Which NF4 Motherboard Do I Have.

Question

Which Board Do I Have?
MSI has done a great job in getting all the new nForce 4 based boards out into the market, but it sometimes gets a bit confusing which board is which based on point of purchase., (country, and regions within a country), and manufacturers description. Currently MSI has seven nForce 4 based motherboards in the channel, three of which are NF4-Sli, two are NF4-Ultra, one is plain NF4 and one NF4-4x.  Adding to the confusion is the fact that not all boards are available within a given region, and the fact that MSI desperately needs someone to proof read each boards internet descriptions as some don’t even make reference to the correct chipset.
The MSI K8N Diamond is virtually  identical to the MSI K8N Neo 4 Platinum Sli, where the only difference between these two boards is based upon the option package.  A version of the Diamond ships with a WiFi+Bluetooth Dual Net card.  The only real distinction between these two boards are the region they are marketed and the logo silk-screened on the boards themselves.
MSI K8N Diamond aka MS-7100-010
2 x PCI-E 16x (1x) Ports
4 NV SATA II ports which support Raid 0. 0+1, and JBOD mode
2 SI SATA II Ports supporting Raid 0, 1 mode
1 Lan port via NF4 Sli Chipset featuring 10/100/1000
1 Lan port via Marvel 88E8053 featuring 10/100/1000
1 IEEE 1394 port VIA 6306 Chipset
Onboard 24-bit H/W Audio Creative SoundBlaster
In some areas, this board will ship with an 802.11b WiFi + Blurtooth Dual Net PCI card
MSI K8N Neo 4 Platinum Sli aka MS-7100-020
2 x PCI-E 16x (1x) Ports
4 NV SATA II ports which support Raid 0. 0+1, and JBOD mode
2 SI SATA II Ports supporting Raid 0, 1 mode
1 Lan port via NF4 Sli Chipset featuring 10/100/1000
1 Lan port via Marvel 88E8053 featuring 10/100/1000
1 IEEE 1394 port VIA 6306 Chipset
Onboard 24-bit H/W Audio Creative SoundBlaster
MSI K8N Neo 4 Sli aka MS-7100-030
2 x PCI-E 16x (1x) Ports
4 NV SATA II ports which support Raid 0. 0+1, and JBOD mode
1 Lan port via NF4 Sli Chipset featuring 10/100/1000
1 IEEE 1394 port VIA 6306 Chipset
Onboard 24-bit H/W Audio Creative SoundBlaster
The MSI K8N Neo 4 Platinum and the MSI K8N Neo 4-FI are nVidia NF4-Ultra based solutions, featuring:
MSI K8N Neo 4 Platinum aka MS-7125-010
1 x PCI-E 16x Port
1 x PCI-E 4x Port
1 x PCI-E 1x Port
4 NV SATA II ports which support Raid 0. 0+1, and JBOD modes
4 SI SATA Ports supporting Raid 0, 1 Raid5, Raid10, JBOD modes
1 Lan port via Marvel 88E1111 featuring 10/100/1000
1 Lan port via Marvel 88E8053 featuring 10/100/1000
1 IEEE 1394 port VIA 6306 Chipset
Onboard 7.1 channel audio codec RealTek ALC850
MSI K8N Neo 4-FI aka MS-7125-020
1 x PCI-E 16x Port
1 x PCI-E 4x Port
1 x PCI-E 1x Port
4 NV SATA II ports which support Raid 0. 0+1, and JBOD modes
1 Lan port via Marvel 88E1111 featuring 10/100/1000
Onboard 7.1 channel audio codec RealTek ALC850
Then there is the MSI K8N Neo 4-F which is built around the nVidia NF4 Chipset, featuring:
MSI K8N Noe 4 F aka MS-7125-030
1 x PCI-E 16x Port
1 x PCI-E 4x Port
1 x PCI-E 1x Port
4 NV SATA ports which support Raid 0. 0+1, and JBOD modes
1 Lan port via Marvel 88E1111 featuring 10/100/1000
Onboard 7.1 channel audio codec RealTek ALC850
The last, but by no means the least, is the MSI K8N Neo 3 F, based around the nVidia NF4-4x.  What makes this board high interest is two fold.  First, it’s one of a few boards marketed to give Socket 754 an upgrade path. Second, not only does it have the standard 16x PCI-E Port, but also has a slot that MSI is calling an AGR (Advanced Graphics Riser) slot for, drum roll please, an AGP card.  Yes, we have an NF4 based board that contains both 16x PCI-E and AGP and which runs all current A64/754 chips.  This board features:
MSI K8N Neo 3-F aka MS-7135-010
800MHz HT
1 x PCI-E 16x Port
1 x PCI-E 1x Port
1 x AGR (AGP) Slot
4 NV SATA ports which support Raid 0. 0+1, and JBOD modes
1 Lan port via Marvel 88E1111 featuring 10/100/1000
Onboard 6 channel audio codec RealTek ALC655

Answer 1

I noticed that when I researched the slot.  Like you mention HighTest it allows one to use their existing AGP card until they upgrade to PCI-E.  Should see alot of peeple moving to that board with existing Socket 754 based systems.