MSI K7T Pro2-A...

Pastore · Jan 25, 2001

I have one on order from jkdude from the ForSale/Trade forums... Now that I have looked over the forums, it seems like everyone is having nothing but problems with these boards... Is there anything I should specificlly watch out for when I install this board?? It is coming with a T-Bird 1Ghz @ 1.2Ghz, and 128 MB Mosel ram...

Thanks

PCResources · Jan 25, 2001

The problem SOME people had with the MSI K7TPRO-A motherboard was because of the 686B southbridge, the K7TPRO mobo does not use that southbridge....

SOOOOO, the problem wasn't with the particular board, rather with the chipset, and even then, only if not configured properly, with the correct drivers (this is my experience, some people will contradict me here, but it IS my experience) and good HW otherwise...

So congratulations on your choice of mobo, it is the most stable (common) motherboard out there, you can find more posts about problems with ASUS (which used to be a great manufacturer) and Abit (which has not been so great for some time now)...

MSI uses better quality parts for their motherboards (than Asus, GB, Abit and so on) so you probably will get a stable, good motherboard...

If you run into any problems with that board, PM me, and i will try to help you...

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

Pastore · Jan 25, 2001

Thanks for the info, and kind words... your name will go in my black book

Bane25 · Jan 25, 2001

I have an MSI Pro2-A.
I've also had all the problems everyone else had.
I found the cause: VIA's 4in1 Drivers.
DO NOT install the 4in1 Drivers off the CD that comes with the MSI board.
That's the problem...those drivers are buggy and cause crashes, etc.
Instead, directly download the newest VIA 4in1 drivers off the net and install those.

With the newer drivers installed, I no longer crash, but I'm still not getting ATA100 speeds
with my harddrive....I dunno how to fix that so far.

-Bane25

PCResources · Jan 25, 2001

<< Thanks for the info, and kind words... your name will go in my black book >>

It's posts like this one that makes me want to post more... Thank you...

And remember, if you need any help with the setup, just PM me...

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

flyfish · Jan 25, 2001

You will like the Pro2. Trust me ;-)

toph99 · Jan 25, 2001

the biggest problem i have with my pro2a is that it's VERY picky with multiplier adjustmends. it will run at 7.5x109, but not 8x100

tjdavis1138 · Jan 25, 2001

Patrick: I am curious, you always mention msi, abit, asus being common motherboards. Who makes the "high-end" motherboards?

Just wondering.

Thanks,

PCResources · Jan 25, 2001

<< I have an MSI Pro2-A. >>

Well, this thread isn't about that board, it's about the PRO2...

<< I've also had all the problems everyone else had >>

Which problems (OMG, EVERYONE HAS PROBLEMS WITH THIS BOARD!!), i have installed hundreds of boards without any problems, are you sure it's the board, i assume you use high quality memory and a good PS, right?

<< DO NOT install the 4in1 Drivers off the CD that comes with the MSI board. >>

Maybe you should state what version your CD is before staing ANYTHING about buggy drivers, right?

<< With the newer drivers installed, I no longer crash, but I'm still not getting ATA100 speeds >>

How do you define ATA100 speeds, 100MB/sec?? I don't think so... Even with the best of the best ATA disk you cannot even fill the ATA66 bus, not even at burst speeds...

If you were expecting 100MB/s throughput just becauset the interface says "Max 100MB/s" you were obviously fooled by the numbers...

The truth is, if you want a fast HDD subsystem, well then ATA is not for you, go SCSI...

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

Pastore · Jan 25, 2001

I believe that the top three (ASUS, Abit, and MSI) Are all considered "High-End" board manufacturers...

PCResources · Jan 25, 2001

<< Patrick: I am curious, you always mention msi, abit, asus being common motherboards. Who makes the "high-end" motherboards? >>

The ServerSet motherboards are regarded high end, but the real high-end motherboards come from small companies and are very expensive...

Like the PCRES line of boards (you guessed right, PC Resources designs these boards) which use more layers to lessen signal interference and increase signalling quality...

The boards produced by PCRES are too expensive for common users, therefore i state that they are common (medium-range) boards...

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

tjdavis1138 · Jan 25, 2001

Cool, just curious.

Thanks,

p.s. Keep your fingers crossed for me, I'm getting ready to install my Pro2A in a few minutes.

PCResources · Jan 25, 2001

<< I believe that the top three (ASUS, Abit, and MSI) Are all considered "High-End" board manufacturers... >>

Well, these are the boards you will be looking at... and are you a high-end consumer, do you want special solutions? Are you willing to pay several thousands of dollars for your motherboard? No, you are looking for a good home compute motherboard, now aren't you?

Of the motherboard makers you mentioned, two ranks as low-end and one as high end, guess which is the high end manufacturer in my book...

The quality of the components uses tells much about the motherboard, MSI is far better than both ASUS and Abit there, no question about it...

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

Pastore · Jan 25, 2001

Patrick, I have found that the board is indeed a Pro 2A... Any different thoughts?

Few thousand for a motherboard??? LOL

PCResources · Jan 25, 2001

<< Patrick, I have found that the board is indeed a Pro 2A... Any different thoughts? >>

Nope, which HDD are you planning to use?

<< Few thousand for a motherboard??? LOL >>

Well, the most expensive motherboard i ever designed (and it was built by Eltex) was more expensive than that, the price was 62 000 USD...

These are special motherboards designed for the VERY high end, where ten minutes of down time might mean a loss of tens of thousands of dollars, or even worse, the loss of human lifes...

So now you know what i consider HIGH-END... ;-)

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

Pastore · Jan 25, 2001

Im guessing you are talking military type of applications??? Ive got a 40 gig 7200 RPM Maxtor...

tjdavis1138 · Jan 25, 2001

I'm going to be re-formatting my hard drive (Ibm 30g 75gxp udma 100) for this install. When should I install the via driver's? Should I start with 4.28 and see if they work or start from the latest official driver's and start my way up if those don't work?

I've built many systems over the years, but this is my first amd, via based setup.

Thanks

Doomguy · Jan 25, 2001

MSI dosent really use higher quality parts than Asus. Asus motherboards are 6 layered whereas MSI are 4 layered. MSI mobo's are still better but most people dont know this.

gtd2000 · Jan 25, 2001

Interesting thread...I'm considering the AMD/VIA route as an upgrade from from my PIII450@600Mhz on a BX6.
I was set on the MSI and also have reservations after reading about numerous problems reported on here with them.
I will also be using the IBM 30.7GB ATA 100 drive.
Do you feel that the MSI is of far higher quality than the ABIT/EPOX 133A solutions?
I wish to OC a Duron CPU and would natuarlly like to make the best choice overall.

PCResources · Jan 25, 2001

Well, i could tell you about the uses of that motherboard, but then i would have to kill you... and as that would not be a very nice thing to do, i better not tell you about the applications for that board... ;-)

The GXP series seems to have instability issues with the 686B southbridge (it does have some other issues, but they have all been resolved and i guess that these new problems will be resolved soon to) but the maxtor drives should work fine, i have used maxtor drives for many of my setups with the K7T Pro2-A and it worked great...

I would use the 4.28 driver package and the Soltek IDE driver, downloadable from the Soltek website, it usually fixes any problems that might occur...

It is just a suggestion, maybe not a necessity, at first try the latest official drivers, but to get the most out of your setup, go with the setup i described (some of this info about the drivers was supplied from LXi, thank you LXi!)...

If you encounter any problems at all, you are welcome to contact me, PM me and i will do what i can to solve your problems...

(Many people have sent me PM's, just hang in there i will answer them as soon as i can, if you do not recieve a PM, check the thread you started or posted at, i have only 16H/ a day and i have to work most of that time, so please just be patient...

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

soulm4tter · Jan 25, 2001

how do know the quality of components on the motherboards?

confounded · Jan 25, 2001

I just built my first Amd system - Abit KT7A raid. I started with W98SE, then loaded Via 4.26, then beta 4.28. Start with just minimum - vidio card, mouse ,key board, hard drive ,cd rom, floppy. Everything is working fine. I did have conflicts later, but was able to work them out. None of my problems relate to the VIA 4 in 1 drivers!

PCResources · Jan 25, 2001

<< MSI dosent really use higher quality parts than Asus. Asus motherboards are 6 layered whereas MSI are 4 layered. MSI mobo's are still better but most people dont know this. >>

Obviously you do not have a clue what you are talking about... The early 750 based ASUS motherboards used six layers, but their VIA motherboards use only 4 layers...

The higher quality components used by MSI involves resistors, capacitors and the design of the motherboard itself, obviously you do not know this, but maybe you should check your facts before you make any statements like this... I design motherboards myself, so i know a bit about these things, i have done individual component testing with MSI, GB, ASUS, Abit, QDI, Soltek, Tekram and other boards, so i do know what i am talking about when i say that MSI uses higher quality components (soltek is catching up though, they are one of my favourites except for MSI right now)...

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

PCResources · Jan 26, 2001

<< Do you feel that the MSI is of far higher quality than the ABIT/EPOX 133A solutions >>

The Abit board has been the worst i ever tested, i have tested thousands of KT133 boards... The Epox solution isn't that bad, but if i were to recommend anything i would recommend the MSI line or the Soltek line...

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

Pastore · Jan 26, 2001

Patrick, you are starting to get me excited about my purchase, quit it!!

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