Glavni razlog zašto je NVIDIA predstavila nForce 650i SLI čipset je stvaranje adekvatne konkurencije Intelovom čipsetu P965, vrlo popularnom kod svih onih koji su odlučili kupiti Core 2 procesor. Ako je suditi prema rezultatima ovog našeg testa u kojem je glavnu riječ odigrala MSI P6N SLI Platinum matična ploča, NVIDIA sada ima konja za trku u srednjem tržišnom segmentu. U odnosu na Intel P965 čipset, nForce 650i SLI nudi sličnu cijenu, performanse i overclockerski potencijal, a nadilazi ga u smislu podrške za SLI (koji je popularniji od tehnologije CrossFire koju podržavaju neke ploče bazirane na P965 čipsetu) te činjenice da ima dva nativna IDE kanala koji su unatoč penetraciji SATA diskova i optičkih pogona i dalje vrlo tražen feature.

Sama P6N SLI Platinum ploča nije nas osobito impresionirala kad je riječ o overclockanju, a u nekim testovima je imala neočekivano loše performanse. Maksimalna postignuti takt FSB-a od 410 MHz je niži od rezultata koje smo očekivali (450 do 500 MHz), ali ipak omogućava iskorištavanje potencijala Core 2 Duo E4300 procesora koji ima visok množitelj i niski FSB, a slična je situacija sa snažnijim modelima kao što su E6600 i E6700 koji također imaju visok množitelj. Premda su općenito performanse ploče bile bolje ili vrlo slične performansama naše referentne ploče bazirane na Intel P965 čipsetu, u nekim testovima je došlo do naglog pada performansi. Problem smo pokušali riješiti korištenjem v1.22 beta BIOS-a, no postigli smo suprotan efekt u odnosu na posljednji službeni BIOS v1.1 – performanse su u većini testova još više pale. S obzirom na ovakav utjecaj novije beta verzije BIOS-a na performanse, za očekivati je da će MSI s novijim službenijim revizijama BIOS-a srediti spomenute probleme, a možda i poboljšati overclocking.

Unatoč spomenutim problemima, naše je mišljenje da je P6N SLI Platinum je prilično balansiran proizvod koji zahtjevnom korisniku može ponuditi sve što mu treba, ali bez pretjerivanja. Za nešto manje od 1300 kn ova ploča nudi izvrsnu stabilnost, dobru opremu, solidne mogućnosti overclockanja, kvalitetno pasivno hlađenje i odličan layout, što za većinu korisnika, uključujući autora ovih redaka, čini paket koji je teško odbiti.

MSI-jevi distributeri za hrvatsko tržište su tvrtke Feniks kompjutori i Microline.

Conclusion

By introducing nForce 650i SLI chipset NVIDIA wanted to offer a viable alternative to Intel P965 chipset, favored by majority of users who decided to build Core 2 based machine. Judging by results of our test in which NVIDIA’s banner was carried by MSI P6N SLI Platinum motheboard, nForce 650i SLI has very good potential to compete with P965 in mainstream market segment. In comparison to Intel chipset, cheaper member of nForce 600i series offers similar price, performance and overclocking potential, but offers SLI support (truth to say, this multi-GPU tehnology is far more popular than CrossFire offered by some P965 based motherboards) and double IDE channels which are still favored by users who are not so keen on retiring their old hard drives.

P6N SLI Platinum failed to impress us with overclocking results and in some tests this motheboard managed to show very poor performance. Maximum FSB clock we managed to achieve was 410 MHz which is lower than we expected (and we expected between 450 and 500 MHz) but still enough to use full potential of CPUs with higher multiplier like Core 2 Duo E4300, E6600, E6700 and beyond. Altough general performance of MSI motherboard was better or very close to performance of our reference P965 based board, in some tests P6N SLI Platinum managed to obtain unusually poor results. We tried to solve this problem by using v1.22 beta BIOS, but contrary to our expectations, we managed to actually degrade performance even more. Considering how this beta BIOS managed to change performance of the motherboard, we expect that MSI will fix these performance problems and perhaps even provide more overclocking headroom in future BIOS revisions.

Despite mentioned problems, we think that P6N SLI Platinum is a very balanced product which offers pretty much everything demanding users needs, without going overboard with features. For something less than 1300 kn this motherboard offers great stability, good bundle and onboard equipment, solid overclocking potentital, superior passive cooling and excellent layout – combo of features that is for many users, including author of this article, hard to find.

MSI distributors for croatian market are firms Feniks kompjutori and Microline.