MSI K9A Platinum review

Caught in the CrossFire

Reviews
By tech.co.uk staff
published
This AMD AM2 socket board earns demerits courtesy of a quartet of SATA ports and the close proximity of the IDE slot and ATX power input

TechRadar Verdict

A good performer with decent potential for the price

Pros

  • +

    Great value for money

Cons

  • -

    Poor layout

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We may have gone off Nvidia's SLI dual-GPU technology in rather spectacular fashion. But when it comes to ATI's CrossFire platform we were never even on it.

The number of CrossFire rigs in the wild is slim to none. Factor in the parlous state of ATI's new DX10 cards and we're forced to disregard the CrossFire support delivered by the K9A.

With that in mind, the dual-16-lane PCI Express spec that comes with the otherwise impressive ATI Radeon Xpress 3200 chipset isn't much of a deal clincher, either.

Elsewhere, this AMD AM2 socket board earns demerits courtesy of a quartet of SATA ports and the close proximity of the IDE slot and ATX power input. That said, we're recommending it on price, performance and overclocking. A lot of board for the money.

tech.co.uk staff

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