MSI K8N Neo4 nForce4 Ultra Socket 939

[cubeless]

soooo.... stable @250*12, 3ghz, with 6.6% volt push... tops out on the bench with quieter fan around 50c... and with all the stuff plugged in it now waits for the power switch to be shorted after turning the psu on...

not too shabby... i may push up the fsb and drop the mult to see if performance is better...

pretty fast system for $120ish... just waiting for sata 320 drive... the 40gb 5400 i'm using sure is a pig...

 

[BadSweetums]

I couldn't stand being left out any longer. I bought one last week and built a budget box with the $34 GeForce 5750 also available at ComputerGeeks and the $56 3400+ from Newegg.

No problems at all and it was a nice way to test my Uber system build's case and power supply before putting my ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe at risk. I used the windows flash after installing Windows 2000.

Sidenote; download drivers directly from nVidia if you buy ComputerGeek's Leadtek Winfast PX360 video card. The driver CD drivers appear to be AGP only.

I used the stock AMD 4-tube heatsink fan from my Uber system build's retail boxed 4400+ processor. Temps climb to about 47 degrees celsius in a closed Rosewill case with one front mounted case cooling fan when I run Prime95 torture test.

 

[Bad Dude]

OK. I got bad news and good news.

Good news:
-I hot flashed the dead BIOS chip with the ECS KN1 as a host and the board is back in business, hence only the old original Fujitsu/Siemens BIOS would work.

Bad news:
-Since I had the host BIOS to play with, I tried flashing the BIOS with the latest MSI BIOS version D.1 and the board is dead again. So I am the only who can't get the MSI BIOS to flash.

Just a headsup guys:
Read this link. There's a bios that you can download just for this board which I used and it worked. The problem is it's the 1.1 version which is not the latest one d.1. Other than that, all of the overclocking settings are there. I had to use this one since the one from MSI won't work for me.

 

[GeezerMan]

Originally posted by: Bad Dude
OK. I got bad news and good news.

Good news:
-I hot flashed the dead BIOS chip with the ECS KN1 as a host and the board is back in business, hence only the old original Fujitsu/Siemens BIOS would work.

Bad news:
-Since I had the host BIOS to play with, I tried flashing the BIOS with the latest MSI BIOS version D.1 and the board is dead again. So I am the only who can't get the MSI BIOS to flash.

Just a headsup guys:
Read this link. There's a bios that you can download just for this board which I used and it worked. The problem is it's the 1.1 version which is not the latest one d.1. Other than that, all of the overclocking settings are there. I had to use this one since the one from MSI won't work for me.

Maybe I missed something in the thread, but have you tried the MSI windows bios flash utility, Live Update? That's what I used to load the D.1 bios

 

[imported_maildude]

I had no problems flashing both of the boards I bought using the MSI Live Update utility. Very easy and quick.

 

[dumpav]

for those who order and receive the mb, does it come with all the cable and part?

 

[GeezerMan]

Originally posted by: dumpav
for those who order and receive the mb, does it come with all the cable and part?

No, check the Geek pic, OEM board, only has the board and the I/O cover. That's it

 

[dumpav]

does it even come with manual? so these are brand new or refurbished mb?

thanks

 

[GeezerMan]

Dude, board and I/O back panel only. No whipped cream, no cherry on top. That's it. New OEM board. Drivers and manual can be downloaded from MSI

 

[cardiac]

As geezer said, it comes with the I/O plate for the case. Standard drive cables are used, etc. (If I have one IDE cable, I have 30-40 here).

Drivers can be found here: MSI

The user manual in .pdf format can be found on the same page.....

Bob

P.S. Anyone try the new Realtek audio driver date 1-7-07? Or how about the new Core Center dated 2 days ago? Anything change in either one of them?

 

[BobF]

Originally posted by: cardiac
As geezer said, it comes with the I/O plate for the case. Standard drive cables are used

I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of buying a bulk-packed MB compared to a retail packaged board.

Do hard drive cables typically ship with retail drives?

Do the mounting standoffs typically come with the MB or do they come with the cases?

And, aside from the drive cables, user manual, and software CD, are there any other items that would typically be included with a retail motherboard?

Bob

 

[GeezerMan]

Hard drive cables usually come with the motherboard. Standoffs come with the case. Boards usually have SATA cables, IDE cables, drivers on CD, manual. Take a look at Newegg at some of the boards, and click on the pics. It will show you what comes with the board. If you need the cables, and the full retail board is 20.00 or so more, I would probably get that instead. You will get a better warranty too.

 

[BobF]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Hard drive cables usually come with the motherboard. Standoffs come with the case. Boards usually have SATA cables, IDE cables, drivers on CD, manual. Take a look at Newegg at some of the boards, and click on the pics. It will show you what comes with the board. If you need the cables, and the full retail board is 20.00 or so more, I would probably get that instead. You will get a better warranty too.

Thanks for the super fast and very helpful reply!

It's been a couple of years since I've built a PC and I've forgotten what comes with what.

Bob

 

[GeezerMan]

There are several MSI K8N Neo4-F nForce4 boards on a certain auction site we all know. Looks like the pricing is a about 20.00 more than the Geeks deal. Has a good pic of what comes with the board. Not bad. Warranty may be a question since those sellers may not be authorized dealers.

 

[Bad Dude]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan

Originally posted by: Bad Dude
OK. I got bad news and good news.

Good news:
-I hot flashed the dead BIOS chip with the ECS KN1 as a host and the board is back in business, hence only the old original Fujitsu/Siemens BIOS would work.

Bad news:
-Since I had the host BIOS to play with, I tried flashing the BIOS with the latest MSI BIOS version D.1 and the board is dead again. So I am the only who can't get the MSI BIOS to flash.

Just a headsup guys:
Read this link. There's a bios that you can download just for this board which I used and it worked. The problem is it's the 1.1 version which is not the latest one d.1. Other than that, all of the overclocking settings are there. I had to use this one since the one from MSI won't work for me.

Maybe I missed something in the thread, but have you tried the MSI windows bios flash utility, Live Update? That's what I used to load the D.1 bios

No I did not use the Live Update. Maybe that is what the problem was. But I used the DOS version of the flash. I thought a lot used that and no problem.
Thanks.

 

[GeezerMan]

I have flashed the board with Live Update and flashed it through a floppy. Both ways worked for me.

 

[cardiac]

Flashed both my boards with LiveUpdate and worked fine....

Bob

 

[Lurker1]

flashed mine with a win 98 disk. Lots of fun with that.....

 

[cardiac]

Originally posted by: Lurker1
flashed mine with a win 98 disk. Lots of fun with that.....

You a glutton for punishment, or what???

At least we can easily update the BIOS now; years ago yoiu had to use an EPROM burner. Get it wrong, and throw another BIOS in the garbage.....

Bob

 

[zetachi]

Well I decided I could not pass up a $40 MOBo so i took the PCI-e plunge. Ordered this board, a new Antec SP-500 PSU and A Sapphire X1950Pro card. The last item(video Card) was just delivered by FEDEX and I begin my re-build tonight. I'm replacing an EPOX 9NDA3J, Antec True 550 and a Sapphire X800 Vivo AGP.

Gonna take a chance and try and boot from my old XP installation using repair. It's been over a year since I OC'd my old system so I'll probably be a little rusty and bombard you guys with a ton of questions untill I get my OC feet back.

here is my highest OC with the old setup. Hoping to top it on this new board (that is if it was not the CPU holding me back)
Highest OC

 

[Lurker1]

Originally posted by: cardiac

Originally posted by: Lurker1
flashed mine with a win 98 disk. Lots of fun with that.....

You a glutton for punishment, or what???

At least we can easily update the BIOS now; years ago yoiu had to use an EPROM burner. Get it wrong, and throw another BIOS in the garbage.....

Well, I didn't try to be. Used Nero with bootable DVD (CD burner wasn't working in old box for unknown reason, would only burn DVDs...) and failed, burned image onto DVD and that failed to load flash program. Booted of Win98 CD into console mode, ran DVD based flash program and finally had success. Board's great, now that everything is working just fine .

 

[cardiac]

Originally posted by: Lurker1

Originally posted by: cardiac

Originally posted by: Lurker1
flashed mine with a win 98 disk. Lots of fun with that.....

You a glutton for punishment, or what???

At least we can easily update the BIOS now; years ago yoiu had to use an EPROM burner. Get it wrong, and throw another BIOS in the garbage.....

Well, I didn't try to be. Used Nero with bootable DVD (CD burner wasn't working in old box for unknown reason, would only burn DVDs...) and failed, burned image onto DVD and that failed to load flash program. Booted of Win98 CD into console mode, ran DVD based flash program and finally had success. Board's great, now that everything is working just fine .

Glad to hear it. Both my boards are running rather uneventfully.....Can't complain.

Bob

 

[BobF]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
There are several MSI K8N Neo4-F nForce4 boards on a certain auction site we all know. Looks like the pricing is a about 20.00 more than the Geeks deal. Has a good pic of what comes with the board. Not bad. Warranty may be a question since those sellers may not be authorized dealers.

Thanks for the info!

Does anyone have suggestions on what might be a solid "Bang for the Buck" CPU to pair with this board for a decent gaming system? I'd like to be able to run Elder Scrolls Oblivion with reasonably high settings. For a videocard, I'd probably pick up something like a Geforce 7600GT.

Bob

 

[GeezerMan]

Some of the MSI boards on the bay may not be Nforce4 ultra boards though. If I recall correctly, the Geeks board is a Nforce4 ultra.

 

[clipperfixer]

I got this for my system.
Opty 165 A lot of the guys on Hardocp forum are getting good steppings for overclocking.
I have one on an Asrock Dual939 that I game with now. The FX 55 for 130 was a better deal, but they are 209.00 now.