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

Hey all... it's been quite a while. Just wanted to chime in and report that while I've been running my board w/o issue for the last six or so months, this morning I unfortunately woke up and found my system had blue-screened over night. It looks like it's an issue with my RAID setup... A few days I ago, I started to noticed RAID Critical Access Failure messages popping-up in my system tray, which I tend to disregard as this was a common occurrence on my 680i boards, but was never indicative of a real problem.

Not now... It seems that there really is something going on. I'm now trying to do a just-in-time backup of my latest files, and it's a crap-shoot as to whether or not a particular file transer will complete or if my system will freeze. Every time my system freezes, Vista insists on running a chkdsk /f scan, in which it fines hundreds of bad attribute records to fix or delete. I don't think any of the drives are bad -- but I've only run preliminary tests... Something is definitely screwy with the file system though, and whether its merely a corrupt install, a driver issue, or worse, something with the south bridge itself--I have yet to figure out.

It's been a long time since I've tweaked my system's configuration, and my BIOS is also several versions out of date. Hopefully upgrading drivers and the BIOS will correct the issue -- but if its indeed a hardware failure, I'll have to see what to do. I have a backup EVGA 780i board that's never been used, and while I would likely see about RMAing this board, I'm not too confident a replacement from MSI will perform as well (as we've seen, there is a bit of luck in getting a good P7N Diamond.) If it is a hardware issue, in a way I'd rather it be a sudden and real failure of the south bridge rather than a degradation due to overclocking.... At 3.6ghz, my southbridge only needed a minimal voltage increase to operate, and at 3ghz, the southbridge would perform w/o issue at stock -- so if it is degradation, there is headroom, but still to think that the chip is degrading after just over six months of use isn't encouraging.

Anyone else have a similar issue with their RAID setup?

Can anyone please guide me through upgrading BIOS without a floppy drive? I want to see if i can overclock any better with a newer BIOS.

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Originally Posted by theYipster

Hey all... it's been quite a while. Just wanted to chime in and report that while I've been running my board w/o issue for the last six or so months, this morning I unfortunately woke up and found my system had blue-screened over night. It looks like it's an issue with my RAID setup... A few days I ago, I started to noticed RAID Critical Access Failure messages popping-up in my system tray, which I tend to disregard as this was a common occurrence on my 680i boards, but was never indicative of a real problem.

Not now... It seems that there really is something going on. I'm now trying to do a just-in-time backup of my latest files, and it's a crap-shoot as to whether or not a particular file transer will complete or if my system will freeze. Every time my system freezes, Vista insists on running a chkdsk /f scan, in which it fines hundreds of bad attribute records to fix or delete. I don't think any of the drives are bad -- but I've only run preliminary tests... Something is definitely screwy with the file system though, and whether its merely a corrupt install, a driver issue, or worse, something with the south bridge itself--I have yet to figure out.

It's been a long time since I've tweaked my system's configuration, and my BIOS is also several versions out of date. Hopefully upgrading drivers and the BIOS will correct the issue -- but if its indeed a hardware failure, I'll have to see what to do. I have a backup EVGA 780i board that's never been used, and while I would likely see about RMAing this board, I'm not too confident a replacement from MSI will perform as well (as we've seen, there is a bit of luck in getting a good P7N Diamond.) If it is a hardware issue, in a way I'd rather it be a sudden and real failure of the south bridge rather than a degradation due to overclocking.... At 3.6ghz, my southbridge only needed a minimal voltage increase to operate, and at 3ghz, the southbridge would perform w/o issue at stock -- so if it is degradation, there is headroom, but still to think that the chip is degrading after just over six months of use isn't encouraging.

Anyone else have a similar issue with their RAID setup?

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I had a 4 disk stripe and had a drive fail on me suddenly a couple of weeks ago. The raid utility (F10) showed which disk was bad as well as the nvidia software in windows. It would ocasionaly boot into windows only to show tons of errors in event viewer. The odd thing is that after this happened my board would ocassionally fail to post. I then removed the bad disk and flashed to the offical bios 1.2. Set up a raid5 array and formated. I havent had a problem since. I was running my southbridge at 1.65.

Hi all. I can help you with that BOBO.
The way I always upgrade my Bios is the following: First of all format a diskette with the option "create a MS-DOS .....". Then use the "HP Usb Boot disk" utility (you can download it for free anywhere) to make a Bootable Pendrive and the files you are going to point with the utility are the ones you have on your diskette. This utility have that option. So you boot with your pendrive (really fast) and put inside it the "afud4234.exe" plus the bios you want.
The string (just in case) is "afud4234.exe bios.XXX"
Sorry my english, did it help?

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Originally Posted by Bobo888

Can anyone please guide me through upgrading BIOS without a floppy drive? I want to see if i can overclock any better with a newer BIOS.

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Go to this site and read the forum thread.
http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=119353.0

You will need to have Nero 6 or newer installed, following directions from link below , that is also in thread above link.

http://www.msicomputer.com/support/images/BIOS_CD.pdf

Also make sure you have gone to MSI site to get the latest Official Bio's release or from MSI forum link above you can get Beta Bio's after you have register for the Forum board.

The CD option worked for me, tried the USB Flask and it did not work.
Also make sure you leave space between afud4234 a7510nms.120 when you type it in the Dos screen and remember to unplug the power cord and clear the CMOS after bios have been updated and you reboot.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the advice. It still sounds quite complicated but i think i can do it. asuming everything i need to know is in that Nero6 guide.

Bobo888, some people may not agree but as long as you're certain of your stability you should be able to use AFUWIN which allows you to flash from the windows desktop. It's very simple to use and I've done it on occasion with this board. Here's a brief outline for anyone that cares... start it by running the AFUWIN.exe, select the 'open' button and at the 'Files of type' pulldown menu select 'All Files', browse to wherever the bios is stashed, select it and open, click the 'Setup' tab and check the box 'Program All Blocks', hit the 'Flash' button. When it's done you're ready to reboot. I let it complete the first post after reboot, then I clear the cmos and begin entering my settings.
AFUWIN v4.33

Thanks a lot loonym, just as I had given up hope with a Boot disc that I couldnt get working. The whole process was done in 10 minutes. Although I have to say its not for the faint of heart. Vista slowed a lot during the overwriting of the BIOS and I expected a crash any minute (but i was 99.9% sure my system was stable). I Also had a BSOD after loading default values but that was just my old dead Hard Drive. Now to see if I can reach my goal of 3ghz :D

So an update on the RAID situation... The issue is that while both RAID drives and the array are detected as healthy during boot, one drive in the array will drop out after 5 to 10 minutes of use. It's always the same drive, regardless of what port I connect it to or what SATA cable I use -- but I'm still not convinced the drive itself is bad (although it's a likelier scenario at this point than anything else.) Mechanically the drive sounds and feels fine -- when it's working it's working at full speed... but invariably the system will hang and then report the drive as being disconnected from the array, as if someone pulled the SATA cable out. Since the drive looks, sounds, and feels mechanically sound, my guess is that it's the drive controller or the motherboard.

If it's the drive controller, I'll likely buy a 1TB drive and use that in place of the RAID-0 array. I've had enough issues with NVRAID to trust it further with such a setup -- despite a decent backup regiment. If it's the motherboard, and unfortunately it won't be that easy to determine, then I'm throwing in the towel on nForce chipsets... The P7N has served me very well, but these days regardless of how fast a board can OC my proc, stability must come first.

To be frank, I am eager to leave the world of nVidia chipsets. Despite my success with this board, and that of others such as Loonym, there's just too much negative news out there (anecdotal, statistically tested, and otherwise) to put much faith into a nForce system. Furthermore, my experience with the 680i turned very sour when I upgraded to a Quad, and despite my success with the P7N, I would be lying if I said it was a great board for everyone.

With X58 supporting SLI natively without a bridge chip, the 780/790i series looks to be the end of the line of high-end nForce anyway... The question is whether to hold out with a possibly shaky setup until Tylersburg or call it quits now for a P45 based P5Q Deluxe or Maximus II Formula.

@theyipster- That sounds alot like what happened to me although nvraid would occasionaly report the drive as bad at post. The board would occasionaly even fail to post, which dosent even make sense. It happened out of the blue. My pc locked up one day with no bsod after being stable for a long time. Then a couple of hours later another crash that required a hard reset. Then the board failed to post and after another reset nvraid showed me a bad drive and would not boot into windows. Then it would boot into windows and run fine for a while before nvraid started showing tons of errors on one disk. I finally removed the drive and had to do a complete reinstall. I havent had a problem since. I really like this board. Its served me well. I would wait and see what Amd and Intel has to offer in the coming months

I need help please. I have a Q9450, and Cpu-z and Everest cpuid are showing me that core #0 and core #1 are correct (333*8=2666) but core #2 and core #3 are showing 333*6 (2000). Using 1.2b3 bios.
Hasn't happened to anybody? Suggestions?

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Originally Posted by FedericoUY

I need help please. I have a Q9450, and Cpu-z and Everest cpuid are showing me that core #0 and core #1 are correct (333*8=2666) but core #2 and core #3 are showing 333*6 (2000). Using 1.2b3 bios.
Hasn't happened to anybody? Suggestions?

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Let's see a screenshot.

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Originally Posted by FedericoUY

I need help please. I have a Q9450, and Cpu-z and Everest cpuid are showing me that core #0 and core #1 are correct (333*8=2666) but core #2 and core #3 are showing 333*6 (2000). Using 1.2b3 bios.
Hasn't happened to anybody? Suggestions?

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Speedstep? Maybe ... but usually underclocks all cores AND must be turn ON in BIOS?

I was having tons of RAID problems until I downloaded the 9.99.0.9 drivers from the NVIDIA website. I was getting BSOD, critical errors messages in event viewer logs, even kept having to reset my bios. Once I updated the drivers, I've not had a single error or problem since. I've been running stable now, without any errors, for over a week. My suggestion is to download the bios driver package from MSI, install it, then the latest NVIDIA RAID drivers from their website (I think the MSI are 9.99.0.4). Hopefully you're problems will be over as have mine.

On a side note, does anyone have a link to Vista 64 bit drivers for the X-Fi Extreme that comes with the mobo that includes a mic boost? I've tried those PAX drivers, but they keep telling me that they can't find the hardware. I'm going crazy because nobody can hear me in for for jack. Any help on some decent drivers would be much appreciated.

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Originally Posted by Kyros

On a side note, does anyone have a link to Vista 64 bit drivers for the X-Fi Extreme that comes with the mobo that includes a mic boost? I've tried those PAX drivers, but they keep telling me that they can't find the hardware. I'm going crazy because nobody can hear me in for for jack. Any help on some decent drivers would be much appreciated.

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Trying to get a mic to work with the included card has just been a pain in the rear for me...I have yet to get it to work. It will play whatever I say over the mic over my speakers, but trying to get it to play nicely with programs like ventrilo just hasn't been possible for me. Plus, I can't control the outputs like I want to/could with the kX drivers for my old card. I'm really starting to get fed up with it and will probably just end up buying a nice pci-e one sometime.

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Originally Posted by loonym

Let's see a screenshot.

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I've switched to official 1.2 bios to see if error fixes but not.
Here goes a screen of 4 cpuz's. Please help.

You have eist and c1e disabled FedericoUY?

I use an external usb device for sound bluspikez. Wasn't real expensive and while it's not in the same league with some hardware sound cards it really does have decent quality.

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Originally Posted by loonym

You have eist and c1e disabled FedericoUY?

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YEEEESSSS! Eist was disabled, but as I never saw "C1E" i didn't know where it were. I assume C1E = Execute Bit Support, so I just disabled It and all 4 cores are perfect at 8x multiplier. Thank's a lot.

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Originally Posted by bluspikez

Trying to get a mic to work with the included card has just been a pain in the rear for me...I have yet to get it to work. It will play whatever I say over the mic over my speakers, but trying to get it to play nicely with programs like ventrilo just hasn't been possible for me. Plus, I can't control the outputs like I want to/could with the kX drivers for my old card. I'm really starting to get fed up with it and will probably just end up buying a nice pci-e one sometime.

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If they just made some decent drivers that had "mic boost" all would be fine. Creative Labs makes good hardware, but they have always been poorly run with terrible driver support. I don't see how they stay on top. I really don't have the money for a new sound card, but having everyone say they can't hear me in vent is getting old.

Anyone at all had luck with the built in junker sound card that came with this board? The sound quality is not too bad, but I've got PCI Audigy 2 ZX in my old rig I'm about to throw in here because of poor driver support by CL.

FedericoUY,

C1E support is basically hardware level EIST. You reveal it by pressing F4 in the BIOS. It's under CPU features.

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Originally Posted by Kyros

If they just made some decent drivers that had "mic boost" all would be fine. Creative Labs makes good hardware, but they have always been poorly run with terrible driver support. I don't see how they stay on top. I really don't have the money for a new sound card, but having everyone say they can't hear me in vent is getting old.

Anyone at all had luck with the built in junker sound card that came with this board? The sound quality is not too bad, but I've got PCI Audigy 2 ZX in my old rig I'm about to throw in here because of poor driver support by CL.

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There is no built in sound. The only sound provided with the board is the x-fi.

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Originally Posted by AaronYuri

FedericoUY,

C1E support is basically hardware level EIST. You reveal it by pressing F4 in the BIOS. It's under CPU features.

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I have the same problem again. I reveal the C1E option and disabled it, also EIST is disabled, but again I have 2nd and 3rd core on 6x of multi (core 0 and 1 ok). I use manual fsb option to set memory at 1066. What else could it be?

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Originally Posted by loonym

There is no built in sound. The only sound provided with the board is the x-fi.

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I didn't mean built in, I meant packaged with. I've seen the card listed for like $8 online. It's just ashamed that the driver support by creative labs is so poor.

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Originally Posted by FedericoUY

I have the same problem again. I reveal the C1E option and disabled it, also EIST is disabled, but again I have 2nd and 3rd core on 6x of multi (core 0 and 1 ok). I use manual fsb option to set memory at 1066. What else could it be?

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Put the CPU under load and see what happens.