MSI P6N SLI-F

[imported_bog]

I have to decide for a near future upgrade between this board and Asus p5n-e sli.

It seems P6N has more voltage options in bios, am I correct? On the other side I had the impression I saw higher overcloking reported on the Asus board.
There are much less posts MSI than Asus, and I could not understand from if P6N is memory peaky as P5N... looks to be.

Can anyone help in deciding? I want to keep cost low, so I am interested in P6N sli fi

 

[Spanki]

Yeah, the ASUS board was out first and so it's sold a lot more units, which also means it's easier to find forum threads about it (both good and bad ). For the P6N board(s), a good place to start is here. There is a reference section in the first post of that thread, including links to several other threads, reviews official support pages, etc.

Off-hand, there are some physical and other differences between the MSI P6N SLI-FI and ASUS P5N-E that might be worth noting...

PCI Slots: MSI has 3, ASUS has 2
Audio: MSI has 8 channels, ASUS has 6
LAN: MSI - Realtek RTL8211BL, ASUS - Marvell 88E1116 (~shrug~)
S/PDIF: MSI - optical only, ASUS - coaxial only
Cooling: MSI - heatsinks on NB and SB... ASUS - heatsink on NB only.
eSATA: MSI - none (Platinum version has one)... ASUS - one, on rear panel
Cost: MSI - ~$113, ASUS - ~$127

...as for overclocking, I've heard it both ways, so it's hard to say which one ultimately overclocks better, but that kinda also depends on what CPU you're planning to use, etc.

For example, the E4300 defaults to 1.8GHz with a 9x multiplier on a 200MHz FSB (800 QDR). If you ramp the FSB up to 400 (1600 QDR), then the cpu will be running at 3.6GHz - a 100% overclock and about all you might expect to get out of that cpu (and I wouldn't advise running at that speed without some better cooling). The forums are full of reports of this board getting 400+ (even 500+) FSB results, so there you go .

The E6300 uses a 7x multiplier, so you have to get the FSB up higher to get the CPU into the 3GHz range. The E6400 uses an 8x multiplier and everything above that CPU uses 9x or more.

For memory... as mentioned, the ASUS has been out longer, so there's a lot more people trying various odd-ball ram in it - making it hard to say if the handfull of folks reporting ram trouble with the MSI P6N equates to the larger sampling of ASUS P5N-E owners reporting ram troubles. The only superficial evidence I've seen one way or the other is a few reports from folks who rma'd thier ASUS board (due to DOA, ram trouble, etc) and were then pleased with thier MSI board, so take that with a grain of salt.

I've been trying to keep a list of "user-reported, working memory" on that link above, so that may be of some help.

Good luck!

 

[Edge1]

Nice summary Spanki - its right-on based on everything I've read, which includes a lot of your posts.

I appreciate you keeping that list of working memory also. Will report on the ram issue I had in a day or two. The new board is at my house now (YAY!) but of course I have IS class tonight:frown:.

Thanks for helping out fellow (and prospective) P6N owners.

 

[WT]

Buying an MSI P6N Plat this weekend. No other 650 boards available and I like everything I've read about it so far. Pairing that up with a 6600, Buffalo Firestix and an AC Freezer Pro 7, all bought as hot deals on the forums in the past month. I just got tired of waiting for Gigabyte boards to appear, so MSI it is. Now, to start saving for the 8800GTS ....

 

[normalicy]

I just got tired of waiting for Gigabyte boards to appear, so MSI it is.

I don't think you're missing out. Maybe it's just me, but the last 2 Gigabyte boards I got had issues & they weren't resolved after contacting them (northbridge fans kept going out after a month or 2 & making the board unstable). The finally just told me to buy another one which just didn't seem right to me. On the other hand, this is my second MSI motherboard (out of about 20 in my overclocking history) & both have greatly impressed me so far.

 

[imported_bog]

Originally posted by: Spanki

Good luck!

Thanks a lot Spanki, very clear and helpful report.

 

[imported_bog]

Originally posted by: normalicy

I just got tired of waiting for Gigabyte boards to appear, so MSI it is.

I don't think you're missing out. Maybe it's just me, but the last 2 Gigabyte boards I got had issues & they weren't resolved after contacting them (northbridge fans kept going out after a month or 2 & making the board unstable). The finally just told me to buy another one which just didn't seem right to me. On the other hand, this is my second MSI motherboard (out of about 20 in my overclocking history) & both have greatly impressed me so far.

I totally agree, I also had bad experience with Gigabyte, fans that failed in less than 1 month, capacitors exploding after 6 month aso.
-Related to capacitors I saw they go on solid now, but I am power supply designer and believe me, no cap is exploding in month if the design is proper, and if not any cap will make problems, so I gave up Gigabyte for now.

 

[Edge1]

Followup for anyone who may be familiar with my OCZ RAM issue - Its not an issue anymore!!!

Replacement board fired up beautifully and recognized OCZ Platinum Rev 2 DDR2 800 in dual channel at 1.9V 5-5-5-15 out of the green #1 and orange #2 slots. Will adjust to factory spec 4-4-4-15 tonight.

Looks like issue with the green slots was a fluke and shouldn't hold anyone from getting this RAM with this mobo. This is my first build - whatever happened first time around was likely my fault.

Memtest pending, but I've got good vibes . She was rock-solid. No hiccups at all.

Rock on dudes!

 

[Spanki]

Excellent - congrats!

Do you happn to have the model # or link to that specific memory?

 

[Edge1]

Originally posted by: Spanki
Excellent - congrats!

Do you happn to have the model # or link to that specific memory?

Here you go...
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227139

Model number: OCZ2P800R22GK

 

[Spanki]

Got it - thanks.

 

[SchoolBus]

has anyone tried OCZ2P8002GK Platinum XTC Edition memory with this board. As i already have my ram and as i am leaning towards this board.

thanks

 

[enis083]

Has anyone tried using all 4 memory slots? With the price of RAM continuing to drop, I'm considering going with 4 GB come Apr 22nd.

 

[Spanki]

Originally posted by: enis083
Has anyone tried using all 4 memory slots? With the price of RAM continuing to drop, I'm considering going with 4 GB come Apr 22nd.

At least some people are having trouble with 4gb currently. Wether this is memory-related, motherboard-related, OS-related or BIOS-related is unknown so far (other boards with similar problems have sometimes been cured with a BIOS update).

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=106608.0

 

[WT]

Anyone running this board with the Buffalo Firestix ?? I searched both this and the {H} forums and found no one using that combo. Its also not on the MSI supported list, but that could mean it wasn't tested as well.

 

[Edge1]

Originally posted by: WT
Anyone running this board with the Buffalo Firestix ??

There is one mention of Buffalo Firestix (2x512) on the first page of Spanki's thread here: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1164174

That's all I've seen though, WT.

 

[WT]

Thx Edge .. I guess I shall be the guinea pig when my build comes around. I can't believe that out of 11+ pages of posts between both threads we don't have anyone using that combo yet. For the guys shooting for stable O/C's, are you actively cooling the SB on the Platinum board or relying on the stock heatpipe ?

 

[Spanki]

Originally posted by: WT
Thx Edge .. I guess I shall be the guinea pig when my build comes around. I can't believe that out of 11+ pages of posts between both threads we don't have anyone using that combo yet. For the guys shooting for stable O/C's, are you actively cooling the SB on the Platinum board or relying on the stock heatpipe ?

I don't recall seeing anyone cooling the SB on these boards yet. And actually, until you get up into the ~400 FSB range, you shouldn't need to use the included NB fan. I assume you're headed that direction though, so you might as well install it to start with .

Let us know if that memory works out and I'll add it to the list. Thanks.

 

[WT]

Just found another review, with some overclocking issues, but YMMV in regards to O/C'ing and individual hardware components. The wrong combination can cause poor showing in that department as well.

bit-tech review

 

[jsnides]

Hey all! About the firestix..i've been using the FSX800D2C-1G x 2 for about a month now. Notta problem! Running at 800-4-4-4-12 with no x-tra juice. Will push them further in the near future! These modules use micron D chips and are rock solid!

 

[Edge1]

Originally posted by: WT
Just found another review, with some overclocking issues, but YMMV in regards to O/C'ing and individual hardware components. The wrong combination can cause poor showing in that department as well.

bit-tech review

Hey WT, looks like the Firestix work (see jsnides' post above):thumbsup:.

I saw that review also and was a bit disappointed, at least with respect to OCing. I fiddled a bit with OCing last night, but had limited success. Took it up to 2.3 gHz (1333 FSB) but the memory was at like 533. It seems a lot faster at 1.86 gHz and the memory at 800. I have a lot of learning to do and am not leaping into OCing without getting a better understanding of what the heck I'm doing. The memory settings - auto, linked, or manual are throwing me off. Not sure which way to go there as I've read differing views.

 

[UNhooked]

Sorry guys, been out of the loop. I am trying to get my system Prime stable. I was ok at 382X9 but wasn't prime stable due to my RAM. Atm locked the ram at 930 in Bios and FSB at 1510. So far prime stable. So new settins are 378X9 @1.48Vcore ram at 930 @2.3V running 15-5-5-5. Will keep ram locked and bump FSB. I know I can get into windows at 395X9 w/ 1.52 Vcore, so we'll see. Right now I just want to be prime stable

Oh yea also no mods here whatsoever

 

[normalicy]

Finally decided to try 3ghz for myself last night. Worked fine. Stress tested it last night. Only bumped the core voltage .05 & my 667mhz PNY ram is currently at 800mhz with a bump to 1.95v. Sweet.

 

[WT]

After more reading on the forums, I'm seeing that the E6600 isn't as capable an overclocker as the earlier 6300 or even newer 4300 chips. Not sure why that is (always had heard that the chips are further refined from the earlier manufacturing dates) but is the 6600 still the best match for this board ? I'm a gamer first and foremost, and the 6600 has a bit more headroom than the 4300, but it also has a higher multi as well. I had even considered the 6420, but decided to trade the extra cache for the higher stock clocks on the 6600.

 

[jodansmif]

Hi everyone, I'm building my first computer and this thread has been a big help.

I'm hoping for a system that's quiet and offers good performance for the price, so I'm thinking about an E4300 with a moderate, stable overclock. I'm also going for the 320MB 8800 GTS, so to future-proof I'm looking at SLI motherboards, in particular one of the two P6Ns. I don't need any of the extra features of the Platinum but I like the fact that it has the better capacitors and built in heatsinks, however, it seems normalicy is using the cheaper FI and it getting good performance.

This will be my first build and overclock so I want to make sure I start off simple with regards to cooling, etc. So is the extra $50 of the Platinum worth it or should I just spend the money on better fans and heatsinks (or can I just go with the stock equipment?)

Also, I have no idea when it comes to choosing RAM. I'm not into bleeding-edge performance and RAM timings make my head hurt, so I'm just looking for something simple here... DDR2-800s, but with what rated timings?,

Anyway, I'd be very appreciative with help choosing this motherboard/RAM combo and whether I'll need any extra cooling other than a decent case. Thanks!