MSI K8N Neo4 nForce4 Ultra Socket 939

[LeonarD26]

OK, so I'll finally get to build my new system. Just picked up a 7900GS (~ $120 AR) to go with this board and an Opteron 165 that I got a few weeks ago. I'm glad to see everyone is having success with this board.

The only question I have is about the BIOS. Is it simple to update via Windows? I saw a lot of people having success overclocking, so I'm pumped!

 

[kenton]

Go to bootdisk.com and download the flashcd.zip, burn that ISO to a CD. Burn the flasher.exe and the BIOS ROM (from the link on page 2 I believe, it's a tinyurl) to another disc.

Boot your PC with the flashcd ISO you burnt, swap CDs and flash the BIOS like you would any other computer from DOS. Don't use the Windows utilities, you never know. My method is foolproof.

 

[SithSolo1]

Originally posted by: LeonarD26
OK, so I'll finally get to build my new system. Just picked up a 7900GS (~ $120 AR) to go with this board and an Opteron 165 that I got a few weeks ago. I'm glad to see everyone is having success with this board.

The only question I have is about the BIOS. Is it simple to update via Windows? I saw a lot of people having success overclocking, so I'm pumped!

I used MSI Live Update and it worked fine. You can run it from windows.

 

[hytek369]

wow, that is cheap

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Then again, for that much money, might be better to go with a Intel duo core..

How much Core 2 Duo CPU plus motherboard can be had for $250?

 

[GeezerMan]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Then again, for that much money, might be better to go with a Intel duo core..

How much Core 2 Duo CPU plus motherboard can be had for $250?

It was a trick question. I didn't think you could get one. Thanks for confirming.

 

[nyker96]

I'm sure by next year this could be possible, but maybe with a lousy mb.

 

[SithSolo1]

Not only would you need a Core 2 Duo and a Mobo you would also need DDR2 Ram

 

[GeezerMan]

I sold my car, my first born, and stopped my drug habit , just to buy some ram.:Q

 

[nyker96]

GeezerMan, you are too dedicated to Da Course!

 

[SithSolo1]

Well I've run into a slight problem.

FX-55 set to x7 multi
HTT x4 until 250 then x3 after that

1:1 I can't boot at anything higher than 240mhza(FSB). If I try to boot above that then I don't even get a post screen. The keyboard doesn't flash and the monitor pwr button stays yellow and doesn't turn green.

I primed with the HTT at 320 and it was stable so I don't think thats it.

I've got Mushkin Redline pc4000 which is rated @ 250mhz, the guy I bought it from said he was running fine at 260, and even Anandtech's review got them over 290mhz so I don't think its the ram.

I tried relaxing the timings and giving more voltage but I get nothing.

Any ideas?

 

[kenton]

Well, it Orthosed at 300HTT for 21 hours and some change. Bad storm is rolling in so I shut the computer down. Load temp was like 42C but it is underclocked (tho not undervolted)

I'd say this board is a GO for 300HTT. I may try to test 320HTT tomorrow.

 

[SithSolo1]

Well my onboard audio just went wacko. Its all sped up a staticy. Just to make sure I hadn't fubared the OS, I formated and re-installed windows. Heh, guess I pusshed it a little too hard. It didn't like the memory going over 240mhz no matter what the HTT or Mem Spd was.

 

[mangust]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Say, if there is not a way to connect a speaker to the board, and the board has no integrated alert, how did the OEM hook up any bios beeps?

Hmm.... You can get a D-Bracket for about $10 on *bay. It won't give audible codes but at least you'll get visual.

 

[LeonarD26]

OK, so I got all my new stuff put together. My Opty 165 is running fine. I updated the bios via LiveUpdate and haven't had any problems. I didn't do any overclocking yet... the bios is very different than my old Abit NF7-s. I'll have to figure out how to change the multiplier/HTT, etc.

What software does everyone use to monitor temps? I used to use MBM, but I think that's way out of date...

 

[kenton]

D Bracket won't work unless you directly solder the wires to the board, even then it may be YMMV. No pins onboard, but the points are there. Sorta like those Dell/GW computers back in the day with an AGP slot silkscreened on the motherboard, but no physical slot...

I ordered a 165 as well. Hoping for 2800MHz (311HTT) to keep my memory at 200MHz

 

[shinson]

I got one and after I installed the OS I used LiveUpdate as well.... no problems.

Unfortunately, the FX-55 I put in can only do 14 x 200 (2.8GHz) using MassCool CPU fan.

I have the Crucial Ballistic DDR500 running fine at 250 x 2 (3-3-3-10)

When I bump the CPU voltage to try 14.5 x 200, the CPU temps > 55c and become unstable.

Oh well..... It's still fast!

 

[parkerlewis]

Originally posted by: LeonarD26
What software does everyone use to monitor temps? I used to use MBM, but I think that's way out of date...

SpeedFan seems to be the best monitoring utility around these days.

 

[Lurker1]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan

Originally posted by: Zap
How much Core 2 Duo CPU plus motherboard can be had for $250?

It was a trick question. I didn't think you could get one. Thanks for confirming.

E6300 w/ ECS mobo (EEK! for about $199 currently @ Fry's.

Yes, you'll need DDR2 RAM @ about $180 minimum for decent 2 1GB sticks, which will gain you between 30-100% performance over these solutions, provided the ECS mobo OC's at all. (They're notoriously fickle. I have 2 old Intel P4 ECS boards that are rock-solid stock, and 1 AMD 939 that can't run stably @ stock at all, which is what the MSI board is replacing).

Since I bought a 3800+ X2 and ECS mobo for $160, and now this mobo @ $40 w/ existing RAM, I still feel pretty good about the resulting system.

 

[GeezerMan]

OK, we just got the board in. Looks real nice. Even has the digital out. Would have been nice if Geeks had packed it a little better. Looks like someone has tested the board, the levers on the first ram slot are open. Hopefully, it's not a return.

 

[StormSide]

Just ordered 1 ... btw it's 40.99 now!

 

[GeezerMan]

OK, we got it all wired up with a 4600+ X2 CPU. Speedy. Now, we want to know which is faster, my personal AM2 3800+ X2 or his new 939 4600+ X2. Both at stock speeds. Both with 2GB of ram. Even with the DDR2 that my AM2 uses, it has to be slower than the 4600+ X2. Of course, overclocking is another story.

 

[GeezerMan]

I used live update to flash the bios and it worked fine. Except, now I don't see the option of enabling Cool n Quiet. Am I missing it somewhere?
Thanks

 

[imported_maildude]

Cool n Quiet should be listed under Cell Menu. There are two columns of options when you go into the bios it is in the second column. Hope this helps.

 

[GeezerMan]

Originally posted by: maildude
Cool n Quiet should be listed under Cell Menu. There are two columns of options when you go into the bios it is in the second column. Hope this helps.

Thanks Maildude. I found it. I think it was under power management or something else in the original bios.