Official MSI P7N Diamond (780i) Discussion/Review/Overclock/Guide/BIOS Thread

Having dealt with a long history of dfi and to a lesser extent abit boards since early nf2 days has taught me valuable lessons of patience when confronted with mobos and bios growing pains. That being said, the engineers seem eager to know about and try and address issues users are having. I think any hardware problems that you feel certain are bios related should be reported at http://ocss.msi.com.tw/. Hopefully it will benefit everyone. If you'll pm me an email addy I'll send you that bios file to try. :)

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Originally Posted by loonym

Having dealt with a long history of dfi and to a lesser extent abit boards since early nf2 days has taught me valuable lessons of patience when confronted with mobos and bios growing pains. That being said, the engineers seem eager to know about and try and address issues users are having. I think any hardware problems that you feel certain are bios related should be reported at http://ocss.msi.com.tw/. Hopefully it will benefit everyone. If you'll pm me an email addy I'll send you that bios file to try. :)

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I might be better with the patience if this weren't my 4th board, and so many people hadn't sworn up and down that this thing was the best thing that ever happened to them with regard to quads... only to pay so much for it, have it show up and be buggy as hell and not stable past 3.2Ghz when I got 3.4Ghz stable out of the board before last.

So far I've been through -
EVGA 680i SLI SE - It loved my dual but (no surprise) hated the quad, sold it immediately, wasn't stable at 3Ghz, stable at stock.
XFX 680i LT - Best so far, 3.4Ghz stable but I wasn't satisfied. Had I known how much trouble it'd be I would've kept it.
Abit IN9-32X MAX - A massive disappointment. It would boot at 3.6Ghz but never got in to Vista about 3.2Ghz. A step down from the XFX board.
MSI P7N Diamond - Most frustrating of the bunch. I was lead to expect wonders and have made a very expensive step down instead. Plagued with stupid bugs as well.

I submitted an explanation of the USB problems to MSI, but here's a quick rundown:

It wouldn't recognize the Razer Tarantula in BIOS with the shipping keyboard firmware. I updated it to 2.02 with my laptop and it now recognizes it, but only if there is no USB storage device attached to any of the ports on the machine (I can attach a mouse at least) and nothing attached to the 2 ports on the keyboard's integrated hub. Attaching a mouse, USB stick, or anything else to the keyboard's hub leave it unrecognizable by the BIOS, so I cannot flash my firmware with this keyboard in any way I have yet figured out.

Luckily I also have an old Apple Pro Keyboard which was recognized by the BIOS first try, otherwise I'd still be staring at "press F1 to continue" until I got a chance to go and get a PS/2 keyboard from somewhere.

It however is also unusable when a USB stick is connected to any of the other ports on the machine. It is usable when the USB stick is connected to its integrated hub, though, so at least I can flash the BIOS that way.

I have tried both keyboards on all USB ports and in combination with the USB stick on all USB ports. Symptoms are consistent.

I have used both keyboards with 10+ other fairly recent Intel and AMD motherboards and never run in to this sort of issue or any other issue at all related to them before, even once. It is specific to this board.

Again, I haven't seen this kind of thing in years, and it's absolutely pathetic that this board even shipped out with such horrible USB support. No P35, and indeed, no 680i, has ever given me this much crap.


EDIT:
Bios 1.1 B6 sent to me by loonym seems to be magic! I'm prime95 (new quad core capable version) stable with small FFTs for 15 minutes+ now at 3.6Ghz (never managed before), first boot with the new BIOS. Temps are very high though due to high vcore and a potentially poor waterblock mount (I've noticed higher idle than usual at stock vcore, but again this may be the board feeding the chip more voltage than my past boards as it reads VID differently), so I still need to do some tweaking. Again, loonym, thank you so much! Seems the MSI engineers are in fact headed in the right direction. Now I just need to tweak it and see if the USB/BIOS issues are still present.

Got my system for a month and watching this thread for some time...
Your infos come to me very helpful, but still can't have system stable at oc...
Got in on 4.04 GHz runnin 3D Mark06 without crash with score 18016 /if i remember right, ran lots of tests /, but everest stress test failed in couple of minutes.. Tried some lower, but still combination of problems like a bsod and freezing at vista start up...
100% stable at stock... so probably no issue with hardware... I'm using stock bios 1.0... Not sure how safe is install beta... Any info about official update?
I starting got an issue with startup of computer when my usb devices are plugged in.. Freeze on MSI Diamond screen..probably hardware mapping.. need restart and then takig more than 30secs to start from that screen.. Nothing tragic, but I was trying to bild something fast:D
Actually I like this board... My temps are good, even in oc /not stable but CPU cores on 64 C/... I've installed temp sensors on passives so don't need to touch em..
NB at 42 C in games... PCIe expander 2-3 C more... SB at 30 C...
GPUs 60 C, main one ussualy 2-3 C more..
Think that coolig solution is better than asus solution my mate installed..
But phoenix bios looks better than ami... Hope that bios update is the key:shrug:


__________________________________________________ ________________
MSI P7N Diamond (780i)
E8400 Penryn on air (Zalman CNPS8700NT)
2x2G Geil Evo One CL4 800MHz
2x MSI 8800GT 1GB OC in SLi
2x 150GB WD Raptor
750GB Seagate Barracuda
Vista 32bit

As far as the betas being safe I can only comment on my personal experience and what I view in the forums I visit. I haven't read any horror stories yet of hosed bios from bad flashes and many people seem to be overcoming more obstacles with each new release. I've tried each and I believe flashing any of them is safe as long as the system isn't overclocked or in a known unstable condition.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by loonym

As far as the betas being safe I can only comment on my personal experience and what I view in the forums I visit. I haven't read any horror stories yet of hosed bios from bad flashes and many people seem to be overcoming more obstacles with each new release. I've tried each and I believe flashing any of them is safe as long as the system isn't overclocked or in a known unstable condition.

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Thanx loonym :up: ... so main danger is during flashing process? Got it right?
Set to stock and flash..

Have you got some link for the latest?

All the ones MSI has posted are at http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=115073.0 and you need to register to d/l. If you want the .116 I'll do as I did with silent-circuit, pm me an email addy I'll send you that bios file.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by loonym

All the ones MSI has posted are at http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=115073.0 and you need to register to d/l. If you want the .116 I'll do as I did with silent-circuit, pm me an email addy I'll send you that bios file.

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Ok.. thx

__________________________________________________ ________________
MSI P7N Diamond (780i)
E8400 Penryn on air (Zalman CNPS8700NT)
2x2G Geil Evo One DDR2 CL4 800MHz
2x MSI 8800GT 1GB OC in SLi
2x 150GB WD Raptor
750GB Seagate Barracuda
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Logitech G9 Mouse
Logitech MOMO Racing Wheel

Vista 32Bit

lol, yeah I'll hook you up, now edit your addy out before it's spambot food :ROTF:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by loonym

lol, yeah I'll hook you up, now edit your addy out before it's spambot food :ROTF:

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thank you got it downloaded... is the windows flasher for vista32?
I'll do it later.. not enough courage now:D
I'll post results than..

__________________________________________________ ________________
MSI P7N Diamond (780i)
E8400 Penryn on air (Zalman CNPS8700NT)
2x2G Geil Evo One DDR2 CL4 800MHz
2x MSI 8800GT 1GB OC in SLi
2x 150GB WD Raptor
750GB Seagate Barracuda

Vista 32Bit

Dogg,

I recommend flashing via floppy or USB key.

See here for instructions: http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=108079.0

I consider AFUWIN to be safe for flashing with any nonoverclocked windows from 98 through vista as long as you use common sense. Shut down all programs including items you may have running in the background and don't try and flash an unstable system.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by theYipster

Dogg,

I recommend flashing via floppy or USB key.

See here for instructions: http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=108079.0

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Thanks for that ... Got no floppy, but I'll do it with key...

I shall not to do it today so I spend some time to read more posts bout it...
really don't want to waste my hardware..:shocked:


__________________________________________________ ________________
MSI P7N Diamond (780i)
E8400 Penryn on air (Zalman CNPS8700NT)
2x2G Geil Evo One DDR2 CL4 800MHz
2x MSI 8800GT 1GB OC in SLi
2x 150GB WD Raptor
750GB Seagate Barracuda


Vista 32Bit

Updating your BIOS will not waste your hardware under almost all circumstances. Just don't cut power to the system while it's flashing the chip, and you'll be fine.

Anyone else want this 116? BKA, Stan, gamin?

yep yep !!! :D just send a pm with my email... maybe will help with my multiplier...

btw, I was wondering why I had such temp difference between my 2 GPUs (GPU1 40°, GPU53°, both idle)... my rig was built using both blue PCI-e 1 & 4 for my 2 NX8800GT. second GPU was close from southbridge, which I notice is very hot. I followed theYipster's advice and finally put my second GPU in PCI-e 5 (white one). result : both GPU at 40° idle, and 3D Mark06 from 13464 (1680x1050, 4AA, anisot) to 12847... didn't notice any difference in games (maybe 1 or 2 frames ?), but the Temp difference is enough for me (remember ? I'm still a little scared with BSOD, hot temp, etc... :rofl: )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by loonym

Anyone else want this 116? BKA, Stan, gamin?

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Thanks, I got it from the MSI forums earlier. I was just checking this thread for any new replies. I may try it this evening.

OT - Does anybody else get email notifications for new replies to threads here at XS? I don't.

Hey everyone, been a while. I've been holding off on my OC efforts until new BIOS releases. I've been running at 3.4Ghz for a while without issues using fairly low NB and VCORE values, all rest auto. So now there is a 116 beta and was wondering if there had been any feedback on the impact for E8400 users. I've also seen the P07 out there but haven't found the DL link yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BKA

Thanks, I got it from the MSI forums earlier. I was just checking this thread for any new replies. I may try it this evening.

OT - Does anybody else get email notifications for new replies to threads here at XS? I don't.

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BKA, are you subscribed to the thread? When I subscribed there was a checkbox to allow for email notifications. If that doesn't work for you then what I found useful is to bookmark XS from the USER CP page. Whenever a new post is added, the thread topic will be bolded, saves time looking to last page.

Replaced the TIM on the board with Arctic Silver Ceramique and now can't seem to get stable at 3.6Ghz again... or remember exactly how I had it set, as I had to reset CMOS to get the board to boot after taking everything apart.

This is my luck lately. I really dislike this board. I'm about ready to return it, sell both my GTXs, buy a GX2 or a 9800GTX and a P35, and stop playing this stupid game. Even after I get this thing stable, if I get this thing stable, I believe it will be my last Nvidia chipset board. Ever.

If anyone has this P07 BIOS, please PM me a link to it. The BIOS on this thing is clearly, ridiculously immature.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silent-circuit

Replaced the TIM on the board with Arctic Silver Ceramique and now can't seem to get stable at 3.6Ghz again... or remember exactly how I had it set, as I had to reset CMOS to get the board to boot after taking everything apart.

This is my luck lately. I really dislike this board. I'm about ready to return it, sell both my GTXs, buy a GX2 or a 9800GTX and a P35, and stop playing this stupid game. Even after I get this thing stable, if I get this thing stable, I believe it will be my last Nvidia chipset board. Ever.

If anyone has this P07 BIOS, please PM me a link to it. The BIOS on this thing is clearly, ridiculously immature.

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I'm sorry you are having difficulties with your board. You should be aware of a few things before you make a final decision on a new board. First, the P7ND is a new board with a new BIOS, and as i'm sure you are aware, it may take time for the BIOS to mature. I cannot get my E8400 anywhere close to where users with the P35 have gotten, but I will give it time. One must also be aware that not all CPU's are made the same, as some batches OC better than others. From your previous posts it doesn't look like you have been able to get your quad to 3.6 on any board stable, this may be due to the CPU, or even the ram being used.

The BIOS is confusing in it's implementation of integer voltage values, and there is not much info out there on how these impact performace but from what i've heard this information should be available shortly. I think if you find yourself a decent stable OC and just be patient, in the long run you will be happy. Your dual 8800GTX is far superior to any GX2 or 9800GTX single. I was in your same position weeks ago but I am going to see the board through.

Also as new BIOS's come out and more users post feedback on workable settings, we will final the happy medium for all CPU types. That said, if you absolutely need the 3.6Ghz now, then a P35 might be your only option (if your CPU batch can handle it). For what it's worth, I have measured the benchmarks of 3.0 vs 3.2 vs 3.6 and the gain in useable performance increase is minimal. I wonder if the headache is worth the reward.

It was perfectly stable at 3.6 before. It is not my chip. I realize not all chips are the same, but it was perfectly stable at 3.6 before, just running a little hot, and now I can't seem to get 3.2 out of it, hardly. The issue is with the board -- my RAM passes memtest for 24+ hours and I'm not pushing it at all (it's rated at DDR2-800 5-5-5-18 and I'm running it at that or lower with 2.1vdimm). Honestly, when is the last time you heard of a G0 chip that wouldn't do 3.6Ghz? Most will do 3.6+ on air on a P35. The USB issues and poor OCing / ease of use issues make it seem horribly rushed, and certainly not worth what I paid for it.

Silent,

I have personally benched four G0s over the last three months and only two would do 3.6ghz stable for any length of time. Only the one I have now hits 4.05ghz w/o crazy amounts of voltage. I achieved my goals not just by watercooling, but by digging around until I found a golden quad. Despite the impressions given here and at [H,] 3.6ghz is still a demanding OC and not all G0 quads will hit that. Many or perhaps most will, but not all. If you haven't yet, I strongly encourage you to skim the Official G0 thread here: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=152603 At 99 pages long, its one of the largest and best collection of G0 overclocking benches and results on the net. I would start somewhere midway, as the first few pages of posts are people saying "hey! I have a G0!."

Hi All,

Finally, i've found a (relatively) stable settings for my rig. Thanks again to theYipster & loonym for all the tips on this thread. I've written 'relatively' stable because all's ok (games, 3Dmark03,05 & 06, Prime95 for 3 hours) but no go with occt 2.0...:( ) Freeze after 2 minutes. But my computer is on 24 hours/day since last monday & no bsod, no freeze & no soft reboot. After a lot of tests & tries here are my settings:

Bios: 1.B14
FSB: 1600
DRAM: 800 (4-4-4-12-1T)
CPU Volt: 0.27500
DRAM Volt: 2.10
NB Volt: 1.500
SB Volt: 1.525
CPU GTL: 10
FSB Term: 63
All other settings AUTO

BTW, i've got better results with high value on FSB Term and low value on CPU GTL than high value on CPU GTL & low value on FSB Term. Don't know why...

3D Mark06: 18404 :D

CPU Temp: Up to 81 ° C on core 1/2 full load, & Up to 75° C on core 3/4 full load. I must buy a better cooling system for my rig...

I can't boot stable with your settings or Mark's. I had it once but I can't find it again. Don't know what's going on.

sorry for this, but I'm not gonna talk about overclocking. :rolleyes:

I finally solved my sound issues, as well as my temperature problems.

sound issues : as said before, moved GPU2 to PCI-e 5 instead of 4. temp down by 13° on idle. X-Fi in the free PCI-e 1x remaining below GPU1. replaced bios 1.14 with 1.16 (thanks loonym ;) ). removed all creative components + applied drivers cleaner tips from loonym. installed package from MSI website + patch, then installed CD from mobo (just X-Fi extreme audio, no mediasource stuff). no more sound problem, playing great in my headphones.

temp : GPU is already explained. CPU : replaced Noctua NH-T1 thermal paste with Arctic Ceramique : reported by both RealTemp 2.24 and Corecenter : E8500@31°...

just reinstalled XP properly and sound issue still gone... YES !!! :up:

time for some games and bench now : gonna spend the whole night in front of my new computer... finally, the weekend... :D