New Winchester Issue - Won't post past 219 FSB on MSI Neo 4 - possibly others

[Heinrich]

I'm pulling this discussion out of the MSI thread for various reasons...

It seems that the new Winchesters do not post past 219 FSB on the MSI board. There's only one website focused on this problem right now that I can tell - over atRebel's Haven Rebel's Haven

I'm personally very disappointed because I spent all this on equipment with majorly strong reviews, only to find there's some sort of serious problem with the board.

So here's a serious of discussion points going through my brain:

1 - I'm considering swapping this out at Monarchcomputer. Wonder what their restocking fee/RMA fees are. Their website doesn't tell me a lot, I'm sure I could get another MSI board if I pushed but I am not sure I want this board any more.

2 - In case this pans out in the long term to be a NEW WINCHESTER issue and not an MSI issue, I might order a different brand and try the same equipment just to see. Is there a reliable web site that will sell a nForce 4 SLI mobo and allow a return with no restocking fee in a short amount of time?:brokenheart:

 

[sharpnsmart]

Aren't they only rated for 200mhz?
Anything above that isn't guaranteed, nor recommended, by AMD anyway.

 

[Heinrich]

Yes, that's true, but when a particular brand and type of motherboard fails at a particular setting when other motherboards do not - OR when the newer stepping of the processor begins to routinely fail at levels that prior versions have not had any issues with, then there's room for discussion and negotiation amongst consumers.

 

[xjoe]

Originally posted by: Heinrich

I'm pulling this discussion out of the MSI thread for various reasons...

It seems that the new Winchesters do not post past 219 FSB on the MSI board. ......

Unless I'm missing something, you havent searched around .. my 3000 Winnie is at 287 1:1 1T right now, and posts up to 295 (havent tested any higher). So it's possible that you're either missing something or that you have an incapable processor, i dont know, i just know that mine is running at 287 as we speak.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=380336

 

[Heinrich]

Rebel HQ Thread - MSI <220

 

[timrsl]

Im having the same problem! It will not post at 220 no matter what! It is really frusterating

 

[dashiki]

anything over 200mhz is gravy oc'ing is not a since its luck of the draw. what week a64 do you have? and I doubt you could call something a flaw because you can't push it over it's rated speed.

 

[customcoms]

What bus speed are you running at dashiki? It may be his processor, but it seems others are having the same problem. Try oc'ing w/ clockgen in windows to see if the bios is holding you back.

 

[DMonkey]

Have you done any overclocking in the Cell menu? Go into the Cell menu. You might have Timings set to Aggressive, which can cause the issue you guys are facing.

 

[Slaimus]

Yeah, these MSI boards a notorious for overclocking behind your back. Enable the hidden options, and turn off any sort of auto overclocking.

 

[mUcHiLuS]

Listen up, trying do it this, down you multiplier by .5 or 1 and then change your ratio fsb/ram 1:1 and trying up the fsb beyond the 219mhz and you will see the good results. also depends of what kind and type of memory you already have. if you know the internal timings of the memory put it manual on the bios and change up the memory voltage up to 2.8v should be enougth to reach good performace. Right now i had a 3000+ winchester (1.8ghz) running 250x8.5=2125 with the vcore=1.680. Totally stable.

 

[dashiki]

my board is running 275*10 but I llucked out and got a week48 winchester which seems to be the best oc'er around. I wouldn't complain if I couldnt push it though it runs at the rated speed thats all amd has to provide.

 

[Heinrich]

We are COMPLAINING because very review including ANANDTECH seems not to have discovered a flaw EFFECTING MANY PEOPLE whereby this board will NOT OVERCLOCK processors that other boards do and will overclock. This "I wouldn't complain" and "why complain" sounds sanctimonious. If I got a processor that would not overclock on another board then I would feel that I just got unlucky and leave it at that and maybe buy another. THAT DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE THE PROBLEM HERE. Please read the thread thoroughly before commenting off on unrelated tangents that will merely confuse people who might be able to shed some insight.

 

[timrsl]

Heinrich has it right. I can easily oc beyond 220 fsb in windows with rock solid stability (over 12 hour prime95 torture test) but the bios refuses to post above 219. Even at 219, it fails prime95 within a few minutes. So therefore, there is a big problem with the bios and not our processors.

 

[akugami]

Don't like other people sounding off their opinions, don't post. Simple as that.

That said, it could be a board that has low tolerance for overclocking even though 90% of them can do better. It could be a cpu that has a lower tolerance for overclocking. It's all one big crapshoot. You may not like the fact you are getting a low overclock (I certainly wouldn't like it) but you are not being deceived in any way about the board you bought. If it performs flawlessly at stock speeds then it is 100% operational and you got what you paid for. Anything you can push beind that is icing on the cake.

 

[dashiki]

Originally posted by: akugami
Don't like other people sounding off their opinions, don't post. Simple as that.

Anything you can push beind that is icing on the cake.

Exactly, don't complain when you post in a public forum they do not make these board specificaly to oc they may market them that way but first and foremost is rock solid at stock speeds. it's like buying a sports car and complaining it can't go faster than what the speedometer says.

 

[timrsl]

The board is fine because I CAN overclock beyond 220 in windows, the CPU overclocks just fine in windows, but the overclock setting do not work in the bios beyond 219. Everyone tries to make themselves feel good by saying other peoples stuff is crap because they cannot do what theirs does. However, in this case it is not hardware related because the board and CPU are CAPABLE of high overclocks as proven in windows. This is definitely a FLAW on MSI's part becuase they provide the overclocking options in the bios which do not work correctly.

 

[dashiki]

then email msi and ask for a revision. don't pull a thread into these forums ask questions and b!7ch when you don't like the answers.

 

[timrsl]

I believe the thread was started so someone could find out why they could not get the HTT above 219 with the cpu and memory throttled back. That is a simple task which any board should be capable of. This evolved into finding out if it is a problem most people are having with winchesters on the neo4 board. It is a MOTHERBOARD issue and thus belongs in this forum and is a helpful way for me and others with the problem to find solutions. I do not know why people are trying to bash this thread. I am just trying to see if anyone else has been successful getting around this problem. It seems as if I will be going to the Rebel HQ thread where the users are trying to help each other rather than make unhelpful claims without knowing the situation.

 

[Interitus]

Originally posted by: dashiki
then email msi and ask for a revision. don't pull a thread into these forums ask questions and b!7ch when you don't like the answers.

His original post was asking questions and informing people of his issues. He wasn't complaining or whining about his poor OC. With exception to sharpnsmart who made a simple statement you're the only one flaming his post. You're the only one he has a problem with here and your "answer" if you can call it that was anything but helpful.

Don't pull yourself into a thread b!tching at people and not answering questions when you won't like it turned back on you.

 

[Heinrich]

Originally posted by: dashiki
then email msi and ask for a revision. don't pull a thread into these forums ask questions and b!7ch when you don't like the answers.

You know, this is traditionally the best forum on the net. PERIOD. Your comments are completely out of context with this forum and its entire reason for existence. Your comments have dragged this thread into an area where most people are not going to pay it any attention or attempt to give help to each other. Giving help to each other is what this forum is about.

Your post is not contributing to anything. If you don't like it go away and stay away. Not only are your comments not helpful, not only do they drag this thread down, but they drag down the entire Anandtech community every so slightly into the level of all the other Internet communities out there where trolls like yourself have absolutely nothing to do with their time but leave absolutely completely stupid and nonsensical messages. Why don't you go over to one of the Internet newsgroups - the tone of your message illustrates that you would fit right on in there and have a gand ole time. I suggest any newsgroup that has PUBLIC in the name. They're full of people wasting bandwidth for no reason. Have fun.

 

[Elfear]

I'm having similiar issues with my 3000+ and Neo4. I've tried about every setting I can think of in the bios and it just acts very tempermental. I can Prime for 14+ hours and pass memtest 20+ times at 288x9 so I know it's not the chip that's giving me strange inconsistencies. MSI either needs a new bios revision REAL QUICK, or a lot of people will be switching boards.

As to the person who says that the motherboard should only have to run at stock, well I call B.S. You gave the analogy of buying a sports car and then complaining that it wouldn't go over the speed indicated on the speedometer. I think it's like buying a sports car and finding out you really got a minivan. They'll both do highway speeds just fine but you don't buy a sports car to just run at highway speeds. You paid a lot of extra money for your vehicle so that it could go above and beyond what normal vehicles can.

Overclockers are a large market segment for MSI's enthusiast boards. Why would they make such a stink about all the overclocking features if they weren't anticipating people using their boards for just that? I can just as well go and buy the cheapest board that fits my particular cpu if all I want to do is run at stock speeds. Some people do get the more expensive boards for the added features (dual LAN ports, Sata II, etc.) but I'd say that a large portion of buyers wanted the overclocking potential of the nicer mobos. From all the posts about this problem it's apparent that it's an issue with the board's bios and we would just like to hear some constructive feedback about possible solutions.

 

[timrsl]

well stated elfear

so has anyone been successful at posting beyond 219 HTT on a neo4 winnie? If so what were the settings?

 

[Heinrich]

Elfear - i've spent hours farting around with this board, any advice on 'switching boards'? I have to return and pay restocking fee? I know there's no way I'll be able to convince Monarch that these boards are not good....is there a recommendation for a place that sells motherboards with say a 15 day no restocking fee? Did you do 288x9 on a different board?