**OFFICIAL MSI 975X Powerup Edition Thread**

cupholder2.0 said:
@D A M

What bios are you using? I think that 265 fsb thing you are getting is a bug which only occurs on netburst cpus. Do you have a netburst cpu? (P4/PD?)

I got it to run 1:1 by using bios 716. 716 (in my opinion) is better than the others. Pretty stable and does good OCs. 7.3 is also decent.
Click to expand...

I've got an E6400. My BIOS version is the latest revision (can't remember the # off the top of my head).
 
Can someone please give me some tips on overclocking with this motherboard? This is my first build and I'm getting kind of frustrated. I had bumped the FSB up to 366 (2.93ghz) with the voltage at 1.45v and it seemed to work fine. But now, it's only stable for a few minutes and then Windows starts giving me the "an error has occured..." message no matter what program I'm running and then the computer will just crash all together. Now that I've restored the defaults, I'm not having the problem. I'm using an E6400, 2GB Corsair XMS 2 RAM and Phoenix BIOS 7.3. What am I doing wrong? Are there specific options I need turned on/off in BIOS to help with stability?

EDIT: One thing I just noticed is that CPU-Z says my CPU voltage is 2.8 but in the BIOS I have it set to 1.43. Also it says my RAM timings are 4-5-6-12 but they're set at 4-4-4-12. What's with that?
 
I'm not so sure about this myself but I'm guessing it has something to do with your voltage if you're having to go up to 1.43v for 2.93GHz and if CPU-Z is giving a strange reading. 1.43v for 2.93GHz seems kind of high...have you tried something lower? Also, I'm having the same RAM timing issue you do and so are others with this same board. Meh; it seems to be a problem with the BIOS. RAM timings don't affect speed as much as clock frequency, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Hopefully a new BIOS will be released.
 
BIOS 7.40 was just released. Anyone use it yet? Also, it seems that my problem with CPU-Z was because I was using an older version. Now that I've upgraded to the latest version, my voltage reads correctly.

Here's a stupid question: CPU-Z says "Channels #: Single" (for my RAM). What do I do to get the RAM to run as dual-channel? The book is really vague on that one. I thought I read somewhere that you would put one stick in blue and another in green, but the book says not to have just a single stick in slot 3 (green).
 
D_A_M said:
BIOS 7.40 was just released. Anyone use it yet? Also, it seems that my problem with CPU-Z was because I was using an older version. Now that I've upgraded to the latest version, my voltage reads correctly.

Here's a stupid question: CPU-Z says "Channels #: Single" (for my RAM). What do I do to get the RAM to run as dual-channel? The book is really vague on that one. I thought I read somewhere that you would put one stick in blue and another in green, but the book says not to have just a single stick in slot 3 (green).
Click to expand...
I've tried bios v7.4 official, and not only didn't solved anything, worst yet, the C1E option has dissapeared, so at idle my processor runs at 3-4 degrees hotter. I've replaced it again with 7.3, but I don't understand what the MSI guys are doing, every new bios seems worst than the later :mad:
 
Hey guys

I just assembled my 975x and i bought DDR2 800 memories, but in the initial screen they read has DUAL CHANNEL DDR2 667 memories. My bios version is 7.2
Anyway i can check if its MB\BIOS problem or memory problem ? can anyone give me an hand pls ?
 
Jhonyb said:
Hey guys

I just assembled my 975x and i bought DDR2 800 memories, but in the initial screen they read has DUAL CHANNEL DDR2 667 memories. My bios version is 7.2
Anyway i can check if its MB\BIOS problem or memory problem ? can anyone give me an hand pls ?
Click to expand...

By default the 975x sets memory divider at a 1 to 1.25 ratio. DDR2 Ram clocks in at FSB x 2.
With the ratio at 1.25, and stock FSB...you would get 266 x 1.25 x 2 = ~667.

You have a few choices.
A:
Leave FSB at 266, change RAM divider to 1 to 1.5
266 x 1.5 x 2 = ~800 (Initial screen will show 800. May need to increase RAM voltage and/or alter timings)

B:
Increase the FSB to 320 (Should not need to increase CPU voltage)
320 x 1.25 x 2 = 800 (Initial screen will still show 667 due to divider. CpuZ will verify actual clock speeds. May need to increase RAM voltage and/or alter timings)

C:
Increase FSB to 400, change RAM divider to 1 to 1. (Requires significant CPU voltage increase. Not recommended with stock cooling)
400 x 1 x 2 = 800 (Initial screen will show 533. CpuZ will verify actual clock speeds. May need to increase RAM voltage and/or alter timings)


Depending on the type of RAM, it might be difficult to achieve these speeds using such dividers. If you have OCZ RAM, best of luck to you. OCZ RAM combined with this board is infamously troublesome. If you cannot achieve such speeds, don't fret. Many will tell you there is minimal performance gain if you are running at 533/667 compared to 800.

On a side note, bios version 7.16 Beta is probably the best bios version. Only thing it lacks is HPET support. Any bios after that does not read RAM timings correctly, and cannot run Intel Matrix in conjunction with Jmicron. C1E option is removed from the latest bios. If you do not care for any of these options, go for any bios you'd like = )

Good Luck!
 
1st of all thx for your advices, im kinda NOOB relating wo what you said but i did what you said.

i canged multiplier to 1.5 and initial screen shows 800 DDR2 RAM i increased voltage to 1.9 and my pc is fine. I runned CPUZ /dunno if its correct one thou) i got this screen in thte memory part:

ea8d6a46.jpg


Frequency shows 400.5MHZ since i have 2GB this means 1 Gb is 400.5 and another is 400.5 meaning both have 800 ????

pls if u can correct me or put me in the right direction, and THX FOR YOUR TIME :D
 
Jhonyb said:
so by what you said i should waitfor 7.6 bios support ?
Click to expand...

It's 7.16 Beta, not 7.6. 7.16 Beta is an old bios release before 7.2. I currently do not have the link for the Beta bios, but i'm sure if u ask nicely, someone can direct you to it.


Jhonyb said:
1st of all thx for your advices, im kinda NOOB relating wo what you said but i did what you said.

i canged multiplier to 1.5 and initial screen shows 800 DDR2 RAM i increased voltage to 1.9 and my pc is fine. I runned CPUZ /dunno if its correct one thou) i got this screen in thte memory part:

ea8d6a46.jpg


Frequency shows 400.5MHZ since i have 2GB this means 1 Gb is 400.5 and another is 400.5 meaning both have 800 ????

pls if u can correct me or put me in the right direction, and THX FOR YOUR TIME :D
Click to expand...

You are definitely on the right track. DDR2 Memory is clocked at twice the speed of the CPU's bus speed. Each RAM module is essentially running at 400.5 x 2 = ~800. Thus reaching your goal. Just remember, should you decide to overclock the CPU, and do not wish to clock your RAM further than it's rated speed, you must lower the RAM divider ratio to compensate for the increase in FSB.

For example:
You are at...
266 x 1.5 x 2 = ~800 @ 2.4GHz
(266 being the CPU Frequency, 1.5 being the RAM divider, and 2 being the RAM operating at twice that of the CPU frequency.

If you overclock the CPU to say...
320 x 1.5 x 2 = 960 @ 2.88GHz (YIKES, Oh no! you're RAM is not rated for this speed!)

Thus you would need to lower the divider...
320 x 1.25 x 2 = 800 @ 2.88 GHz (RAM is normal again)

EDIT: On my previous post , on several occasions, I mentioned RAM multiplier. I actually meant RAM divider. Just wanted to clarify so you wouldn't be confused with the CPU's multiplier.
 
Im really not into overclocking and im a damn NOOB at it. My intention was too run my memory at its speed 800, thx to your PRECIOUS advices i managed it.
thou i understood what you meant, i can only /BOW to you for your patience and your expertise in helpin me.

When i want to overclock my CPU i know who to ask now ;)

once again thx a lot
 
Dammit; they still haven't fixed the weird-ass RAM timings in BIOS 7.4. Whoever heard of someone running his or her RAM at 4-5-6-12?
 
JhonyB - I've got a really stupid question: How did you get your RAM setup as Dual Channel? For some reason, it's reading mine as single -_-
 
D_A_M said:
JhonyB - I've got a really stupid question: How did you get your RAM setup as Dual Channel? For some reason, it's reading mine as single -_-
Click to expand...

Do you have each RAM module in a different colored slot?

For example
Slot 1 & 3
Slot 2 & 4
Each scenario should enable dual channel

FullOpenR.jpg
 
D_A_M said:
BIOS 7.40 was just released. Anyone use it yet? Also, it seems that my problem with CPU-Z was because I was using an older version. Now that I've upgraded to the latest version, my voltage reads correctly.

Here's a stupid question: CPU-Z says "Channels #: Single" (for my RAM). What do I do to get the RAM to run as dual-channel? The book is really vague on that one. I thought I read somewhere that you would put one stick in blue and another in green, but the book says not to have just a single stick in slot 3 (green).
Click to expand...

This is just a wild guess since I don't bother reading the book. But I assume when it says you shouldn't have one stick in the green (2nd channel) slot, it means if you only have one RAM module, it should only be in the 1st channel (blue). If you are running 2 sticks, one stick should be in the 1st channel (blue), and the 2nd stick should be in the 2nd channel (green).

BTW...my channels are green and orange...book says blue & green?
 
D_A_M said:
JhonyB - I've got a really stupid question: How did you get your RAM setup as Dual Channel? For some reason, it's reading mine as single -_-
Click to expand...

Like ANewPrelusion said ;) 1 & 3 (one in GREEN and one in ORANGE) the mobo manual states that in some page, and tells you that you can only get Dual Channel like this with 2 memory modules.
 
Jhonyb said:
Like ANewPrelusion said ;) 1 & 3 (one in GREEN and one in ORANGE) the mobo manual states that in some page, and tells you that you can only get Dual Channel like this with 2 memory modules.
Click to expand...

If you fill the four banks you still get double channel (provided the memory sticks are equal in pairs), but with only two sticks, they should be 1 & 3 or 2 & 4.
 
ANewPrelusion said:
By default the 975x sets memory divider at a 1 to 1.25 ratio. DDR2 Ram clocks in at FSB x 2.
With the ratio at 1.25, and stock FSB...you would get 266 x 1.25 x 2 = ~667.

You have a few choices.
A:
Leave FSB at 266, change RAM divider to 1 to 1.5
266 x 1.5 x 2 = ~800 (Initial screen will show 800. May need to increase RAM voltage and/or alter timings)

B:
Increase the FSB to 320 (Should not need to increase CPU voltage)
320 x 1.25 x 2 = 800 (Initial screen will still show 667 due to divider. CpuZ will verify actual clock speeds. May need to increase RAM voltage and/or alter timings)

C:
Increase FSB to 400, change RAM divider to 1 to 1. (Requires significant CPU voltage increase. Not recommended with stock cooling)
400 x 1 x 2 = 800 (Initial screen will show 533. CpuZ will verify actual clock speeds. May need to increase RAM voltage and/or alter timings)


Depending on the type of RAM, it might be difficult to achieve these speeds using such dividers. If you have OCZ RAM, best of luck to you. OCZ RAM combined with this board is infamously troublesome. If you cannot achieve such speeds, don't fret. Many will tell you there is minimal performance gain if you are running at 533/667 compared to 800.

On a side note, bios version 7.16 Beta is probably the best bios version. Only thing it lacks is HPET support. Any bios after that does not read RAM timings correctly, and cannot run Intel Matrix in conjunction with Jmicron. C1E option is removed from the latest bios. If you do not care for any of these options, go for any bios you'd like = )

Good Luck!
Click to expand...
ANewPrelusion is correct in every aspect.
I think the highly inefficent memory dividers are inherent to the Intel northbridge architecture, because in the AMD platform and its onchip memory controller the perfomance gains are proportional with the ram speed, but here if I go from 1:1 to 1:25, I only get 5% of perfomance increase with 25% frecuency increase !!!! (tested with Sandra). Despite my memory can run at 787 mhz (315x2x1.25), I just don't justify the aditional frecuency (and voltage) with I should stress my memory to obtain only 5% extra perfomance.
So don't worry about running your memory at 800mhz, and if you want real improvements in memory bandwidth, increase the FSB and set memory divider at 1:1.
 
Viktor92 said:
WOW !!!, this is the most clean build I've seen !!, congratulations !!!
What case are you using ??
Click to expand...

The case I am using is a Coolermaster Mystique RC-632

If you think that is impressive, you might want to take a gander at the "rate my cables" section of the forum...
Rate My Cables

My setup is nothing compared to most of these people's. Although I am quite satisfied considering I am using 4 hard drives, both IDE ports, a fan controller with 4 fans connected, and this case has very few holes behind the motherboard for routing wires.

Thank you for your comments nonetheless! It is greatly appreciated. :)
 
I was wondering if anyone here could help me with oc'ing... i'm running 6600 , and 2 gigs of ddr2 800 from patriot. I saw alot of people liked the 7.16 bios for oc'ing and the 7.3 was mentioned as being good too. But idk where i can find these at..could anyone gimme a site to DL them at and proper way to put them on a cd-rw.

then maybe could you post a few shot's of cpuz and anything else that would give me #'s for a good solid OC on this mobo with the 6600 and what bios u used.

much appreciated guys, this is my first build
 
Hello again...

Maybe you can assist me again :)
I made those changes in the bios, they are in the previous page, so that my memory works at 800. Thing is (and i dont know if it has anything to do with the memory tweak) sometimes my computer frezzes, it happened in these situations:

Browse the forums with modding worklogs pictures - 4\5 times
Watching a movie and paassing it forward - 1 time
Opening a readme.txt - 1 time

I hardly turn off my pc its downloading 24\7, also sometimes in the modding worklogs the pictures appear with their colors distorted or with a grey image on half of it its very very very strange...

Anyone has any clue to what might be happening?
 
Bargain08 said:
I was wondering if anyone here could help me with oc'ing... i'm running 6600 , and 2 gigs of ddr2 800 from patriot. I saw alot of people liked the 7.16 bios for oc'ing and the 7.3 was mentioned as being good too. But idk where i can find these at..could anyone gimme a site to DL them at and proper way to put them on a cd-rw.

then maybe could you post a few shot's of cpuz and anything else that would give me #'s for a good solid OC on this mobo with the 6600 and what bios u used.

much appreciated guys, this is my first build
Click to expand...

Here:

http://free-ri.t-com.hr/zbrnelic/

you can download bios v7.16.
Give me an email address and I will send to you bios v7.3 if you want it.
 
Jhonyb said:
Hello again...

Maybe you can assist me again :)
I made those changes in the bios, they are in the previous page, so that my memory works at 800. Thing is (and i dont know if it has anything to do with the memory tweak) sometimes my computer frezzes, it happened in these situations:

Browse the forums with modding worklogs pictures - 4\5 times
Watching a movie and paassing it forward - 1 time
Opening a readme.txt - 1 time

I hardly turn off my pc its downloading 24\7, also sometimes in the modding worklogs the pictures appear with their colors distorted or with a grey image on half of it its very very very strange...

Anyone has any clue to what might be happening?
Click to expand...
Try to set memory timings at 5-5-5-15. Also you can increase the memory voltage, starting with 0.05v steps, and test the memory with Prime95 or Orthos by several hours.
If your memory is DDR2 800 Mhz, chances are that its standard voltage is around 2 - 2.1v, so check this also.
 
In the Cell Menu i have the following:

ea73b2aa.jpg


I made a change i have voltage now on 2.05V, would u advise that i change anything else?

I have a Core2Duo 2.40ghz and a MSI 8800 GTS, would u advise any changes for it also ?

I just wanted to end this random "frezzes" i have, and i have no clue where they are coming from LOL :)

Hope u can help and thx for previous advices

PS: My memory is Samsung DD2 800
 
Jhonyb said:
In the Cell Menu i have the following:

ea73b2aa.jpg


I made a change i have voltage now on 2.05V, would u advise that i change anything else?

I have a Core2Duo 2.40ghz and a MSI 8800 GTS, would u advise any changes for it also ?

I just wanted to end this random "frezzes" i have, and i have no clue where they are coming from LOL :)

Hope u can help and thx for previous advices

PS: My memory is Samsung DD2 800
Click to expand...

You can try dropping the "FSB & Memory Clock Ratio" to 1:1 or 1:1.25. I know it's sucks not being able to utilize ur RAM to it's rated speed, but if it'll solve your problem, it might not be such a bad compromise.
 
I moved the voltage from 1.8 to 2.05 until now i had no frezze... If i havei will lower the ratio to 1.25,,,thou imo makes no sense to have a 800 memory and not being able to use it... this MB should be able to handle it... thou the frezzes might not be from the memory...but tbh it seems the most "logical" answer
 
Just got a "new" freezze while looking a .pdf gaming magazine...

Anyone has a clue to what might be causing this freezes ? i doubt its the graphic card bc i played Company of Heroes \ PES6 and had no problem whatsoever. I formated and reformated pc and still get the frezzes...

im really clueless here... anyone ?
 
Bargain08 said:
i was wondering how in the world do i set up hardware wise and bios wise RAID 0?!?!?
Click to expand...

Make sure your hard drives are both connected to the purple SATA ports. For example, my Raid 0 HD's are in ports 1&2
I take it you are unable to create the Raid array using cntrl+i?

If you are using Bios 7.1...
- Enter Integrated Peripherals
- Set Onboard JMB361 to [IDE]
- Enter Sata Devices Configuration
- Set Sata Mode to [RAID]
- Exit and save changes
- Cntrl+i function should appear upon restart

If you are using Bios 7.2/7.3/7.4...
- Enter Integrated Peripherals
- Set Onboard JMB361 to [Disabled] (Sorry, you cannot have Intel Matrix Raid with Jmicron active in these versions of bios.)
- Enter Sata Devices Configuration
- Set Sata Mode To [RAID]
- Exit and save changes
- Cntrl+i function should appear upon restart

Note: Because Intel Matrix Raid & Jmicron cannot operate jointly in Bios 7.2./7.3/7.4, you must be aware that the YELLOW IDE port will be disabled and rendered useless.
 
Ok, so I just used this board in a build for a friends machine.

I am running:

c2d e6600
gskill ddr2 800 2gb in dual channel mode. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231087
ati radeon 9250 128mb (not a gamer)
2 x 320gb hds
600w power supply.

My problem is that I cant seem to get the ram to run at 800mhz. I have not installed windows yet because I have to acquire the screws for the hds because I no longer have the ones that came with my lian li case...

Anyways when set on auto and to recognize speed by SPD, it comes up as 667. When I set to proper voltage and manual timing it will say ddr2 800 in bios and on boot, but when I run memtest 86+ it will show up as like 400mhz and timings of 4-5-3-12, etc.
But when set to 667 in bios memtest picks it up correctly.

RAM runs at 2-2.1v @ 800mhz w/ 4-4-4-12 from product description. Do any of you use gskill ram or this particular model in your boards? The link to the particular ram on new egg is above.

I have yet to try a bios update because I dont have xp installed yet.

I appreciate all help and advice.
 
thedailyhustle said:
Ok, so I just used this board in a build for a friends machine.

I am running:

c2d e6600
gskill ddr2 800 2gb in dual channel mode. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231087
ati radeon 9250 128mb (not a gamer)
2 x 320gb hds
600w power supply.

My problem is that I cant seem to get the ram to run at 800mhz. I have not installed windows yet because I have to acquire the screws for the hds because I no longer have the ones that came with my lian li case...

Anyways when set on auto and to recognize speed by SPD, it comes up as 667. When I set to proper voltage and manual timing it will say ddr2 800 in bios and on boot, but when I run memtest 86+ it will show up as like 400mhz and timings of 4-5-3-12, etc.
But when set to 667 in bios memtest picks it up correctly.

RAM runs at 2-2.1v @ 800mhz w/ 4-4-4-12 from product description. Do any of you use gskill ram or this particular model in your boards? The link to the particular ram on new egg is above.

I have yet to try a bios update because I dont have xp installed yet.

I appreciate all help and advice.
Click to expand...
No MSI bios for this mobo sets the manual timmings correctly, but don't worry about that.
Run Cpu-Z and watch the ram frecuency under the memory tab, if it is 400 it's OK (400 x 2 = 800).
 
Bios 7.1 & 7.16 will show correct memory timings when configured manually.
But like Viktor said, you don't need to worry too much about it.
 
Is there anyway to change the Northbridge voltage? I don't see an option in the BIOS, but are there any other ways to do it?
 
Hi guys,

This is all completely new to me. I recently finished my first new system build, and I've got the MSI 975X Platinum Powerup Edition, and I'm having trouble understanding something that I would think should be pretty basic.

The BIOS flash procedure documented on MSI's website requires the use of a boot disk... but I'm running Windows Vista, which has a completely different boot mechanism from other version of Windows. There doesn't seem to be ANY documentation on flashing the BIOS on a machine running Vista.

Can someone clue me in on how exactly I can go about doing this?
 
eriktaylor1979 said:
Hi guys,

This is all completely new to me. I recently finished my first new system build, and I've got the MSI 975X Platinum Powerup Edition, and I'm having trouble understanding something that I would think should be pretty basic.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't discribe flashing BIOS as "basic" at all, its something no normal user will ever even consider.

The BIOS flash procedure documented on MSI's website requires the use of a boot disk... but I'm running Windows Vista, which has a completely different boot mechanism from other version of Windows. There doesn't seem to be ANY documentation on flashing the BIOS on a machine running Vista. Can someone clue me in on how exactly I can go about doing this?
Click to expand...

Under stand this: Flashing your bios has nothing at all in the slightest to do with your operating system and everything to do with your mainboard. So flashing BIOS is no different in vista then it is in XP.

option1: What you do is get the .bin BIOS file from the board manufacturers website. Then put in a blank not-yet-formatted Floppy. Format the floppy as "start up (or something like that I cant quite remember what XP and Vista call it)". After that, reboot your system, and it should start auto-flashing. If it says "Unable to load DOS!" then it means the burn is currupt, try again.
option2: If the website you have gives you an executable as you bios flasher, insert a blank not-yet-formatted floppy, and execute the program. It should format the floppy correctly and put the correct bin files on it.
option3: If the website gives you a whole bios-flasher-program, simply install the version which is OK with vista and follow the steps it provides.
 
There is no option in XP or anything that make a boot flopy that can start an "auto flashing" procedure, you have to run the awdflash utility to do the flashing. Run the program and see the parameters availables, it's fairly easy to use.
The best way to flash a new bios is to boot from a flopy with a plain DOS, but loading the .bin file with the awdflash utility from a hd partition that DOS can read, because in this way you avoid a possible "sector not found" from the flopy (flopy disks get worse all the time) that can make a disaster while flashing.
 
Long time lurker on this thread, finally created an account so I can post:

[img=http://img477.imageshack.us/img477/3165/37rw2.th.jpg]


Requires 1.45v in bios to get to 415, because the room I use sometimes is very hot, I run at 400x9 = 3.6ghz @ 1.4v (bios) and the load temps are maybe 4 degrees cooler. I've pushed it up to 1.5v and 425fsb but the temps were approaching 70 degrees C (at night) and that is too hot. This is with Tuniq tower and G-Skill HK ddr2-800, bios 7.2.

Was using OCZ ram (it was cheap when I bought it) and couldn't get past 366fsb. Upgraded to the gskill (my how prices have dropped) and problem solved.

Wish I had the week and stepping but this is my first overclock and back in November I didn't think to record the info on the chip before I installed the heatsink.
 
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