Intel's latest chipset, the P35 is a replacement for the 965 chipset and is based around the number 1333- you will be able to use Intel's upcoming CPUs based on the 133MHz FSB as well as DDR3-1333MHz modules on this chipset. Also introiduced with the P35 Express is a new Southbridge- the ICH9 which offers native eSATA as well as a higher number of USB 2.0 ports amongst other things. Today, we take a look at our first P35 chipset based board- the MSI P35 Platinum. This board is positioned at the highest-end that MSI has to offer for this chipset- lets find out if it delivers.

The P35 Platinum's packaging is pretty ordinary and doesnt feature any of the over-the-top stuff like some of the extremely high-end boards we've looked at. This is because the board is targetted more towards the mainstream segment. Inside the cardboard box, you'll fine the usual SATA and IDE cables along with a backplate for firewire. A large-sized quickstart guide in multiple languages is included in the packaging (sadly Arabic is missing) as well as an instruction manual and a drivers and applications CD.

The first thing that strikes you about the P35 Platinum is the funky heatpipe design that cools the Northbridge and Southdridge as well as the MOSFETs. We can say that it works really well as the heatpipes were barely warm even when overclocked, however, the bad thing is that you'll be hardpressed to install CPU HSF units other than the tock one provided by Intel. We could not get one of our PCZ HSF units to install on this board. Also, the heatsink on the Southbridge is quite tall and our 8800GTX card didnt like that too much- we had to move it a bit to make sure it was fitted in properly.

The main power connector is conveniently located next to the memory sockets however, the eight-pi connector is lost between the heatpipes. Ideally, it would've been located right on top of the board. The P35 Platinum features two PCI-E x16 sized slots and two PCI-E x1 sized slots along with two 32-bit PCI slots. We feel this is a pretty good configuration as it allows you to connect two graphics cards as well as your PCI based Sound card or TV tuner card.

There are five SATA ports on the board- four from the Southbridge and one from an external connector that also allows you to add a couple of IDE devices, support for which has been left our from Intel's Southbridge. Next to these SATA ports, you find the clearing CMOS button which is certainly better than the Jumper that we're used to. Lastly, MSI places all the headers across the lower end of the board which include USB, Firewire and Audio. A floppy connector is also positioned here, although we would've preferred for it to be closer to the IDE connector.