As with any analog signals, appropriate printed-circuit-board layout and grounding techniques should be followed to eliminate ground loops, unwanted parasitic effects, and noise.

In addition to grounding, ripple and noise spikes on the power-supply lines due to digital switching or switching power supplies can corrupt the signal. TI recommends a noise-free design using separate analog and digital ground planes with a single-point connection to achieve high accuracy. For more information about noise and its effects on op amps, see Noise Analysis in Operational Amplifiers.

Rail-to-rail operation mode is available with the OA module at the cost of increased current. This should be used when OA input is near the AVCC rail. See the V_CM specification (see Section 8.8.14) to see if rail-to-rail operation is required for your application. For more information, see the OA chapter of the MSP430F5xx and MSP430F6xx Family User's Guide.

Ground switches are also available for use. See Section 9.12.16 for connections. These ground switches provide a low-ohmic connection to ground to both internal connections and to the external pin. When a ground switch is active, the Digital I/O logic for the corresponding pin is ignored.