MSI K8N Neo Platinum Edition Review - PAGE 5

BIOS

The standard Award Phoenix BIOS makes an appearance here on the K8N Neo. The menu that should interest the enthusiast the most is the CELL menu which is where the overclocking and majority of tweaking options are.

DRAM Options

The DRAM options are on the basic side when it comes to adjustment. Most of the requisites are covered but the truly hardcore may be pining for more advanced memory options.

CPU

If Athlon 64s are ever unlocked, features like the multiplier adjustment can be taken advantage of. The CPU voltage range on the K8N Neo is quite impressive. The CPU bus can be adjusted from 200-300 in 1 Mhz increments. It would be preferable to go with the type box format seen on some other boards rather than having to scroll through a giant list though. Those looking to underclock (and undervolt) for a HTPC or some sort of quiet application may want to look elsewhere as the the CPU bus speed cannot drop below the stock 200.

The D.O.T overclocking options are kind of neat. It is seperated into 6 levels ranging from a 1% to 11% overclock.

Other

A neat feature that I've seen for the first time in the BIOS is the the ability to adjust the HyperTransport ratio. Overclocking woes with first generation AMD64 motherboards was often blamed on the HyperTransport bus being sensitive to higher frequencies. Note that the default is 4x the CPU ratio which makes for 800 Mhz, bringing the NForce 3 250 up to par with its VIA counterpart. A 5x option is also available. Might be interesting to bump down the HT ratio and see if the FSB can be pushed up a bit.

Note the additional SATA drives supported directly by the MCP unit of the K8N Neo as the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th master.