Traditionally there is almost no performance difference between motherboards targeted to Athlon 64 CPUs, since processor based on AMD64 architecture have an embedded memory controller, so the chipset doesn’t play any drastic role on performance. Because of this the decision on what socket AM2 motherboard one should buy must be based on extra features, price and overclocking capability.

MSI K9N Diamond is the most high-end socket AM2 motherboard from MSI and competes directly with ASUS M2N32-SLI De Luxe and Gigabyte GA-M59SLI-S5. Even though all these three boards provide the same basic features provided by nForce 590 SLI – like two x16 PCI Express slots, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, six SATA-300 ports and 7.1 audio – and Firewire ports, there is an important difference between them.

The biggest advantage of MSI K9N Diamond over its competitors is its on-board audio, provided by an on-board Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE sound card. If you want a socket AM2 motherboard with high-end audio quality, MSI K9N Diamond is the way to go.

The other two boards, however, provides more Serial ATA ports, and Gigabyte’s model provides a third x16 PCI Express slot (working at x8 speed, though).

So the basic question is: do you need a motherboard with more than six SATA-300 ports and maybe a third PCI Express x16 slot or a board with a better audio quality?

As for performance, it is always good to keep in mind that MSI K9N Diamond was faster than the other socket AM2 motherboards we reviewed so far, probably due to nVidia’s dynamic overclocking feature, called “LinkBoost technology”, which was disabled on the other boards.