MSI 694 Pro-AR vs Abit VP6

[CADbad]

Any opions regarding choosing one of these boards would be appreciated. They both seem to review well, making it a difficult choice.
Thx
Howard

 

[LXi]

I would pick the MSI, its higher quality.

 

[CADbad]

Hey THX LXI- I appreciate your reply-I have been wathing your post over time and appreciate your input.
I also prefer MSI to Abit-but the reviews on the VP6 have been so stellar I started to rethink my position.
Thx again
Howard

 

[LXi]

Neither of them are bad boards, but I would much rather deal with the Promise controller than the HighPoint.

 

[Audiofight]

I agree with him. If you are going to use the Raid, go with the MSI. There are programs out there available to help tweak the memory scores up there to match the Abit and Asus boards. Just be careful which hs/f you buy if you are going for a dually rig. The upper-right socket is extremely close to the atx connector. Hard to cram a larger-than-life hs/f on it. I went with the VP6 because I am running all scsi and like the Abit's layout. Very clean and friendly to the eye. The connector is away from the sockets and I attached two PAL-6035 hs/f to the P3 processors I am running without any problem.

Don't consider the Asus if you want to oc the processors like me. The Asus CUV4X-D doesn't have voltage control, unless they are going to offer it in a future bios update. This makes it hard to push the processors obviously. The only downfall I have been able to discover, from talking to owners of the MSI board, is the Promise controller cannot be disabled in the bios like the Abit board can be. I like this feature, turn it on/off at the touch of a button. The only way the other guys found to disable it, was to flash the bios with the Pro or Pro-A bios and make the board totally forget it has a Raid controller on-board. The same method is used to turn it back on.

If you would like any other info on the VP6, go here.

They helped me tweak out my board to the max, runs great now.

Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[techfuzz]

I've got the 694D Pro-A version not the AR (Raid version of the board). Only problems with this board that I've found are as follows:
FDD controller died on me after 4 months (RMA'd the board and it took them 4 weeks to get it back to me, their CS department sucks)
I use Golden Orbs on my processors and the top socket w/ Orb is a little tight because of the capicitors around the socket. But it fits!
Lastly, unless you apply some memory tweaks (like I've done) the board isn't as fast as it should be.

Now that I've got that out of the way it is a GREAT stable board. I haven't had a problem with it (AFTER RMA) and it runs 24x7 now. I'd consider buying from MSI again if their CS department improved just a little bit.

PS - I also have an Abit motherboard, not dual, but it hasn't had a problem and runs great.

 

[LXi]

4 weeks for an RMA, consider yourself lucky, I've heard much worse stories with other manufacturers, especially Abit who charges $25 for an RMA.

 

[techfuzz]

It really sucked cause that was the only computer I had except an old old Gateway with a P2 266 MHz that I'd been using for over 3 years. I ended up buying an Abit motherboard while waiting for my motherboard to get back to me and built another computer before I got my board back.

 

[Audiofight]

Abit only charges the $25 fee if you cannot supply a copy of your receipt. AND they guarantee 10 day turn-around on an RMA once they receive the board. This is directly from Donna, who I talked with to get my RMA number for my KT7-Raid. I placed a copy of my receipt in the box along with the form she sent as an attachment in an email and sent it off. Should be back any day now, been 5 business or 7 total. Sent it out last wednesday.

Good luck and sorry to be using your thread as an Off Topic style posting.

edit: typo

 

[LXi]

<<Should be back any day now>>

Im not surprised if its going to take 4 weeks, sorry I just had to say it. Im not too fond of Abits.

 

[networkman]

I've got 2 of the MSI 694D Pro boards.. one has ATA-100 and is running a pair of P3-700s oc'd to 933; the other is a regular ATA-66 and is running a pair of P3-600s oc'd to 800. I like both of them as they have alot of options for speed and voltage adjustments.

No experience with the VP6, although I liked the Abit BP6 when I had it.