DigitTimes
reports that MSI has cooked up a motherboard based on Nvidia's nForce 680i
SLI chipset that features an integrated Sound Blaster X-Fi sound chip from
Creative. This P6N Diamond motherboard, which MSI is showing off at CeBIT, has a
built-in version of the X-Fi XtremeAudio, Creative's cheapest X-Fi sound card on
the market today. This integrated version of the X-Fi series may lack some
of the features that the add-in cards deliver, but for many the opportunity to
have X-Fi onboard means lower costs and better performance than other integrated
audio solutions. MSI mentioned that it has been working closely with Creative
for over two years and the co-operation is working well for both parties.
In addition to its above-average onboard audio, the P6N Diamond has a few
other features that make it stand out from the crowd of 680i-based boards. As
with boards from other manufactures, the P6N features three x16 PCIe Express
(PCIe) slots, and then adds a fourth for good measure. The four slots are paired
up electrically as two x16 and two x8 and allow the P6N to support SLI plus a
couple of PCIe add-in cards now, but MSI also mentioned SLI Physics and Quad-SLI
will also be possible in the near future. Additionally, MSI highlighted that the
RAID controller on the P6N supports hardware RAID 0 and 1 as well as RAID 5 in
software.
MSI is quoted by DigiTimes as saying that the P6N Diamond marks the first
appearance of the X-Fi on its motherboards, and that the company plans to
feature X-Fi audio chips on more boards in the future, including models based on
Intel's next-gen Bearlake chipsets. In the meantime, the P6N Diamond is
reportedly expected to launch in the second quarter with a price tag of $280.
I do applaud MSI's attempts at bringing higher quality audio on-board, but if they're going to cut features......Also, just like the onboard "Audigy" we saw before, this "X-Fi" is not hardware accelerated at all. It's another software-based solution....
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