MSI P7N2 Diamond
MSI’s Diamond series offer enhanced features compared to its high-end Platinum parts, such as a discrete audio solution rather than a simple codec. Recent models have put the discrete audio controller on a separate card, simplifying the motherboard’s rear panel ports.
Though large coolers are typically expected of enthusiast-market motherboards, one thing that stands out visually about the MSI P7N2 Diamond is its PCI Express x16 slot arrangement. Four graphics cards are supported.
MSI puts the uppermost PCI Express x16 slot in the highest possible position, with two spaces between it and the next x16 slot down. This allows an SLI system to be built with two enormous triple-thickness graphics coolers, though the top graphics card does crowd the DIMM latches a little.
Providing two spaces between the top two x16 slots does have other drawbacks, most notably that the third and forth x16 slot are adjacent. It would be impossible to use four double-thickness cards. MSI could have moved the middle two slots upwards by one position to alleviate the latter problem.
MSI is the only manufacturer to take advantage of the 790i Ultra SLI’s support for four high-bandwidth graphics cards, but the chipset also has one glaring limitation: the fourth slot only provides eight PCI Express lanes. Additionally, all 790i series motherboards provide PCI Express 2.0 transfer mode to only two of the x16 slots.
Four x16 slots might be the most noticeable feature of the P7N2 Diamond, but that doesn’t mean we can completely skip any discussion of the chipset cooler. Because the loop of this “Circu-Pipe” is so tall, users of ultra-wide sinks might have clearance issues — our Zalman CNPS9700 fit, but only because of its unique shape. Furthermore, the three heat pipes that wrap around one corner of the CPU socket could hinder builders from reaching the attachment hardware of some less-ergonomically designed units. Finally, MSI only avoids additional mounting issues by using no sink whatsoever on two of its eight CPU power phases.
MSI uses the same JMicron eSATA controller as Asus, but rather than waste this component’s Ultra ATA capabilities, it has added a second Ultra ATA connector. Thus, this is the only motherboard we’ve seen recently to support four ancient Ultra ATA drives in addition to six internal SATA drives and two eSATA drives.
The top Ultra ATA connector is located above the center of the front edge, perfect for stretching cables to the upper bays of tower cases. The lower connector is likewise perfectly located for connection to lower-bay hard drives, at the front of the P7N2 Diamond’s bottom edge.
Unfortunately, the floppy header is too far away from the 3.5” external bay of most cases, and the continued use of these devices is an unfortunate fact for most Windows XP users who prefer AHCI or RAID mode for their hard drives. XP may be “dead”, but it still has a huge following among the gaming community.
Like Asus, MSI turns all of its internal SATA connectors towards the front edge of the motherboard, which makes for tidy cabling in enormous cases, but prevents cable insertion in many smaller designs. At least MSI put its IEEE-1394 port a few inches forward of the location its competitor chose...
Tiny power and reset buttons go almost unnoticed on the P7N2 Diamond’s bottom-front corner, easing bench testing.
