Giving the lackluster performance of motherboards using Intel's X38 chipset, the P35 chipset that was thought to be relegated-sooner-than-expected has been given a lifeline. Performance difference between a fast P35 board and a X38 board is negligible. You could probably save a hundred bucks and invest the cash on a better graphics card.


With the minimal quantity of Intel X38-based boards available in the market, we will be taking a look at an Intel P35-based board from one of the more popular manufacturers - the MSI P35 Platinum which utilises inexpensive DDR2 memories.


The box is simple, with no bling whatsoever. Key features of the motherboard are mentioned on the covers.









Let us take a quick look at the board's specifications:

CPU Supports Intel® Core 2 Quad/Core 2 Duo based processors in LGA775 package.

Supports Intel® Yorkfield, Wolfdale.

Supports FSB 1333/1066/800 MHz.
Chipset Intel® P35 Chipset
Supports FSB 800/1066/1333MHz.
Supports dual channel, DDR2 667/800/1066 (OC).

Intel® ICH9R Chipset
Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0) controller, 480Mb/sec, up to 12 ports.
4 SATAII with 2 eSATA ports with transfer rate up to 3Gb/s.
PCI Master v2.3, I/O APIC.
ACPI 2.0 compliant.
Serial ATA RAID 0/1/5/10.
Integrated AHCI controller
Memory Supports four unbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDR2 SDRAM

Supports up to 8GB memory size

Supports DDR2 667/800/1066 (OC) memory interface
Card Slots Two PCI Express 16X slots with 1x16 and 1x4 operations (PCI Express Bus SPEC V1.0a compliant; supports CrossFire Technology)

Two PCI Express x1 slots. (support PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant)

Two 32-bit v2.3 master PCI bus slots.

Support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface.
Storage One Ultra DMA 66/100/133 IDE controller integrated in Marvell® 88SE6111
Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes.
Can connect up to two Ultra ATA drives

SATA II controller integrated in ICH9R and Marvell® 88SE6111
Up to 300MB/sec transfer speed.
Supports four SATAII ports and two eSATA ports by ICH9R.
Supports AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0/1/5/10.
Supports one SATAII port by 88SE6111

Audio Chip integrated by Realtek® ALC888/ALC888T
Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing

Compliant with Azalia 1.0 spec.
Meet Microsoft Vista Premium spec.

Supports VoIP Card. (only for ALC888T)
LAN Supports PCI Express LAN 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek 8111B
Firewire VIA® VT6308 chipset
Supports up to two 1394 ports. (Rear panel x1, pinheader x1)
Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps
Internal I/O Ports ATX 24-Pin power connector
ATX 4-pin VGA power connector
8-pin ATX 12V power connector
CPU / System x 5 FAN connectors
CD-in connector
Front panel audio connector
Front panel connector
1 x SPDIF-out pinheader 
1 x chasis intrusion connector
1 x serial port pinheader
3 x USB 2.0 connectors
1 x Floppy disk drive connector
5 x Serial ATAII connectors
1 x ATA133 connector
1 x IEEE1394 connector support additional 1 port  (optional)
2 x H/W OC pinheaders  (optional)
Rear I/O Ports 1 x PS/2 keyboard
1 x PS/2 mouse
2 x eSATA ports (please refer to Intel website for eSATA function)
1 x 6 in 1 audio jack
6 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x RJ45 LAN jack
1 x IEEE1394 port (optional)
1 x Optical SPDIF out (optional)
BIOS Plug & Play
Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function
Form Factor ATX Form Factor, 30.5cm(L) x 24.5cm(W)