MSI PRO2 and nope

[oaydin]

There may be only two reason to buy MSI PRO2. If u won't overclock and if u don't have PC133 cas2 ram. Generally I love anandtech. Just bc they told msi is much stable than KT7 , I bought one. I tried everything, first of all msi's bios sucks, also this can be the only reason. I can't get any benchmark result that I got with KT7. My sandra memory benchmarks are only funny nothing else. 4 way interleaving only works when I choose auto sdram from bios, but it pushes my ram to cas3. Also I was working at 115 fsb @ abit +pci clock ram, and never had a stability problem. But with msi beyond 109 is not stable.
I tell u guys, we are not system integrators, we want best performance and overclock functions, and there is only way to go, ABIT.
I don't say msi is a bad mainboard. It's great for system integrators, but only for them....

 

[PCComp]

First off, you mention that you didn't have problems with your Abit KT7. Why would you possibly consider buying a MSI K7T Pro2A when the Abit KT7 is know to be faster? The main reason people purchase the board is for stability, compatibility and quality. Me and others would gladly give up 100-300 points in 3DMark for a motherboard that doesn't lock up at a screen saver . Finally, you must understand that some motherboards overclock better than others. While some can overclock it higher than the KT7, others can't. My MSI K7T Pro2A overclocks the same as a KT7.

 

[heng1028]

i love th my MSI pro2-A

 

[holdencommodore]

I have managed to get my K7T Pro2-A upto 123MHz FSB using Fuzzy Logic - and it was stable. The only reason why I am running it at default now is because of my crappy HDD, which may not be able to take the extra speed. It is a great m/b, and I am very happy with it.

 

[oaydin]

really? Lololololololol
it's easy to say. I got my msi up to 180fsb with using dreamlogic. lolol
do it again and post a screen shot of wcpuid, then we can believe

 

[PCComp]

I forgot to ask "Why would you be so concerned with more than 109 FSB?" Although it gives you a little lower latency and slightly higher memory scores, it dramatically reduces stability and puts undue stress on the components in your system. I mean, if I wanted extreme FSB, I would have purchased an Intel processor. The main reason I purchased AMD was for the multiplier adjustment. If AMD removed the multiplier adjustments from the chip, I and many others would resort back to Intel because they'd become no better. Also, it is rare for the Abit KT7 to run at 109+ FSB. I've owned 3 of them so far. The highest would overclock to 108 FSB with 100% stability. Finally, what is 100% stability? How do we determine this? If you can loop 3DMark2000 or Unreal Tournament for 24 hours without a crash, your system is pretty much 100% stable. Applications that crunch code, such as Prime 95, aren't the most effective because they don't test your sound card or video card in the system.

 

[Technonut]

I have been running my KT7 at 113 (112/37 + 1) FSB for over a week now. Prime95 Torture Test stable for days. Also "real world" Winstone Content Creation 2000 stable, with a healthy 40.7 score. My RAM is running at 150MHz CAS2 Turbo (Host CLK + PCI CLK = 137MHz + 13 = 150MHz) I reduced my multiplier from the 900 I had it at, to 850 + 113FSB, which WCPUID reports at 962MHz. No business app crashes, game crashes, or BSOD's. The performance is fantastic. Sandra memory benchmarks at 551/649.

EDIT: I set and run UT at a 999 frag limit with 6 bots, set as spectator, and no crashes. I can also loop Q3A with no trouble at the above mentioned specs.

I am not trying to boast, just pointing out that 109 is not the only stable limit of the board.

 

[PCComp]

Sorry if you misunderstood me. I was simply trying to state that some motherboards don't overclock very well via the FSB. Of the 6 T-Bird motherboards I've owned (Abit, Asus, MSI and Aopen), the highest FSB I could achieve was 112 (unstable). Also, I'd like to add that I've had to RMA 2 Abit and 1 Asus motherboards before I received working products.

 

[holdencommodore]

oaydin:
It is impossible to get the FSB upto 180MHz on the K7T Pro2-A. It will only go upto 160 MHz, as this is the maximum for the board.
Sorry if you couldn't overclock the MSI by 6 MHz more. Maybe you got an unlucky board?? What capacitors does it have? 3900uF or 4700uF? It does not matter which brand board you buy, no two will perform in exactly the same way.

 

[FoolGuy]

He was being sarcastic