Introduction
Now that we've let the cat out of the bag in reference to NVIDIA's nForce 500 MCP family, we're able to delve deeper into the various boards that are now supporting the new chipset. However, instead of focusing entirely on the ultra high-end nForce 590 SLI, we'll be looking at the mainstream performance segment this time round. The board in question is MSI's K9N Platinum, which is based on the nForce 570 Ultra MCP. If you need a quick recap, the nForce 570 Ultra is a single GPU support solution featuring the advanced storage and networking features of the nForce 500 MCPs (you can read the full details of the nForce 500 here ).
The MSI K9N Platinum motherboard.

The K9N Platinum is the little brother to the K9N SLI Platinum, which we've previewed recently. Both boards share the same design elements from PCB layout to components. However, because of the chipset differences, there are certain things you'd want to look out for. Before we go further though, let's have a look at the K9N Platinum's packaging contents and detailed specifications below:-
4 x SATA data cables
2 x SATA power converter cables
1 x rounded 80-conductor Ultra ATA data cable
1 x rounded floppy drive data cable
FireWire (2 ports) bracket
USB 2.0 (2 ports) and MSI D-Bracket 2
I/O shield
Driver CD
Quick user's guide
MSI K9N Platinum Technical Specifications
CPU Support Supports AMD Socket AM2 CPUs
Supports AMD Cool 'n' Quiet Technology
Chipset NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra
Bi-directional 1GHz (2000MT/s) HyperTransport interface
20 lanes total PCI Express configuration
Supports up to ten USB 2.0 ports
Supports six SATA 3.0Gbps ports
Single-channel Ultra ATA-133 IDE port
2 x IEEE 802.3 NVIDIA MAC for 1000BASE-T
Memory Dual channel memory architecture integrated into processor
Four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets
Supports 1.8v DDR2 SDRAM DIMM modules
Supports up to 8GB using DDR2 400/533/667/800
Storage NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP
2 x Ultra ATA 33/66/100/133 (data transfer rate up to 133MB/sec.)
6 x SATA 3.0Gbps interface
NVIDIA MediaShield Technology
Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5
Audio Realtek ALC883 8-channel HD Audio CODEC
Optical and Coaxial S/PDIF Output
Networking 2 x NVIDIA Gigabit LAN co-supported by Vitesse VSC8601XKN PHY (Transceiver)
IEEE 1394 (FireWire) VIA FireII VT6307 FireWire controller
2 x 1394a ports @ 400Mbps
I/O Interface 1 x Floppy connector
1 x Ultra ATA IDE connectors
6 x SATA connectors
10 x USB 2.0 ports (4 x rear, 2 x bracket, 4 x header)
2 x IEEE 1394a ports (1 x rear, 1 x bracket)
2 x RJ45 LAN port
1 x Optical S/PDIF Output
1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output
8-Channel Audio I/O ports
1 x CD-IN
1 x 9-pin serial port
1 x parallel port (SPP/EPP/ECP)
1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2 mouse port
1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2 keyboard port
Expansion Slots 2 x PCIe x16 slots
2 x PCIe x1 slot
3 x 32-bit PCI slots
Special Features D.O.T. Express (Dynamic Overclocking Technology)
Dual CoreCell
PCB ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6"(30.5cm x 24.4cm)
A very packed rear I/O panel with a mix of legacy and new connections. PS/2, Serial, Parallel, FireWire, RJ45, USB 2.0, S/PDIF and analog audio. They are all there.