AM2 Crossfire?

[The Mailman]

oh screw this!

black MSI, here I come!


(last call, theres no drawback from me buying this board, right?)

 

[atom]

The MSI board is priced right but I am kinda iffy on the BIOS. From all the reviews I've read I really don't like the way they did the overclocking options in there. Thats the only thing holding me back from buying it. I'm really hoping the epox RD580 board comes out soon.............

 

[OBCT]

Mailman, if you wanna wait until tomorrow, I might do some overclocking today. I'll post the results of however far I get tonight.

 

[familyman1]

Originally posted by: The Mailman
oh screw this!

black MSI, here I come!


(last call, theres no drawback from me buying this board, right?)

I think we all feel your pain. My opinion (and only that): You could certainly do worse than the MSI. It's got a decent price and good reviews and OBCT seemed to have his up with few problems. If having a super-tweaked system is what you're going for then having parts options is a good thing and I would suggest holding off - at least to see how easily the MSI (or other) overclocks for a few people. Maybe OBCT can comment on this...

 

[OBCT]

Well, I did some tweaking. The HTT options have been deciphered!

Standard - 5x
For Overclocking - 3x

At 271 FSB and up, the memory command rate (configurable via Cell Menu -> DRAM COnfiguration) shifts to Auto regardless of what you had it set to (1T).

At 286 FSB (858 HTT), it won't boot. Kinda disappointing, but I might try to tweak more voltages. Anand got up to 335, so I'm confused on this.

CPU is stable up to 2.6GHz, then I went to lunch. It'll get up to 2.7 easily, but then the HTT problem will interfere. So I gotta figure that out first.

In case you're wondering, here's the specs when testing HTT:
FSB: 273
CPU Multi: 5x
HTT Link: For Overclocking (3x)
CPU Voltage: 1.4
HTT Voltage: 1.3 (not quite sure on that, but it was more than standard voltage)
Memory: SPD, 1T, 5-5-5-15

Any thoughts on fixing the HTT problem?

Edit: Oh, and the MSI is awesome for failed overclocks. It boots up a failed OC message, then you can enter the BIOS with fail-safes and retweak immediately. Since I have a USB keyboard, I gotta reboot twice, but still better than cracking open the case for the jumper.

 

[The Mailman]

ive never overclocked in my life

but i might want the option - much like i might want the option to go crossfire

so maybe a super l33t board isnt for me? cuz honestly for 125 thats a good enough price for now to hold me down for AM3 and whatever else nice comes out, right?

 

[The Mailman]

okay, going for the MSI
ill have it faster and cheaper, that counts for something

ordered my HDD's today too

now i just need a mouse, keyboard, optical drive, and ram

is OCZ platinum 2gb (1x2) 800mhz ram good? ive read so/so reviews
i dont wanna get anything cheapo and ruin the integrity of this pc

 

[quizzelsnatch]

they've had a lot of problems with compatibility and you'll most likely have to use other ddr2 ram to flash the bios and get it to work

 

[The Mailman]

okay, so thats off the list

what do i get? i dont wanna spend over $175ish (though i buy one ebay so probably 200 range retail)

 

[OBCT]

Get Crucial. I know for a fact that the K9A Platinum goes well with Crucial. I had to run one stick initially, but then it warmed up to both beautifully.

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

hey OBCT, thanks for all your information and feedback on the MSI mobo... one quick question, is it possible to flash the BIOS without using a floppy? it's been a while since i flashed my pc's bios (been using a laptop for the last few years) so i'm surprised to hear that people are still flashing that way... i refuse to have a floppy drive in 2006! but i DO want to have the latest bios revisions

 

[OBCT]

MSI prefers that you use their utility to flash the BIOS. Not a problem for me yet, though, as it ships with the latest BIOS.

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

"their utility" means booting to a floppy in order to execute right?

 

[OBCT]

MSI Live Update

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

thanks for the link, although it's just an EXE file which i (obviously) cannot run since i'm not using that board just yet... looks like it will handle the bios update via the windows proggy, then a reboot... as long as it doesn't require a floppy than i'm happy

 

[The Mailman]

whats the best 2gb ram i could get for the MSI board for a price range of 200 or less?

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

Originally posted by: The Mailman
whats the best 2gb ram i could get for the MSI board for a price range of 200 or less?

bumping this question for my new build coming up in a few weeks

 

[The Mailman]

i agree with bumping the question in question

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

Originally posted by: The Mailman
i agree with bumping the question in question

Mailman, what case are you using to house your new rig? You probably already mentioned it but I'm too lazy to read through 20 pages of posts (already did it in 'real-time' as this thread was growing).

 

[The Mailman]

Lian Li PCV800b

its a big black htpc case from hell

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

Ahh, that's right, now I remember! It's surprisingly cheap for being both a Lian-Li AND HTPC case. Both of those criteria, alone, are usually quite expensive. No 120mm fans though, eh? Hmm...

 

[The Mailman]

not something that concerns me at the moment

i do have to remove the top fan though, it gets in the way of the zalman hsf

 

[craeyon]

Alright i was just reviewing the Sapphire mobo. It looks amazing! It is still going through the installation process.

EDIT: Any ETAs on the DFI board guys?

 

[Tsuwamono]

Im trying to find some on my distributers. If you give me the Product model numbers and brands ill go out and find all the release dates for you guys.

 

[The Mailman]

im hoping the msi comes in tomorow

hope keyword