potential.
So, will we be able to replicate the same overclocking results on MSI X48 Platinum mainboard? We tried, and we failed. Theoretically, we could make the board work with our CPU at 455MHz FSB and even passed the tests, but during system rebooting the board would often loop and sometimes report CPU over-overclocking. So, it is hardly possible to use the processor in this work mode. So, after our numerous attempts we had to admit that the maximum Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 overclocking achieved on MSI X48 Platinum was 450MHz FSB, which is 4.05GHz clock frequency.
The next screenshot proves that power-saving technologies do work on MSI X48 Platinum even during overclocking. It shows that the processor core voltage, unlike frequency, gets just a little bit lower, which will not harm its stability.
5MHz FSB is not a dramatic difference between MSI X48 Platinum and ASUS Maximus Extreme, so you shouldn’t really worry about it. However, then we discovered that MSI X48 Platinum works not so well with the memory. Unlike ASUS board that was also running at a little higher frequency, we failed to reduce the memory timings, so we had to set CAS Latency 8 instead of CL 7 on ASUS Maximus Extreme to ensure fair comparison. Moreover, Command Rate 1T/2T adjustment didn’t work at all on MSI X48 Platinum: no matter what you set it to in the BIOS, the mainboard would still work at 2T Command Rate. But this is not all yet. ASUS Maximus Extreme mainboard allowed lowering Performance Level to 7, while MSI X48 Platinum didn’t let us do the same and it stayed at 9 all the time. Compare the memory timings on both mainboards side by side and you will understand that even with identical frequency settings, MSI X48 Platinum had absolutely no chance to outperform ASUS Maximus Extreme.
MSI X48 Platinum (left) and ASUS Maximus Extreme (right)
MemSet utility shows that both mainboards work at 2T Command Rate, however, this report is wrong. ASUS Maximus Extreme in fact works at 1T Command Rate, which was confirmed by the performance numbers.
However, MSI X48 Platinum managed to score better than ASUS when we checked out the maximum frequency obtained with lower clock multiplier, at which the overclocked processor remained stable. ASUS Maximus Extreme failed to get past 530MHz, while MSI X48 Platinum ran absolutely stably at 540MHz. since the multiplier was dropped to x7.5, it turns out that MSI X48 Platinum overclocked the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor to the maximum frequency of 4.05GHz – the same as the frequency we obtained with the nominal multiplier of x9.
However, we had to lower the memory frequency even more, but nevertheless couldn’t change the memory timings. Besides, the Performance Level increased and became different for the two channels again. As a result, MSI X48 Platinum couldn’t catch up with ASUS Maximus Extreme in performance.
Although the results of our today’s test session didn’t make an unforgettable impression, among the truly remarkable things we should definitely point out a very convenient TroubleShoot Poster. We have to admit that things have improved noticeably compared with the MSI P35 Platinum mainboard series. For example, the mainboard didn’t experience the same operation malfunctions as the ones we encountered with the P35 Platinum Combo board reviewed recently. However, we can’t help pointing out a definite change for the worse: the fanless Circu-Pipe cooling system can no longer ensure proper chipset cooling efficiency. Anyway, in the very beginning of this review we agreed to compare MSI X48 Platinum against the best Intel X38 Express based solutions, but here MSI X48 Platinum couldn’t outperform ASUS Maximus Extreme, especially when it came to working with the memory subsystem.
However, there is no cause for frustration. Intel X48 Express chipset hasn’t been officially announced yet, so until then MSI has all the time to fix the BIOS issues and may even roll out a new mainboard revision of the MSI X48 Platinum. The really sad thing is that mainboards based on Intel flagship chipsets such as X48 Express and X38 Express do not look as attractive as their younger relatives from the Intel P35 Express series. The chipset price is very high, around $70, which is twice as much as the price of P35. If this is the price of the chipset alone, then the mainboard based on it will start at around $350 or even $400. And why would we go for the flagship solution if it doesn’t differ that much from the well established Intel P35 based product neither in speed nor in functionality?
So, we will continue studying top solutions on Intel X38/X48 Express chipsets, purchasing something adequate from the price to performance prospective on Intel P35 and wait for the summer. Because in summer we should see new promising Intel P45 Express based mainboards. As for Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor and its degradation, we will continue monitoring this case and will keep you posted about all the changes we encounter.