ultimate S939 mainboard guide - tweaking guide ,known bugs, and fixes

[HKPolice]

EDIT(saaya):

i renamed this thread and made it a sticky to inform people about known bugs on different 939 boards and tweaks and fixes, as there was a big duiscussion about all 939 boards beeing buggy, but there was little known about the actual problems different boards seem to have.
im very happy with the massive feedback this thread has received and it has now become an ultimate 939 mobo guide with infos about bugs, how to fix them, and many tweaks how to reach a higher oc, just like the title says :D Kroger ad (https://www.weeklyads2.com/kroger/) can be a good guide for anyone with the concern of saving more.





MSI Neo2 nforce3

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20037

overclocking options
Bus Speed: 200-300mhz in 1mhz steps
Bus Multiplier: 1x-5x
CPU Multiplier: 4x-20x
AGP speed: 66-100 in 1mhz steps

overvolting options
Vcore: 1.4-1.85* in 0.05v steps *1.90 with bios 1.36b
Vdimm: 2.55-2.85* in 0.05v steps *overvolts to 2.90v on most boards
Vagp: 1.55 to 1.85 in 0.05v steps

periphals and features
IDE: 2 ATA 133 slots
IDE raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
SATA: 4 SATA 150 slots (2 are unlocked)
SATA raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
sata+ide drives in raid: yes
Firewire: 3 IEEE 1394A ports
LAN: nforce3 integrated gigabit ethernet
Sound: realtec ALC850 8 channel

links
mainboard homepage: K8N neo2 Platinum (http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=607)
forum discussion: The OFFICIAL MSI K8N Neo2-939 tips and tricks guide thread (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=43033)
review #1: Anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=1)
review #2: Hothardware (http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=574)
review #3: Hardwareluxx (http://www.hardwareluxx.de/cms/artikel.php?action=show&id=54&seite=1) (german)
vmod #1: vcore (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=41350)
vmod #2: vdimm (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=41350)
vmod #3: vht (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=41350)
vmod #4: vdd (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=41350)


pros
very stable vcore up to 1.90v read the tips to see how to get 1.9v
vdimm overvolts to 2.90v on highest setting
VTT tracks automatically, OCZ DDR-Booster works up to 4,0V (put it in ram slot 4)
runs great with ballistix
runs great with tccd memory
runs great with bh5 (needs bios 1.36b or newer)
2x Memory Interleaving?

cons
cpu socket position problematic for some cases
vdimm mod requieres trace cutting
SATA ports 1 and 2 are not locked, use slots 3 and 4 (closest to the cpu)
issues with ram slots 3&4 not working very well seems to work fine for some people
cpu temperature reading not working correctly seems to work fine for some people
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif doesnt like ocz eb
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1chipset hsf is pretty noisy

TIPS
TIP: you have to disable cool n quiet when ocing
TIP: Cpu fan header must be connected, if not the pc could experience boot problems
TIP: if you have problems booting with BH5 try another stick of memory and set vdimm to the max and make sure you set the cas latency to 2.5 or 2.0 as bh5 wont boot with cas 3.0, then swap in the BH5
TIP: the CPU backplate is hard to get off on the MSI ... just heat it with a hair dryer, it will come off easily then
TIP: for best performance the MSI only needs Vdimm/3.3V bypass mod (or the OCZ booster).
Yet to try a chipset mod or HTT mod on the MSI ... it may help with LDT 4x @ > 260 HTT bus speeds
TIP: shut down core center after you used it to adjust or check your settings, if left running it might crash your system
TIP: if you have problems booting at low temps with a winchester try the latest beta bios
TIP: disable fast writes
TIP: only bios 1.36beta and 1.37beta allow up to 1.9v vcore
TIP: color coded ram slots are different than other 939 boards. Slots 1&2 are the ones nearer to the CPU and are dual channel
TIP: use HTT multiplier 4x up to ~260 and 3x up to ~290
TIP: use the + and - or PgUP and PgDn keys to change the htt speed, DO NOT HIT ENTER
TIP: check out the official msi 939 neo2 tips and tricks guide thread (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=43033)
TIP: check out this 2 ram compability lists: 1 (http://forum.msi.com.tw/thread.php?threadid=51996&sid=47e3a23afafbdc1c0e5d04e4065483a2) 2 (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46167)
TIP: In the bios press and hold Shift+F2 and then press ALT+F3 to unlock "hidden" features within the BIOS
TIP: If anyone has trouble getting low temp readings downlaod the latest MBM5 (use the K8N NEO Plat mobo selection, click settings,temps,CPU,and choose the first option for Winbond Diode 2)
TIP: if you experience problems with Antec Neopower and Truepower PSUs and also with PowerStream PSUs, try Bios 1.37 and turn the PSU off after you shut down, seems to help as well
TIP: Dissable Agressive Timings in Cell Menu if you're going to overclock
TIP: some people had close to no thermal compount on the nb, if your nb runs hot add some thermal compound (WARNING! might hurt your warranty)
here (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=589637#post589637) is a guide that explains how to remove the nb heatsink
TIP: The MAch II needs a new firmware to operate with this board get it here (http://nventiv.blue-nexus.com/)
TIP: the vcore of winchesters seems to undervolt about 0.1V, max vcore for winchesters is 1.7V
TIP: bios collection: 1.10, 1.20, 1.23, 1.25, 1.30, 1.33, 1.34, 1.35, 1.36, 1.37, 1.41 (http://www.weckstrom.com/msibios)
TIP: beta biosses (http://www.svcheats.com/MSI_Neo_Plat2_939/beta)
TIP: 1.37 modded bios by Trats 1 (http://members.lycos.co.uk/hallampg/BIOS/MSI/) 2 (http://www.svcheats.com/MSI_Neo_Plat2_939/beta/trats)
TIP: lots of biosses, incl. beta and modded ones with changelogs (http://www.lejabeach.com/MSIK8N/k8nneo2.html)
TIP: bios flash guide (http://www.weckstrom.com/msibios/How%20to%20flash%20the%20BIOS.doc)
TIP: windows tool bios flash guide (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=44481)
TIP: newer boards, with S/N:K0411xxxxxx and S/N:K0410xxxxxx, seem to no longer have a bug with winchesters at low minus temps
TIP: get Codered's A64 tweaker (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37345)
TIP: if you have BH-5 memory use the A64 tweaker and lower the timings as described here (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=580942#post580942)
TIP: OC Guide for the msi k8n neo2 by XS GraveDiggA (http://people.freenet.de/funkflix/ocgk8n.txt)
right click save as and open with wordpad
TIP: corsair xl pro memory wont fit in the board with an xp-120 heatsink (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=601253#post601253)
TIP: the newer northbridges (0410/0411) seem to need less vdimm to reach the same overclock in 1:1! (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=605792#post605792)
TIP: If you are having trouble getting windows to boot from SATA ("Error Loading Operating System"), be sure to set SATA1/2/3/4 RAID to "ENABLED", even if you are not running RAID
TIP: older bios revisions need the agp speed set to 67mhz to lock it
TIP: disable aggressive chipset timings (performance mode) when ocing
TIP: if you boot with trcd 2 vdimm seems to drop 0.1v, boot with trcd 3 and use corecell or codered's a64 tweaker to set it to 2 in windows
TIP: bios 1.36b and 1.37 and modded variants seem to work best for bh5/bh6
TIP: to reach 1.9v vcore set 1.5 in bios + 3.3%, then get in windows use core center all the way up, and finally you use NF3 Clock-gen add 0.05v...it's about like 1.9v
TIP: turn off NV/ATI Speed Up in the hidden bios settings as it ocs most cards gpu
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1TIP: use clockgen (http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php) instead of corecell to adjust the fsb, htt and even vcore options, its not as instable as corecell wich crashes the system from time to time
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1TIP: an xp90 DOES fit on the board even if corsair pro xl memory is used, but the heatsink covers the display on top of the modules








Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 and K8NS Ultra-939 nforce3
the only difference between the K8NSNXP-939 and K8NS Ultra-939 is the missing dps heatsink on the latter.
both boards are identical and bios compatible and will thus be treated as the same board in this guide


http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20036

overclocking options
Bus Speed: 200-455mhz in 1mhz steps
Bus Multiplier: 1x-5x
CPU Multiplier: 5x-25x
AGP speed: 66-100 in 1mhz steps

overvolting options
Vcore: 0.8-1.70 in 0.025v steps
Vdimm: +0.1v +0.2v* *max vdimm is 2.85v with the latest bios
Vagp: 1.50 to 1.80 in 0.10v steps
Vht: 1.20 to 1.50 in 0.10v steps

periphals and features
IDE: 2 ATA 133 slots
IDE raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
SATA: 4 SATA 150 slots (2 SiI3512 and 2 nforce3)
SATA raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
sata+ide drives in raid: yes
Firewire: 2 IEEE 1394b ports
LAN: Marvell 8001 gigabit ethernet + ICS 1883 10/100 ethernet
Sound: realtec ALC850 8 channel

links
mainboard homepage: GA-K8NSNXP-939 (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Motherboard/Products/Products_GA-K8NSNXP-939.htm) and GA-K8NS Ultra-939 (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Motherboard/Products/Products_GA-K8NS%20Ultra-939.htm)
forum discussion: Gigabyte k8NSNXP-939/K8NS Ultra-939 tips, tricks and guide thread (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47401)
review #1: Anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=1)
review #2: Hothardware (http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=574)
review #3: Hardwareluxx (http://www.hardwareluxx.de/cms/artikel.php?action=show&id=6) (german)
vmod #1: vcore (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20190)
vmod #2: vdimm (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20190)
vmod #3: vht (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20190)
vmod #4: vdd (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20190)

pros
tracks vtt
runs great with bh5
runs great with ch5
runs great with mdt pc3200 (micron chips?)
runs great with samsung tccc

cons
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif bad vcore, unstable and fluctuates between 1.70v and 1.95v under load
coldboot problems with high HTT speed
crashes when upping the HTT speed too much at a time
always detects ide drives at bootup, cant disable this setting latest bios fixes this problem
9x multi sligthly unstable seems to work fine for some people
8x multi very unstable seems to work fine for some people
NO Memory Interleaving?

TIPS
TIP: you have to disable cool n quiet when ocing
TIP: easy vdimm mod with 3.3v rail = Vdimm Via single wire, VTT tracks automatically
TIP: easy vcore mod with pin10 to ground via 50K VR
BUT the max vcore after a mod is 1.95v and coldboot with 1.85v+ vcore might kill the board!
TIP: If having problems with BH5 ram, try the following:
1) Do 3.3v = Vdimm mod
2) Set HTT multiplier to 4x and HTT to 230Mhz - Lower HTT does not boot for some users.
3) Boot and overclock via clockgen, and tweak via A64tweaker.
TIP: for best performance the giga board needs Vcore and Vdimm/3.3V bypass mod (or the OCZ booster)
TIP: disable fast writes
TIP: use HTT multiplier 4x up to ~260 and 3x up to ~290
TIP: disable the bios option called "top performence" , it will limit your ocs and will cause instability with tccd at ddr400 2.0-2-2
TIP: if you have problems with some multipliers try the F5 bios (http://www.geocities.com/benny_nejkt/BIOS_F5.zip)
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1TIP: try bios F7, it helped a bunch of people to get a higher stable HTT/FSB speed











Asus A8V via k8t800pro

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20033
(pic is a rev2.0 board)

overclocking options
Bus Speed: 200-300mhz in 1mhz steps
Bus Multiplier: 1x-5x
CPU Multiplier: 4x-20x
AGP speed: default, 66/33, 75/37 http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif locks dont work on most rev1.xx boards!http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif

overvolting options
Vcore: 0.8-1.80 in 0.025v steps
Vdimm: 2.50-2.80 in 0.1v steps
Vagp: 1.60, 1.70
Vlink: 2.5, 2.6

periphals and features
IDE: 3 ATA 133 slots (2 VIA and 1 Promise 20378)
IDE raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
SATA: 4 SATA 150 slots (2 VIA VT8237 and 2 Promise 20378)
SATA raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
sata+ide drives in raid: no
Firewire: 2 IEEE 1394A ports
LAN: Marvell 88E8001 gigabit ethernet
Sound: realtec ALC850 8 channel

links
mainboard homepage: A8V Deluxe (http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket939/a8v-d/overview.htm)
forum discussion: The OFFICIAL Asus AV8 tips, tricks and guide thread (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47232)
review #1: Anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=1) revision 2.0 review!
review #2: Hexus.net (http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD03OTU=) revision 1.0 review!
review #3: Hardwareluxx (http://www.hardwareluxx.de/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=000059) (german) revision 1.0 review!
vmod #1: vcore (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40378&highlight=a8v)
vmod #2: vdimm (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40378&highlight=a8v)
vmod #3: vht (http://) missing
vmod #4: vdd (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40378&highlight=a8v)


pros
locks are working on all rev2.xx boards
stable and high vcore up to 1.85v
good pcb layout
runs great with bh5
runs great with ocz eb
runs great with tccd
2x Memory Interleaving?

tracks vtt, ocz booster works up to ~3v

cons
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif locks not working on most rev1.xx boards!
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif generally starts topping out in the 250's htt (bios 1005.021 beta for rev 1.02)
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif OVP on VDimm at ~3.15v with a vdimm mod and ~3v with an ocz ddr booster
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif
cpu temperature reading not working correctly


TIPS
TIP: you have to disable cool n quiet when ocing
TIP: disable fast writes
TIP: if you have problems to boot or get your system stable at very low cpu temps try the beta bios 1009.002 or a newer bios version
TIP: bios 1008 might cause prime95 instability, get the latest bios
TIP: you need bios 1007.xx or later to get a winchester 90nm cpu working on this board
TIP: if you have a winchester and your current bios doesnt support it use 1 stick of ram (in slot B1)
then boot from a floppy and flash to 1007 or newer:
1. power down your system
2. Reset cmos
3. boot from a bootable floppy
4. use another floppy with the new bios and the AFUdos.exe program on it
5. type at the A prompt: afudos.exe /ia8v1007.ami
TIP: 1007 seems to give some people problems with the agp/pci locks, use 1008.002 or later
TIP: thermaltake xp120 and corsair xl pro wont fit on this board
TIP: use the promise ide controller when ocing, the via controller is rumored to get unstable when ocing (not locked?)
if you are using the via controller already and want to switch to the promise controller follow this short guide:
1. Copy the PROMISE SATA drivers to a floppy.
2. Turn off your computer and switch your HDD to the PROMISE controller
3. Turn on goto the BIOS ; Advanced > OnBoard Devices Configuration > Onboard Promise Controller [Enabled] > Operating Mode [IDE]
4. In the BIOSchange Boot priority to CD and exit BIOS
5. Pop in your XP CD and press F6 (look carefully for the message at the bottom of the screen)
6. Pop in your Floppy and let XP copy the PROMISE Drivers.
7. Exit install when asked for.
If the above method doesn't work, follow the same steps only let XP repair the existing installation. You should not lose any data.
TIP: you need a fan connected to the cpu fan slot
TIP: if your having stability problems unplug low speed fans, low rpms are rumored to make the board unstable
TIP: if your board has no working locks try to enable them with a hacked bios, works for some boards
TIP: if you have problems booting with one stick try it in slot3 (counting away from the cpu socket)
TIP: bios 1009 beta seems to have coldboot and stability issues above 240fsb (no lock?)
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1TIP:with BIOS 1009.xxxx BETA if you select 5x HTT (1000) you actually get only 4x once you pass 210 MHz












Abit AV8 via k8t800pro

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20032

overclocking options
Bus Speed: 200-336mhz in 1mhz increments *UPDATE* Highest value on bios 19 (410mhz in 1mhz increments)
Bus Multiplier: 1x-5x
CPU Multiplier: 5x-25x
AGP speed: CPU:AGP:PCI - Fixed (66mhz), 6:2:1(200:66:33), 7:2:1(233:66:33), 8:2:1(266:66:33)

overvolting options
Vcore: 1.50-1.85 in 0.025v steps
Vdimm: 2.59-2.80* in 0.05v steps *overvolts to 2.85v
Vagp: 1.50-1.65 in 0.05v steps
Vnb: 1.50-1.65 in 0.05v steps
Vsb: 2.50-2.65 in 0.05v steps
Vht: 1.20-1.35 in 0.05v steps

periphals and features
IDE: 2 ATA 133 slots
IDE raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
SATA: 4 SATA 150 slots (2 VIA VT8237)
SATA raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
sata+ide drives in raid: no
Firewire: 3 IEEE 1394A ports
LAN: VIA VT6122 PCI gigabit ethernet
Sound: realtec ALC658 6 channel

links
mainboard homepage: AV8 (http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?categories=1&model=175)
review #1: Anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=1)
review #2: Hothardware (http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=574)
review #3: Hardwareluxx (http://www.hardwareluxx.de/cms/artikel.php?action=show&id=11) (german)
vmod #1: vcore (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=39223&highlight=av8+mods)
vmod #2: vdimm (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42824&highlight=av8)
vmod #3: vht (http://) missing
vmod #4: vdd (http://) missing


pros
AGP-lock working on all rev1.1 boards
port80 diagnostic display
vdimm overvolts to 2.85v on highest setting
tracks vtt, booster works

cons
CPU-temp readings way off
*UPDATE* use latest bios 19.. i think temps reading are still wrong.. bios shows about 5C higher than uguru. Just add about 5C to readings
mixed results with bh-5 and tccd
mixed results with vcore stability
Motherboard Manual don't contain all post codes.
vtt fluctuates and is very unstable above 2.7v vdimm
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gifweak pcb wich means traces on the boards tend to get damaged very easily if the board gets bent just slightly!
read more about it here (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=310646&highlight=abit+k8t800)
possible incompability of this board and antec psu's?
clockgen can only change multis on this board, not the bus speed?
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gifmany rev1.0 boards dont have working locks!

TIPS
TIP: you have to disable cool n quiet when ocing
TIP: use slots 1&2 for BH-5, 3&4 for TCCD
TIP: if you have problems with winchester cores on this board flash to bios 1.5 or newer, 1.6 is recommended by abit
TIP: disable fast writes
TIP: with the XP-120 you will NOT be able to put anything in DIMM slot #1
TIP: use the ocz ddr booster in slot #2
TIP: VTT seems to need a reboot to "re-track" after a change
TIP: this board has a very flexible pcb and a very cheap plastic plate around the cpu socket, be VERY carefull with big heatsinks and dont fasten your heatsinks too tight!
TIP: if you cant get any higher make sure all parts of the board are cooled well enough, then start increasingvnb, vsb and vldt(vht)
TIP: if you can get any higher after that try to set vlink to 4 and the ht multiplier to 4x or 3x (800mhz/600mhz)
TIP: if you have a rev1.0 pro board (the revision number is printed on a sticker close to the cpu socket)
try bios 15 and lock the bus, if it doesnt work abit will rma the board
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1 TIP: OCZ DDR Booster working on the board up to 3.2vdimm. Vdimm needs to be set to 2.8 (max on bios) to obtain 3.2vdimm with 1.66vtt LINK (http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8795) LINK (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=39907&page=8&pp=25)
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1 TIP: Users of bios 19 with rocketboy support get higher overclock results LINK (http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/bios.php?categories=1&model=175) for bios 19
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1 TIP: MBM5 works with uGuru chip now (MBM5370)
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1 TIP: The use of PCI slot 2 (2nd from AGP) might intefere with SATA ports
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1 TIP: corsair 4000PT (hynix?) works better in slots 1&2 than 3&4






Epox 9NDA3+ nforce3

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20035

overclocking options
Bus Speed: 200-400mhz in 1mhz steps
Bus Multiplier: 1x-5x
CPU Multiplier: 8x-25x
AGP speed: 66-100 in 1mhz steps

overvolting options
Vcore: 1.55-1.70 in 0.05v steps
Vdimm: 2.50-2.80 in 0.1v steps *2.80v undervolts and is fluctuates
Vagp: 1.50 to 1.80 in 0.1v steps
Vdd: 1.60-1.75 in 0.05v steps

periphals and features
IDE: 2 ATA 133 slots
IDE raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
SATA: 4 SATA 150 slots (1&2 nforce3 (closest to the agp slot) and 3&4 marvell(not locked)
update: epox claims the latest bios locks ports 3&4, but the lock still doesnt work!)
SATA raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
sata+ide drives in raid: yes
Firewire: 2 IEEE 1394A ports
LAN: nforce3 integrated gigabit ethernet with VITESSE PHY
Sound: realtec ALC850 8 channel

links
mainboard homepage: EP-9nda3+ (http://www.epox.com/USA/product.asp?id=EP-9NDA3plus)
review #1: Anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2253)
review #2: Hexus.net (http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD05Mjc=)
review #3: PC stats (http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1682)
vmod #1: vcore (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=43284) ovp at 1.9v
vmod #2: vdimm (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=43284)
vmod #3: vht (http://) missing
vmod #4: vdd (http://) missing

pros
runs great with ocz eb
runs great with bh5
runs great with ballistix
runs great with tccd
uses the 5v rail to derive vdimm
port80 diagnostic display

cons
problems with 512mb sticks latest bios seems to fix this
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif WARNING! http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif do NOT use the ocz DDR booster on this board! vdimm above 2.8v will fry a mosfet and kill the board!
coldboot issues, random crashes and freezes from usb hardware (mouse keyboard printer etc)
cant run command rate 1t in slots 1&2 latest bios seems to fix this
vdimm is stuck at 2.7v and wont rise seems to work fine for some people
cpu temperature not reading correctly seems to work fine for some people
vcore ovp at 1.9v
only memory without a heatspreader will fit in slot1 with an xp120
Zalman CNPS7000A backplate doesnt fit on this board without any mods due to some resistors (capacitors?) on the back of the motherboard
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1 SATA ports 1 and 2 cant be used with and any Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer, the airduct covers them entirely

TIPS
TIP: you have to disable cool n quiet when ocing
TIP: disable fast writes
TIP: use HTT multiplier 4x up to ~260 and 3x up to ~290
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1TIP: SATA ports 3&4 are not locked, use slots 1&2 (closest to the agp slot)
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1TIP: if you cant get command rate 1t to run try memory slots 3&4
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1TIP:It seems that dimm slots 1 and 2 dont not like 2x512MB (dual channel)











ECS kv2 extreme via k8t800pro

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20034

overclocking options
Bus Speed: 200-511mhz in 1mhz steps
Bus Multiplier: 1x-5x
CPU Multiplier: 4x-20x
AGP speed: default, 66, 75.4

overvolting options
Vcore: 0.825-1.550 in 0.025v steps
Vdimm: 2.50-2.70 in 0.05v steps
Vagp: 1.45, 1.53, 1.57, 1.60

periphals and features
IDE: 3 ATA 133 slots (2 VIA VT8237 and 1 SiS 180)
IDE raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
SATA: 4 SATA 150 slots (2 VIA VT8237 and 2 SiS 180)
SATA raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD for all channels
sata+ide drives in raid: ?
Firewire: 2 IEEE 1394A ports
LAN: Marvel 88E8001 gigabit ethernet and VIA VT6103L 10/100 ethernet
Sound: realtec ALC655 6 channel

links
mainboard homepage: KV2 Extreme (http://www.ecsusa.com/products/kv2.html)
review #1: Anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=1)
review #2: motherboards.org (http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1446_1.html)
review #3: Hexus.net (http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD04MjU=)
vmod #1: vcore (http://) missing
vmod #2: vdimm (http://) missing
vmod #3: vht (http://) missing
vmod #4: vdd (http://) missing


pros
cons
TIPS













MSI k8t neo2-fir via k8t800pro

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20038

overclocking options
Bus Speed: 200-280mhz in 1mhz steps
Bus Multiplier: 1x-5x
CPU Multiplier: 4x-20x
AGP speed: default, 66, 75.4

overvolting options
Vcore: default to 1.85 in 0.05v steps
Vdimm: 2.55-2.85 in 0.05v steps
Vagp: 1.55 to 1.85 in 0.05v steps
Vht: default, 1.26, 1.32, 1.38

periphals and features
IDE: 3 ATA 133 slots (2 VIA and 1 Promise 20579)
IDE raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
SATA: 4 SATA 150 slots (2 VIA VT8237 and 2 Promise 20579)
SATA raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
sata+ide drives in raid: yes
Firewire: 3 IEEE 1394A ports
LAN: realtek 8110S gigabit ethernet
Sound: realtec ALC850 8 channel

links
mainboard homepage: K8T Neo-FSR (http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=496)
review #1: Anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=1)
review #2: Hothardware (http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=574)
review #3: Hardwareluxx (http://www.hardwareluxx.de/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=000039) (german)
vmod #1: vcore (http://) missing
vmod #2: vdimm (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40454&highlight=av8)
vmod #3: vht (http://) missing
vmod #4: vdd (http://) missing

pros
cons
TIPS
TIP: you have to disable cool n quiet when ocing












Soltek k8t-pro via k8t800pro

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20039

overclocking options
Bus Speed: 200-300mhz in 1mhz steps
Bus Multiplier: 1x-5x
CPU Multiplier: 4x-20x
AGP speed: ?

overvolting options
Vcore: 0.80-1.70 (0.80-1.50 in 0.025v steps, 1.50-1.70 in 0.05v steps)
Vdimm: 2.60-2.80 in 0.1v steps
Vagp: 1.50 to 1.80 in 0.1v steps
Vdd (Vsb): 2.50-2.80 in 0.1v steps

periphals and features
IDE: 3 ATA 133 slots (2 VIA and 1?)
IDE raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
SATA: 4 SATA 150 slots (2 VIA VT8237 PLUS and 2 promise PDC20579)
SATA raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
sata+ide drives in raid: ?
Firewire: 2 IEEE 1394A ports
LAN: VIA VT6122 gigabit ethernet
Sound: realtec ALC850 8 channel

links
mainboard homepage: SL-K8TPro-939 (http://www.soltek.de/soltek/product/products_all.php?isbn_st=SL-K8TPro-939)
review #1: Anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2257)
review #2: PC stats (http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1696)
review #3: motherboards.org (http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1469_1.html)
vmod #1: vcore (http://) missing
vmod #2: vdimm (http://) missing
vmod #3: vht (http://) missing
vmod #4: vdd (http://) missing


pros
port80 diagnostic display[/color]
fastest via k8t800 board at stock settings
cons
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.gif http://xtremesystems.org/forums/images/icons/icon4.giflocks dont work
max stable vcore (unmodded) is 1.55v?

TIPS
TIP: you have to disable cool n quiet when ocing










please add your details to this thread and post about bugs and bugfixes, tweaks and mods you have found. if you have a problem with your setup please read about the bugs and bugfixes first :)




CREDITS
big thx to all the people who helped me to collect those informations so far!
thx for shareing your results, expiriences and mods, tweaks and bugfixes!
great job everybody!


`schr0et
agenda2005
andyOCZ
ant1
Arnar
Benny Lodewijk
bigtoe
blinky
bypolar
CanisLupis
charlie
Chouny
CodeRed
cowpuppy
CrunchTime
dav
hollywood
Joe Camel
Kane
Lola
mdzcpa
misteroadster
Mongoose420
Perc
PnoT
PowerK
Radelon
Rauf
Sin22
split
Super Nade
STEvil
The
Runner
trans am
uniacid
VoRtAn_MaDgE
xgman
YoupY


special thx go to:
HKPolice
who came up with the idear for this thread
JACK
who read through dozens of pages to collect more tips and informations
anandtech
for helping me with the images and informations!
thx a lot wesley!
:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :D



EDIT: added soltek k8t800
EDIT: added msi k8t800
EDIT: added ecs k8t800
EDIT: added pics
EDIT: added general voltage, overclocking and periphal informations
EDIT: removed the periphal info "5 pci slots" and "8 usb 2.0 slots" as all boards feature this
EDIT: added credits
EDIT: added detailed credits
EDIT: sorted pros/cons
EDIT: added http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1 button to make it easier to keep track of updates
EDIT: added homepage links
EDIT: added review links
EDIT: updated mainboard infos
EDIT: merged both asus a8v revisions
EDIT: added vmod links
EDIT: added mainboard infos
EDIT: updated mainboard infos
EDIT: added mainboard discussion threads
EDIT: added gigabyte K8SN Ultra-939
EDIT: removed old http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20351&stc=1 signs
EDIT: added some infos

to do:



discussion (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=43033)

[charlie]

Neo2 with Tccd, 300HT @ 2.5-3-3-7 is NICE :D

C

[`schr0et]

I tried the MSI K8N NEO2 and it just wasn't for me. Really annoying board made me feel like I was back in the stone ages because the chipset fan would randomly stop running and I would have to give it a kick start by flicking the rotor with my index finger.

CPU placement made closing my case impossible. Ram slots were annoying. Bios NEEDS to be tweaked just right or your OC is fubarred. SATA slots weren't a big deal just really out of the way. Looked and operated as a 5 minute fix up board. If you compare MSI's 939 NF4 board and the K8N NEO2 you'll realize whY Ithink it was a 5 minute fix up board.

ASUS A8V v2.0 loved this board apart from the OVP on VDimm. CPU placement was fine, all ram slots worked bios 1005.20/21/27 all have working AGP/PCI locks. Performance was great and very comparable to NF3. No need to worry about HT being 600-1000 as board was 8+ hour prime stable 260x11 with 1000 HT

CPU volts was pretty good, ram volts is perfect for TCCD. Board layout is very nice, aesthetic looking board. MSI board looked ok too.

[HKPolice]

I tried the MSI K8N NEO2 and it just wasn't for me. Really annoying board made me feel like I was back in the stone ages because the chipset fan would randomly stop running and I would have to give it a kick start by flicking the rotor with my index finger.

CPU placement made closing my case impossible. Ram slots were annoying. Bios NEEDS to be tweaked just right or your OC is fubarred. SATA slots weren't a big deal just really out of the way. Looked and operated as a 5 minute fix up board. If you compare MSI's 939 NF4 board and the K8N NEO2 you'll realize whY Ithink it was a 5 minute fix up board.

ASUS A8V v2.0 loved this board apart from the OVP on VDimm. CPU placement was fine, all ram slots worked bios 1005.20/21/27 all have working AGP/PCI locks. Performance was great and very comparable to NF3. No need to worry about HT being 600-1000 as board was 8+ hour prime stable 260x11 with 1000 HT

CPU volts was pretty good, ram volts is perfect for TCCD. Board layout is very nice, aesthetic looking board. MSI board looked ok too.

Thanks for the info, whats the OVP set to on the Asus? :rolleyes:
What kinda ram does the board like? I think EB worked fine on it? But EB needs 3.2v+ to really shine, so the OVP would be an issue... :(

[`schr0et]

Thanks for the info, whats the OVP set to on the Asus? :rolleyes:
What kinda ram does the board like? I think EB worked fine on it? But EB needs 3.2v+ to really shine, so the OVP would be an issue... :(

OVP is 3.15 Last I heard. I would say just about any non BH5/EB ram would be perfect on this baord.

But honestly I beleive TCCD is the best bang for the buck availible right now. 300 HTT @ 2.5-3-7 is really something, I still remember pentium people braggin about 300 3-4-4-8 (hehe)

[HKPolice]

OVP is 3.15 Last I heard. I would say just about any non BH5/EB ram would be perfect on this baord.

But honestly I beleive TCCD is the best bang for the buck availible right now. 300 HTT @ 2.5-3-7 is really something, I still remember pentium people braggin about 300 3-4-4-8 (hehe)

Personally, I'd rather do 3-2-2-10 @ 270 with EB or ballistix @ 3.5v if I have to ;)

There are mixed reviews of the asus board though. I've seen people give up on it and sell their boards for the MSI.

[`schr0et]

Personally, I'd rather do 3-2-2-10 @ 270 with EB or ballistix @ 3.5v if I have to ;)

There are mixed reviews of the asus board though. I've seen people give up on it and sell their boards for the MSI.

Yeah I've heard of the same thing with people not liking the ASUS board I don't know why because it was by far the easiest A64 board I used. It makes sense though if so many people liked the K8N NEO2 and I hated it, it can work the other way aswell.

It comes down to what you use it for and personal preference. I prefer the ASUS.

Also 3-2-2-10 @ 3.5V seems rediculous you can more than likely get that with BH5 @ 2-2-2-5 @ 3.4V (or atleast I was able to on the K8N PRo with kyosen's vdimm bypass)

[PowerK]

HKPolice,

I agree. There's not a single 939 mobo that I like. But if I had to choose from what's currently available, it would be Asus A8V Rev2.


Abit AV8
Again, not many people have it because it's a VIA chipset... Please post your experiences.
This thread at nvnews is quite informative about Abit AV8.
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=31054

[mike.elmes]

Does the ram booster work with ASUS board?

[HKPolice]

Yeah I've heard of the same thing with people not liking the ASUS board I don't know why because it was by far the easiest A64 board I used. It makes sense though if so many people liked the K8N NEO2 and I hated it, it can work the other way aswell.

It comes down to what you use it for and personal preference. I prefer the ASUS.

Also 3-2-2-10 @ 3.5V seems rediculous you can more than likely get that with BH5 @ 2-2-2-5 @ 3.4V (or atleast I was able to on the K8N PRo with kyosen's vdimm bypass)

Well 256mb BH5 @ 270 maybe, but 512mb probably won't do 270 without like 4v, lol

[J-Pak]

:confused: where did you hear that DFI isn't releasing a NF3 250 939 board?

[xgman]

DFI decided that they will (eventually release a 939/agp board as well as the pci-x version.

I had 4 asus A8V's (1.2's and 2.0's), and abit a8v and a gigabyte 939, and the Neo2 blows them all away as far as top end and ease of setup. (my opinion) Also Neo2 with bios 1.36 allows me a vcore over 1.9v and vdimm overvolts towards 2.9 with no further mods. Yes it does have bad chipset placement and fan, but replaceable for a few bucks.

[The Runner]

see this is the problem with threads like this, there are people who rate 1 board, and others who rate another board. There is no "better" board, just how well you get on with it personally.

I guess the 2 on average that are rated, is Asus A8V 2.0 and Msi K8n Neo Plat, I bought the MSI cause its a good £20 cheaper than the asus here, and was from the same retailer... shame they're not instock and I have to wait till next Tuesday :(

[HKPolice]

Well the most important thing is that now you know the quirks of each board. I didn't know that the asus had OVP before, making it useless for BH5 or EB ram.

[Grayson Carlyle]

Neo2 with bios 1.36 allows me a vcore over 1.9v

You can, but you aren't.... right? I'd be quite scared to put an A64 over 1.9 from all the stories I've read here.

[cowpuppy]

Well I have to put my 2 cents in here about the MSI Neo2 and it runs great on BH-5 and 3700EB and has so far been the best 939 board I've ran so far.

[Arnar]

Onepagebook got 278mhz 2225 with an unmodded MSI board.. so why does the MSI board hate BH-5 ?

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42825&highlight=bh-5

[HKPolice]

Frost Bite's Neo2 won't run BH5 or EB:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=557738#post557738

Might be because Onepagebook is using 256mb sticks.....
Honestly though, 512MB of ram is ONLY for benching. Intense games would struggle with only 512MB. Practically speaking, 2x512 is the bare minimum.

[hollywood]

Well I have to put my 2 cents in here about the MSI Neo2 and it runs great on BH-5 and 3700EB and has so far been the best 939 board I've ran so far.


Ditto....I just think folks have sour grapes 'cause they expect an easy OC each time.

It took me a good 2 weeks of playing with different combos to find the one that my Neo2 liked. Once I got the Bios straight and the right mem...I've had zero issues.

Most Neo2 problems can be attributed to folks not having enough patience.

(Except `schr0et's NB fan problem...however that could of been easily fixed.)

[CodeRed]

You forgot to mention that the giga board has horrible Vcore regulation. DPS-Gold :rolleyes:. It fluctuates like mad, and severly overvolts under load. Also more than 1.95V seems to blow up the MOSFETS :(

What we need is a Vdimm OVP fix for the A8V ... that would be a mobo I would buy.

[misteroadster]

HK police i tried a lot of ram with the gigabyte , the best is BH5 but the problem is that you have tu give them more than 3V to have stability , and boot with 225-230 FSB in bios.
I also tried some CH5 (A-data-corsair) they worked fine, and very stable , if i remember , with Adata 256 i could reach 235 2 2 2 5 Vddr with stock 2,85vddr (+0,2 bios).
After Vio=vddr i was able to bench superpi at about 265 2/2/2/5.
With CH5 corsair 512mo 1.2 (LLPT) i could do the same, i think with 256mo sticks LLPT it will be a lot better.
I tried Samsung TCCC , working good also but slow timings of course.
I tried MDT sticks (made in germany, very cheap sticks= 75 euros/512mo sticks) ,with them i could have 240 Prime stable 2,5/3/2/5 with very speed A64tweak settings : i could have 32sec superpi@2509mhz.
Kingston valueram chips kingston 256mo sticks works good too.
If i have to choose an available pair of DDR for benches , i ll choose the Corsair LLPT 1.2 sticks, less none doubt.
Nforce3 loves them.

[blinky]

tom holck got past the OVP on the A8V somehow, he wont say :(

he used 3.9v vdimm

[STEvil]

Probably figured out which chip controls OVP and put a VR on it to pull down the signal.

[ant1]

I´m running 2x512mb BH5 @ 248Mhz / 3.2v on my k8n neo2. Rockstable.

[mdzcpa]

Ditto....I just think folks have sour grapes 'cause they expect an easy OC each time.

Most Neo2 problems can be attributed to folks not having enough patience.



So True.

My second 939 mobo was a NEO2 which I got the first week they came out. I grabbed it to replace my Abit 939 board which wasn't working out at all. But, just one day with the NEO2 and I disarded it as a piece of junk.

Then, another month later, after going through 3 more 939 mobos, I returned to the NEO2. And after giving it another chance, it really has turned out to be a splendid mobo.

Some quirks...yep. But life is relative and the NEO2 is the best of a quirky bunch of 939 boards. The work arounds are pretty simple too....once you know them of course.

I actually think there are a lot of happy NEO2 users out there. And, if you look carefully at the general trend of who likes the mobo, it tends to be some of the more veteran tweakers. No offence meant if any is taken by that comment...but it that is actually what I beleive I am seeing now. And there are definite exceptions to the trend.

[`schr0et]

Er lets get something cleared up I don't mean to say the K8N NEO2 is a bad mobo, just the annoyance I've had with mines steered me away, I wanted a closed case setup with my GT and I can't have that with the K8N NEO2 and I didn't like the chipset fan but also didn't have one laying around to switch up, I can have a closed case setup with the ASUS and there's no chipset fan on the ASUS so that elminates the annoyance with the K8N so thats my reason to going back to the ASUS.

Although I've never been fond of the Via chipsets, the K8T800 Pro is a very good offering from Via (surpisingly compared to the regular K8T800).

Benching / Ocing wasn't an issue once I figured how to work the motherboard so my beef wasn't with the performance of the board just the layout of it.

[mdzcpa]

Well, I certainly wasn't directing my post towards you. I was just answering the original post that "all 939 mobos suck"....something I don't agree with the NEO2 as a decent option.

Also, don't misunderstand me either. I'd certainly prefer a quirk free mobo. Right now, though, they just don't exist.

[bypolar]

Soltek makes a 939 board Based on the KT800 chipset. It has all the Voltage options but from what Little I have read the Locks do not work and the Vcore Max is 1.55V.

it is funny how all the Naysayers where sayiong 754 socket is almost dead. That might be true if we had the same amout of chioces on the 939 platform. But as long as 939 boardmakers stagnate, socket 754 will go on.

[Radelon]

My EB 2x512 works great in my MSI K8N Neo2. 3-2-2-9 @270 works just peachy. 1.36b of course. As for the board. This is my first AMD since T-Bird 1.4, yes even before PR rated cpus, been on P4 rigs ever since. It took me about 1 day and I got this Neo2 w/ 3000+ 90nm to 2.56ghz 8x320 with no problems at all. Everything on the system is USB, I don't use lan ports or anything. This board is far better than anything I had on the Intel Platform. That's saying a lot since I had a Asus P4C800ED that took my air cooled 2.4c to 320fsb. I would recommend the MSI to everyone wanting to go 939, just look around, read posts, get 1.36b bios, and learn a little.

I would prolly classify myself as a veteran overclocker as I've been overclocking for almost 8 years now, I've never done anything extreme like the big dogs though.

Heck I was told that the board slowed down over 300fsb but man, I've not seen that. This board works great with the 3000+ 90nm and at $303 shipped from newegg for the pair, you just can't go wrong with this setup. Fact is you never know until you try it yourself. As for getting it to run well "some can, some can't" we all know that story.

[HKPolice]

Whoa, what voltage? Active cooling on the dimms?


My EB 2x512 works great in my MSI K8N Neo2. 3-2-2-9 @270 works just peachy. 1.36b of course. As for the board. This is my first AMD since T-Bird 1.4, yes even before PR rated cpus, been on P4 rigs ever since. It took me about 1 day and I got this Neo2 w/ 3000+ 90nm to 2.56ghz 8x320 with no problems at all. Everything on the system is USB, I don't use lan ports or anything. This board is far better than anything I had on the Intel Platform. That's saying a lot since I had a Asus P4C800ED that took my air cooled 2.4c to 320fsb. I would recommend the MSI to everyone wanting to go 939, just look around, read posts, get 1.36b bios, and learn a little.

I would prolly classify myself as a veteran overclocker as I've been overclocking for almost 8 years now, I've never done anything extreme like the big dogs though.

Heck I was told that the board slowed down over 300fsb but man, I've not seen that. This board works great with the 3000+ 90nm and at $303 shipped from newegg for the pair, you just can't go wrong with this setup. Fact is you never know until you try it yourself. As for getting it to run well "some can, some can't" we all know that story.

[hollywood]

Yeah...My MSI Neo2 sucks... :cool:

[blinky]

Probably figured out which chip controls OVP and put a VR on it to pull down the signal.
he hints somewhere thats its very similar to the SK8N OVP mod. anyone have that mod?

[Mongoose420]

well ive got a locking asus a8v 1.02, scores in sig, thats far from horrid and mine is the only one ive heard of that undervolts vdimm!. 275htt capable, 246 1:1 3-2-2-10 3d stable with only 2.7v on my 3700EB and it liked both gigs of bh-5 i threw at it.

Ive also recently picked up the epox 9NDA3+. Very happy with it also, just got it today but ran 3dmark01se at 300HTT(yet to try more) DDR400 3-2-2-10 with my 3700EB and got a run at 252x10 3-3-2-10 1:1 with my 3700EB. ATX connection placement sucks, as does the cmos battery placement. Havnt yet had to clear the cmos tho and ive failed about 3 or 4 overclocks before i ran 300HTT =p. According to bios vcore overvolts by about .05v and vdimm is hang'n around 2.8~2.81 where it should.

EP-9NDA3+ info and some prelim benchmarks with clock for clock comparison to the a8v dlx can be found here (http://discuss.futuremark.com/forum/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=techmobocpu&Number=4484008&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=1).

[Kane]

Ditto....I just think folks have sour grapes 'cause they expect an easy OC each time.

It took me a good 2 weeks of playing with different combos to find the one that my Neo2 liked. Once I got the Bios straight and the right mem...I've had zero issues.

Most Neo2 problems can be attributed to folks not having enough patience.

(Except `schr0et's NB fan problem...however that could of been easily fixed.)

I have the MSI K8N Neo2 card. Since you guys say that it takes alot of tweaking in the bios to get it stabile, maybe you could help a mate out :)

I'm currently using 1.36B bios, and a brand new 4000+ (sample) I got at work. Before that I used a 3500+. I've tried it with both 2x512MB OCZ3500EB and 2x512MB Geil Ultra X. Over to the problem. I can't get more than 200MHz overclock, and even then it is not stable. This is with both the CPU's. I can play games for hours and hours, but Prime95 won't go for more than a couple of minutes. Is there some special thing you guy's do to make it stable :) I've tried everything from 12x217 to 10x260. Hopefully you guys can give me some hints. Another thing. At what temps do usually these CPU get unstable. I'm using a CoolerMaster Hyper 6 w/ 2x80mm to cool it, but it rises to about 55 degrees under load. I'm also using the OCZ 520w PSU. Hoping for some good suggestions from you guys.

- Jim

[hollywood]

I have the MSI K8N Neo2 card. Since you guys say that it takes alot of tweaking in the bios to get it stabile, maybe you could help a mate out :)

I'm currently using 1.36B bios, and a brand new 4000+ (sample) I got at work. Before that I used a 3500+. I've tried it with both 2x512MB OCZ3500EB and 2x512MB Geil Ultra X. Over to the problem. I can't get more than 200MHz overclock, and even then it is not stable. This is with both the CPU's. I can play games for hours and hours, but Prime95 won't go for more than a couple of minutes. Is there some special thing you guy's do to make it stable :) I've tried everything from 12x217 to 10x260. Hopefully you guys can give me some hints. Another thing. At what temps do usually these CPU get unstable. I'm using a CoolerMaster Hyper 6 w/ 2x80mm to cool it, but it rises to about 55 degrees under load. I'm also using the OCZ 520w PSU. Hoping for some good suggestions from you guys.

- Jim

Try the following for the 3500+, adjust the multi a bit lower for the 4000+.

Also...try the MSI 1.3 release bios through live-update.

Mem: 2.5,3,6,3 1T 2.80v 1:1
HT: 4x
FSB: 260Mhz
CPU: 9.5x 2470Mhz 1.60v



Mem: 2.5,3,6,3 1T 2.80v 1:1
HT: 4x
FSB: 255Mhz
CPU: 10x 2550Mhz 1.60v



Mem: 2.5,3,6,3 1T 2.85v 1:1
HT: 4x
FSB: 260Mhz
CPU: 10x 2600Mhz 1.65v

[Radelon]

My eb was at 3.3v no active cooling.

[WildKard]

I have the K8N Neo Platinum(s754) and it was a pain in the ass to get running, but once youve figured out all the ins and outs of the boards its great! I am sure the Neo2 is probably exactly the same way...:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: to get going but once its there it really shines, we have just been spoiled over the years with some awesome board that require little no skill in overclocking and now we just "expect" every board to be a miracle board and push all of our components to the limits and lots of people have lost patience in trying to make things work right

[dav]

i have k8nsnxp-939 and a8v deluxe and i would say the a8v deluxe is much better to be recommended.

i think the k8nsnxp-939 was supposed to be a high-end s939 mobo (from its price), but unfortunately all its BIOS from F2 to F4 are really crappy..
1) could not cold boot with high HTT
2) always detect IDE devices even if set to disabled
3) very limited voltage options (max vcore 1.7v vdimm 2.7v)
moreover there are tons of memory incompatible issues with this mobo... i'm rather sad to have spent more than $200 for this mobo.. :)

BTW, gigabyte has a new s939 board... which looks like k8nsnxp-939 without the DPS Gold thing.. not sure what's up with it and waiting for more information from gigabyte. (hoping to replace my k8nsnxp-939 with this newer version :P)

[jjcom]

I have the MSI K8N Neo2 card. Since you guys say that it takes alot of tweaking in the bios to get it stabile, maybe you could help a mate out :)

I'm currently using 1.36B bios, and a brand new 4000+ (sample) I got at work. Before that I used a 3500+. I've tried it with both 2x512MB OCZ3500EB and 2x512MB Geil Ultra X. Over to the problem. I can't get more than 200MHz overclock, and even then it is not stable. This is with both the CPU's. I can play games for hours and hours, but Prime95 won't go for more than a couple of minutes. Is there some special thing you guy's do to make it stable :) I've tried everything from 12x217 to 10x260. Hopefully you guys can give me some hints. Another thing. At what temps do usually these CPU get unstable. I'm using a CoolerMaster Hyper 6 w/ 2x80mm to cool it, but it rises to about 55 degrees under load. I'm also using the OCZ 520w PSU. Hoping for some good suggestions from you guys.

- Jim

it seems like 55degrees is a...high temp. I'm not sure, but 55 seems like a unstable temp for Athlon 64s. I don't own one myself but I would say a 52 degree load temp is good

[blinky]

i think as long as the epox doesnt have any major flaws yet to be discovered it could be the top 939 board, from just lookin at mongoose420's post in futuremark forums.




Epox S939
Pure crap, Period.dont count it out if u dont actually know

[HKPolice]

Onepagebook says it's not worth trying:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=557361#post557361

*shrugs*

[Mongoose420]

then dont try it. Im have'n some problems with it achieving the same cpu oc as my a8v dlx but i havnt yet nailed down why. boards good to 325htt and it might just need some vmods to bring out its true potential. Did get a 255x10 1:1 3dmark01se run out of it tho something my a8v never was able to do at any timings.

[Elisha]

I have the MSI K8N Neo2 card. Since you guys say that it takes alot of tweaking in the bios to get it stabile, maybe you could help a mate out :)

I'm currently using 1.36B bios, and a brand new 4000+ (sample) I got at work. Before that I used a 3500+. I've tried it with both 2x512MB OCZ3500EB and 2x512MB Geil Ultra X. Over to the problem. I can't get more than 200MHz overclock, and even then it is not stable. This is with both the CPU's. I can play games for hours and hours, but Prime95 won't go for more than a couple of minutes. Is there some special thing you guy's do to make it stable :) I've tried everything from 12x217 to 10x260. Hopefully you guys can give me some hints. Another thing. At what temps do usually these CPU get unstable. I'm using a CoolerMaster Hyper 6 w/ 2x80mm to cool it, but it rises to about 55 degrees under load. I'm also using the OCZ 520w PSU. Hoping for some good suggestions from you guys.

- Jim


your prime errors are not cause of the cpu. could be psu, ram or mobo.

[jjcom]

yep I mainly end up with Prime errors when I clock my undervolted RAM too high. Sure wish DDR400 was within my reach....

[Geforce4ti4200]

it looks like all the mobos are hit or miss and theres no hard and fast choice to choose. one k8n could rock, another could suck. as for high vdimm, ill be happy just running 2.8v with my two sticks of corsair value at like 240fsb. I cant afford a gig of bh5 anyway and even if I could, id need volts for that and its not worth all that for another 200 3dmarks anyway. so the ASUS A8V v2.0 is the best choice if I dont care to do any vmods? whats the max cpu/ram volts?

[trans am]

Back to the DFI 939 nf4 board, I emailed dfi regarding this and they are shooting for a November release date. Ask Oskar Wu, he might know for sure.

[Geforce4ti4200]

will this nf4 have agp? if not its useless for most of us........

[hollywood]

will this nf4 have agp? if not its useless for most of us........

Unless you buy a PCIe video card... :rolleyes:

[Geforce4ti4200]

who here with an agp 9800pro, 9800xt, 6800gt, x800pro, etc is gonna spend another $400+ just for pci-e :rolleyes:

[rick_fx]

I definitely won't. Just paid 475$ 1 month ago for my evga 6800 ultra.

[hollywood]

who here with an agp 9800pro, 9800xt, 6800gt, x800pro, etc is gonna spend another $400+ just for pci-e :rolleyes:

I will...I'll just return my "old" 6800 Ultra to CompUSA and pay the difference for the next gen NV48 PCIe card.

Gotta love the trade up warranty at CompUSA.

[HKPolice]

I will...I'll just return my "old" 6800 Ultra to CompUSA and pay the difference for the next gen NV48 PCIe card.

Gotta love the trade up warranty at CompUSA.
Most don't have that luxury though... or the money

[blinky]

who here with an agp 9800pro, 9800xt, 6800gt, x800pro, etc is gonna spend another $400+ just for pci-e :rolleyes:x700xt will be $200 or so, 6600GT PCIe should be the same price


dont assume

[Geforce4ti4200]

x700xt will be $200 or so, 6600GT PCIe should be the same price


dont assume


and what good will this be for someone with a 9800xt, 6800gt, x800pro?

[rick_fx]

Absolutely N-O-N-E at all :D

[Geforce4ti4200]

Thats why long live agp!!!!!!!!!

[rick_fx]

I just dont get the hype about pci-e. Most tests show that agp is always as fast or sometimes faster than pci-e. Why dont they bring out agp SLI?

[tricknasty]

ya i just purchased a 6800 gt im sure not getting a pci-e card for a long time

[Kane]

Thanx for all the suggestions. I tweaked everything forth and back yesterday and ended up with a Prime Stabel machine @ 2.55GHz on the 4000+. But I can use it @ 2.6GHz aswell, without any problems (except in prime) I had the memory underclocked all I could when I tested. When I found out where the CPU was stabel, I just upped the memory, and it's still stable. I'm now running it 260x10 1:1 with the RAM Geil Ultra X @ 260 CL.2.5 -3 -3 -10 1t. Anyways, I'm running 1.65v through the CPU. It doesn't like more then that. Probably because it gets to hot. Anyway, noise is also a issue for me, so I'm happy here. A quiet machine, that still kicks butt. And finally it's stable. I'm sure the memory can go even tighter, but my Booster has gone FUBAR. It doesn't react when I turn the POT. So 2.85v is all I can give the Memory. Since my computer now is working (with a little help from you guys) I have another question. Has anyone else noticed that 6800 cards overclock terrible on these cards? On my old Intel rig, my POV 6800Ultra could do 475/1300, but on this S939 card it can't do more then 430/1200. My PSU is good aswell. No drops on the lines. I have even tried with different PSU's to be sure. Any suggestions?

[avicenna]

As you people said there is no advantage with PCI over AGP today.

There will be later though, when they begin to implement routines that lets the gpu handle cpu intensive tasks, thus freeing cpu cycles for other tasks.
Agp port is too slow for this purpose and here the PCI 16x will show it´s advantage, as i said we are not there yet and it will take a while before this will happen.

[Mongoose420]

lots of problems have been posted by nvidia users with nf3 ultra boards(maby even 250gb's also) but im not sure if a workaround has been found yet tho.

Glad you got everything figured out tho.

[eclypse]

I plan on exchanging my X800XT card at newegg for a PCI-Express version and waitin out for the PCI-Express M/Bs. All the 939 suck and i hope the new boards with the NF4 chipset will be better. That and slap a FX-55 and be done... I hope to be happy for about a year or so.

Quick question though.. The PCI-X cards out now.. Can you use them in a SLI configuration in the futrue or will i have to buy 2 totally new cards for that?

[hollywood]

Most don't have that luxury though... or the money

So what...

If your into this hobby...you either adapt or you will be left behind.

Simple as that.

[blinky]

and what good will this be for someone with a 9800xt, 6800gt, x800pro?i think u have trouble thinking

if someone has x800pro, they can sell it for $375 and pay $430 for a PCI-e version card, if someone has 9800pro they could sell it for $175 and get a 6600GT PCIe for $200


if someone has a $400 card theyre not gonna get the x700xt but i addressed your question which was concerning how the pci-e cards are so expensive.


i give up theres no point in refuting your drivels

[bldegle2]

i see one small flaw in reselling an AGP card to get PCI-e, the resale value of the AGP cards will drop dramatically on the used market when PCI-e comes out, so recovery will not be as much as it is now.

AGP and AGP boards will be around for awhile. there will be a long transition period to accomodate the changeover, of that i am sure .............

baldy

[saaya]

the msi neo2 has issues with bh5? 0_o

then please explain how 1pagebook reached 280mhz 2-2-2 1:1 with 1T on his board...
and i heard other people say that their bh5 runs fine on the neo2...

[Mongoose420]

lol, the MSI's are very board to board aparently. 3 people will get one and work perfectly, 3 people will get em and have minor issues, and 37 people will get one that barely works LMAO :p: Ive never had good luck with a MSI board. :(

[The Runner]

msi board requires extensive tweaking to get right mongoose, perhaps you just didn't give it enough time?

When mine arrives, I will burn it in for a few days, before beginning to tweak the bios for some overclocking!

:toast:

[Mongoose420]

i didnt even bother with the k8n neo2, i learned my lesson on msi boards before s939 were even announced. I happy for people get get working ones, but they can have them as far as im concerned.

[Kane]

Hey guys

A quick question for you. How is it using halv MP, for example 9.5x ? I'm tweaking my RAM to the limit (Booster Broken, so only 2.85v) I am currently using 275x9.5 but I feel like I'm loosing a litte speed vs 260x10. Is this right?

PS. Very happy with the Geil Ultra X

PC3200 cl.2 -2 -2 -5 -1t @ PC4400 cl.2.5 -3 -3 -10 -1t

ScreenShot (http://www.home.no/jimramse/Pictures/Geil%20Ultra%20X%20550%20cl.2.5%20-3%20-3%20-10%202.85v.JPG)

[Mongoose420]

lol, nipp shot! bad..... :D

the reason your loose'n some is because the .5 multi's on a64's are broken. on full multi's the formula for memory speed is HTT*Multi/Multi=memory speed. But on .5 multi's it rounds up the divisor to the nearest whole number. so at 275x9.5 your only running 275*9.5/10=261mhz and there is a slight performance hit for running asynch.

Nice clock on the memory tho, drop that down to 275x9 to see if she'll fly there. :toast:

[Kane]

lol, nipp shot! bad..... :D

the reason your loose'n some is because the .5 multi's on a64's are broken. on full multi's the formula for memory speed is HTT*Multi/Multi=memory speed. But on .5 multi's it rounds up the divisor to the nearest whole number. so at 275x9.5 your only running 275*9.5/10=261mhz and there is a slight performance hit for running asynch.

Nice clock on the memory tho, drop that down to 275x9 to see if she'll fly there. :toast:

Ahh. thought something was wrong :) Tried going down to 9x. 270 was go, but 275 was a no go. Couldn't even open CPU-Z without a bluescreen. Ah well. Guess I going with 260x10 then. Thanx for clearing up the half mp's for me Mongoose420 :up:

[texuspete00]

Wow, I guess GeForce really does live in the past. I'm just surprised he adds cards like the 9800pro to the list. It's still good, but he can't fathom someone ditching it and going PCIe?.... WOW.

My GT is an eVGA, I might do the trade-up program if they hit soon enough. Blinky had a good point too. I bought mine from someone who figured in retrospect that they couldn't afford it. I figured if I have to go and sell it, part of the hit has been taken for me already.

[eclypse]

No one must of seen my question..
Quick question though.. The PCI-X cards out now.. Can you use them in a SLI configuration in the futrue or will i have to buy 2 totally new cards for that

[misteroadster]

K8NSNXP939 without vmods, not so bad ; 2T enabled of course :
http://pageperso.aol.fr/misteroadster/MDT2GO.JPG

[rick_fx]

That's nothing ... and btw, your fx-53 is identified as a s940 (check cpu-z) not a s939.

[texuspete00]

No one must of seen my question..

You will be able to use the PCIe nV cards... 6600 (whatever the best one is - I forget), 6800GT, and 6800 Ultra. They have not and will not be shipping those cards out without the proper connectors.

[eclypse]

You will be able to use the PCIe nV cards... 6600 (whatever the best one is - I forget), 6800GT, and 6800 Ultra. They have not and will not be shipping those cards out without the proper connectors.

Damn no ATi cards for SLI atm?

[misteroadster]

That's nothing ... and btw, your fx-53 is identified as a s940 (check cpu-z) not a s939.
It's an 939 and 2Go 4X512 ram worked perfectly.
in these four sticks there is one who freeze at 235, the others 247.

[jjcom]

Damn no ATi cards for SLI atm?

I *think* that Alienware is making something to allow this, altho I'm not sure if ATi will "offically" approve of it. Altho ATi might make SLI cards....

[eclypse]

Might make them? That would be stupid for ATI to just give the crown back to Nvidia without coming out with a SLI verison of there cards. Ofcourse isint SLI Nvidia's tech that they bought off of 3dfx?

[jjcom]

yep. Thats where SLI was first used I believe. In the Voodoo 2 (?) cards. They used dual PCI slots and where able to ....what was it something like run a game at 1024x768 on high detail settings. those were the dark ages. lol

[eclypse]

Yeah i have 2 12MB voodoo 2 cards and a 8MB or 2 still in box hehe.

[Eversor]

The new nVidia SLI is a different implementation that 3dfx Voodoo2 was.
nVidia´s SLI takes in account that nowadays since it´s the GPU who takes care of the geometry and shading, doing line interleaving like 3dfx isn´t going to work properly. So it splits the work according to the load the scene will put on the gpu´s, it can be like 20% to one, and 80% to the other one.

[misteroadster]

That's nothing ... and btw, your fx-53 is identified as a s940 (check cpu-z) not a s939.
And What do you think about this with 2,7v bios, no mod 1T :
Ram : MDT 2X512Mo (150 euros/go)
http://pageperso.aol.fr/misteroadster/MDT248-32S.JPG

[misteroadster]

Or that with BH5 and K8NSNXP-939 LDT 3X , ideal for smalls 939.
i can't try higher multis because i'm aircooled here.
http://pageperso.aol.fr/misteroadster/Desynch343-266.PNG
http://pageperso.aol.fr/misteroadster/MaxDesynch.PNG
This topic can be closed.

[PnoT]

Well i didn't wanna have to upgrade atm due to me wanting to wait out the dual pci-e boards for sli. chilly1 is customizing a phase change for me so i think i'll go ahead and upgrade from my it7 max 2 p4 1.8a@2.7 (ya ya it's oooold) to a MSI Neo2 plat for now an then when sli hits i can simply upgrade the board instead of having to get a new cpu as well. NF4 is due out very soon and i'd like to upgrade to one of those when they hit. Any suggestions on which s939 cpu to get? I've seen a ton of posts but i still can't make up my mind. I know i can get a 3000+ from fry's for about $180 and that includes an msi board as well but not the neo2. I'd love to drop some cash on an fx-53 but damn those are pricey :D

On a side note i have 4 sticks of bh-5 all 256 modules and from what it seems they run well in this board.

[rick_fx]

Maybe you could get a good deal in a couple of days on an fx-53 ... a few people here will be letting their "old" fx-53's for an fx-55

[PnoT]

Maybe you could get a good deal in a couple of days on an fx-53 ... a few people here will be letting their "old" fx-53's for an fx-55

Ah, very good idea :D

Now if only someone would sell me their chip heh!

[perkam]

There also arent any really good 939 chips (other than the winchesters and the FXs) that really blow you away right out of the box.

The 3500+ sucked ( 2.6 a challenge, C'MON)

The 3800+ was too expensive and barely anyone bought it. This was because when it came out, it was priced way too close to the fx-53 so most ppl in the price range bought the fx and are now creaming just about anything.

939 has a long way to go to be able be a viable replacement for socket 754 A64s.

[rick_fx]

939 has a long way to go to be able be a viable replacement for socket 754 A64s.

Maybe nf4 will be what s939 needs ... a good mobo

[STEvil]

fx-53 is pricey, but you have chilly customizing a phase change unit for ya? ;)

[rick_fx]

yep, r402a

[misteroadster]

This M/B sucks, after all, your rights guys :p:
31s aircooled is nothing, i know :rolleyes:
http://pageperso.aol.fr/misteroadster/31s2577.PNG

[Arnar]

I also get 31sec in Super_pi using 14x200 on my FX-53 (cant get higher HTT than that with my current mobo...)

[PnoT]

fx-53 is pricey, but you have chilly customizing a phase change unit for ya? ;)

Yes as well ....

[PnoT]

I also get 31sec in Super_pi using 14x200 on my FX-53 (cant get higher HTT than that with my current mobo...)


Wanna sell it ;)

[hollywood]

There also arent any really good 939 chips (other than the winchesters and the FXs) that really blow you away right out of the box.

The 3500+ sucked ( 2.6 a challenge, C'MON)

The 3800+ was too expensive and barely anyone bought it. This was because when it came out, it was priced way too close to the fx-53 so most ppl in the price range bought the fx and are now creaming just about anything.

939 has a long way to go to be able be a viable replacement for socket 754 A64s.


Do you know??? Do you have one??? Don't blow unless you know.... :cool:

I'm running nearly 30K aircooled and 31s superPi on my "sucky" 3500+ and MSI K8N Neo2 Plat.

I'll put my 2.6GHz Aircooled 3500+ against ANY P4 up to 4.0GHz. (besides and EE) ;)

[CodeRed]

This M/B sucks, after all, your rights guys :p:
31s aircooled is nothing, i know :rolleyes:


hey, I have a sucky result too from this gigabyte ;)

30 sec superpi (will post piccy when my bench machine is back up and running), and a measly 43.38 sec pifast ..... all air cooled :D

http://home.exetel.com.au/codered/fx53/pifast2695.jpg

[eclypse]

Man those gigabyte board kinda suck! :) Umm. DO they like OCZ 3700EB ram and what kinda voltage do they give for vcore+Vdimm? Is it unmodded or are you using a booster?

[ant1]

hey, I have a sucky result too from this gigabyte ;)

30 sec superpi (will post piccy when my bench machine is back up and running), and a measly 43.38 sec pifast ..... all air cooled :D


Is that Bh5? 2x256?

[CodeRed]

Is that Bh5? 2x256?

yeah 2x256 BH5 @ 3.60V

the giga board can really push the mem once you do the 3.3V bypass mod (or use a booster). My only beef with this board is the lack of high Vcore ... limited to around 1.95V before it goes bang (or so Ive heard ... since I aint going to try and find out ;) )


EDIT : wrong Vdimm voltage :D

[misteroadster]

hey, I have a sucky result too from this gigabyte ;)

30 sec superpi (will post piccy when my bench machine is back up and running), and a measly 43.38 sec pifast ..... all air cooled :D

http://home.exetel.com.au/codered/fx53/pifast2695.jpg
Héhé good sucking dude :toast:

[misteroadster]

yeah 2x256 BH5 @ 3.60V

the giga board can really push the mem once you do the 3.3V bypass mod (or use a booster). My only beef with this board is the lack of high Vcore ... limited to around 1.95V before it goes bang (or so Ive heard ... since I aint going to try and find out ;) )


EDIT : wrong Vdimm voltage :D

I think this problem of vcore is due to wrong Vmod , i found it but i'm not Hipro or others , when i connect the mod i hear the M/B screaming.
Somebody electro qualified can Look at this motherboard ??

[tictac]

I wonder where ABIT hide their nForce3 board? anybody know?

I'm waiting for that board.... :(

[PowerK]

I wonder where ABIT hide their nForce3 board? anybody know?

I'm waiting for that board.... :(
Abit says no to Nforce 3 250 (http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16483)

[misteroadster]

I wonder where ABIT hide their nForce3 board? anybody know?

I'm waiting for that board.... :(
Abit is not that Abit was :(
they loves Via now , and O.wu isn't there.They ll probably come back with nf4 , we ll see......

[CodeRed]

I think this problem of vcore is due to wrong Vmod , i found it but i'm not Hipro or others , when i connect the mod i hear the M/B screaming.
Somebody electro qualified can Look at this motherboard ??


I am an electrical engineer ;)

I shouldve had a poke around before installing the prom and covering everything in seal string ... instead I just did the standard mod and crossed my fingers. Solving the Vcore fluctuation under load would make this the No 1 mobo (arguably).

[misteroadster]

yes , but without mod there is always the 0,1v increase , apprently it's normal on NF3250's Mobos.
I tried the m/b without cpu , and with these vmod , the M/B shutdown just after the power on.
I measure the voltage on the two ISL and it was the same without vmod , i wanted to connect their pins +VR but at the last moment i give up the try.
There is no reason this m/b can't accept more than 2V , K8N 754 accept.
The problem is those 2 ISL , i think when you do the vmod , and pull vcore at more than 1,9v , a potential difference between them is causing the death of the board.

Good luck codered , i'm with you ;)

[The Runner]

Abit are pretty poor now, certainly going for gimmicks over good clocking boards. DFI is what Abit used to be, its good DFI has a good rma service considering how iffy their boards can be.

Bravo to them though, very good customer service, great company.

[Mongoose420]

here's the ePOS lol 100% unmodded fastest 1T ect.

http://img33.exs.cx/img33/1259/epox253x10.th.jpg (http://img33.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img33&image=epox253x10.jpg)

[HKPolice]

So I guess overall, the MSI is the winner if you can get around the quirks. The asus is in 2nd if you don't need more than 3.15vdimm, and Gigabyte is third?

[misteroadster]

for me the gigabyte is first.
I know some guys happy with it .
All the gigabyte are the same , and works very very fine with some rams , tights timings , totally rockstable.
The only problem is past 2Vcore , but i'm not sure A64 needs them.
As you could see i ran it with 4X512Mo w/o problem in 2T about 230mhz
" " " 2X512Mo " " " 1T about 250 mhz
2x256 278 mhz 2 2 2 2 31s@2577mhz.
I never seen the MSI do the same and Totally stable.
Somebody can do those tests ?

[Mongoose420]

more eye candy from a crappy epox and a :banana::banana::banana::banana:ty newcastle. thats all air, 100% unmodded no tricks ect. Gonna hook up the A/C and drop ambients down tonite and go for 245+x11 1:1. vdimm mod supplies ordered, should be here wed. also my ddr booster should be here wed. also.

http://img71.exs.cx/img71/5302/240x11superpi.th.jpg (http://img71.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img71&image=240x11superpi.jpg)

[DCR]

If you read the linked article that Abit says no to Nforce 3...you may have noticed this at the top:

* CORRECTION Abit said that it is committed to using the Nforce 3 250, despite what the article says below. The misunderstanding appears to have arisen because people in the factory do not know Abit's roadmap, the head office in Taiwan said today. Apologies to Abit and to readers. 11 June 2004. Ed.

[mike.elmes]

Which MSI mobo of the 3 available is doing the highest FSB?

MSI K8T Neo2-F VIA K8T800Pro w/ GB LAN, Audio
MSI K8T Neo2-FIR VIA K8T800Pro w/ GB LAN, IEEE 1394, SATA RAID more
MSI K8T Neo2 Platinum VIA K8T800Pro
These are the 3 939's I was thinking go with the raid but is there raid on the pro?

[mdzcpa]

Which MSI mobo of the 3 available is doing the highest FSB?

MSI K8T Neo2-F VIA K8T800Pro w/ GB LAN, Audio
MSI K8T Neo2-FIR VIA K8T800Pro w/ GB LAN, IEEE 1394, SATA RAID more
MSI K8T Neo2 Platinum VIA K8T800Pro
These are the 3 939's I was thinking go with the raid but is there raid on the pro?

Ahhhhh....stop. Put down that motherboard list and back away quickly!!

Seriously, stay far far away from the K8T NEO2 boards. The locks do not work...period. I went through 3 of these damn boards before I realized that the locks simply do not exist at all. Go over to the MSI forums and confirm this. If you are looking for a higher HTT stay away from the K8T NEO2.

[mike.elmes]

Thanx Mike!!

What board(939) Plays well with OCZ 3700 eb (2x512) and gets the highest FSB?? Asus? :stick: I am doin an FX-55 under my prom mach1.soon as the fx can be found. I am just really unsure about the board, seems to be a tough call until NF4 arrives.
Which board has a working PCI/AGP lock?
tia
mike

[mdzcpa]

In order of choice:

MSI K8N NEO2 (NF3) - a bit quirky, but a great stable overclocker. sata ports 1/2 do not lock, but 3/4 do. manually set agp to 67mhz to lock the bus, leaving it at 66 does not lock. temp reporting is goofy. All that said, I have had 2 of these mobos OC great (280 to 300 htt) and play nice with a variety of mem including the eb.

Gigabyte NF3 - Nice board but bloated with waaay too much $hit and is waaaay overpriced. Can hit higher HTT and plays nice with many rams.

Asus A8V rev 2 non wi fi - stay away from early revs with hit n miss locks. VIA chipset doesn't like the locks is the problem. The rev 2 with working locks is a nice mobo.

All the others have more quirks than they are worth. I'd stick with an NF3 mobo if working locks is paramount for higher htt speeds. Since your going to NF4 in the future, the cheaper MSI K8N would be a cheaper way to play with an interim mobo.

This, of course, is all my own personal 2 cents:)

[saaya]

hey, i made this thread as sticky to collect reports about problems and bugs people have with their 939 boards and possible fixes they have found for those bugs :)

[saaya]

i made this list in the first post of this thread. please report bugs and problems you had with your 939 board and i will add it to the list. or let me know if the lastest bios fixed a problem for you, or you found another solution for a problem one of the boards is supposed to have. thx :toast:

MSI Neo2 nforce3
cpu socket position problematic for some small cases
2 of the SATA ports 1 and 2 are not locked
issues with ram slots 3&4 not working very well
lock doesnt work set the agp speed to 67mhz to lock it
stable vcore up to 1.9v
vdimm overvolts to 2.9v on highest setting

has problems with 512mb sticks of bh5 latest bios fixes this problem
has problems with 512mb sticks of ocz eb latest bios fixes this problem
runs great with ballistix
runs great with tccd memory



Gigabyte K8NSXP-939 nforce3
max vdimm is 2.7v
max vcore is 1.7v
max vcore after a mod is 1.95v
bad vcore, unstable and fluctuates up to 1.95v under load
coldboot problems with high HTT
always detects ide drives at bootup, cant disable this setting

runs great with bh5
runs great with ch5
runs great with samsung tccc


Asus A8V via k8t800pro
needs a vtt mod for high vdimm
OVP on VDimm above 3.15v, needs an extra mod
needs a vtt mod for high vdimm

stable and high vcore up to 1.85v
good pcb layout
runs great with bh5
runs great with ocz eb

Abit AV8 nforce3


Epox S939 nforce3

[CodeRed]

Well I like the socket orientation on the Neo2. Its perfect for prommy users with vertically mounted motherboards as it allows the evap to completely fill up and operate properly. Normal A64 boards have the prommmy evap mounted sideways which results in the evap only partially filling with refrigerant. This hurts temps as the prom works best with a fully flooded evap.

This pic trys to explain it:
http://home.exetel.com.au/codered/evap_orientation.jpg

Some other bits and pieces I noticed after using both the MSI and giga boards:

Giga board blows up if you use to much Vcore. This seems to be resulting from a cold boot at high Vcore (>1.8V measured at idle). I managed to set mine on fire, thats DPS gold is only good for fanning the flames. Maybe the solution is to never cold boot at high Vcore?

MSI board gets slightly lower mem clocks than the giga. About 6MHz lower from my KHX sticks @ 3.6V. But makes up for this with very strong Vcore regulation ... much higher CPU clocks at high Vcore.

If you cant get the MSI board to start with BH5 on your first boot, then stick in some cheap PC2700 mem (it should boot), set the Vdimm to max, then try again with your BH5. I found that either of my KHX sticks would not run @ 200 Mhz using 2.5V and stock BIOS timings. Raising the Vdimm made it work. Hopefully the newer BIOSes fix this, but this doesnt help on your very first boot vefore you get the chance to flash :)

The caps on the MSI board are easy to bend or break .. be careful.

CPU backplate is hard to get off on the MSI ... just heat it with a hair dryer, it will come off easily then.

for best performance the giga board needs Vcore and Vdimm/3.3V bypass mod (or the OCZ booster). MSI only needs Vdimm/3.3V bypass mod (or the OCZ booster). Yet to try a chipset mod or HTT mod on the MSI ... it may help with LDT 4x @ > 260 HTT bus speeds.

Both boards track Vref to 1/2 x Vdimm.

MSI CPU temp readings are from another planet. Min temp readout seems to be +40 deg C even if you are on phase change ... just ignore it. Giga temp reading is much better.

giga board has a better BIOS IMO ... more options for mem tweaking, but this isnt really necessary as they can be set from windows anyway.

Overall the MSi board worked better for me, but your individual mileage may vary. If you aint using high Vcore (air or water) then the giga would be best, but for phase change users the MSI is better IMO.

[PowerK]

FWIW, I'm having a hard time running Mushkin BH-6 at 2-2-2-5 @ 200MHz on A8V Rev2. It just won't be stable with tRCD at 2, forcing me to run at 2-3-2-5. I've tried vdimm upto 2.8V. (no vdimm modification).

[Rauf]

some info on the:

Abit AV8
AGP-lock working
stable Vcore up to 1.85v
vdimm overvolts to 2.85v on highest setting, OCZ Booster working
use slot 1&2 for BH-5, 3&4 for TCCD.
BH-5 doesn't work well at all, no matter what voltage
runs great with tccd memory
CPU-temp readings way off

[saaya]

ok, i added a lot to the lists :) thx a lot everybody! :toast:

rauf, charlie had good results with bh5 on his av8, are you sure the latest bios doesnt work with bh5? did you use 512mb bh5 sticks? what revision was your board?

[Rauf]

i used 2x256 A-Data BH-5, latest bios (15) have tried many diffenrent, and it's a rev 1.1 board.
Do you have a link to charlies results? I've tried everything there is and it's no good. Have seen many others with problem with BH-5 and this board.

[HKPolice]

There are still users who complain of weak OCing with EB chips on the MSI Neo2, even while using the DDR booster, so I think it's still a gray area for now..

[VoRtAn_MaDgE]

Hi...

I'm reading the development of this thread very carefully cuzz i'm going to change system next week...my cpu and board (sig) are already sold!
The cpu will be probably a Winchester 3500+ 0,90 ... the mobo i'm still choosing between Giga or Msi Neo2 Platinum...i'm a little bit bit more turned to keep the msi mobo.
The ram will not be the correct for this type of platform (got to buy 1gb of tccd maybe ;) after selling this ocz 4000 kit), but i still own 2x256mb of bh5 from mushkin that with this rig but watercooled maxed out at 262 at 2-2-2-5 with 3,4v...
http://img23.exs.cx/img23/2678/overclock.jpg
Now is there any vmod's for this mobo???Vcore, vdimm??? Guess vdimm mod is something tike the vdimm=vio am i correct???
In my case i have an enermax 465 fully modded (12,5,3,3v rails) guess i will not need the booster!
What really makes me like on this mobo is that for what i've heard here and in msi forums is that the vcore is very stable thing that doesn't happens with the gigabyte!
Bios is another question...seems that the original bios sucks, seems the 1,36 beta bios works very well, any owners of this baby could tell yours opinion of it????Opp,Jason,etc....????

Thks in advance guys!

[saaya]

i used 2x256 A-Data BH-5, latest bios (15) have tried many diffenrent, and it's a rev 1.1 board.
Do you have a link to charlies results? I've tried everything there is and it's no good. Have seen many others with problem with BH-5 and this board.uhmmm not really, just pm charlie or search for his dry ice thread :)
he almost made a world record with his fx53 and some bh5. he was running the fsb in 5:4 with the memory at 240 2-2-2. he said the board is hard to master, but its gereat once you figured how to tweak it.



There are still users who complain of weak OCing with EB chips on the MSI Neo2, even while using the DDR booster, so I think it's still a gray area for now.. i changed the list and removed the note saying eb works with the latest bios. its now saying that it doesnt like the eb memory :)

VoRtAn_MaDgE, jason is banned on this board ;) and opp seems to like the neo2 iirc

[CrunchTime]

some info on the:

Abit AV8
AGP-lock working
stable Vcore up to 1.85v
vdimm overvolts to 2.85v on highest setting, OCZ Booster working
use slot 1&2 for BH-5, 3&4 for TCCD.
BH-5 doesn't work well at all, no matter what voltage
runs great with tccd memory
CPU-temp readings way off


My v1.1 SUCKS with Gskill memory no matter WHAT slot/What voltage. So take this with a grain of salt.

[Arnar]

TIP: If having problems with BH5 ram, try the following:
1) Do 3.3v = Vdimm mod
2) Set HTT multiplier to 4x and HTT to 230Mhz - Lower HTT does not boot for some users.
3) Boot and overclock via clockgen, and tweak via A64tweaker.

Just wanted to say:
I did all that, didnt work.. I probly got a bad mobo or some,

But I'll be getting the MSI K8N soon ;)
for my FX-55 :)

[Rauf]

My v1.1 SUCKS with Gskill memory no matter WHAT slot/What voltage. So take this with a grain of salt.

I think you need to test more. Just remembered: when using slot 3&4 it wouldn't boot at 200MHz 2.5-3-3-7 or 2-2-2-5. But when turning it up to 250MHz or more it works fine with 2.5-3-3-7. Mine got up to ~275MHz, that's the maximum HTT my board can handle.

saaya: 240MHz 2-2-2-5 with BH-5 is not what I consider good. Nforce 3 can get much higher than that. The Abit also seems picky about what manufacturer of BH-5 also, Kingston seems to work best while A-Data is no good at all. I'm guessing charlie used Kingston

[Cranox]

Epox 9NDA3+ nforce3
problems with 512mb bh5 sticks

Is this problem still there ?
Isnt it fixed with the new bios ?

Can someone tell me pls :)

[Jethro]

Im really leaning towards the Abit board. Do you like it overall RAuf? I love Abit tweakability and quality. Ill be getting 2x 512 of mushkin Lvl2 v2 pc3200 as well.

Is that a winny CPU? and if so Did you have to flash bios for yours to boot with it? May make a auto flash disk if need be. Not100% sure what cpu to get yet!

[Rauf]

Im really leaning towards the Abit board. Do you like it overall RAuf? I love Abit tweakability and quality. Ill be getting 2x 512 of mushkin Lvl2 v2 pc3200 as well.

Is that a winny CPU? and if so Did you have to flash bios for yours to boot with it? May make a auto flash disk if need be. Not100% sure what cpu to get yet!

It's definately a decent board if you have TCCD-memory but no more. Most can't handle HTT above 275-285. I've actually got a MSI NEO2 on its way, it's a much better choice. The cpu is e Newc. but I also have a 3200+ on its way with the mobo

[Jethro]

30k in 2k1 makes it worthwhile going from 20k or so! So far its looking very much worth the money.

I believe the ram i intend on is v2 TCCD thanks to the xtreme guides. Im not looking to make the leaderboard just making sure its worth an upgrade :) It would be cool to just push the ram to a decent high, max out the cpu with me cooling and of course let the GT flex abit. :D

Thanks for the info.

[Sin22]

http://orb-z.com/image/3200nAV8.gif

3200+ 0433SPMW, this is at 1.6v and the chip has more in it.

http://orb-z.com/image/2600.gif

Only bad thing abt the AV8 physically is that I have no idea how the designed OUT the lower right hand screw.

http://orb-z.com/image/Screw.gif

Other than that, vCore is a bit unstable, set at 1.6v in BIOS, drops to 1.53v and climbs to 1.6v, reminds me of ASUS P4P/C800 series. Tweaking within windows due to uGuru, erm..voltages up to 2.8v which is kinda low for vDimm, but there are voltages for NB & SB and even HTT! :shock:

Good board, better than the MSI K8N Neo2 which was just plain quirky I felt, but was very feature rich.

[burnhead]

Neo2 with Tccd, 300HT @ 2.5-3-3-7 is NICE :D

C
which rams did you üse for this?

[Jethro]

Good stuff sin22! Did you install the mosfet heatsinks?

[Sin22]

Good stuff sin22! Did you install the mosfet heatsinks?

Yup did that :)

Will clock more tonight once I'm back from work....

[Jethro]

what ram are you using dood?

[hollywood]

Ok...with the request of several people the following is a list of the MSI K8N Neo2 Plat-Ultra's bugs and their respective fixes:

1. When exceeding 220HTT, SATA connectors 1 and 2 DO NOT BOOT. You need to use 3 and 4 by the CPU.

2. When OCing, Ram slots 3 and 4 are unstable, for best results use 1 and 2.

Thats it! Besides that it's about the best S939 board you can get... ;)

[trans am]

Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 nforce3
Max htt seems to be 270 max regardless of multi and divider.
max vdimm is 2.80v
tracks vtt
max vcore is 1.7v
bad vcore, unstable and fluctuates up to 1.95v under load
coldboot problems with high HTT
crashes when upping the HTT speed too much at a time

9x multi slightly unstable
8x multi very unstable

runs great with bh5
runs great with ch5
runs great with samsung tccc
NO Memory Interleaving?
runs great with samsung tccd


TIP: easy vdimm mod with 3.3v rail = Vdimm Via single wire, VTT tracks automatically
TIP: easy vcore mod with pin10 to ground via 50K VR
BUT the max vcore after a mod is 1.95v and coldboot with 1.85v+ vcore might kill the board!

TIP: If having problems with BH5 ram, try the following:
1) Do 3.3v = Vdimm mod
2) Set HTT multiplier to 4x and HTT to 230Mhz - Lower HTT does not boot for some users.
3) Boot and overclock via clockgen, and tweak via A64tweaker.
TIP: for best performance the giga board needs Vcore and Vdimm/3.3V bypass mod (or the OCZ booster)

This board isn't recommended period.

[misteroadster]

Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 nforce3
Max htt seems to be 270 max regardless of multi and divider.
max vdimm is 2.80v
tracks vtt
max vcore is 1.7v
bad vcore, unstable and fluctuates up to 1.95v under load
coldboot problems with high HTT
crashes when upping the HTT speed too much at a time

9x multi slightly unstable
8x multi very unstable

runs great with bh5
runs great with ch5
runs great with samsung tccc
NO Memory Interleaving?
runs great with samsung tccd


TIP: easy vdimm mod with 3.3v rail = Vdimm Via single wire, VTT tracks automatically
TIP: easy vcore mod with pin10 to ground via 50K VR
BUT the max vcore after a mod is 1.95v and coldboot with 1.85v+ vcore might kill the board!

TIP: If having problems with BH5 ram, try the following:
1) Do 3.3v = Vdimm mod
2) Set HTT multiplier to 4x and HTT to 230Mhz - Lower HTT does not boot for some users.
3) Boot and overclock via clockgen, and tweak via A64tweaker.
TIP: for best performance the giga board needs Vcore and Vdimm/3.3V bypass mod (or the OCZ booster)

This board isn't recommended period.

humm , max htt is about 360 at 3XLDT, 2X seems don't work.
Vdimm at +0,2 in bios =2,85v
never had problems with 8X or 9x multi :confused:
The only lack with it is the low vcore (for security) for xtremcooling.
Probably the best ram overclocker.

[trans am]

humm , max htt is about 360 at 3XLDT, 2X seems don't work.
Vdimm at +0,2 in bios =2,85v
never had problems with 8X or 9x multi :confused:
The only lack with it is the low vcore (for security) for xtremcooling.
Probably the best ram overclocker.

Oh man, I forgot about this thread. I appologize. I had some bad results with this board. maybe it was just defective. It looks like it's a pretty good board. Lithan and misterroadster are doing well with it.

[PnoT]

MSI Neo2 plat issue...


There is a BIG problem using winchesters and phase change on these boards. Only a few people have got them working, booting, properly and i'm not one of them. It's all over the boards so there's definately and issue there. CMOS reset always provides a boot so there has to be some kind of bios problem there.

You might as well take a hammer to the temp probe on this board it's totally jacked. In bios with prommy it'll only report 40C as the lowest temp then out of nowhere the bios will jump to 156C and the same goes for windows. With MBM i can get either -25, -97 (i wish), 50, 97, 112C, so go figure.

[Vranichou]

I will be receiving the Neo 2 on Friday. I have the bios file W702SNMS.136. What utility do I use to flash it? Is it included with the mobo?

-=Vran=-

[Perc]

i was able to use winflash. i was worried at first but after not finding anything on the cd that came with the mb and not wanting to use msi's live update i just used winflash and like i said worked perfectly.. good luck man :toast: oh btw whats the key stroke to get into the hidden bios screens? ever since i switched to the 1.37 bios i no longer have firewire and cant even find the option to enable/disable the fire wire in teh bios...

thx perc,

[Jethro]

Question: Does the ABIT AV8 need a bios flash to work with .90nm ?

Part of my new system in on the way. Just ordered some Patriot TCCD ram but i have about another week before its time to order mobo and cpu.

AV8 3rd eye mobo for me along with a retail 3200+ win. Be nice if a MAX3 AV8 w/third eye would come out by next week lol.

Seems most forum doods and reviewers are getting the board up to 260 out of the box! Could be a 275FSB board in the right hands :) even 11x260 = 2.86 would be real nice and probably make good use of my cooling setup.!

Just did get a lot of neoprene type pipe insulation /me wonders if a chiller would get the winnie to 11x 270+. :slobber:

:toast:

[Sin22]

Question: Does the ABIT AV8 need a bios flash to work with .90nm ?



Well when I got it (here in Singapore) it came preflashed with Bios v14 and that supported my 3200+ Winnie no issues straight up. Supposedly Bios v16 gives better support for 3200+ winnies but what it does I have no idea.

So you ought to be good if you've got a relatively late BIOS version.

[Jethro]

cool i appreciate the info! Now ive found out that some 939 boards have problem with Antec PSU's?

Update: Seems the tru power 430 is safe to run with this board. Anand had great clocking success with the combo. Whew! :banana:

[Jethro]

AV8 update! It seems many many doods are having probs with this board and .90nm cpu's! The board has to be flashed to bios version 1.5 or newer to work.

Definately worth an inquirery if anyone is looking to buy the combo.

[aonic]

I cant seem to get my memory above 200 mhz
with my old axp i used to be able to 210 easily

i can do my CPU @ 250 HTT if i have 133 for raM... but if i go over 205 mhz with my ram @ 7-3-3-3 with 2.85v.. my pc locks up :x

[saaya]

updated the list :)

heres the latest info, please read it and let me know if you want me to add or change something, thx a lot for all your help! :toast:


MSI Neo2 nforce3
cpu socket position problematic for some small cases
SATA ports 1 and 2 are not locked
issues with ram slots 3&4 not working very well
lock doesnt work set the agp speed to 67mhz to lock it
cpu temperature reading not working correctly
vcore up to 1.9v
very stable vcore
vdimm overvolts to 2.9v on highest setting
tracks vtt


has problems with 512mb sticks of bh5 latest bios fixes this problem
doesnt like ocz eb
runs great with ballistix
runs great with tccd memory
2x Memory Interleaving?

TIP: easy vdimm mod with 3.3v rail = Vdimm Via single wire, VTT tracks automatically
TIP: if you have problems booting with BH5 try another stick of memory and set vdimm to the max, then swap in the BH5
TIP: the CPU backplate is hard to get off on the MSI ... just heat it with a hair dryer, it will come off easily then
TIP: for best performance the MSI only needs Vdimm/3.3V bypass mod (or the OCZ booster).
Yet to try a chipset mod or HTT mod on the MSI ... it may help with LDT 4x @ > 260 HTT bus speeds
TIP: core center can make the system unstable if left running
TIP: if you have problems booting at low temps with a winchester try the latest beta bios
TIP: disable fast writes
TIP: disable performance mode?
TIP: only bios 1.36beta or later allows for up to 1.9v vcore
TIP: color coded ram slots are different than other 939 boards. (uses opposite colors for dual)
TIP: use HTT multiplier 4x up to ~260 and 3x up to ~290





Gigabyte K8NSXP-939 nforce3
max vdimm is 2.85v
tracks vtt
max vcore is 1.7v
bad vcore, unstable and fluctuates up to 1.95v under load
coldboot problems with high HTT
crashes when upping the HTT speed too much at a time
always detects ide drives at bootup, cant disable this setting latest bios fixes this problem
9x multi slitghly unstable
8x multi very unstable

runs great with bh5
runs great with ch5
runs great with samsung tccc
NO Memory Interleaving?

TIP: easy vdimm mod with 3.3v rail = Vdimm Via single wire, VTT tracks automatically
TIP: easy vcore mod with pin10 to ground via 50K VR
BUT the max vcore after a mod is 1.95v and coldboot with 1.85v+ vcore might kill the board!
TIP: If having problems with BH5 ram, try the following:
1) Do 3.3v = Vdimm mod
2) Set HTT multiplier to 4x and HTT to 230Mhz - Lower HTT does not boot for some users.
3) Boot and overclock via clockgen, and tweak via A64tweaker.
TIP: for best performance the giga board needs Vcore and Vdimm/3.3V bypass mod (or the OCZ booster)
TIP: disable fast writes
TIP: use HTT multiplier 4x up to ~260 and 3x up to ~290





Asus A8V via k8t800pro rev2.xx
needs a vtt mod for high vdimm
OVP on VDimm above 3.15v, needs an extra mod
problem running trcd at 2 at high speeds, cant run 2-2-2 at high speeds
cpu temperature reading not working correctly
locks are working

stable and high vcore up to 1.85v
good pcb layout
runs great with bh5?
runs great with ocz eb
2x Memory Interleaving?
tracks vtt

TIP: use slot 1&2 for BH-5, 3&4 for TCCD
TIP: disable fast writes




Asus A8V via k8t800pro rev1.xx
locks not working on most boards!
generally starts topping out in the 250's htt (bios 1005.021 beta for rev 1.02)
doesnt seem to like bh5 very well




Abit AV8 nforce3
AGP-lock working
Vcore up to 1.85v
mixed results with vcore stability
vdimm up to 2.8v
vdimm overvolts to 2.85v on highest setting
tracks vtt, booster works
CPU-temp readings way off

mixed results with bh-5 and tccd
TIP:use slot 1&2 for BH-5, 3&4 for TCCD
TIP:if you have problems with winchester cores on this board flash to bios 1.5 or newer, 1.6 is recommended by abit
TIP: disable fast writes
TIP: use HTT multiplier 4x up to ~260 and 3x up to ~290





Epox 9NDA3+ nforce3
problems with 512mb bh5 sticks
runs great with ocz eb
runs great with 256mb bh5 sticks

TIP: disable fast writes
TIP: use HTT multiplier 4x up to ~260 and 3x up to ~290

[Millyons]

Is the Gigabyte K8NSUltra 939 same as the K8NSNXP 939 and does it suffer from same vcore fluctuation? And does it have same coold boot problems with high HTT

and is it Booster compatible

thanks

[split]

Hey saaya, please can you add use the + and - keys to change the HTT with the later BIOS with the Neo 2.
I also found PgUP and PgDn works.

Now I know a lot on here know this already, but I (like a fool) forgot the other day and hit the enter key.
Just a habit to hit enter I suppose.
It hung etc etc.
I managed to get it to boot again, but found I had lost me Nvidia LAN :(

I managed to get it all back after a bit of hassle, but boy was it a pain :(

I need a sticky "DO NOT HIT ENTER" on my keyboard :D


Thinking..the ABIT AV8 (http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?categories=1&model=201) is not Nforce3. (look in your list)
Tis a VIA board.

[saaya]

weird ...must have been a typo :D

millyons, i guess both are the same boards, the only difference might be in what features they have, but i think they are identical.

[Jethro]

The antec PSU's really do give some people issues with sckt 939 boards.

Ive read the latest bios fixes the temp issues on ABit AV8 as well.

BTW Heres a good review of Abit AV8 vs MSI Neo2 Plat:

http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=article&dId=711

[uniacid]

not sure what was going on but I was having video freeze up when trying to run 3dmark (just froze for a few secs everytime it would start a test)

heres what I did to fix it: turned off fast writes and performance mode and also turn off NV/ATI Speed Up in the hidden bios settings

I'm running an FX53 (stock spd)/ MSI K8N Neo2 Plat/ OCZ PC4400 EL Gold 2x512/ PNY 6800 Ultra (stock spd)

[saaya]

cool, added to the list in the first post of this thread :toast:

[YoupY]

Have two little things to add to the list:

For the Asus A8V
the latest bios seems to fix the subzero problems. Beta bios 1009.002 that is...

For the MSI
Had some problems with BH5 and the default bios. Got a lot of random BSOD's with my BH5, mostly during heavy disk usage. When I swapped to GSkill the random bsod's were gone.
In the list only problems with 512 mb sticks were noted, but I used 2 x 256. I presume an updated bios will fix this as it with the 512Mb sticks does.

[burnhead]

saaya: 240MHz 2-2-2-5 with BH-5 is not what I consider good. Nforce 3 can get much higher than that. The Abit also seems picky about what manufacturer of BH-5 also, Kingston seems to work best while A-Data is no good at all. I'm guessing charlie used Kingston
doesn´t the AV8 like adata ram? is it going better with gskill? or corsair BH5?

[burnhead]

Which board´s better with a-data ddr 500 or gskill4400? ABIT AV8 or ASUS A8V?????? PLZ HELP ME!!!!!!

[Rauf]

doesn´t the AV8 like adata ram? is it going better with gskill? or corsair BH5?

it doesn't like Adata BH-5, TCCD should work fine no matter what manufacturer

[rick_fx]

gskill pc4400 :D

[Millyons]

weird ...must have been a typo :D

millyons, i guess both are the same boards, the only difference might be in what features they have, but i think they are identical.



thanks, i guess im waiting for a Neo2 also then

[Th3__W00T_GuY__]

can any1 tell me which board to get with CH-5 Chips (ocz pc3200 el platinum dual-channel kit) i think i'll taKE THE k8n neo ² platinum cause the bosster is compatible!

[burnhead]

@rauf: why?!?!

[saaya]

thx youpy! :toast:


@rauf: why?!?!
why what?

[Chouny]

i was advice to buy MDT PC3200 memory double sided (512Mo) to use with the gigabyte K8NSNXP-939.

It works very good with a low price. (70 euros in france)

2.5-3-2-2- between 230/250 Mhz (it depends of chance) 1T only with 2.75v (optimal). high voltage does not increase potential :)

they work in dual 2*512 without problem !
:)

[burnhead]

thx youpy! :toast:


why what? why THAT: it doesn't like Adata BH-5, TCCD should work fine no matter what manufacturer

[Joe Camel]

HERE (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?p=3234295#post3234295) is my "work-log" with the AV8...

to sum-it-up:

1) OCZ DDR Booster DOES work with my board...VTT DOES track (mine "seems" to need a reboot to "re-track" after a change)
ive gone as high as 3.4V stable (@ 3.6v things went wrong...mobo/mem, dont know which didnt like it... G-Skill "new TCCD")

2) with the XP-120 you will NOT be able to put anything in DIMM slot #1

3) booster works in #2... :rolleyes:

there are more but...:)

[saaya]

thx joe :toast:

[tictac]

subzero temp bug.... plz some1 fix that :slap:

[Jack]

subzero temp bug.... plz some1 fix that :slap:

on the MSI bios 1.41 seems to fix that :)
also newer MSI boards, (from october and november) dont appear to have that bug anymore (take a look at Onepagebook's thread)

Offtopic:
you should change your sig and put your bank account number there ;)

[saaya]

updated the list on the first page... daym... look at all those tips! :eek:

[Jack]

good work saaya ;) :D

[VoRtAn_MaDgE]

With bh-5 1.36 till now seems to be the nicest bios??? Anyone with the board and bh-5 mem's can confirm that?

[Lola]

Just bought asus a8v rev 2. How and what driver do i need to install for win xp to see my sata drives? no raid just 2 sata western digital drives.

[burnhead]

none...just format your S-ata drives over the peripherial manager.... :banana::banana::banana::banana:, i don´t know the right word in english.... you know, the place where you can find detailled infos about every hardware component in your pc...

[Lola]

do not know what that is, burnhead. Is this in the BIOS? Remember that there is no windows installed in the system. This is a new system.

[burnhead]

ah... but you said: How and what driver do i need to install for win xp to see my sata drives? no raid just 2 sata western digital drives.

ok...so then get into the bios and set the sata plate you want to boot from as secondary boot device, first is your DVD or CD - Drive... then install windows and all the drivers that have been delivered with your hardware (graphx card, mainboard, HDD drivers and all other stuff you need) then klick "start" and there is a entry with a little notice book and a pencil... i am from austria so i dont know the word for it.... in german it is "systemsteuerung"... there is an entry with a circle diagramme, click it, then there is an entry with a personalcomputer and a monitor, in which is displayed a big hook, click it...a window opens, there is a button on top, which says "hardware" click it....and in the second row there are 2 buttons, click the right... in the following window, there are all hardware components listed, which your PC includes... also your HDDs... now it´s easy to format them...

don´t know if it´s the right way, maybe you can also format them in your bios...

i´ve taken the 1st way, because i installed windows on a IDE drive...

btw. what country are you from?

[Lola]

Québec, Canada
Already tried to install win xp, but it stops and tell me that it does not see any hard disk, but in the bios, it does. I figured that may be i need to format my drives before truing to install win xp.

[Lola]

Just spoke with my supplier, he tells me i absolutely need to install a driver with F6 during the installation of win xp because it is a sata drive that win xp does not recognize yet.
In the asus a8v supplied cd, there are drivers for raid. Probably i need to install the VIA raid driver even though i will not install raid. I will try that tonight.

[agenda2005]

btw. what country are you from?[/QUOTE]

LOLA Sound familiar far away from Canada! Sounds like a familiar name in my country.

Lola,
Your last description will do the trick, just make sure that you are using a generic keyboard so that your sytem can recognize the F6 command. Usually a floppy comes with a motherboard that contains the SATA drive that you must install for your Hard drives to be visible to XP. Afterward you may disregard the raid installation and move on. Good luck

[Lola]

The trouble is there was no floppy with the asus a8v just a cd. In the cd there are three floppy generation places.
1st: Promise 378ata
2nd: Promise 378RAID
3rd: VIA RAID 6420
Since i do not want to install a raid system, the first one PROMISE 378ATA is probably the correct one. (I hope)

[CanisLupis]

Please, on the MSI Neo2 Plat, add something like this:

"Tip: If you are having trouble getting windows to boot from SATA ("Error Loading Operating System"), be sure to set SATA1/2/3/4 RAID to "ENABLED", even if you are not running RAID."

I have seen a lot of people having trouble with this, especially if they are trying to use a SATA drive for their Primary boot drive (like WD Raptor)
Thanks for the post. :p: Very helpfull to see it all in one place.
:YIPPIE:
CanisLupis

[trans am]

updated the list on the first page... daym... look at all those tips! :eek:

I recommended this guide as a sticky and submitted to eocf. I hope you are cool with it. It's been helping a lot of their members.
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=141010

[fragsta]

In the 1.3b6 bios i got an option called Adjust CPU FID voltage, and one step lower you can adjust de voltage of the cpu bij max 18%

What does the adjust cpu fid do? I noticed that it goes way down 1.0 volt?

[eagle101]

Well I have to put my 2 cents in here about the MSI Neo2 and it runs great on BH-5 and 3700EB and has so far been the best 939 board I've ran so far.
can you guide me on the best grease for pins /socket/m1 ystem
thanks
:D

[aCidbAbY]

awesome info :toast:

[~Root://]

Ok I was asking for some help on building my own PC. I just read like the 1st few posts from this thread and it totally kills what I was going to buy. Everyone kept telling me to get the MSI K8Neo Plat. But It seems like there are a lot of things wrong with it for just everyday usage.

[saaya]

thx a lot CanisLupis, added it :)
welcome to XtremeSystems! :toast:

same to you aCidbAbY, welcome :toast:

about grease for the socket i would just use any dielectric grease you can find in a car or electronics shop :)

root, i think the msi is amongst the most stable 939 boards for everyday usage. the problem with this guide is that there is a huge amount of people who have an msi neo2 board wich means we have more infos about the good things, but mostly about the small bugs of that board...

the only real problem with the neo2 is the cpu socket orientation, and that only 2 sata slots can be used for ocing and that it doesnt like ocz eb memory. most other issues seem to be resolved with the latest bios.

[saaya]

updating and improving the guide :)

[saaya]

and more...

[~Root://]

Ok well then what would be the best ram I could get for that board. And if I were to purchase let's say a another prebuilt with that Mobo in it would it be stable. I am thinking about this Compaq gaming PC. The GX5000Z. I know, I know it's a Compaq OR SO THEY seem to have a bad reputation. Oh well, Im not all computer literate. Sometimes I even wonder how I found my way into this forum. At any rate I would probably want to change a few things about this computer once I bought it. Or maybe I should buy the parts myself and build it.


http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_series.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@0803875601.110 0962309@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdfaddddmijdkecfngcfkmdflldfjl.0&storeName=computer_store&series_name=GX5000Z_series&category=desktops/compaq_gaming&catLevel=2

[bias_hjorth]

OT.

saaya you´ve received a PM :)

[saaya]

Ok well then what would be the best ram I could get for that board. And if I were to purchase let's say a another prebuilt with that Mobo in it would it be stable. I am thinking about this Compaq gaming PC. The GX5000Z. I know, I know it's a Compaq OR SO THEY seem to have a bad reputation. Oh well, Im not all computer literate. Sometimes I even wonder how I found my way into this forum. At any rate I would probably want to change a few things about this computer once I bought it. Or maybe I should buy the parts myself and build it.


http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_series.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@0803875601.110 0962309@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdfaddddmijdkecfngcfkmdflldfjl.0&storeName=computer_store&series_name=GX5000Z_series&category=desktops/compaq_gaming&catLevel=2

always buy a pc yourself... 90% of prebuilt pcs have at least one weak point, most have several...
if your not sure what parts to get just look at other peoples rigs and send them a pm if they would recommend you a certain board or card they have.

[geosin]

Just wanna add something.. I was playing around with my ram trying to find its max FSB and timings.

From what I gather, its best you keep your CPU cool due to the fact that the mem controller is on die. More so for the 3000+ who tend to require a little more voltage to reach higher clock speeds. More voltage = More heat

Max FSB for ram 269 at 3/4/4/8
Max Clock for CPU is 2575 at 1.55v Stock HSF

Ram is unable to go above 255 fsb at 2575MHz no matter the timing or voltage. It seems as if when the CPU maxed out ... so does the Ram controller

Just my 2c worth

[saaya]

did you try a different multiplier?

if you lower vdimm, do you still get the same fsb stable or do you have to back down the fsb?

what temps do you mean? i know for example that most bartons crashed when reaching more than 40°C load temps when they were pushed to their limit. if i kept it below 40°C it was stable...

[burnhead]

thx a lot CanisLupis, added it :)
about grease for the socket i would just use any dielectric grease you can find in a car or electronics shop :)

root, i think the msi is amongst the most stable 939 boards for everyday usage. the problem with this guide is that there is a huge amount of people who have an msi neo2 board wich means we have more infos about the good things, but mostly about the small bugs of that board...

the only real problem with the neo2 is the cpu socket orientation, and that only 2 sata slots can be used for ocing and that it doesnt like ocz eb memory. most other issues seem to be resolved with the latest bios. ??? for what the :banana::banana::banana::banana: do you need grease for the socket?!?!?!?!

MSI NEO2 "bugs": all its PCI - Slots have to share IRQ´s... I hate IRQ sharing....

[saaya]

to prevent condensation with sub 0 cooling

[Joe Camel]

Abit AV8:

BIOS 17 adds .5 cpu multys

cant get my BH-5 to work for :banana::banana::banana::banana: in any dimm slot/any voltage (225 as high as it will go :rolleyes: )

got G-skill (TCCD) up to 285 (3,4,4,10) dual channel (primed 15 min then error :mad: )

[saaya]

the .5 multis dont really work and i dont think they are usefull at all so im ignoriing them so far... let me know if you think i should add infos about them!

285 in 1:1? thats very good for the via k8t800 afaik :)
did you do the chipset mods already? increased the psu rails?

[Joe Camel]

ya, 1:1

chipset mods...?

no psu mods...ultra X connect. MBM reads: 12.01, 5.19, 3.42 so they are a little over "standard" :shrug:

[saaya]

did you increase the chipset voltage i mean. vdd vio?

[andyOCZ]

Hey Guys, The F5 BIOS for the GB K8NS Ultra 939 fixes the cold boot issue and seems to have helped th board quite a bit with a Winchester. Someone linked to it in a post. Apparently GB TW sent it to him to try :). Worked great for me.

Get it here toward the bottomof the page: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=44828&page=6&pp=25&highlight=k8ns+ultra

Sayaa, maybe you can add this to the correct section in the first post. Thanks!

[Zebo]

I like the way you turned a bash fest into a very informative thread. Good work.:)

[Joe Camel]

did you increase the chipset voltage i mean. vdd vio?
oya..."maxed out" all but southbridge V (no HS on it yet...) and CPU

AV8s have volt settings for:
cpu, NB, ram, SB, hypertransport (edit: ) AGP
(@ work, will edit if my memory errored)

[saaya]

thx a lot andy! :toast: added it to the first page :)
feel free to send all people with 939 problems to me/this thread :)
btw, will i get the cd for christmas? :D


I like the way you turned a bash fest into a very informative thread. Good work.:)

:D glad somebody noticed it :toast:


gl joe... but sounds like the chipset is maxed out to me :/ maybe bumped rails give you a few more mhz...

[Cranox]

Saaya , I got an question about the Epox 9nda3+

Will a vmod for the vdimm also killing the board ?
Or is it just the OCZ Booster thats blowing the mofset ?

Thx

[saaya]

i think its just the booster... but im not sure, check if theres a vdimm mod for the board somewhere, i dont think a vdimm mod would kill the board though... epox wouldnt be that stupid to make a vdimm mod impossible :D
they made that mistake once with the 8rda+ and it hit them bad, so i doubt they make the same mistake twice :)

[Mongoose420]

Epox 9nda3+

Ive had no problems with undervolting vdimm up to 3.3vdimm(not tried higher as my EB doesnt need it)

This board DOES have problems with TCCD and Bh-5 as of release bios(havnt been overclocking ect. much so i havnt been keeping up with bios revisions)

256 meg sticks of BH-5 work flawlessly on this board but 512meg sticks it hates with a passion to where it will not run 1T at any voltage up to 3.3v at ddr400 2-2-2-5. It LOVES micron chips tho. my 3700EB 2x512 will run 272+ flawlessly with 3.28vdimm 3-2-2-8 1T.

It doesnt overclock my cpu as far as my asus did at the same voltage. the asus would send my 3500+ NC to a touch higher than 2.7ghz. unfortunatly im only able about 2.65ghz on the epox.

There's a post in the vmod section for vdimm/vcore mods but i havnt yet found the vdimm read point so im working off the sensor that i believe is accurate if not a tad low.
There's the vcore/vdimm mods anyway.
http://welloverclocked.com/Epox.jpg

http://welloverclocked.com/bh-55.jpg
There's the better of my 2 sets of bh-5(other set did 250 with the same 3.28vdimm)


here's the money shot with my EB

http://welloverclocked.com/273-32210.jpg

[saaya]

great :toast:

please let me know if the memory issue still exists with the latest bios :)

afaik the latest bios makes tccd running just fine and 512mb sticks work fine as well.

[jlccarv]

This is what I came across in the release notes of the latest BIOS --->


** Support DDR400 for double banks DIMM.

:eek: Say what!

Is it wrong to expect that in the release BIOS... lol

[jlccarv]

BTW vdimm will go to 2.8v with the latest BIOS, although it does jump around all over the place (poorly regulated) and under volts. For earlier BIOS', System Performance would have to be set to normal, for vdimm to be set to 2.8v...

[MouseSeries]

''The newer northbridges (0410/0411) seem to need less vdimm to reach the same overclock in 1:1!''

How I see which I am I number it mine northbridge?
I caught we memos with chip Ch-5 are good?

Thnks..

Mickey Mouse :D

[saaya]

you have to remove the nb heatsink

i dont understand your second question :D

you have some private messages btw :D

[SmokeyTheBandit]

Epox 9nda3+

Ive had no problems with undervolting vdimm up to 3.3vdimm(not tried higher as my EB doesnt need it)

This board DOES have problems with TCCD and Bh-5 as of release bios(havnt been overclocking ect. much so i havnt been keeping up with bios revisions)

256 meg sticks of BH-5 work flawlessly on this board but 512meg sticks it hates with a passion to where it will not run 1T at any voltage up to 3.3v at ddr400 2-2-2-5. It LOVES micron chips tho. my 3700EB 2x512 will run 272+ flawlessly with 3.28vdimm 3-2-2-8 1T.

It doesnt overclock my cpu as far as my asus did at the same voltage. the asus would send my 3500+ NC to a touch higher than 2.7ghz. unfortunatly im only able about 2.65ghz on the epox.

There's a post in the vmod section for vdimm/vcore mods but i havnt yet found the vdimm read point so im working off the sensor that i believe is accurate if not a tad low.
There's the vcore/vdimm mods anyway.
http://welloverclocked.com/Epox.jpg

http://welloverclocked.com/bh-55.jpg
There's the better of my 2 sets of bh-5(other set did 250 with the same 3.28vdimm)


here's the money shot with my EB

http://welloverclocked.com/273-32210.jpg

The Epox has issues with the ras to cas delay option.
I tested it with mine a week ago.

The max i could run with this board was :

http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/pjm.honselaar/Mobos/290_2.5_4_3_7.JPG

If i set the ras to cas delay option lower than 4 i cant even boot above 240 :confused: :stick:

Well my guess its a bios issue and knowing epox it will be fixed shortly :D :toast:

[Mongoose420]

very possably for your memory. but ive had 3 sets of memory all above 250 trcd2 1T.

[DGeNeRaT3]

I'm having a hell of a time getting anywhere clocking this 4000+. I keep getting "NTFS.SYS" BSOD errors. My bios is 1.37 and the only thing i can think of as a problem is i am leaving my AGP locked at 66, does the MSI k8n neo need the agp set to 67 to actualy lock even with the 1.37 bios? gawd i hope this is the problem cuase as soon as i go over 220FSB it bluescreens with the ntfs.sys error even though the CPU is at -56 and the evap is at -67.

[Badge56]

Whats your HTT set at?
Looks like its to high.

[Benny Lodewijk]

I saw Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI at Gigabyte websites....so they have release it ? But i think this motherboard will expensive :( like other ***NXP model's.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Motherboard/Products/Products_GA-K8NXP-SLI.htm#

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Motherboard/FileList/ProductImage/photo_k8nxp-sli_big.jpg

[jlccarv]

I'm having a hell of a time getting anywhere clocking this 4000+. I keep getting "NTFS.SYS" BSOD errors. My bios is 1.37 and the only thing i can think of as a problem is i am leaving my AGP locked at 66, does the MSI k8n neo need the agp set to 67 to actualy lock even with the 1.37 bios? gawd i hope this is the problem cuase as soon as i go over 220FSB it bluescreens with the ntfs.sys error even though the CPU is at -56 and the evap is at -67.

Sounds like your SATA drives aren't on locked SATA ports...

[caligula]

Hi guys,

I have a question: I have to decide to buy a board from these: Gigabyte K8NS-Ultra 939, Gigabyte K8NSNXP (but I think it is too expensive, does it worth that DPS thingy?), Abit AV8-3rd eye and Epox 9NDA3+. I will be using it with a 3200+ winnie.
Which one would be the best, regarding BIOS stability, high stable FSB, good voltages, Micron memory performance, AGP/PCI locking etc?
Thank you very much.

[geosin]

Epox ... better than the Abit AV8 and Gigacrap Nf3.
EPox does have some limitations and additions to its bios.
Mem voltages and Cpu voltages are capped at 2.8 and 1.7 if i am not mistaken.
But it have the advantage of setting the chipset voltage which the MSI can't.

Thats all I remember.

Here is a review:
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2253

[caligula]

There are some complains here that Epox has a narrower range of voltages (although as far as I see it is easily moddable) and some bios bugs. Assuming that I will scrap gigacrap off the list, will the AV8 remain a viable alternative for it? I've seen that it is very tweakable, Abit usually stands for "overclocking stuff" but I don't know which one of K8T800Pro or NF3 to choose from...
Thanks for the link.

[burnhead]

I saw Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI at Gigabyte websites....so they have release it ? But i think this motherboard will expensive :( like other ***NXP model's.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Motherboard/Products/Products_GA-K8NXP-SLI.htm#

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Motherboard/FileList/ProductImage/photo_k8nxp-sli_big.jpg you may look here http://www.geizhals.at/?fs=SLI&in=

[geosin]

AV8 would be a cheaper option with reasonable overclocking options. But there is a reason why so many people choose to stick with an Nvidia chipset, cause it can really scale dizzy heights given the right CPU ... i repeat .. the RIGHT CPU!!

[Joe Camel]

well, im "jumping-ship", by-by AV8, hello Neo-2...this:

:exclamati runs great with bh5 (needs bios 1.36b or newer)

was all i needed to see.

(with my luck, BIOS 18 for the AV8 will get BH-5 working...)

[caligula]

Short notes on Epox 9NDA3+:

- could not use Zalman CNPS7000A backplate due to some resistors (capacitors?) on the back of the motherboard
- could not use the SATA ports 1 and 2 when using an Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer NV5, the airduct covers them entirely

:(

[Mongoose420]

Hi guys,

I have a question: I have to decide to buy a board from these: Gigabyte K8NS-Ultra 939, Gigabyte K8NSNXP (but I think it is too expensive, does it worth that DPS thingy?), Abit AV8-3rd eye and Epox 9NDA3+. I will be using it with a 3200+ winnie.
Which one would be the best, regarding BIOS stability, high stable FSB, good voltages, Micron memory performance, AGP/PCI locking etc?
Thank you very much.

If you dont mind waiting till next week sometime i'll jump on the newer bios's for the 9nda3+ and test em out. have 2 2x256meg sets of bh-5 1 2x512 set of bh-5 1 2x512 set of 3700EB and 1 2x512meg set of ocz3200plat rev2 available to me so i can pretty much test for everything except ch-5 =)

Ive run the asus a8v dlx(1.02 that locked) and this 9nda3+. For the casual user i would say the asus is the better of the two boards(i refuse to use msi or gigacrap on princable). This epox has been extremely nice to me tho but the asus just seemed nicer for whatever reason. running 250x10 3-2-2-8 1T on my above average 3500+ NC and hassnt given me any real problems with the epox tho. Same issues with the alc850 sound and my headset(doesnt pic up my mic real well) is the only real complaint i have. For a winny tho your going to want to do the vcore mod. Not sure if its in the release notes or not but vcore doesnt go up to 1.7v, it goes to +.2v. Fine for NC's on air that really shouldnt need 1.7vcore anyway but your limited to 1.6vcore on the winny's unless its been changed.

Only reason i switched off my a8v 1.02 board is because ovp kicked in at 2.77vdimm :rolleyes:

[caligula]

Already done the move, but thank you.
Now I'm on Epox - looks fine, only 1.6V in my 3200+ winny (weenie) that runs 3dmark at 280x9 but no prime95.
Will change the CPU after E0 stepping will pop out. Looks more like a Palomino compared to a T-Bred B.

[Mongoose420]

yea, the winny's are not much better than my 3500NC except for the minimal clock for clock efficiency boost. 2.5ghz or there abouts at 1.6vcore unless its a very good chip.

I dunno if im gonna wait for the E0's or not. im eyeball'n those 4000+'s pretty hard, if they drop in price a little bit i think i'll own one.

Glad your happy with the board,

[RADCOM]

Just an extreme noobie......I take it no-one uses the Abit AV8 3rd Eye very much here? I also have an Msi Neo2 plat so the tips here were useful. Any help with the Abit would be much appreciated.

[jlccarv]

EPOX EP-9NDA3+ :

It seems that dimm slots 1 and 2 dont not like 2x512MB (dual channel)...

Dual channel would give me 1000's of errors in test 6 of memtest, using 2x512MB matched modules in slots 1 and 2. When moved to dimm slots 3 and 4 all worked perfectly. More wierdness; dimm slots 1 and 2 work perfectly with 2x256 modules (dual channel), weird eh.

I have confirmed this issue with 2 other friends, that have the same board.

Tested with 1T command rate enabled and with both the 10th Nov 04 and 25th Nov 04 (beta) BIOS revisions...

[jlccarv]

Epox Tech over at AOA forums, has now retracted this statement -->


I've been testing here today and can state that the native and transceiver ports all seem okay for me upto 290ish where I fade a little at 5x HTT!!!

This is his current take on the SATA lock of the 9NDA3+ -->


It is true that those ports aren't locked due to the fact they adress their timing refference from the HTT bus since they are on a PHY and not a PCI controller to enable NV Anydrive.

[caligula]

Is this kinda normal ? unmodded 9nda3+ 5x HTT, FSB 275, micron chips 1T 2.8V 1:1, 1.65 Vchipset...

[jlccarv]

Yeah, it seems that the Epox can handle higher HTTs (over 1000MHz). Its quite strange really. Run 3Dmark 01, 03 and 05 to test for HTT stability :)

p.s. is your memory in dimm slots 3 and 4?

[caligula]

Yes, memory is in slot 3 and 4.
Tested already with 3dmark for stability, no problem encountered...
saaya, please update the first topic with 5x HTT at high FSBs...

[buff]

yea, the winny's are not much better than my 3500NC except for the minimal clock for clock efficiency boost. 2.5ghz or there abouts at 1.6vcore unless its a very good chip.

I built a AV8 + 3500+ for a friend with 2x512 BH-5.....
It seemed stable at 11x227=2.5Ghz at only 1.45Vcore, that was with an XP-120.
He's using it at 11x219 at 1.425 Vcore day-to-day no problems.

[Hombre]

Well it seems that I can't get the MSI K8N NEO2 NB sink off.
This may sound very noobish for you, but it's true as I have always been with Asus. Can someone give any tips/guides/tricks? (Ohh man... i'm such a noob!)

:p: :)

Thanks.



Also, I'm not sure which revision (A1/A2) I got, but I will check this soon.
Which BIOS I should go with? Does the 1.36 has a final version yet?

[Crunchy]

To get the heatsink off you need to squeze the clip from the back side of the board. Squeze the clip and push the pin out, careful though, it's on a spring so don't lose it, I fired one across the room :D.

The latest official BIOS is 1.4, although a lot of people still prefer the 1.36 for overclocking.

[Hombre]

Great! Thank you very much!

[scorp]

Not sure if anyone else mentioned this : with BIOS 1009.xxxx BETA if you select 5x HTT (1000) you actually get only 4x once you pass 210 MHz or so :). Not sure what happens if you get really far (like 290 or so).

[scorp]

I was talking about the ASUS A8V .. sorry, I forgot to mention.

[Hombre]

What's up with that orange PCI slot?
Can I use it for my Audigy?

[LFATB]

What's up with that orange PCI slot?
Can I use it for my Audigy?
I believe the orange slot is shared with a nic or another onboard component

[dropadrop]

Hiya!

I guess there are people here who have tested alot of socket939 boards. I'm asked all the time at another board (music making) about recomendations for a socket 939 motherboard, and have a difficult time awnsering. It somehow seems that just about everything has little bugs in them.

They won't overclock, or if they do it will be very trivial (with stock voltages). What they need is maximum stability, and a well working pci-buss (for high end soundcards with 10 inputs and outputs).

Do you feel nf3 would be the right chipset, or are the advantages only for overclocking? They won't be running any benchmarks so if it's 5% slower then something else it won't really matter...

[Badge56]

Most 939 boards that I know off all work like they are supposed to at default settings... NF3 or VIA KT800PRO
Any one should do you fine. Abit, MSI, Asus