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

i just wanted to let everyone know that the multiplyers were infact broken in 1.7, i just finished going back to 1.5 bios version for my p6n Plat. and they now work again.

6xhn7.jpg



ive only played with it a little bit so far but i dont think im going to get 3.2ghz / 1600x8 stable atleast what ive tried so far hasnt worked but ill keep trying.
 
I am pleasant to inform that the MSI P6N SLI-FI works with the 45nm Wolfdale core.
My E7200 seems stable at default v core and the setting of 9.5x333MHz FSB (1333 MHz quad pumped).
I will perform the full Orthos stability test in few hours...

Here is how to swap the 45nm CPU.

1. Ensure that the CPU that you want to install is on the supported CPU list (the E7200 is) on the MSI's web site.
2. Order the new CPU
3. Prepare your motherboard for the swap by flashing it with the latest BIOS via MSI Live Update Utility.

4. WARNING. Prior to flashing the BIOS, revert your CPU settings to default FSB in the Cell Menu. Flashing the BIOS while on the overclocked memory and cpu FSB settings may cause some POST problems.

5. Flash the BIOS to the latest version - as of 8/16/2008 the latest BIOS for P6N SLI-FI is rev. 2.6
6. Boot up the PC to the OS to make sure it is stable. Leave the FSB Memory/CPU settings on Auto!
7. Power it down.
8. Cleanup the interior of your PC from dust. Use a can of compressed air to blow it all away.
9. Install the new 45nm Wolfdale CPU.
10. Make sure that the Heatsink it seated properly on the CPU. Apply a good quality TIM compound between the CPU and the Heatsink.
11. Take your time.
12. Power up your PC.
13. Go back to the BIOS and adjust the FSB for the memory/cpu. Also make sure that the Adjust CPU Ratio setting matches your new CPU. I had to change it myself from 9 to 9.5
14. Enjoy your new 45nm processor...
 
It would be good to see a few other people successfully running Wolfdales on this board before concluding that it now works. I'd like to upgrade to an e8500 but am hesitant to do so without being sure.
 
I've tried the 1.7 bios with e8500 and the system doesn't post :mad:
I do not know if they are going to release a new bios version but...I'm really disappointed
 
I'm much more interested in seeing Wolfdales running on the latest bios version 2.6. On prior bios versions, the success rate is pretty low. It would be great if someone could confirm that bios 2.6 works reliably on this board with Wolfdales.
 
I'm thinking to return the E8500 for a Q6600.
Has anybody used Q6600 on P6N Platinum?
Are there any known incompatibility issues?
 
There may be some confusion as to the version numbers here. 1.6 is the latest driver for the P6N SLI Platinum boards only. 2.6 is the latest driver for the other boards, P6N SLI-FI and the plain P6N SLI. Both versions were released on the same day. Now, it has been mentioned before, that both versions may inter-changeable.
 
Hermanos! Nice to find this thread. I've been busy the last few days with my Wolfie upgrade. Please bear with me...

First, a few things to keep in mind:

1) Intel has recently specified that the TJMax for Wolfdales is 100. Set this in RealTemp or edit CoreTemp accordingly. http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/docs.php Make sure you're dealing with good readings!

2) Intel also specifies that Wolfdales are rated at 1.45VCore max, but this has been broadly and fairly challenged among overclockers. I will consider exceeding this spec if my max temps at max load (e.g. Orthos for 24hrs) fall within reasonable limits, say in the low 70sC. Check out: http://www.xtremesystems.org/FORUMS/showthread.php?t=183244

3) I'm taking Intel's FSB VTT warnings (1.15V max) seriously for now. There's a whole lot out there about how the 45nm procs are more vulnerable to high FSB VTT than VCore. This is something new and I don't want to mess with it. So I'm doing all my overclocking for now with FSB VTT set to +0% and, if I have to, will only consider a small increase, say 4%.

4) The VID on my part is 1.150V. Some are lower, some are higher. If you have a higher VID you're going to see higher VCore in CPU-Z, if lower, lower.

My E7200 results so far:

4.009GHz (422 x 9.5) @ 1.47V (CPU-Z, idle) passing Orthos Gromacs for 30 minutes with RealTemp readings of 33C min / 77C max temp. I stopped this test because the temps would obviously be too high in Orthos Small FFTs and Blend for 24hrs, my long term test standard. Will resume testing at this speed when I get a better HSF, which I expect to knock off 10C. Again, I know this is pushing the voltage a bit, but I don't think it's out of range of good air cooling. When I get control of the heat I will see how well I can tune the settings for stability and longevity and then decide whether to keep it a 4GHz.

An alternative I'm currently testing on a stock HSF (see note below):

3.8GHz (400 x 9.5) @ 1.38V (CPU-Z, idle) is now running Orthos Gromacs in its sixth hour and the max temp has not exceeded 70C, ranging mostly between 64-68C. Because 3.8GHz benchmarks 3DMark06 in my rig only 187 points less than 4GHz does (13,480 vs 13,667, I ran them both) and, more surprisingly, Crysis Benchmark turned up the exact same frame rate (44.64 fps, 1280 x 1024, all settings High, no AA, no Vsync), I may well decide to keep the clock here as my final 24/7 choice. Haven't decided yet, but I'm going to get the new HSF regardless.

If we had Intel-based MBs, all these overclocks would be working at lower voltages! In any case, this e7200 looks like a whole lot of cheap power. (Got mine in a MB/CPU combo at Fry's last week for $100; will sell the MB on Ebay for ~$35, Net cost ~$65.)

A note on my "stock" HSF setup:

Yea, I'm thrifty, but not without resources. The E7200 replaced an E4500, which had a heat sink twice as thick as the one included with the new processor, so I kept it. But there's a trick I've employed for a number of years with AMD and Intel stock HSFs. I use a Zalman fan bracket to mount a second low-RPM 120mm fan an inch or two above the stock setup. (The initial idea was to be able to slow/quiet down the small high pitched HSFs while maintaining cooling in "silent" PCs.) Got a bunch of this hardware laying around. Because the 120mm is larger in diameter and supplies pressured air at the HSF's intake, it helps to keep the hot air exhausted at the base of the heat sink from feeding right back into the fan attached to it, greatly increasing the HSF's efficiency, and as a bonus it cools the NB heat sink as well. It's not better than the best of the aftermarket HSFs, of course, but it's as good as all but a few at significantly decreasing temps over stock.

Screen shots while running:

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Donovan Tipton said:
Bump for any new wolfdale tests... :)
Click to expand...
Hey Donovan, you may be interested my wolfdale oc post. Now I'm GPU restrained with the single 8800gt. I'm wondering what your 3dmark06 difference was between single and sli 8800gts, and whether you got a full bump reverting to 8x pci-e. Trying to decide whether to replace or add. Thanks!
 
I can't fit two GTX 280's on this board due to the case connectors. Boo. Any solutions besides changing the video card cooler or changing mobos? I don't want to bend the connector pins on the mobo or anything like that.

Thanks
 
thewestpole said:
Hey Donovan, you may be interested my wolfdale oc post. Now I'm GPU restrained with the single 8800gt. I'm wondering what your 3dmark06 difference was between single and sli 8800gts, and whether you got a full bump reverting to 8x pci-e. Trying to decide whether to replace or add. Thanks!
Click to expand...


I didn't get huge differences in 3DMark but where I could tell the difference was real world gaming. The two 8800GTS' serve me well & I am sure two 8800gt's will be great in your rig.
As far as the "8X" sli on this board, you will never know it is 8x in Sli mode... :cool:

Check this out for the sli vs. single cards...good vga charts.
http://www.guru3d.com/category/vga_charts/
 
vgame64 said:
I can't fit two GTX 280's on this board due to the case connectors. Boo. Any solutions besides changing the video card cooler or changing mobos? I don't want to bend the connector pins on the mobo or anything like that.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Enviable problem, vgame64! If it were me, I would bend the pins--slowly and gently! Should be soft metal and bendable. (I've had to do this before on other MBs.) Try an unused pin to test first. Remember to unplug the PSU.

When you get that vid setup working give us some scores, okay?
 
I have this build and is not posting.
MSI P6N SLI-FI
E8400
Gskill 2gb dd2 800
Pny 8800gt
WD320gb
Antec earthwatts 500W
19" acer

I didnt read this thread before otherwise i would've choosen a different cpu and ram.
Can the cause for not posting be the cpu and the ram?
 
It's most likely the CPU that's holding you back. This chipset doesn't officially support that CPU. Though, if you have some different ram handy, it's worth trying.
 
Ride2kmax said:
I have this build and is not posting.
MSI P6N SLI-FI
E8400
Gskill 2gb dd2 800
Pny 8800gt
WD320gb
Antec earthwatts 500W
19" acer

I didnt read this thread before otherwise i would've choosen a different cpu and ram.
Can the cause for not posting be the cpu and the ram?
Click to expand...

You'll need bios 2.6 http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=prodcpusupport&prod_no=1141&maincat_no=1 . Dont bother with bios 2.5 as its been widely reported NOT to work with 8400/3110 (and that includes my own past experiance) .

You may want to consider a Q6600 instead if your 8400 still has problems posting due to incompatabilty (bios) .
 
Would the q6600 post with no problem ? How about the e2180? Or what other cpu would post with original bios ?
 
Ride2kmax said:
Would the q6600 post with no problem ? How about the e2180? Or what other cpu would post with original bios ?
Click to expand...

Q6600 is a great choice since you can usually just set the fsb to 1333 and run it at 3.0GHz at default volts. Mine has been awesome. I also used an E4500 at 1066 fsb for 2.93GHz on this board. Also worked great.
 
Yes!
I took it back to Microcenter and return it.
I got instead the Q6600.
The guys at microcenter were really cool their policy says that cpu cannot be return if open only exchange for the same one but they let me get the Q6600 after i paid 27 dollars more and now my system is up and Running it was the cpu.
After putting the Q6600 it work like a charm.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Final product
Intel core 2 quad Q6600
MSI P6N SLI FI
G.Skill 2gb DDR2 800
PNY 8800Gt
WD320gb hhd
Antec 500w psu
Best buy Cheap case
 
My MSI P6N SLI FI was missing the back i/o plate anybody here was one that i could buy?
Please let me know.
 
Hi there,

some days ago i bought an Intel E8400 and a 2GB RAM upgrade for my PC...
There was no doubt for me that the E8400 will work on my P6N SLI Mainboard because i checked the CPU table before...

I put the cpu onto my board and got no post.
Well i thought it might be the old BIOS Version (i never updated it...) so i made an BIOS Update and tried again. And again i became no Post screen. Then i put the new E8400 onto the Asrock 4Core SATA2 Board from my second PC to see if the CPU works. Yes it did (not with the full speed but with 2.4GHz cause of the lower FSB support on Asrock board). After this cognition i started an internet search with the keywords "MSI P6N" and "E8400" - the result was this thread. I read a lot and tried a lot (voltage workaround) but all that didnt help.

I had a really loooOng Sunday and tried to get the E8400 work on my board all day long => no chance.

I am really really annoyed of MSI.
My board is the second product i bought from this company and its the second product which makes massive problems. (the other one was the first release of the msi nx7800LE if anybody knows ;-) )

One week ago a friend of mine wanted to buy some new components to upgrade his pc, too. before all those happenings i recommend him the MSI P6N SLI Series as good mobos but now i am disabused. He bought an E8400 too - he would have killed me if the configuration which i told him would´nt work, cause i am the consultant expert for him in pc questions...

I called him yesterday and made a new config with another mainboard manufacturer (Asrock).

I think i ll go to my local dealer today and buy an ASUS P5N-D for mine.
Never MSI again! I think they are lying and the support is really mad. (read the thread here, then u know what i mean - i made nearly the same experience with MSI tech support.)

Back to the NX7800LE story - there was no support at all... MSI put it in there product archive on the website within some weeks after the release....(well known that the product was faulty ex works) :mad: :mad: :mad:

Never again!
 
money2 said:
Hi there,

some days ago i bought an Intel E8400 and a 2GB RAM upgrade for my PC...
There was no doubt for me that the E8400 will work on my P6N SLI Mainboard because i checked the CPU table before...

I put the cpu onto my board and got no post.
Well i thought it might be the old BIOS Version (i never updated it...) so i made an BIOS Update and tried again. And again i became no Post screen. Then i put the new E8400 onto the Asrock 4Core SATA2 Board from my second PC to see if the CPU works. Yes it did (not with the full speed but with 2.4GHz cause of the lower FSB support on Asrock board). After this cognition i started an internet search with the keywords "MSI P6N" and "E8400" - the result was this thread. I read a lot and tried a lot (voltage workaround) but all that didnt help.

I had a really loooOng Sunday and tried to get the E8400 work on my board all day long => no chance.

I am really really annoyed of MSI.
My board is the second product i bought from this company and its the second product which makes massive problems. (the other one was the first release of the msi nx7800LE if anybody knows ;-) )

One week ago a friend of mine wanted to buy some new components to upgrade his pc, too. before all those happenings i recommend him the MSI P6N SLI Series as good mobos but now i am disabused. He bought an E8400 too - he would have killed me if the configuration which i told him would´nt work, cause i am the consultant expert for him in pc questions...

I called him yesterday and made a new config with another mainboard manufacturer (Asrock).

I think i ll go to my local dealer today and buy an ASUS P5N-D for mine.
Never MSI again! I think they are lying and the support is really mad. (read the thread here, then u know what i mean - i made nearly the same experience with MSI tech support.)

Back to the NX7800LE story - there was no support at all... MSI put it in there product archive on the website within some weeks after the release....(well known that the product was faulty ex works) :mad: :mad: :mad:

Never again!
Click to expand...

Check out the AsRock Penryn1600SLI. I had planned for months to get the MSI board when I was ready to upgrade, but then the AsRock one came out with full Wolfdale/Yorkfield support in addition to the SLI support and other goodies. Good layout, good legacy support, the whole package. I've had no regrets and the price is right too.
 
Hi Commander Suzdal,

thanks for the tipp. That´s exactly the board which i already recommend and bought for my friend. Price is nice, too: 77 Euro in GER.

I yesterday bought a Asus P5N-D for myself cause the Asrock wasn´t availaible in the store. It looks fine - there´s a case fan inside, too! I love Asus for there accessories...

I didnt have the time to rebuild my system with the Asus board yet - i think i´ll do this on weekend.
******************************************************************

I mailed MSI Support because of the MSI P6N SLi Problem with E8400 yesterday, too.
I got a quick response till today morning which really surprised me. (I mean the repsonse time surprised me, not the mail content ;o) )

- The answer from MSI was that there´s a failure on my P6N and that i have to contact my local dealer for support.

I wrote a new mail and complain that this is a fault in nearly the whole MSI P6N mobo series and where the hell do MSI know this via remote mail support, even if they didn´t check my board...

- The support again answered me, that it´s a "for MSI not viewable technical incompatibility" and i should go to my local dealer to receive msi manufacturer support. And they hope that i am further on satisfied with MSI Products. (haha)

Now i just wrote a new comlaint mail that MSI is the manufacturer and that they should know which of their products is (in)compatible with others. I as customer have no other choice to resolve a product problem with the manufacturer. I also told them that my question about the remote diagnostic support via email was only answered insufficient by the MSI support. And i asked if there´s a upcoming new BIOS Version for P6n SLI FI to fix the problem.





****
These are the latest infos from the MSI support front i got.
I dont really count on a solution from MSI but we all knew this before - didnt we? :mad:
 
ScourggeFX said:
Wow, this thread is still alive? 18 months later.....?
Click to expand...

Yep, I still love this MB, but then again I got lucky and got a refurbished one for like $65 and I have had it at least 6 months if not more, and it works great even OC'd to 3.4Ghz.

:)
 
Upgraded my 650 Platinum with a pair of eVGA 9600GSOs. C2D e6600 still going well @ 3.33. It even booted and ran 3dmark @ 3.6 (!!!) but failed Orthos within 2 minutes. I could bump the voltage and give 3.6 another try, but the PC has been retired to #2 status now, and it functions as my Vista 64 test rig for now.
 
I'm having a strange problem with my system (P6N SLI FI Q6600). Recently, it has been having brief (2-5sec) lockups when I open folders on either of the local hard drives and it is worse if it is a network drive. Very frustrating. Almost like a SATA or IDE problem. Anyone else experience this or have any idea what is causing it?
 
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