MSI 975X Platinum

[zaku178]

I got my 975X Platinum today too with a dangling heatsink since one of the screws came off. Hope this thing works.

 

[Corporate Thug]

guys, there is a BETA bios out there but you have to PM the mod over at MSi forums:

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=99678.0

 

[nitromullet]

Any update on the BIOS situation with these two motherboards..? At $230 at the egg it would be a great board if it works, but a really pricey lemon if it doesn't... Please keep us posted, and good luck.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Ok so i found an optical drive, threw in my XP pro and this is what i get:

NTLDR is missing

 

[cpl edge]

my gigabyte ds3 with a e6400 said at boot up that it was 66x7 or 8. but in windows it was fine... but... i could not get my bios to oc, so i took it back to get a bad axe. ( i know they work, i saw it get overclocked to hell at quakecon)

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: cpl edge
my gigabyte ds3 with a e6400 said at boot up that it was 66x7 or 8. but in windows it was fine... but... i could not get my bios to oc, so i took it back to get a bad axe. ( i know they work, i saw it get overclocked to hell at quakecon)

how good is the bad axe bios without physical modifications though?

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
Ok so i found an optical drive, threw in my XP pro and this is what i get:

NTLDR is missing

So, let me understand this... You successfully installed WinXP and then it couldn't find NTLDR, or this is what you got when you attempted to install?

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
Ok so i found an optical drive, threw in my XP pro and this is what i get:

NTLDR is missing

So, let me understand this... You successfully installed WinXP and then it couldn't find NTLDR, or this is what you got when you attempted to install?

right when i attempted to install. I got to about 17% from copying files, then I had to abort the install to clean the XP disc and now I get this over and over again...

 

[nitromullet]

So, are you getting the error when booting from the cd or when you try to boot the system? If it's your cd, then your media or reader is the issue. If it's actually trying to boot off the C drive, then that makes sense becasue NTLDR is the bootloader, which wouldn't be present if the install didn't complete successfully. If your media is ok, then just re-do the install.

btw... did you get the beta BIOS from the MSI forum mod?

Good luck with this, and keep us posted. I got this thread stickied by the mods here becasue I think that the MSI board could potentially be a good board for the money, but it sounds like it's not all smooth sailing. Hopefully, you can get this thing running properly.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
So, are you getting the error when booting from the cd or when you try to boot the system? If it's your cd, then your media or reader is the issue. If it's actually trying to boot off the C drive, then that makes sense becasue NTLDR is the bootloader, which wouldn't be present if the install didn't complete successfully. If your media is ok, then just re-do the install.

btw... did you get the beta BIOS from the MSI forum mod?

Good luck with this, and keep us posted. I got this thread stickied by the mods here becasue I think that the MSI board could potentially be a good board for the money, but it sounds like it's not all smooth sailing. Hopefully, you can get this thing running properly.

i didnt get the new bios yet. Here is what i dont get: the media is good because i just wiped it off and installed it on another computer just to make sure it works.

In the BIOS, i set primary boot device to CD-ROM and disabled the secondary and third boot device. why would it not boot off the cd?

 

[Corporate Thug]

BTW, here is the new BIOS

http://rapidshare.de/files/27063222/w7246ims.711.html

 

[Corporate Thug]

Ok, i found the problem. although BIOS recognizes my DVD drive, I get a screen that goes by so fast its hard to read but it says NO optical drive found. how the heck do i fix this? BIOS recognizes it....but once i exit bios, the system thinks its no longer there.

 

[nitromullet]

Hmmm... that's odd. Just grasping at straws here, but maybe try different jumper settings on the DVD drive (CS or Master), or a different drive perhaps.

edit: I also assume that you have the IDE channel configured to auto-detect, see if you can manually specify the optical drive in the BIOS.

 

[Corporate Thug]

well, i can pretty much say i'm done with this board. I tried everything. Either the DVD rom gets recognized after BOOT, or the HDD, but not both. This is a ridiculous issue to have but oh well.

 

[nitromullet]

Agreed, I'd send it back myself. Sorry for your troubles, and thanks for telling us about them.

/crosses MSI 975X Platinum off of list

 

[Corporate Thug]

my god, i think i got mine to work. i make the sata drive into the primary slave and it seemed to fire up...

 

[Corporate Thug]

OK, windows installed.

Next problem: i'm getting 3 different reports for the CPU frequency: BIOS says 466 mhz, CPU Z says 267 x 6 (instead of 7), and system (in the control panel says 1.86.

how the heck am i supposed to know which is accurate?

 

[Corporate Thug]

I got some chance to play around with the board. I'm out of arctic silver so i'm not pushing it much.

Here is what i noticed:

a. clocks still messed up in the BIOS
b. BIOS is seriously undervolting on the vCORE. I set it to 1.4 with the stock HSF and BIOUS registers the vcore @ 1.35-1.36. This shouldnt be a huge problem as there is quite an extensive range of Vcore.
c. the temps on my particular board seem right, none of the crazy temps that the XS people seem to be getting. my e6300 is idling in the high 30's, dont have any programs to install to check load at the moment.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Day 2: the problems persist

a. only loads windows about HALF the time
b. USB devices only work about HALF the time
c. random restarts - generally unstable

 

[nitromullet]

Wow... Again, thanks for keeping us updated. I'm sure you have to be pissed at that mobo, which makes your patience and willingness to give is a play-by-play all the more appreciated.

edit: looks like word is starting to spread that this board is shite, newegg has a "one day sale" on it at $199, this is probably the cheapest 975X board available right now. Apparently, it's not worth it....

 

[Corporate Thug]

no problem NitroMullet

So i got the board stable and running (i messed around with the ram configuration). I have my e6300 OCed to 325x7 which at the moment is good enough because i'm still on the stock cooler until my AS 5 comes in.

Anyway, my dilemma at the moment is whether I should keep this board and cross my fingers that MSI will release better BIOS or return it and wait a little longer for the nforce590 boards? any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ScottFern]

I have this motherboard but I am trying to decide whether or not to sell it and just wait for a Intel 590 or wait for a mature bios release?

 

[TooRude]

corporate thug, I feel your pain. here are some things that will make your system work better as it has mine.
turn off C1E and Speed Step.
If you are overclocking turn off auto detect PCI clock and spread spectrum.
also manually set your ram timings and fsb 1:1.
I am using the beta 714 bios and everything seems to be working well for me right now. still a crap shoot sometimes if its going to boot (sometimes I have to do hard boot to get it to kick in)

currently I am at 400x8 1.3v pci-e 1.6v primed all night.
also if you werent aware pci-e voltage in bios is actually vMCH voltage.

hope that helps.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: TooRude
corporate thug, I feel your pain. here are some things that will make your system work better as it has mine.
turn off C1E and Speed Step.
If you are overclocking turn off auto detect PCI clock and spread spectrum.
also manually set your ram timings and fsb 1:1.
I am using the beta 714 bios and everything seems to be working well for me right now. still a crap shoot sometimes if its going to boot (sometimes I have to do hard boot to get it to kick in)

currently I am at 400x8 1.3v pci-e 1.6v primed all night.
also if you werent aware pci-e voltage in bios is actually vMCH voltage.

hope that helps.

thanx tooRude. I'll try those setting and see if i can get to 400.

 

[ScottFern]

I have another piece of advice. I upgraded the northbridge heatsink and added a 70mm fan as well. This has allowed me to bump my FSB from 375 to currently 400FSB. The reason I know this is because I added the 70mm fan after I was stuck at 375 and I am now priming for 2 hours at 400FSB.

Just a helpful hint. Your northbridge is hotter than you think.