The "Official" MSI K7N420 Thread (nForce 420 chipset)

[Funky303]

have done the update, have run Sandra2001TE memory Benchmark, compared to the results above marginally better performance,

Int ALU/Ram Bandwith: 842 MB/s
Float FPU/Ram BAndwith: 1089 MB/s

I don't use the onboad sound & VGA.

does anybody know the improovements made by the new driver ? especially about the EAX ?

after reading this


<< as EAX and other audio drivers have been released and are now fully supported. Hooray! >>



i could throw out my SB Live!

or is this not an option ??

should I buy a SB Audigy ?? I don't use Digital in/out, but often record from cable-Radio & webRadio, so I wold like still using the really great SB Mixer & Speaker software.

But here we go.. the first step from Nvidia in improving the nForced boards.. lets see what future will bring to us..

 

[Funky303]

oh I forgot..

did someone with the onboard VGA some 3Dmark2001 runs before & after the dirver update ???

I'll do some.. but I don't expect much change since I use a AGP Geforce2 GTS

lets see

 

[Paul123]

Excuse my ignorance...but are you saying we can and should use the uni nforce driver set from Nvidia even though they are not from MSI?
Are the ones currently provided by MSI done by MSI or Nvidia?

Who is responsible for the drivers for this nforce board?

thanks

I setup my nforce the other night using windows XP and all on board items and I did not have one problem and have not come accross any yet.

 

[Funky303]

me niether.. i just downloaded them & installed them for fun. I think those drivers are like all drivers from Nvidia.. ou can use your elsa drivers for your VGA or take the nvidia's and as long as I know they are just for onboard Lan, onboard Sound, Memory Controller, AGP Controller and so on...

i think it's like the intel inf updates for Mainboards with Intel chipsets. no matter what Manufacturor you have, you install them. I didn't had any problems yet.. after several hours programming & testing & running several JavaVirtualMachines.. I also did the 3DMark, played all the time WinAmp3 but nothing happened till now..

This is taken from the Nvidia nv_agp.inf located in the temp install folder.

DriverVer=09/07/2001,1.0.1000.1


<<
;
; nv_agp.inf
;
;
; NVIDIA Windows 2000 AGP INF file
; Copyright 1999-2001 NVIDIA Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
;

[Version]
CatalogFile=nv_agp.cat
Signature="$WINDOWS NT$"
Class=System
ClassGuid={4D36E97D-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Provider=%NVIDIA%
LayoutFile=layout.inf
DriverVer=09/07/2001,1.0.1000.1



[Manufacturer]
%NVIDIA_MFG%=NVIDIA_AGP

[AGP_Filter_Reg]
HKR,,"UpperFilters", 0x00010000,"nv_agp"

[pci_ServiceInstallSection]
DisplayName = %pci_svcdesc%
ServiceType = %SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER%
StartType = %SERVICE_BOOT_START%
ErrorControl = %SERVICE_ERROR_NORMAL%
ServiceBinary = %12%\pci.sys
LoadOrderGroup = "Boot Bus Extender"

;
; NVIDIA AGP chipset
;
[NVIDIAAGP_Install]
CopyFiles=@nv_agp.SYS

[Strings]
NVIDIA="NVIDIA Corporation"
NVIDIA_MFG="NVIDIA"
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01B7.DeviceDesc = "NVIDIA nForce AGP Host to PCI Bridge"
DiskDescription = "NVIDIA nForce Driver Disk"

;service descriptions
pci_svcdesc = "PCI Bus Driver"
agpnvidia_svcdesc = "NVIDIA nForce AGP Bus Filter" >>




The next Inf is for the Onboard VGA, named Nv4_Crush11, with

DriverVer = 11/13/2001, 2.3.1.0

Then there is a nv_utils with following inside:

NVIDIA nForce APU1 Utilities Disk

this seems like the utils for the Audio Processing Unit

Then nvenet2k.inf , seems like the onboard ethernet controller

Nvidia = "Nvidia"
NVENET.DeviceDesc = "NVIDIA nForce MCP Networking Adapter"
NVENET.Service.DispName = "NVIDIA nForce MCP Networking Adapter Driver

the next is nvmcp.inf which does have entries for Audio and this funny entry:


[forNT.AddReg]
HKLM,%RunOnce%,"nForce",,"rundll32.exe nvack.dll,nForceIsKing"[/B)

and the nvmemctl.INF

which deals with the
NVIDIA nForce 220 Memory Controller (DDR)"
NVIDIA nForce 420 Memory Controller (DDR)"
NVIDIA nForce 220/420 Memory Controller"
NVIDIA nForce 220/420 Memory Controller


and then the nvsmb.inf
which handles the
NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management

Thats it.

these drivers are for the MSI boards & all boards which use the Nvidia onboard components.

Asus I think has an extra audio & lan controller on board. but I also think that these drivers do search the devices they do the driver updates for.

 

[SaLtedpeanUTs]

The EAX seems to work fine for me, but I'm still running with only the front channels going. I was hoping that the unifieds would fix that issue. Dropped my Audigy back in :frown:.

 

[sprockkets]

There just seems to be no way to activate rear sound anyhow. If you want rear sound output then you need digital speakers. Otherwise, unless the new drivers are somehow different, I couldn't get sound out of aux for the rear at all, and wouldn't take sound in properly just to see if it could record analog stuff. The Asus board can fix that, but then again, it's more expensive. Oh well.

 

[kaytwo]

sprockkets:
in order to get rear sound that is not just a mirror of the front sound, you need the CNR card, or a DD decoder. To make a long story short...that's just how it is, and it's been confirmed by a representative of MSI in the msi forums.
k2

 

[Funky303]

so here we go. I collected some linX to threads dealing with nForce boards. here they are

nVIDIA nForce 415-D Chipset

nFoce Stability

<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=29&threadid=681146">nForce 420 boards - any experience?</a>

enjoy reading...

 

[AGodspeed]

Thanks for the links Funky303!

 

[Qwest]

uhhh, do i need to get 2 ram chips to take advantage of the 64 bit bandwidth? like 2 128 chips?
or will 1 256 chip do just fine?

 

[AGodspeed]

<< uhhh, do i need to get 2 ram chips to take advantage of the 64 bit bandwidth? like 2 128 chips?
or will 1 256 chip do just fine? >>



You need to have 2 sticks of identicaly sized RAM modules to enable the 128 bit bus. They can be 2x128MB, 2x256MB, or 2x512MB.

 

[Qwest]

i went ahead and got the nforce board as well as the evercase. problem is, in the bios, the cpu temp is reading 60!!! (athlon 1700xp)way too high. another computer, (athlon 1.4 ghz) in the same room is registering around 45 which is fine with me. i checked the heatsink and fan which are both retail. they seem to be seated correctly. i even flashed the bios to see if it was something with that. the amazing thing is, it's reading 60 degrees with an open case....any suggestions or experiences are welcome. thanks.




edit: i know it has nothing to do with the heatsink/processor. i swapped my athlon 1.4 into the nforce board. again, the temp was high, almost 65 degrees. can i just blame this on a bad sensor?

 

[Hendrik]

About high CPU temperatures on MSI K7N420: I had the same experience when upgrading from EPOX 8K7A+. I was used to seeing temperatures between 45 and 55, and suddenly I got 60 to 75. After a week of running the new system, I don't think it's a problem: stability has been rock-solid (not one crash).

I suspect the reason is simply that the sensor on the MSI board actually makes contact with the CPU package, as the Epox sensor didn't. So it's not that the CPU is running hotter; it's just that the motherboard measures the heat more efficiently.

 

[Funky303]

i can agree. my average temp with an Athlon C 1400 MhZ is 51° C.

since you can see that the temp-sensor is flexible. when I installed my CPU the sensor was touched before the CPU was set in..

 

[jfunk]

Just in case you guys haven't seen it, MSI has released their drivers based on the new nvidia unified drivers (1.0).

I got them and they seem to be identical to the nvidia ones, doesn't even say MSI in the install.

I'm using two 256MB CENTON cheap-ass chips from CC deal. They have HYNIX chips on them and seem to be running fine, although I haven't benched it yet.

I would recommend updating the BIOS and moving the RAM to slots 1 & 2. You're eventually going to want a new BIOS anyway, so why not deal with the hassle of swapping the ram now to make sure you don't have any probs?


j

 

[Battsman]

Hey already posted about this in the MSI vs Asus nForce Thread, but I also read a little discussion regarding the questions about Dolby 4.1 and 5.1 in this thread so...

Anyway, I concur that you need the CNR Riser card for surround channels and it is now being included with the K7N420 Pros from NewEgg. I just received my new motherboard (shipped from NewEgg on Monday) and it contained the a MN-CNR-S-4 Ver 1.0. The kitt also included the D-Bracket with 2 USB ports (D-Bracket gives you four diagnostic LEDs that you can vew outside the case without cracking it open) and another bracket with 2 USB ports only.

The MN-CNR-S-4 riser has R, C/W and S/PDIF outputs (we are assuming that R is for Right channel, C/W is for Center/Woofer, and obviously the S/PDIF is the digital sound output.

Also of note, unlike mentioned in several of the reviews that I have read online there is NO TV OUT included. The box says TV-out Encoder on Board under Optional on the top - it does not say anthing about the CNR card - so I have no idea how you could differentiate between a box with the CNR and a box with the TV Out without breaking the seals.

Hope that helps (if anyone cared to begin with).

BTW does anyone have a lead on where I can get a new I/O shield to match the K7N420 Pro I/O placement (MSI does not include a new I/O shield with the kit either)? (And just in case anyone feels obligated - I don't have a Dremel so I don't have that option to just make the holes that I want on the shield that came with my case (Enlight-72370AZ)).

 

[vampiro]

FYI,
There is a new BIOS version out that is being distributed over at the MSI forums. It is version 2.2 and solves most of the big issues, including the 5.1 analog sound thing I think. I just put it on my machine and it is running rock solid (as always with my nForce). Hope it helps you guys out.

 

[AGodspeed]

I picked up on some more news people.

nVidia nForce 415-D Motherboards To Be as Low As $80-$90 U.S.

 

[AGodspeed]

Oh yes, here's another: MSI K7N415 nForce Motherboard Pic

 

[DingoDoc]

hammerheadtech.net has the tv out card for 25 bucks and the cnr riser card for 20 bucks.

 

[jfunk]

BIOS 2.3 is out, although I haven't done it yet because I am running just fine on 2.2

If anybody is gonna update, just be aware: YOU MUST RESET THE BIOS WITH THE JUMPER AFTER THE FLASH OR IT WON'T BOOT.

Alternatively you can flash w/ a "/cc" switch and it will do the same thing, but results have been mixed on whether or not it works.


j

 

[grimreaper19]

Does anyone have any problem with the capicators near the agp slot. Does it touch the heatsink of the GF3 and also would the G4 Ti4600 fit this motherboard since the agp area looks really short. Thanks.

 

[esung]

Just bought my K7N420 Pro, and I have quite a trouble get it to work with my 2x512MB Mushkin Special (Nanya chips).. the RAM has been funning perfectly on the Asus A7A266.. here's some of the trouble I've go so far:

Hardware Config:
Athlon XP 1700+
K7N420 rev1.0 w/ BIOS 2.3
2x512MB Mushkin Special
Adaptec 2940UW
running Windows 98SE

If I put both memory sticks in, in any DIMM location (as long as there's 2), the system won't boot up properly except maybe in safe mode. sometimes it state that initialization error on IOS, some times it just hang. but if I only put in any one of the 512MB stick, it runs fine.

but when in Windows 98SE, under device manager, one of the Direct Memory Access controller (there's 2) has an exclamation mark on it. the error message inside states that VDMAD.VXD device loader can not load the device driver. and I check the resource for that controller, and found out it had been taken by the other controller. (I tried to delete and re-detect a few times, but no luck).

and I was trying to follow the special instruction on updating Windows 98SE driver, I have some problem updating GART driver
(maybe because I'm using the integrated video?) since I couldn't
find nVidia GART manager, and Host CPU bridge. found 2 PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge, but they only take the regular microsoft driver, not the one provide by MSI/nVidia.


and I reinstall windows and it is still not working, so I'm wondering if it's incompatibility between win98SE/2x512MB Mushkin RAM/K7N420, or the MB is defective.


Anyone got any clue? Thanx a lot.

 

[scummers1]

Having same problem with win98se. I need it for dos compatibility. I can't find the gart mention either. Anybody else?

 

[sprockkets]

I'm not sure whether to post this here, but, my nForce system that I built for my friend now for some reason exibits weird behavior. Whenever he types a key in IE, IE crashes and he can't use the keyboard unless he reboots.

Sounds like a virus, but I can't tell since he's hours away from me now.