Despite the relatively overclocking unfriendly layout of the motherboard (there are no MOSFET heat sinks) the overclocking options within the BIOS are very comprehensive. The main FSB can be altered between 200 and 450MHz, and the CPU voltage can be cranked up to a whopping 2.3V. Memory voltage can be taken up to 4.1V, though unless you enjoy paying for new memory on a regular basis you might want to keep it significantly below this level! Memory timing options are about as comprehensive as we have seen outside of a DFI board though all important values can be changed.
Using our FX unlocked CPU we were able to take the K8N Diamond Plus up to a maximum clock speed of 319Mhz whilst keeping the chip at its stock speed by changing the multiplier. This doesn’t make it the highest overclock we have seen from an Nforce 4 motherboard, but it certainly isn’t far off. At increased voltage the MOSFET chips did get excessively hot, so people planning on using the K8N Diamond at a heavily over-volted and overclocked speeds on a regular basis will want to invest in some miniature heat sinks to maintain reliability. With a bit more cooling hardware the MSI could have easily become a real overclocking champ.
Conclusion
The MSI K8N Diamond Plus really ticks all the boxes as an enthusiast motherboard. It provides solid stock performance that matches the fastest Socket 939 motherboards we have seen along with an integrated feature set that is without peer. Its inclusion of Creative audio should be a major draw for anyone who doesn’t plan on installing a standalone sound card and the host of tweaks and voltage options should impress even the most hardened of Overclockers. As with all things the board is not perfect; we would have liked to have seen a more comprehensive MOSFET cooling system and perhaps a bit more space between the AUX 12V port and the Northbridge fan header (installation was tricky) but these are extremely minor points. The bottom line is that the K8N Diamond is the best overall motherboard we have seen for Socket 939, even if it doesn’t take top honours in every category. Highly recommended.
Click for an explanation of our awards.
Pros
- Superb layout
- Excellent overclocking options
- Great integrated components
- Creative audio
- Generous bundle
- RAID floppy disks!
- Great attention to detail
- Clear CMOS button
Lows
- A few very minor areas for improvement in the layout
- Insufficient cooling for MOSFETs
