Additional BIOS Features
The BIOS of the MSI X48 Platinum doesn’t contain any advanced features for flashing from within the BIOS GUI, but it does provide the option of returning to previous settings following a missed boot. We had to flash the BIOS the old-fashioned way, using bootable media and a flash program downloaded from the MSI website.
Our choice of media during the BIOS update was a USB "thumb drive", which was made bootable using Hewlett Packard’s USB Disk Storage Format Toll V2.0.6.
Getting the new BIOS files was very easy from MSI’s global site, where a top menu bar on each motherboard’s product page has direct links to BIOS, driver, utility and user manual files. Both the global and U.S. sites respond quickly, but the global site is often required to find recently-released motherboard models.
Accessories
| Accessories | |
|---|---|
| Documentation & Software | Motherboard Manual
Quick Installation Guide Motherboard Driver CD (Windows XP) Motherboard Driver CD (Windows Vista) |
| Hardware | 1x 80-conductor Ultra ATA cable, Round
1x Floppy Cable 4x SATA Data Cable 1x eSATA to SATA Data Cable 2x Four-Pin to SATA Power Adapter 1x Front Panel Quick Connector Kit 1x Port Breakout Plate (2x USB, 1x IEEE-1394) 2x CrossFire Bridge 1x I/O Panel Shield |
MSI’s "Platinum" accessory set is a little less elaborate than its "Diamond" kit, simply because the Diamond series is meant to be a little more "upscale". Yet we find a fairly good cable set providing four out of six SATA cables, two 4-pin to SATA power adapters, a quick-connector kit for easing the installation of front panel cables, and even a pair of Crossfire bridges for ATI graphics cards.
Rather than put Windows XP and Windows Vista drivers and applications together on a single DVD, MSI uses two CDs. Applications include the MSI Live Update BIOS utility, MSI Dual Core centre overclocking utility and PC Alert hardware monitoring utility.
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Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate? (P16)
Its no suprise that the manufacturers didn't really bother with a major redesign because this is the last of the current Intel architectures before we move to the CSI memory link in the upcoming CPUs. I say embrace the X48 and enjoy the greatest performance that Socket 775 will ever be able to deliver. Besides since when can you disagree with releasing a validated chipset in favour of overclocking? Some people just want a bloody good board that runs perfectly stable - we are not all overclockers you know (plus there is the issue of possibly invalidating warranties when overclocking is done)