MSI's P6N Diamond with X-Fi pixellated

Author: Tim Smalley
Published: 17th March 2007
Comments (18) Stumble
MSI's P6N Diamond has on-board X-Fi, as we reported back in January.

MSI's P6N Diamond has on-board X-Fi, as we reported back in January.

A couple of months ago, we managed to get hold of some information regarding MSI's upcoming P6N Diamond board - the first motherboard to feature an on-board X-Fi sound chip.

The board was delayed for a while, and the company is now quite late to market with its high-end nForce 680i SLI solution.

Instead of widespread sales, MSI expects to release the board as a limited edition and may bolster the bundle up a little in the process.

The on-board X-Fi means that the P6N Diamond has arguably the best embedded sound solution on a motherboard to date.

Typically, motherboards are stuck with low-quality chips that aren't up to scratch if you're a heavy gamer. With that said, on-board sound improved dramatically when the HD audio era started to really take off, but there was still no contest between discrete and embedded audio.

Other noteworthy features on the P6N Diamond include four PCI-Express x16 slots that are configurable between x8-x8-x16-x8 and x16-x8-x16 using a digital switch, hardware RAID 0 and RAID 1 (on two SATA ports), and support for MSI's Dual CoreCell technology. We've attached a picture of the board below.

Discuss in the forums

Quote r4tch3t 17th March 2007, 08:15
Any idea on release price? I would have liked to see a 16x 16x 4x and 4x option as well, instead of rendering one slot inoperative when in SLI mode.
Nice board though. And with the X-Fi on board, the PCI slots are less needed.
Quote DougEdey 17th March 2007, 08:16
And it's not Vista ready! How surprising.
Quote JADS 17th March 2007, 08:58
SLI, triple monitors and Areca SATA RAID... Is niiiice! :D
Quote rupbert 17th March 2007, 11:43
Hardware RAID is nice.
Quote r4tch3t 17th March 2007, 11:45
Quote:
Originally Posted by rupbert
Hardware RAID is nice.
That it is, shame its only for two ports.
Quote rupbert 17th March 2007, 11:48
Quote:
Originally Posted by r4tch3t
That it is, shame its only for two ports.

True, it's a good start though.

I suppose they assume most enthusiasts will only be running RAID 0 over two drives anyway...
Quote JADS 17th March 2007, 12:12
Quote:
Originally Posted by r4tch3t
That it is, shame its only for two ports.

You could lob an Areca 24 port SATA RAID 8x PCI-E into one of the 16x slots :)
Quote Bluephoenix 17th March 2007, 16:31
Hmm, what X-Fi version?

whether anyone will shell out for it at the (presumed) premium will depend on what flavor of X-Fi is on it.

they also should have included a header for the X-Fi 5.25" bay, which is where most of the I/O options reside.

Is there X-RAM on board? with more games supporting that now it would makes sense seeing as this is aimed at gamers.

other than that the inclusion of hardware RAID and configurable PCI-E slots makes this ideal for a home media server (in 8x8x16x8 just put in an HDMI 8600 and a couple hardware RAID cards :D )

also it removes the problem of choosing between a TV tuner and a soundcard

Good Going MSI!!!
Quote Woodstock 17th March 2007, 20:51
x16-x8-x16, the last slot should be configuarble to x1 when in the "SLI" mode
@Bluephoenix iirc its the extreme music edition so that would be a no to the x-ram
Quote r4tch3t 18th March 2007, 02:28
Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodstock
x16-x8-x16, the last slot should be configuarble to x1 when in the "SLI" mode
@Bluephoenix iirc its the extreme music edition so that would be a no to the x-ram
I agree, after looking at the specs of the 680i it should have no trouble having a 16-8-16-1 setup as there would still be 5 PCI-E lanes free for communication betweeen the MCP and SPP.
Quote Woodstock 18th March 2007, 03:53
Quote:
Originally Posted by r4tch3t
I agree, after looking at the specs of the 680i it should have no trouble having a 16-8-16-1 setup as there would still be 5 PCI-E lanes free for communication betweeen the MCP and SPP.

lol i hate companys that do slight corner cuts
Quote Gravemind123 18th March 2007, 03:54
Tom's Hardware got there hands on a preproduction model of the board, and it seems to be pretty interesting, letting you run two sets of SLI at once! The idea of on-board sound as quality as X-Fi is sweet. If the board can overclock well it would make a great gaming pc, and 4 PCI-E is a pretty interesting feature, quad-sli 8800s anyone?
Quote Woodstock 18th March 2007, 04:44
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gravemind123
Tom's Hardware got there hands on a preproduction model of the board, and it seems to be pretty interesting, letting you run two sets of SLI at once! The idea of on-board sound as quality as X-Fi is sweet. If the board can overclock well it would make a great gaming pc, and 4 PCI-E is a pretty interesting feature, quad-sli 8800s anyone?
how could quad sli work when each card only has a connector to be connected to one other card and furthmore the heat, noise and power consumtion wouldnt be worth the price for such little bennifet
Quote Bindibadgi 18th March 2007, 18:01
Just a quick note after speaking to some other manufacturers:

The 680i is an expensive chipset.

The X-Fi chip is around $40 on its own in this version.

Hardware RAID is a premium product not included in the economies of scale savings other major components are subject to.

Bottom line: A VERY Expensive motherboard, or one MSI will have very little margin on.
Quote Krikkit 18th March 2007, 18:11
Should be pretty awesome though, hardware RAID is a welcome inclusion, and the X-Fi idea is fantastic.

Fingers crossed it might be worth paying for one of these mobos, even at £250-300
Quote BUFF 19th March 2007, 16:38
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi


Bottom line: A VERY Expensive motherboard, or one MSI will have very little margin on.
it's on Froogle ~£220 so if that price is correct make up your own mind.
When it will actually appear in stock is another thing ...
Quote rupbert 19th March 2007, 16:40
Well the cheapest X-Fi card is around £50 and a 2 port Raid controller would be £40, so I guess £200-£230 isn't actually that expensive...
Quote KayinBlack 18th November 2007, 02:38
I'm setting mine up now, and it may not be full Vista capable, but it wouldn't be MSI's fault-ALchemy may not support the onboard, at the behest of Creative, forcing me to use my already existing X-Fi...
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