MSI 890FXA-GD65 reviews????? **UPDATE** board installed

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Originally Posted by Albertini

Hi!

I just read your problem and wanted to check whether my new 6850 is running properly @16.
Started GPU-Z and had to realize that it was running @x4 - :eek:

I knew it was in the right (top) slot in my CHIV so I reinserted it and voila - back to 16x.
So maybe just try resitting yours, too. :up:

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OK, I'll try anything once (well most everything LOL)

ok, I removed it again, reinstalled it, and still @ 8x

Another update: I went back into BIOS and "LOADED OPTIMIZED DEFAULTS" left everything @ stock, and BAM! 16x... As soon as i increase the HTT (FSB) even 1 notch, it drops down to 8x. So in the end I found the issue, now just need MSI to fix it VIA a BIOS UPDATE... I have emailed them aswell

OK..... Certain FSB settings will give you 8x PCIe speed. 201-217 = 8x speed..... 260+ will give you 8x speed, Im @ 258FSB now and am @ 16x... So I found the issue, come on MSI, fix this crap.... Love the board though!

If it's directly related to fsb, could there be any spread spectrum modulation left enabled? Just double check to disable any spread spectrum setting you find and even C1E.

its all disabled bro.... it is clearly a BIOS BUG and MSI now knows about it......

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Originally Posted by newls1

:up:

SO are you saying the GD65 actually has a better "Power" setup? also, if you look close near the CPU socket area / I think near the top of the PCIE 16x slot, it says "AM3+" ready........... HMMMMMM:up:

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Hi,

it is probably too late to ask, but if you for whatever reason change the processor / thermal grease etc. in the near future, then can you please make a nice photo of the CPU socket ?
The question is, if it its really AM3+ or just AM3. MSI's picture on their website cleary shows an AM3 socket, but they also note that:

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The product picture may differ from the actual product. Only for your reference.

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Alternatively maybe you can scan in the layout picture of the mainboard manual ? That is the one from the GD70:
http://www.abload.de/img/7640_12emho.png
The GD65's manual is not yet available :(

Thanks a lot

Opteron

I looked at this closely upon installation. The SKT itself says "AM3" not AM3+... Really strange as the board reads AM3+ weird

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Originally Posted by newls1

I looked at this closely upon installation. The SKT itself says "AM3" not AM3+... Really strange as the board reads AM3+ weird

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http://www.msi.com/pic/product/five_...20102849_m.jpg
Hmmm....and if you read what this guy says ...
http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?to...3820;topicseen

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So I asked to speak to a senior tech support agent and this is what I asked him " I recently purchased the MSI 890FXA-GD65 AM3 AMD and under the chip set it says AM3+ CPU Support so does this mean it will support the upcoming Bulldozer CPU?" Senior techs response " Sir we will release a new BIOS update when the new Bulldozer CPU is released for this motherboard" my response " So this mobo is Bulldozer ready?" Techs response "Yes , once you update the new BIOS it will support the new AMD Bulldozer" my response " So the AM3+ on this mobo means its Bulldozer ready?" techs response "Yes sir that's what the AM3+ means"

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:shocked:

lol

its not pin compatible, you will break a BD by sticking it into an AM3 board, unless that socket picture at newegg is wrong

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Originally Posted by Manicdan

lol

its not pin compatible, you will break a BD by sticking it into an AM3 board, unless that socket picture at newegg is wrong

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Yes, unless there are no AM3 Bulldzoer chips. Rember that the first 45nm Phenoms 940/920 had still AM2+ pinouts.

However, nobody talked about this hypothetical AM3 Bulldozers so far.
Weired :(

@newls1:
Hm, ok but you didn't check the pinholes, did you ?
There is just one more maybe not easy to see. But well, let's believe, that there are no falsely labeled AM3b sockets.

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Originally Posted by Opteron146

Yes, unless there are no AM3 Bulldzoer chips. Rember that the first 45nm Phenoms 940/920 had still AM2+ pinouts.

However, nobody talked about this hypothetical AM3 Bulldozers so far.
Weired :(

@newls1:
Hm, ok but you didn't check the pinholes, did you ?
There is just one more maybe not easy to see. But well, let's believe, that there are no falsely labeled AM3b sockets.

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im installing my new heatsink tomorrow, be happy to inspect the pin count for ya.. what exactly am I looking for? or just take a pic of it???

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Originally Posted by newls1

im installing my new heatsink tomorrow, be happy to inspect the pin count for ya.. what exactly am I looking for? or just take a pic of it???

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No need to, the board shown on newegg and MSI's socket is missing a pin. :(

http://i.imgur.com/iKPmP.png

http://i.imgur.com/r2G4z.jpg

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Originally Posted by BeepBeep2

No need to, the board shown on newegg and MSI's socket is missing a pin. :(

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Then what, they are reusing the new board with old parts ?
Why else would there be "AM3+..." on the motherboard itself, and if they are doing that, that means that a simple socket change may make this board fully AM3+ compliant ?

I know, count the traces on the back of the board! :yepp: ;) :rofl:

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Originally Posted by BeepBeep2

No need to, the board shown on newegg and MSI's socket is missing a pin. :(

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Yes, but there is a slight chance, that this board was just a pre production sample.

@newls1:
Make either a (good) photo of it, or look for that blue marked pinhole here, or both:
http://www.abload.de/img/gd65sm6o.png
The red circle shows the area, the blue spot is, where there should be a hole in the case of AM3+. AM3 has two "non-holes" there, AM3+ just one.

If there really are two, then it is definitely AM3 and not AM3+.

thanks a lot

Opteron

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Originally Posted by Opteron146

Yes, unless there are no AM3 Bulldzoer chips. Rember that the first 45nm Phenoms 940/920 had still AM2+ pinouts.

However, nobody talked about this hypothetical AM3 Bulldozers so far.
Weired :(

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we have, and we were told there was no way to make it work on AM3 due to the additional features of AM3+ that were required.

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Originally Posted by Opteron146

Yes, but there is a slight chance, that this board was just a pre production sample.

@newls1:
Make either a (good) photo of it, or look for that blue marked pinhole here, or both:
http://www.abload.de/img/gd65sm6o.png
The red circle shows the area, the blue spot is, where there should be a hole in the case of AM3+. AM3 has two "non-holes" there, AM3+ just one.

If there really are two, then it is definitely AM3 and not AM3+.

thanks a lot

Opteron

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will do! I'm tearing it down after I type this.:up:

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Originally Posted by Manicdan

we have, and we were told there was no way to make it work on AM3 due to the additional features of AM3+ that were required.

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I just remember the telephone conference, where AMD talked about AM3+.
They said that they needed some new electric stuff for the last +5% extra performance. Because Bulldozer is an enthusiast CPU, and enthusiast want any extra performance, they decided to have AM3+.
An AM3 Bulldozer design is no problem, it will just have ~5% less performance.

Maybe they changed their opinion since then, who knows. There is a new (temporary) CEO, maybe he is more in favor of upgradeablility ?

However, I currently think that it is MSI's error. They use the same basic PCB Design for the GD70/GD65 and the upcoming BingBangConqueror AM3+ board with 990FX chipset.

All boards are from the 7640 series, the GD70 is with the additional markings "ver 1.2" oldest, the GD65 with ver. 3 is newest, and the (real) AM3+ board is in between with ver 2.0.

Quite likely that somebody forgot to delete the AM3+ string from the previous design.
However, one has to wonder what the MSI people are blabbering then about AM3+ compatibility :confused:

In any case, we will have confirmation in a few hours, thanks @newls1 for checking :up:

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Originally Posted by Opteron146

I just remember the telephone conference, where AMD talked about AM3+.
They said that they needed some new electric stuff for the last +5% extra performance. Because Bulldozer is an enthusiast CPU, and enthusiast want any extra performance, they decided to have AM3+.
An AM3 Bulldozer design is no problem, it will just have ~5% less performance.

Maybe they changed their opinion since then, who knows. There is a new (temporary) CEO, maybe he is more in favor of upgradeablility ?

However, I currently think that it is MSI's error. They use the same basic PCB Design for the GD70/GD65 and the upcoming BingBangConqueror AM3+ board with 990FX chipset.

All boards are from the 7640 series, the GD70 is with the additional markings "ver 1.2" oldest, the GD65 with ver. 3 is newest, and the (real) AM3+ board is in between with ver 2.0.

Quite likely that somebody forgot to delete the AM3+ string from the previous design.
However, one has to wonder what the MSI people are blabbering then about AM3+ compatibility :confused:

In any case, we will have confirmation in a few hours, thanks @newls1 for checking :up:

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you sure will

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Opteron146

Because Bulldozer is an enthusiast CPU, and enthusiast want any extra performance, they decided to have AM3+.
An AM3 Bulldozer design is no problem, it will just have ~5% less performance.

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basically sums it up
llano can cover the lower-mid with 2 to 4 cores, and BD covers mid-upper with 4 cores, and 6-8 cores is all enthusiast. the number of people who would be upgrading to BD is very small. most would just be buying a new system anyway, so im happy we got that extra bit of performance. i however am not happy my board lasted 40 months instead of 48 months, lol

although i think it would have been cool to shrink thuban to 32nm for some 65W hexicore 4ghz lovin without needing a new board. but i bet that would not have been very profitable.

Would have been very interesting to se how thuban perform/oc on 32nm tho.

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Originally Posted by Kobaltrock

Then what, they are reusing the new board with old parts ?
Why else would there be "AM3+..." on the motherboard itself, and if they are doing that, that means that a simple socket change may make this board fully AM3+ compliant ?

I know, count the traces on the back of the board! :yepp: ;) :rofl:

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WTF?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Opteron146

I just remember the telephone conference, where AMD talked about AM3+.
They said that they needed some new electric stuff for the last +5% extra performance. Because Bulldozer is an enthusiast CPU, and enthusiast want any extra performance, they decided to have AM3+.
An AM3 Bulldozer design is no problem, it will just have ~5% less performance.

Maybe they changed their opinion since then, who knows. There is a new (temporary) CEO, maybe he is more in favor of upgradeablility ?

However, I currently think that it is MSI's error. They use the same basic PCB Design for the GD70/GD65 and the upcoming BingBangConqueror AM3+ board with 990FX chipset.

All boards are from the 7640 series, the GD70 is with the additional markings "ver 1.2" oldest, the GD65 with ver. 3 is newest, and the (real) AM3+ board is in between with ver 2.0.

Quite likely that somebody forgot to delete the AM3+ string from the previous design.
However, one has to wonder what the MSI people are blabbering then about AM3+ compatibility :confused:

In any case, we will have confirmation in a few hours, thanks @newls1 for checking :up:

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Honestly, I don't believe the photos on newegg are a pre production sample since newegg takes those photos of one of the boards they recieve for sale.

I'm still eager to see newls1's photos and if it is indeed an AM3+ socket, maybe I'll happen to purchase an MSI board within the next few months to play with.

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Originally Posted by newls1

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you sure will

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:)

I dont have a pic, but in the above pic and that guy saying there should be a "HOLE" where the blue circle is.......THERE Is NO HOLE... AM3 socket, not AM3+ :(

Just a reply to my thread here, cause there is no need to start another thread:up: I just installed my Scythe Mugan2 revB cooler and now am @ 4.03GHz @ 1.385v / CPU-NB 1.20v / 7-8-7-24 1t DDR3 1568 1.42vDimm / NB 1.22v / PCIe @ 103MHz

This board seems great so far.. Im very impressed for a 140$ board. I was very limited on my Prior OC as I was using the stock cooler, but this new air cooler is excellent:up: Will increase more later on...

CPU-Z validation page ( http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1647057 )

Also with the NB @ 2860MHz, the PC seems rather responsive:up: