MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra

[Kyle W]

I keep getting mixed reviews on the MSI K8N Neo4. I want to get a good board for $125-$150 for an A64 skt 939. Should I not even read newegg reviews on products? I did a search here too and kinda got the same thing people have problems unless those are few and far between. I did read a lot on where the MSI K8N boards would use the battery life quicky on the board. Any comments or suggestions would be great! I could be wrong and I hope I am because it looks like a great board!

 

[Puffnstuff]

I'm one of the people who had lots of problems with that mb until I attached it to a 550w enermax ps with a single 12v rail. Now she's doing just fine unlike when I had her powered by an antec tp550 and another enermax noisetaker 485w dual rail ps. If you like the layout and features and decide to get it then make sure you don't try to power it with a cheap ps.

 

[Tweakin]

I have a neo2 and a neo4, and neither has given me any problems. I would like to add that I'm just now burning in the neo4, but I've read so many posts regarding users with post problems, restarts etc...I just haven't seen it yet.

I do agree with puffnstuff that these boards are picky and like lots of juice. I use a 520w Ocz on both. Hope this helps.

 

[Kyle W]

well that does help a lot but that just might take me over my budget. I was planning on getting an antec case with a truepower 380 that comes with it. I'm not sure the volts. heres the link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129127

 

[Tweakin]

The Antec 380 is a decent PS, but you could do better. It would get you running as long as your video card isn't real hungry and you don't have 30 fans, 5 hard drives and 3 cd-roms installed.

A 380 will allow the system to run, and if you keep it at one hard drives and one cd-rom, along with two case fans and a medium range GPU (6600GT or X800...), I think you would be fine as long as you don't intend to OC, or only OC a little.

Remember, you can find brand new PS on ebay for $40 or so...I just sold the Neo4 430 out of my P150 case for $40. This retails for $89...so there are deals to be had.

 

[Puffnstuff]

It's all about the amps. The antec tp550 only supplied 24a in the 12v rail and the enermax I'm using now has 36a on the 12v rail. Something to keep in mind as you shop around. The 600w noisetaker I'm using on my own rig has 18Ax2 on the 12v rail keeping the mb and other peripherals separated and it's on sale at newegg for $149.

 

[Kyle W]

Will this work? I dont really want to spend more then 100 bucks unless I really have too since I'm on a budget. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103931 I'll have motherboard, one cd/dvd drive, one 80gig western dig hdd, one pci-e. I think this will handle it. My vid card is only a SAPPHIRE 100119L-HS Radeon X550 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814102638 Can the antec handle it?

 

[Wentelteefje]

If you're going to take that PSU, it will be a total overkill... Take yourself a cheap and powerful Fortron AX450-PN PSU that will power everything you have in your rig...

I have a MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum myself, and it has never given me any problems... It is very stable, has lots of features and is a very good overclocker...

 

[Kyle W]

I will be upgrading and adding on to the board since its so large and I have those options so I think I would rather have too much then not enough and getting that psu will be right under my budget.

 

[Kyle W]

Could anyone tell me the difference between the K8N Neo 4-F and the K8N Neo 4 Platinum? Because I'm just now thinking about just spending 219 on the K8n Neo4-4/with A64 3000+ at tigerdirect.

 

[grooge]

This PSU should be sufficient. I know one running an Asus A8N-e, 3000+, a RAID array, couple of otther HDD and DVDs.. and a PCI-e x800xl.

This computer is using the same case as yours.. everything works great.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Well, the Neo4 Platinum is based on the nForce4 Ultra chipset, while the Neo4-F has the regular nForce4 chipset... Differences are support for SATAII, nVidia ActiveArmor, FireWire, dual LAN ports... (all for the Platinum of course...)

However, if you decide that those features mean nothing to you, than you can easily go with the Neo4-F, it's a very good mobo too, and will give you some excellent overclockingpotential too...