K8N Neo4-F

[DoobieOnline]

Got the rig rebuilt with the Neo4-F and 3000+ Venice last night. I borked an XP install while OC'ing so I had to reload. Whoops! I'm using bios 1.3 and it seems to work well so far. I'm Priming while I type this at 9x288 (2592) so here's hoping it will be solid. I tried 9x300 and that's when I screwed up a fresh XP install. Thanks for all the tips guys! I'm sure I'll be back to ask a few questions once I run into a few probs.

edit: Serpentor, let me know if you find a better NB fan. It would probably be a good idea for me to go ahead and get one just in case this one craps out. It seems fine right now, though.

 

[Cobalt]

It seems my 2.7 at 1.538v might not be stable in 3DMark05 and Sandra arithmetic tests. Serpentor, is 1.6vcore a safe voltage? I'm sure if I upped it a bit more it would solve my problems, it's otherwise rock stable in hardcore gaming, etc. If 1.6v is safe for long term I will use it. Can anyone tell me if 1.6v would be safe for a long time, like years wise. Is 1.538 safe for that long as well?

 

[DoobieOnline]

cobalt - I have to use 1.6V to get my 3000+ stable at 2.6GHz. I don't know if it will last for years at that voltage but I plan to keep it there if it will keep me stable. My CPU temps aren't bad - right around 40C idle and I haven't bothered to check it under load because it runs BF2 and Doom 3 without problems. This room was also a little warm when I last checked idle temps. I'm using a Thermalright SLK-948U with a Panaflo 92mm M fan on it.

Serpentor - check out this link for the Evercool VC-RE ($11.80 shipped Priority Mail). It was designed as a VGA cooler but someone is using it on a DFI NF4 board here with great results. I just ordered one.

 

[coomar]

the 140 divider isn't detected in any program for me was well on the dfi board

 

[the Juice]

EDIT!!!

Nevermind I fixed it. There was something on the cpu pins. Works fine now.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Hey Juice, sounds like you need to clear cmos. Turn off the hard switch on the psu or unplug your power cord, let it sit for about one minute to get any residual juice (hehe) out, then press the clear cmos button. Power it up, hit delete several times until you get into bios, don't do anything except select "load optimal settings" then save and exit. Once it reboots, go back into bios and set it up the way you want it. Sorry for the newb explanation, but I didn't want to leave anything out if you're new to this. If that doesn't work, then you've either got a heat problem or your psu isn't up to the task. My retention bracket & backplate were already installed on the motherboard and that's the norm. Hope this helps!

 

[Monk1]

Hi Everyone - I'm sorry if I'm just jumping in on this conversation but I have reached my wits end on this MB. Here's the situation. My Comp Specs are at the bottom of the message.

- Boot from Win XP disk to begin fresh install
- It recognizes the fact that there's a hardrive (don't know if it knows it's a SATA drive, but...)
- It formats the drive succesfully
- It loads the OS just fine
- When finished it boots into XP for the first time without any problems.
- The moment I install anything from MB chipset drivers to XP update software and reboot, it hangs on the XP loading screen and reboots to the "Platinum screen" that allows you to press DEL to enter BIOS.

I've downloaded the most recent chipset drivers from the web site, i've flashed to the most recent BIOS. I've basically reformatted about 6 times so far and can't get this damn machiine to work at all. The XP disk that i'm using has been installed on other comuters without any problems.

I would appreciate any help anyone could provide. I'm not overclocking.

Comp specs:

- AMD 64 3000+ (Venice)
- K8N NEO 4 F
- ATI x300 128 DDR
- Maxtor Diamond MAX 9 SATA 80 GIG
- 512 Meg RAM (can't remeber manufacturer)

 

[DoobieOnline]

Hey Monk, just a thought here but did you install the NVIDIA SW IDE driver during the chipset drivers install? If so, you may want to go into Add/Remove Programs using Safe Mode and uninstall that particular driver. The system will load the standard Windows IDE drivers upon reboot and hopefully this will help.

 

[Monk1]

Hi Doobie - Thank you so much for your response. I'm at work right now so i'm going to try this tonight. Should I be doing anythng with the BIOS in terms os setting's before I load the OS? Should I clear the CMOS before atempting or maybe loading a different BIOS version?

 

[DoobieOnline]

You shouldn't have to do much if you want all of the mobo features enabled (except for setting the date and time of course). If you're using the onboard sound, it's enabled (auto) by default. If you're using a sound card then set that to disabled. Setting up your boot drive order is the only other thing you'll need to do. The best thing to do before a flash is go into bios and select "load optimal settings" and then select save and exit to reboot. Are you using a floppy to flash? I've had great luck with the 1.3 bios version that ships with the board. Serpentor found out that the 133 mem divider does not work in that version but everything else seems stable. It sounds like all your troubles started after installing the chipset drivers, so my best guess is the NV IDE driver is causing your prob.

 

[the Juice]

Thanks for the advice but yes I tried that. I pushed the little clear cmos button and went into bios and just as I restored defaults it shutdown. It has to be heat related but I all fans are working, thermal paste is on, and the heatsink is touching as far I as I can see. I made sure the cpu was seated. This weekend I will have another 939 cpu to try and see whats up.
Thanks though! I will get to the bottom of this. CPU might be bad.

 

[Serpentor]

Originally posted by: coomar
the 140 divider isn't detected in any program for me was well on the dfi board

It isn't detected for me either, not sure why. Once you disable the annoying "Platinum" BIOS splash screen, the regular BIOS startup screen will conveniently tell you your RAM speed and timings. It confirms that the 140 is working perfectly, not sure why CPU-Z, nTune, CoreCell, etc can't seem to detect it..

 

[Serpentor]

Originally posted by: DoobieOnline

Serpentor - check out this link for the Evercool VC-RE ($11.80 shipped Priority Mail). It was designed as a VGA cooler but someone is using it on a DFI NF4 board here with great results. I just ordered one.

Thanks for the tip Doobie. I noticed that the NB fan on the Neo4 has the insertion clips placed pretty far apart. I originally tried to use a fan from my old Epox 8k7a but the insertion clips weren't wide enough apart to fit the board.

Let me know if this VGA cooler fits on your board. If so, I have a Blue Orb on my old GF2 Pro from back in the day that might do the trick (nothing like OC'ing for extra frames in UT1 . I definitely have to switch though, mine has the mini-leaf blower sound now at 8000rpm..

 

[Monk1]

Hi Doobie - I tried a few more things last night including what you added yesterday for me and still no success. Are you aware that Xp has a problem with SATA drives? I have a feeling it's this MB but I can't think of anything else?

 

[DoobieOnline]

I didn't even look at the spacing of the existing cooler's pins. Crapola. I figured it was like any other chipset fan and most of them will accept the older aftermarket vga coolers. I'll check it out tonight when I get home. Man, Jab-tech sent the cooler out fast. I received it yesterday after ordering over the weekend. It would be a bummer if it won't fit!

Monk - I'm using a SATA Raptor without problems on the Neo4-F. What SATA header are you using on the mobo (1, 2, 3, or 4)? Have you tried different headers to see if any of them will get you past the point where the XP screen is hanging? Also, try flashing back to the original bios that came with the board (1.3 should be the version) and then using the chipset drivers that are on the disc that came with the board. I'm using the original 1.3 bios and the included chipset drivers without problems. I hope they'll work for you, too.

 

[Cobalt]

166 divider runs fine. RAM at 250mhz. Will do some tests later.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Sweet numbers cobalt. Man, I wish I could hit 300 FSB on mine but it just won't happen even with increased voltage. I can get into the mid 290's but I'm not crazy about how much voltage it takes to get there. I may play around with some of the other bios versions to see if they're any better. I initially tried 1.71b but it didn't seem to want to OC as high as 1.3. Of course, I was really tired when I tried it and may have overlooked something.

Serpentor - the Evercool VC-RE won't fit. You were right - the pins aren't spaced far enough apart.

I guess I'll just hold onto it for a future motherboard since it was so cheap and looks like it would be a great chipset cooler.

 

[Monk1]

Hi - Just to let you know that I finally fixed the problem! MSI sent me their V1.6.1 BIOS for the NEO yesterday. And, even though the XP disk I was using worked on other machines, I think the combination of using the new BIOS (3rd IDE channel listed in POST screen now and didn't before) and using the newer XP PRO SP2 disk from my firend did the trick! Thanks for your help Doobie.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Glad to hear you got everything squared away. Monk, can you email me that bios? I'll send you a PM with the address.

 

[Cobalt]

Hmm I'm getting worried lately. The last few days it's restarted by itself during some gaming, I checked the BIOS and temps seem fine, I gave the RAM a little more juice to accomodate the higher speed, I'll do some Prime overnight and see if I got the kinks worked out. If not, I'll drop back to the 133 divider.

 

[Serpentor]

Originally posted by: cobalt
Hmm I'm getting worried lately. The last few days it's restarted by itself during some gaming, I checked the BIOS and temps seem fine, I gave the RAM a little more juice to accomodate the higher speed, I'll do some Prime overnight and see if I got the kinks worked out. If not, I'll drop back to the 133 divider.

Cobalt, I just started gaming on mine over the weekend and subsequently had to back down on speed. I was passing Prime95 Large FFT fine at speeds north of 2770mhz, but CS:S and UT2k4 have crashed over time at anything above 2.7 flat, I'm guessing due to the added heat on the video end. It was also really hot this weekend and I didn't run the A/C and my apt. has very poor ventilation, so I imagine come winter I'll be back at 2770 again.

My CS:S crash errors kept mentioning "Attempt to read from virtual address..." and I wasn't able to find an exact cause on google for it. It may not be heat-related, as I prefer to run without virtual memory and that may be the culprit (I can't see why virtual is needed with 1GB RAM, I'm hoping BF2 will be happy when I install that next).

 

[SGtheArtist]

I am also considering this combination for a future system

Athlon 64 3000+ Venice w/ Stock HSF
MSI K8N Neo4-F

Serpentor, the guides & especially the script are very useful at clarifying the relationship between all the number.

So after looking at this the only issue really (assuming the CPU can run at 2.7GHz is) is if the motherboard can run at 300 FSB & the dividers & multipliers work correctly.

So does the new BIOS v1.6 work as well as the 1.7b that some posters have tried, at making the dividers & multipliers work properly?

 

[DoobieOnline]

SG, I've tried 1.3, 1.6, and 1.71b and really can't tell the difference in max OC with any of them. 1.71b has a working 133 divider according to cobalt so that's the only difference I can see. I'm using 1.6 right now and everything is peachy.

Serpentor, at times BF2 uses more than 1GB when playing large maps online. That's the whole reason I decided to go with 2x1GB in the rebuild. No hitching at all and everything is smooth as silk even in large maps now.

 

[SGtheArtist]

According to the script Serpentor posted the optimal setting for someone just wanting to overclock the CPU to 2.7GHz with standard value DDR400 RAM would be as follows.

HTT (FSB) 300
CPU 9 x 300 = 2700
Memory 2:3, 133, DDR266 = 192.85 (DDR386)
Hypertransport 3 x 300 = 900

Wouldn't these setting require the 133 divider that only appears to work in the 1.71b BIOS that cobalt has used?

 

[Cobalt]

Originally posted by: SGtheArtist
According to the script Serpentor posted the optimal setting for someone just wanting to overclock the CPU to 2.7GHz with standard value DDR400 RAM would be as follows.

HTT (FSB) 300
CPU 9 x 300 = 2700
Memory 2:3, 133, DDR266 = 192.85 (DDR386)
Hypertransport 3 x 300 = 900

Wouldn't these setting require the 133 divider that only appears to work in the 1.71b BIOS that cobalt has used?

Yes. And in my experience, the 133 divider works, I'm running at 166 now for 250mhz RAM.