official MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI thread

[sauria]

100% sure. Mine is a black wire with a white stripe along it. Yours has NO WIRE there?

Nope, pin #20 is empty -- Neo4 Platinum SLI needs it for onboard sounds as it is the same board as the K8n Diamond. Thread is on topic. Thanks Hightest -- I don't know why they built this board that way using -5V

 

[m00g0d]

Figured I'd put this here, since the issue may have to do with the mobo. I'm also a PC building noob - done it before, but don't OC or tweak very much at all.

I'm trying to install WinXP on RAID 1 with this board using the nvidia RAID controller and two WD 160GB drives.

I followed the manual to install the RAID drivers from floppy, create the array, and boot from the CD. I also rebooted to check the RAID config and verify that it recognized a healthy mirroring volume. First question - when installing XP, do I need to first partition both drives, or will the mirroring config take care of that? I have tried both, but neither seems to work. I have my boot priorities set to floppy/HD/CD.

I allow the install to run and XP to install. When it reboots for the first time (during the initial install), it get stucks on "verifying DMI pool". It will boot to windows if I disable the RAID in the BIOS - which indicates something is not right with the array, but I can't figure out what.

I've tried partitioning/repartitioning, clearing the data, rebuilding the array, etc and I still can't get it to work. I'd appreciate any information or a walkthrough if anyone knows of one.

Thanks

 

[LFK]

Does anyone know a fix to the "power off, power back on to boot" issue?

I can't even get to cmos screen without restarting my computer a couple of times. Afterwards it's good to go and stable.

System info in my sig.

 

[LFK]

I might bag the whole sli thing alltogether. I mean is it really worth it when next gen. video cards will outperform 2 6800 GTs? I'm ripping this board out tonight unless someone on here convinces me this board rocks out of the box. I don't want to be toying around tweaking and getting all of the BS I keep reading about on this board. I've read a lot of good as well but really is it worth it? 190.00 board. 240.00 PS. Jeeze I can put a down payment on a new car for what I'm sinking into this system.

I can't help you on the missing part, I didn't get one either....

IMO, however, SLI is worth it. But I'm into graphic intensive games and benchmarking. I'm highly doubtful that the next generation cards will outperform dual 6800GT's. I'm getting 20,000+ 3D'03 and 9,500+ 3D'05 benchmark scores. It will be awhile before a single card gets scores like that.

Besides, BaNaNaS, (I'm in Vancouver too, btw) offered you a free gift to stick with it.

 

[sauria]

Ok I took the plunge and got the MSI K8N Neo4/SLI. It is a nice looking feature rich board. A couple of questions for you all who have them set up? Is a Zelman heatsink going to be sufficient cooling for my FX-57 that I'll be getting this summer? And why do they not include the USB 2.0 slot with the Led lights? How in the hell am I supposed to know about the errors if I have any? And where can I get one? Do I have to order one from MSI? Thanks Rob.

email MSI and they send you one.

 

[kirbyrj]

Does anyone know a fix to the "power off, power back on to boot" issue?

I can't even get to cmos screen without restarting my computer a couple of times. Afterwards it's good to go and stable.

System info in my sig.

I think you're having a voltage issue with OCing. The only way I can get my board to post is to start at stock voltage (unless I want to turn off/turn on any number of times).

 

[LFK]

I think you're having a voltage issue with OCing. The only way I can get my board to post is to start at stock voltage (unless I want to turn off/turn on any number of times).

Okay, so you're suggesting that I undo the increases I have set in my bios?

I didn't bump anything too much.....less that 10% all the way around (core, mem, and chip).

It's so stable once it's up and going, I keep hoping a bios update will fix this problem.

 

[robz]

No I'm going to cut my losses now and wait for Asus Premium More stable. Better engineering, Better capicitors -Chip fan, bla -bla- bla. Thanks for the offer though.

 

[sauria]

No I'm going to cut my losses now and wait for Asus Premium More stable. Better engineering, Better capicitors -Chip fan, bla -bla- bla. Thanks for the offer though.

Maybe

 

[swimasta]

I'd like to say hi, I read this forum a lot, thought it was time to register and state what I've found to work for me. It was suggested here that us Neo 4 SLI users must thow the HTT mult down to 1x or 1.5x in order to get past the 220MHZ in some boards. I got lucky and was able to hit 257MHZ with HTT of 3x.

Anyhow, here is the forum I found this info from:
http://www.rhcf.com/sis-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=next_topic;f=21;t=000149;go=older

There is a beta bios there too. Some of them say that even when HTT is at 1.5x, it's really like 3.5x. I don't know how to validate that in Windows though.

My hardware:
Athlon 64 3000+ (Winchester...forgot to look at the model and numbers...sorry)
Thermalright SP-90 with AS5 (36C idle, 45 load)
MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI
1 GB PC4800 G.SKILL LA series (expensive but very nice ram) (samsung TCCD)
Enermax 600W Noisetaker SLI edition (24 pins, and -5v wire too)

I dont' know if this is important or not but I'll list these just in case:
MSI Geforce 6600 GT (only one of these bad boys, no SLI yet)
74 GB WD raptor
2x 80 GB Maxtor ATA133 (no raid)
TV tuner card (PCI)

Before dropping my HTT to 1.5x, here is my success:
Official MSI bios 3.1
275MHZ FSB
Mem timings:
2.5-3-3-7 (1T command rate) (all other mem settings on auto)
Mem voltage: 2.70
CPU: 3000+ Winchester @2304 MHZ (CPU mult = 9x)
CPU VID: 1.538volts (1.4v with a 9.9% overvolt)
HTT: 3x

Prime95 was stable for 57 hours (I turned it off after that...for any practical means thats darn stable )
mem test went stable a full 12 hours as well. At the above settings I had no problem posting from cold boot or a restart. Anything above that and I would not post (my guess was the power thing that has been suggested so many times before)

Here is my current setup: EDIT: Raised settings again!!
Official MSI bios 3.1
HTT: 300MHZ
HTT mult: 1.0x
2.5-3-3-7 (1T command rate) (all other mem settings on auto)
Mem voltage: 2.75
CPU: 3000+ (Winchester core) @2400 MHZ
CPU VID: 1.593volts (1.45v with a 9.9% overvolt)

EDIT:
So far all power ups have worked. Prime95 stable for about 30 min so far, will update again as I go along.

 

[Fraishus]

For those of you having overclocking issues. If you have a Winchester core, that's your problem...
Here's a thread about Neo4+Winchester Core issues on MSI Forums.

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=75897.0

 

[sauria]

Yes, I have run Newcastle and Clawhammer at 310 MHz fsb in SLI mode 1:1 with GSkill F1 LA 2 x 256M on this k8N Diamond board. Prime stable. Yes, the Winchester stepping matters -- CBBID seems to have trouble. Otherwise I'd say far fewer issues than the DFI posts that I read.

 

[CMAN]

For those of you having overclocking issues. If you have a Winchester core, that's your problem...
Here's a thread about Neo4+Winchester Core issues on MSI Forums.

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=75897.0

I have a 3500 winchester and a MSI Platinum SLI and overclocks great. I have had it to 300 HTT with no problem,the MSI board i have is the best board i have owned. Some good advice,get the DFI board so we dont have to listen to your whinny ass.

 

[kirbyrj]

I have a 3500 winchester and a MSI Platinum SLI and overclocks great. I have had it to 300 HTT with no problem,the MSI board i have is the best board i have owned. Some good advice,get the DFI board so we dont have to listen to our whinny ass.

Or at least a different group of people get to listen to their whinny ass .

I still think it's a voltage issue. I don't care what anyone else says . I have a CBBID, but I think it needs more voltage than the older ones to run at higher OC. I will try the HTT multi at x1.5 though. Maybe that will work too. If not, ClockGen for me until new bios.

 

[swimasta]

From what I have read
here you have a 6/10 chance of getting a good winchester. It's the memory controller that is the issue. The newcastles and FX seem to have a more solid mem controller to allow higher HTT. If you use G.Skill RAM, try some of these settings out. If they don't work, try with HTT mult at 1x, then raise it to 1.5x, 2x if you find good power ups.

I am currently running 300MHZ HTT with mult of 1x. CPU mult is 8x, 1.45v +9.9% overvolt. Mem is at 2.75 volts (it might be 2.80, forgot which I put it at). Prime95 failed after 21 min when I had 302MHZ HTT. But at 300MHZ HTT its been going for about an hour and no problems...we'll see.

I think I got a lucky Winchester. However I also think you guys are right about the voltage thing. I don't know how the HTT mult is connected to the voltage but it would appear to be in one form or another. When you guys use clockgen, do you have the volategs and HTT mult set in the bios already right? Then just raise the HTT MHZ in clock gen once in windows? If that works with a higher HTT mult in the bios then that is probably going to give better performance. I'll try that after finishing up my prime95 run

 

[kirbyrj]

I set the voltage as the first option in my ClockGen config. I boot from Bios with stock voltage (or else I have to turn on/off the computer several times to get it to post...and even doing this, I have to turn on/off once on cold boot). From there, I set my CPU multiplier and my HTT frequency. I actually set the voltage in Bios BELOW normal (1.35V or so), and then raise it +6.6% over VID. If I try to boot with anything over 1.425V total, it won't post. Once I'm in Windows, ClockGen works fine and I can take my chip to around 2.45Ghz (hoping for more, but what can you do ).

 

[astolpho]

I read the Thermalright site for compatibility issues with the XP-120 and the MSI NF4 SLI and it said that the 1st dimm slot was blocked, are there any other issues that anyone here has seen?

 

[swimasta]

I read the Thermalright site for compatibility issues with the XP-120 and the MSI NF4 SLI and it said that the 1st dimm slot was blocked, are there any other issues that anyone here has seen?

Well I cna't tell you aboutthe XP-120, I can tell you about the XP-90. Pair it with a Panaflo 53 CFM fan and you will do well. I have my 3000+ A64 Winchester at 2.416 GHZ, hasn't passed 45C. There is an XP-90C coming out soon, all copper version...should be really nice...

As an update, managed 12+ hours prime95, I am keeping it running. 300MHZ HTT, 1x HTT mult, mem is at only 266MHZ though, not in sync. (mem settings: 2.5-3-3-7 1T @2.75 volts)

 

[blahsmurfy]

The question boils down to, in Doom3 will I get 6.1 (or whatever) out of the coax digital out to my stereo reciever, or 2 channels. I know DVD passthrough will work either way.

Here's a good thread explaining it in more detail relating to an add-in card:

http://forums.sudhian.com/messageview.aspx?catid=75&threadid=73332&enterthread=y

Here's a thread talking about it on this motherboard, it seems to say yes (but throws in a big ? at the end):

http://www.3dss-forums.com/cgi-bin/...149744&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=

I'm not sure I care too much, I've got 5.1 analog for my gaming and digital out for DVD watching (going to a projector). It'd be nice to know in case I end up playing games and such on this board using my projector. The soundblaster native is one of the main reasons I'm looking at buying this board.

Sorry if this is a repost, but after a dozen pages I didn't see this topic.

-Jeff

 

[sauria]

The question boils down to, in Doom3 will I get 6.1 (or whatever) out of the coax digital out to my stereo reciever, or 2 channels. I know DVD passthrough will work either way.

Here's a good thread explaining it in more detail relating to an add-in card:

http://forums.sudhian.com/messageview.aspx?catid=75&threadid=73332&enterthread=y

Here's a thread talking about it on this motherboard, it seems to say yes (but throws in a big ? at the end):

http://www.3dss-forums.com/cgi-bin/...149744&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=

I'm not sure I care too much, I've got 5.1 analog for my gaming and digital out for DVD watching (going to a projector). It'd be nice to know in case I end up playing games and such on this board using my projector. The soundblaster native is one of the main reasons I'm looking at buying this board.

Sorry if this is a repost, but after a dozen pages I didn't see this topic.

-Jeff

Thanks Jeff -- you have the coax out going to the coax in digital on your receiver? What kind of coax cable? Thank you. Do you know max cable length for this setup?

 

[blahsmurfy]

Thanks Jeff -- you have the coax out going to the coax in digital on your receiver? What kind of coax cable? Thank you. Do you know max cable length for this setup?

Actually I don't have this board yet. I currently have got an older AMD board, an ASUS a7n8x deluxe putting digital through coax (rca) to an Onkyo receiver. Here's a link to the board I currently have, and the audio that currently encodes Dolby Digital (doom3 = 5.1 on this old board).

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7n8x-d/overview.htm
http://www.nvidia.com/object/feature_soundstorm.html

My question is will the digital out on the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI encode Dolby and give games 5.1? Can someone with the board and a receiver give us the real scoop?

thanks,
-Jeff

edit: Just re-read your question. I've got about 20 feet or so of RG6 coax with 2 f to rca converters on them (from partsexpress.com search on "F" FEMALE TO RCA MALE ADAPTOR). As for max length, I'm not sure. It probably depends on way more then I understand to guess.

 

[sauria]

Actually I don't have this board yet. I currently have got an older AMD board, an ASUS a7n8x deluxe putting digital through coax (rca) to an Onkyo receiver. Here's a link to the board I currently have, and the audio that currently encodes Dolby Digital (doom3 = 5.1 on this old board).

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7n8x-d/overview.htm
http://www.nvidia.com/object/feature_soundstorm.html

My question is will the digital out on the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI encode Dolby and give games 5.1? Can someone with the board and a receiver give us the real scoop?

thanks,
-Jeff

edit: Just re-read your question. I've got about 20 feet or so of RG6 coax with 2 f to rca converters on them (from partsexpress.com search on "F" FEMALE TO RCA MALE ADAPTOR). As for max length, I'm not sure. It probably depends on way more then I understand to guess.

Thanks, I've read that 20' is max but I'm don't have a receiver yet capable of testing that out.

 

[thevelourfog]

Will this board do well with a PC Power and Cooling 470 ATX Silencer? Any problems with SLI?

 

[LFK]

I think the SLI aspect of this board works great, from what I've read and experienced.

As far as the PC&C 470, I would think it would do fine. They're a highly rated PSU....but I don't have any personal experience with them. What's the +12?

 

[Audiomaster8481]

I've read about how alot of people are having trouble getting a high FSB overclock with the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI motherboard (ie, no POST or have to power on and off a few times for POST). I had the same problems until I got the right kind of memory. Here are my current system specs:

Winchester 3000+ @ 2.7GHz (337FSB w/ 8x Mult; HTT x3; 1.45v +3.3% core); Aircooled
PQI3200-2048DB RAM (2x1GB PC3200 PQI Turbo Memory)
MSI 6800 (x2) video cards @ 430/800
Maxtor 160GB SATA x2 RAID (striped)
Ultra 600 Watt continuous power P/S

In order for the memory to run at it's proper 400Mhz speed, the memory had to be adjusted to 120Mhz in the BIOS.

Here is the URL for the memory:
http://www.pqimemory.com/spec.asp?link=/dc/PQI3200-2048DB.htm

I picked up this memory at Fry's and am very happy with it. It comes with good quality copper heatsinks. And for only $290 for a total of 2GBs, it's hard to beat.

I've been running my system with the above settings for a couple of days now without any problems. I can play the most current 3D games and benchmarks with ease -- 100% stable.
I hope this information helps some of you out.

 

[lazarus0]

I've read about how alot of people are having trouble getting a high FSB overclock with the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI motherboard (ie, no POST or have to power on and off a few times for POST). I had the same problems until I got the right kind of memory. Here are my current system specs:

Winchester 3000+ @ 2.7GHz (337FSB w/ 8x Mult; HTT x3; 1.45v +3.3% core); Aircooled
PQI3200-2048DB RAM (2x1GB PC3200 PQI Turbo Memory)
MSI 6800 (x2) video cards @ 430/800
Maxtor 160GB SATA x2 RAID (striped)
Ultra 600 Watt continuous power P/S

In order for the memory to run at it's proper 400Mhz speed, the memory had to be adjusted to 120Mhz in the BIOS.

Here is the URL for the memory:
http://www.pqimemory.com/spec.asp?link=/dc/PQI3200-2048DB.htm

I picked up this memory at Fry's and am very happy with it. It comes with good quality copper heatsinks. And for only $290 for a total of 2GBs, it's hard to beat.

I've been running my system with the above settings for a couple of days now without any problems. I can play the most current 3D games and benchmarks with ease -- 100% stable.
I hope this information helps some of you out.

i would really be interested in knowing more of you bios settings... i have a similiar setup and i can't get past 219 FSB no matter what i do.

do you know your winnie step/batch numbers?

 

[Teukka76]

I think he has CBBHD and you got CBBID that's the problem...

 

[thevelourfog]

As far as the PC&C 470, I would think it would do fine. They're a highly rated PSU....but I don't have any personal experience with them. What's the +12?

it's 26A

 

[Max-Powers]

still having problems. lets see...
athlon 64 3000
msi k8n neo4 sli of course
geforce 6600gt
corsair CMX512-3200XL
seagate SATA hard drive
benq 1620 cd/dvd rw

ok, i was having problems with this computer using some mushkin memory. failing memory tests and unstable with instaling windows. thought maybe the memory wasnt compatible, so i got some 3200XL. still having problems. failing mem tests. i set the timing to what its labled on the website and newegg.
http://compatible.corsairmemory.com/memorysearch.aspx?modelid=1167
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-520&depa=1
2-2-2-5. did i do it correct? what could be wrong
ok, so you should have same bios as me of course, so maybe you can help me find out if im doing this right. cell menu/DRAM Configuration
timing mode [manual]
memclock index value [200mhz]
cas# latency (Tcl) [2]
Min RAS# active time (tras) [5t]
RAS# to CAS# delay (Trcd) [2t]
Row precharge time (Trp) [2t]
everything else default (Auto)

 

[revenant]

Hi all -- I have read this whole thread, well, most of it and it has been very helpful... I bought all the parts for my "dream" system on Friday and they should all be here by thursday this week! my only concern was that I am going to re-use some Patriot DDR 2x512 cas2.0 3-2-5 1t units which should be ok, but am thinking I will have issues when pushing the fsb to like 230 and such... I plan on running the 3500+ winnie @ 2.4ghz (a medium to highish OC from what I read) and trying to push the FSB to 250, eventually... I hear that OCZ memory is voltage thirsty, so I was thinking about getting the better Patriot modules, in this review: http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2390 They are only $215 at Newegg right now... is anyone here running the Patriot non XBL modules? Just wondering.. Well, this is what I bought --

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum $199 (Fry's)
Athlon 64 3500+ winchester $268 (Newegg)
2x MSI NX6800GT-T2D256E $740 (gameve)
2x Seagete 300gig SATA $370 (Newegg)
500W ULTRA X-Connect PSU UV orange $97.99 (Xoxide)
ULTRA X-Connect 24-pin cable $12.99 (Xoxide)
2x ULTRA X-Connect PCI express cable $19.98 (Xoxide)
Aspire X-Navigator case $109.99 (Xoxide)
2x Cooler Master 18" Serial ATA UV purple $8.98 (Xoxide)
Dual UV Cold Cathode kit $6.99 (Xoxide)
2x Quad LED Blue 80mm Fan $7.98 (Xoxide)
Cooler Master KHC-V81 Heat Pipe Cooler $29.99 (Xoxide)
NEC dual layer DVD-RW 16x $52.99 (Newegg)
Saumsung DVD reader 16x $23 (Newegg)

I think that's it... I have a cooler mastrer dual fan card cooler which will go under the bottom 6800gt... Oh, also, does anyone have the Cooler Master KHC-V81 Heat Pipe Cooler? I hear it's really heavy... just wondering if it's too heavy or anything... I guess it will clear all of the caps and MOSFET sink... whew...

Oh yeah, I guess the best way to OC the FSB is to use clockgen? Is that windows software or something?

thanks...

-- revenant (aka: ubern00b)

 

[revenant]

I finally got my new system with the Neo4 running. But it seems like it'll run any game fine for a little while, and then my system will continuously freeze-up while playing. Restarting will only give me stability for a short while. This is leading me to believe it's an overheating problem, but my CPU never goes over 38C, and my GPU stays cool too.

I'm also having problems with my geil dual channel memory. It's DDR500, but I can only get it to run at DDR333. It wouldn't even post when I tried setting it at DDR400 at 2.6V. I've heard I should run it at 2.8V.

Hopefully some of these issues will be resolved by future BIOS releases. I guess that's the cost you pay of having a fairly cutting edge motherboard. I'm just getting fed up since all I really want is a stable rig, and it's being a pain lately

if you are using SLI with two 6800 series cards, there is a driver issue which causes what you describe to happen... apparently, with those cards, anything higher than the 71.84 drivers cause can cause those symptoms.

 

[kirbyrj]

Oh yeah, I guess the best way to OC the FSB is to use clockgen? Is that windows software or something?

Yes, ClockGen is Windows software. Very handy tool. I just setup a config to run when windows loads and I don't even notice anymore .

 

[Lowbatt]

Yes, ClockGen is Windows software. Very handy tool. I just setup a config to run when windows loads and I don't even notice anymore .

I've done the same with no problems. It is a great little piece of software.

 

[lock112]

[I was wondering if you had to mod the 2nd HD Rack for your Enermax PSU to fit? I'm lookign to get one of these cases soon and would like to use an OCZ PSU which is about .9" longer than the enermax. Thx for your help.

 

[kirbyrj]

[I was wondering if you had to mod the 2nd HD Rack for your Enermax PSU to fit? I'm lookign to get one of these cases soon and would like to use an OCZ PSU which is about .9" longer than the enermax. Thx for your help.

What kind of case are you talking about?

 

[lazarus0]

ok ... i change some setting and i can raise my FSB

but what exactly did i do?

first i dropped the HHT to 2x

then i dropped the HTT width to 8^ 8 v

then upped the vcore to 4.52
upped the vcore modifier to 9.9% (even though it blinked red at me)

upped the memory to 2.70

increased the voltage to something labeled NF4 to the highest non red voltage

went into the memory screen and set it to manual at 120mhz instead of 200mhz
(is this the equilavent to a memory divider? )


now my FSB broke the 220 barrier and i'm raising to a few mhz at a time ... up to 235



comments ... advice ... is it going to blow up?

 

[swimasta]

For those with problems with booting. I suggest you lower the HTT multiplier (not the thing that is 16 up and 16 down). Use 2x or 3x if lucky. (not 1.5 or 2.5 either). My final settings that are 39 hours prime95 stable.

My guess is that your ram will not run at 290+ mhz...I have the LA series (best of g.skill ram) and it doens't like to go past 290 mhz without failing memtest. G.Skill admits that the neo4 and g.skill mem don't love each other...would be hard to get g.skill up to 300MHZ even with 2T command rate. That relates to the sometimes post, sometimes not, and then hitting reset button...I even relaxed timings to 2.5-4-4-10 and 3-4-4-8, no go.

This is as far as I got:
Northbridge:
NO voltage increase!!!

Ram settings:
2.5-3-3-8 1T
266MHZ (CPU:MEM = 200:180)
2.85volts

CPU settings:
296MHZ HTT
HTT mult = 2x in bios (in windows I used ntune to boost it to 3x)
1.593volts
keep the up and down stream at 16-16

This config works for me. I'm quite pleased.
------------------------
My Hardware:

Athlon 64 3000+ @2.416 GHZ - winchester core - Thermalright SP-90 with AS5 (36C idle, 45C load)
MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI
1 GB PC4800 G.SKILL LA series
Enermax 600W Noisetaker SLI Edition
MSI Geforce 6600 GT
74 GB WD raptor

 

[jamori]

I'm looking into getting this board but have a question I can't seem to find the answer to:

what is the highest vdimm supported in the newest bios version?

 

[Max-Powers]

does this mobo not support pc3200 memory? iv tried everything and cant get my computer to boot up windows. got corsair pc3200xl. messed with all the settings and i still always fail memtest 86. how many people are using this mobo with pc3200?

 

[kirbyrj]

I'm looking into getting this board but have a question I can't seem to find the answer to:

what is the highest vdimm supported in the newest bios version?

2.85V Vdimm