MSI P6N SLI-FI / Platinum (650i) Thread

Manual said risk of explosion if battery is placed in improperly, I didn't think my life was worth risking for a 100 dollar mobo.

But I guess I could try.
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My gosh, it's only a 3v battery. If it did blow, I believe it would be small. But really, there's only one way the battery can really fit unless you jam it.
 
normalicy said:
My gosh, it's only a 3v battery. If it did blow, I believe it would be small. But really, there's only one way the battery can really fit unless you jam it.
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I don't know, computers are getting advanced, I figured it'd at least be a decent explosion. Oh well, buying a battery tomorrow.
 
So far, my board has been working great. I only had to replace it once, and that was due to my watercooling loop leaking on it, during a move. Other than that, it's working great as a folding@home machine.
 
sduneman3 said:
So far, my board has been working great. I only had to replace it once, and that was due to my watercooling loop leaking on it, during a move. Other than that, it's working great as a folding@home machine.
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Mine does not OC very well with the Q6600, but other than that, no problems at all. Sometimes it is slow to recognize a new device on the usb ports, but that is not a major problem.
 
I'm still running this board. I love it. I have no idea what I'll replace it with when it comes time to re-do my system. It's been 100% stable, it overclocks my c2d like a champ, and... i dunno, it's just exactly what I wanted from a motherboard: cost-effective, quiet, stable, fast, features. I wish more boards were this good. Asus and Abit could learn a thing or two from this model.

btw, up until today I was running BIOS 1.2. I just upgraded to 1.7 (latest available) in anticipation of picking up an E8400 in the near future. i used MSI's web-based BIOS Flash utility to do the Windows flash option. Worked perfectly.
 
Its been over a year (Platinum ver. bought back in Sept. 07') and my board has been solid running a Q6600 @ 3.33ghz (BIOS v1.5) :)
 
normalicy said:
OK, I'm posting here to see if anyone else has experienced this problem.

I have the P6N SLI-FI. It has been running smooth since this post was begun. Recently, I've started having random lockups. It's been getting so bad lately that it was happening after only 15 minutes running. I have backed all settings to the default & the processor is no longer overclocked. I have tried 4 different sets of ram & 3 power supplies. I have even disconnected everything except for the video card & one DVD drive from it & it still does it in memtest. The one thing I have noticed is a faint hissing noise emanating somewhere from around the top PCI express slot or CPU area (hard to tell) when the lockup happens. This noise is present even if I stop all the fans. Oddly, I replaced my motherboard with a P7N Platinum (refurb which was probably stupid at this point) & it does the exact same thing, only much less frequently.
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Well check this out. I finally decided that the only common thing causing problems was my case. So, I put both boards on my desk top & sure enough, they both went all day long when stress tested. Put either one back in the case & lock-up. But I couldn't see any reason that the case would all of the sudden not work with the motherboard (been using it for over 5 years) & it hasn't been modified. Then I looked at the cold cathode case lights. Up till this point, I've left them hooked up, but thought what the heck. So, I disconnected power & sure enough, both boards are rock stable. Plug them back in & super quick lock-up. So if you ever have really strange lockup issues, don't be afraid to think outside the box.

Anyhow, I've had this board since the first post in this forum & it has been my favorite in many years. I've bought all brands too. Though, the new Ultra Durable Gigabyte ones have caught my attention lately with the 2 Oz Copper PCB, all solid caps & DualBIOS setup. I've used a few & they are rock stable too & reasonably priced.
 
Anyone have any experience with the Q6700 and this board? I've been running a E6750 but hopefully I got in on the Microcenter Q6700 hot deal that was in the Hot Deal's forum. Will be sometime next week for the new processor to get here if I got my order in early enough.

*update*
I just got the shipping confirmation. ;) I'll post how it works once I get it put in.
 
It should be fine... just a faster version of the 6600 which works fine at stock speeds. They just don't OC real well on this board.
 
Ok , need a quicky answer....

Anyone run a E4400 (SLA35 / L2 stepping) on the SLI-FI ? I maybe putting my SLI-FI into a back-up rig with a (not yet purchased) E4400 .

The reason for asking , the E4400 chip is listed on the compatibility list , but only as the SLA98 / M0 stepping : http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=prodcpu2&prod_no=1141&maincat_no=1

We all know how MSI is with some cpu's (listed or not) NOT working on the 650i's (like my past E3110 :p ) , and the chip I "MAYBE" purchasing is a E4400 SLA35 / L2 .

Any comments appreciated .

TIA ;)
 
stereo55 said:
Ok , need a quicky answer....

Anyone run a E4400 (SLA35 / L2 stepping) on the SLI-FI ? I maybe putting my SLI-FI into a back-up rig with a (not yet purchased) E4400 .

The reason for asking , the E4400 chip is listed on the compatibility list , but only as the SLA98 / M0 stepping : http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=prodcpu2&prod_no=1141&maincat_no=1

We all know how MSI is with some cpu's (listed or not) NOT working on the 650i's (like my past E3110 :p ) , and the chip I "MAYBE" purchasing is a E4400 SLA35 / L2 .

Any comments appreciated .

TIA ;)
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My E4400 works great in the board, can't figure why yours wouldn't. So far as I know, all E4XXX CPUs work in this board. It's the 45nm processors that have issues.
 
Hey guys, I'm new here. I wanted to ask for some advice.

First things first, my setup:
Core2Duo 2.4 GHz E6600 running @ 1300 FSB-> 2.91GHz ~
2X Corsair 1GB XMS2 & 2XGskill 2GB Running at motherboard defaults (since I don't know how to set timings independently if that's possible)
850W Corsair PSU
4 HD's, 1 DVD rom, etc etc

After leaving it running un-overclocked for a while, I've decided to overclock since I'm in need of some more power. I ran it up to 1400 FSB, raised the VTT %, Vcore, and SB/NB voltages slightly, and I experienced crashes and high temperatures under prime95 load, (70 C).

Do you guys think it's worth spending 30$ to get a Arctic Freezer Pro 7, reapplying thermal grease, and giving my FSB another big push?

Also, do you think I could stably overclock my memory even though they're different timings and voltages by default? Every time I mess with the ram clock or timings, I crash alot.

Thanks a ton for the input, it's much appreciated.

Edit: I forgot to mention now, I run at 30C idle, 45C during L4D, and upwards of 64C during prime95 stress test. Is this too hot?
 
Hey guys, I'm new here. I wanted to ask for some advice.

First things first, my setup:
Core2Duo 2.4 GHz E6600 running @ 1300 FSB-> 2.91GHz ~
2X Corsair 1GB XMS2 & 2XGskill 2GB Running at motherboard defaults (since I don't know how to set timings independently if that's possible)
850W Corsair PSU
4 HD's, 1 DVD rom, etc etc

After leaving it running un-overclocked for a while, I've decided to overclock since I'm in need of some more power. I ran it up to 1400 FSB, raised the VTT %, Vcore, and SB/NB voltages slightly, and I experienced crashes and high temperatures under prime95 load, (70 C).

Do you guys think it's worth spending 30$ to get a Arctic Freezer Pro 7, reapplying thermal grease, and giving my FSB another big push?

Also, do you think I could stably overclock my memory even though they're different timings and voltages by default? Every time I mess with the ram clock or timings, I crash alot.

Thanks a ton for the input, it's much appreciated.

Edit: I forgot to mention now, I run at 30C idle, 45C during L4D, and upwards of 64C during prime95 stress test. Is this too hot?
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Well, first off, I'd take out one of those sets of ram to see if that makes it stable (swap for the other if it still crashes) to remove the ram from the equation. Usually the default timings on the ram are fairly lax, so there's no reason to push it yet. Once you know your overclock is stable, then I'd mess with the ram. You should be able to get 5-5-5-15 out of that ram at least though (the first 4 settings on the manual configuration, the rest leave on auto). I pretty much just assume to set my ram voltage no matter the brand to 2.0v & even 2.1v wouldn't hurt. If it's lower, that could cause stability issues.

The stock cooler is fine for some people, but if you're going to overclock, I do highly recommend an aftermarket unit (big fan of the Big Typhoon for the money). Hopefully, the cooler will be able to stay with you through a couple builds as well. Your current temps aren't too crazy bad. Certainly not damaging to the CPU, but they could hold you back in an overclock. L4D isn't really a stress on a CPU. Valve's games tend to run real well on any system.

I've found on this board that the northbridge gets pretty warm (actually, so warm that it hurts to touch it). So, a small fan there would probably help you out. I ended up replacing the cooler with a Zalman unit because the factory one seemed too cheap to me, but I'd assume a fan is all one would really need. It actually did help my overclock.

For voltages, well, that's up to you. Either inch it up or go in a large jump & work your way back. You will want to boost the NB voltage though from my experience.
 
Just wanted to chime in and say that an e8400 works in my P6N-SLI. It's black, so I'm assuming version 1. I followed this post for tweaking the settings http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032319957&postcount=2343.. but lowered my Northbridge by 1 step to 1.5v and it still booted. I am afraid to go any lower o the southbridge for fear that it will not post. If it doesn't post, I don't have another CPU to stick in to tweak the settings again.
 
So apparently there's a way to tell if your MSI P6N SLI series motherboard supports 45nm CPUs or not. MSI support had responded to one MSI forum poster that if the MB has QC number 01, 02 or 03 it won't work with 45nm CPUs. QC number is on small transparent round sticker somewhere near the CPU socket. Mine is 01 so I can't upgrade to Wolfdale :/

These older 01, 02 and 03 can be send back to MSI for rework but I think I'm going to change my motherboard when I go for Wolfdale. I think MSI P43 Neo-F + E7400 could be the next upgrade.
 
I checked my board & it has a clear sticker with a 4 on it in between the cpu & the ram... So 45nm chips will work? Just the earlier releases (e8400) or newer ones (e5200)?
 
I'm having an issue with my P6N SLI where it quits seeing the Sata hard drive (WD brand). I am going to do the usual and upgrade the BIOS and reload Windows but I've had this problem randomly off and on since I got it. Is this a compatibility issue, a NB issue? Usually I have to power it down, unplug the sata cables, and sometimes it comes back. The last time I had to move to a different sata port on the mobo to get it to detect the HD in the BIOS.
 
Well, we'll assume that the hard drive itself isn't bad. It could be the cable or it's routing (there have been times where all I had to do was move the data cable away from a high noise chip on the motherboard to make things work again. I'd assume that most BIOS issues have been worked out by now. However, it never hurts to e-mail MSI to see if they have a beta BIOS for this issue. Also, it sounds crazy, but I had some Cold Cathode lights in my case & apparently the ballasts running them were causing some major problems in my computer (first thing I noticed was hard drives dropping out).
 
Greetings you guys...
My P6N SLI Fi is still going strong. I got the right revision too so I have no problem running a 45nm E7200 C2D...

Be warned however, that a most recent BIOS Upgrade - ver 2.7 by MSI disables the control over the C1E Support option. So now it just stays on. Therefore my CPU's clock goes up and down all the time. It doesn't seem to have any negative effect on performance of my rig, but it looks annoying...
:-(
 
Donovan Tipton said:
I checked my board & it has a clear sticker with a 4 on it in between the cpu & the ram... So 45nm chips will work? Just the earlier releases (e8400) or newer ones (e5200)?
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You should not have any problems running Wolfdale CPU. However, update your BIOS to the latest rev before installing it.
 
So long as it's stable, I guess it doesn't matter. Mine has been rock solid, so I haven't even though of upgrading the BIOS in some time.
 
I've come to the realization that this board either has crappy SATA 2 or is really using SATA 1. My Intel 80GB G2 maxes at ~170MB/s read speeds.
 
ccgenerals said:
I've come to the realization that this board either has crappy SATA 2 or is really using SATA 1. My Intel 80GB G2 maxes at ~170MB/s read speeds.
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Yeah, my IDE hard drives seem faster than my SATA drives... I've also noticed that the USB ports on my board are flakey. Sometimes they simply do not recognize a device when it is plugged in.
 
sorry couldn't search because all relevant terms are just three letters (pci, 2.0, gtx 460 and even when these are put inside quotes the search engine looks inside.

Anyway I have P6N SLI Platinum which I think has just a PCI Express 1.0 slot. I am thinking of upgrading to a GTX 460 which is a PCI Express 2.0 card. I think it will run but just lose a few FPS. I guess the real problem is with 2.1 cards in a 1.0 slot.

But can anyone confirm? Will a GTX 460 Fermi 1GB 256bit DDR5 work in aP5n SLI Platinum?
 
TambourineMan said:
sorry couldn't search because all relevant terms are just three letters (pci, 2.0, gtx 460 and even when these are put inside quotes the search engine looks inside.

Anyway I have P6N SLI Platinum which I think has just a PCI Express 1.0 slot. I am thinking of upgrading to a GTX 460 which is a PCI Express 2.0 card. I think it will run but just lose a few FPS. I guess the real problem is with 2.1 cards in a 1.0 slot.

But can anyone confirm? Will a GTX 460 Fermi 1GB 256bit DDR5 work in aP5n SLI Platinum?
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Should work fine.
 
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