Good design, good overclock, good pipe-The MSI P35 Neo2-FR overview

Since Intel launched their P35 series over 5 months, all the motherboard
makers also started to sell their products since May. In the first minute,
P35 series defined on Mid-high range segment products,
that push P965 series become mainstream or entry level.

MSI first launch their P35 Platinum, defined on mid-high range segment.
This board have better overclock ability and valuable spec.,
that’s great improvement compare with MSI old Intel platform products,
also can beat other competitors.

The higher level X38 chipset products will come out soon,
We don’t know if this will match same situation as 975X/P965 segment define,
But on P35 products side which come our over 4 months, it’s about time to
have more competition on Cost/Performance.

This time we have mainstream fighter P35 from MSI – P35 Neo2-FR
As I know, the K8 platform Socket939 generation, the model “MSI K8N Neo2”
did have great moment on the market. Hope the P35 Neo2 could have that
kind of glory to hot sell on the market.

The box design, similar as P35 Platinum, just don’t have the shinning surface cover design.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1928/mp35fr01qa6.jpg

Inside stuff
Maybe not much, but all needed things here, comes with EZ-Jumper (Below IDE cable.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1073/mp35fr02fg4.jpg

MSI P35 Neo2-FR
Compare with P35 Platinum, only have some pipe reduce on looks,
but that makes this board more clear and clean.
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/853/mp35fr03ii8.jpg

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/156/mp35fr04xe4.jpg

MB Down left side.
2x PCI-E x16 (Support ATI CrossFire technology, run on 16x+4x speed.)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1926/mp35fr05ky8.jpg

4x SATAII (ICH9R)
1x SATA2+1x IDE (marvell 88SE6111)
The red button is for Clear CMOS function, with debug signal LED near by.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3733/mp35fr06pe1.jpg

Up right side,
4x DIMM DDR2 memory, support 667/800/1066 frequency.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/125/mp35fr07tv8.jpg

Up left side,
LGA775 architecture, support Intel Core 2 Quad/Core 2 Duo processors.
The PWM designed with 4 Phase circuit.
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/1375/mp35fr08ia0.jpg

IO
6x USB 2.0
2x eSATA(ICH9R)
1x RJ45 jack
7.1 channel audio connector
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5901/mp35fr09cz9.jpg

Smaller but easier design heatpipe.
Northbridge P35 heat spread zone.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3244/mp35fr10ex8.jpg

Southbridge ICH9R heatsink zone,
new version sink height is thin, that won’t block big size VGA install.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5966/mp35fr11ra6.jpg

PWM circuit heatsink zone.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9471/mp35fr12el8.jpg


BIOS part

Bootup Screen
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3...35frb01dw3.jpg

BIOS option menu
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/9...35frb02dj7.jpg

Cell menu main adjust menu.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4...35frb03bm1.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4...35frb04ww5.jpg

DRAM adjust options.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9...35frb05ul0.jpg

DDRII multiplier options
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7...35frb06ex4.jpg

Support 2 set BIOS setup file save.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5...35frb07iv3.jpg

H/W Monitor
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5...35frb08un9.jpg


CPU:INTEL Core 2 Duo E6700/Core 2 Extreme QX6700/QX6850
MB: MSI P35 Neo2-FR
DRAM:CORSAIR Dominator TWIN2X2048-10000C5DF
VGA:ELSA 860GT PH2 EX 256B3 2DT
HD:WD1600AAJS
POWER:Corsair HX620W Modular Power Supply
Cooler:Thermaltake V1
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/9729/mp35fr13ka0.jpg

QX6700 463X7=>3240Mhz run with 3DMARK
ELSA 8600GT EXTREME default frequency 650/2000

3DMARK2003
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/4...5fr2003yz8.png

3DMARK2005
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/2...5fr2005ra4.png


QX6850 450x8 => 3600MHz at 1.336V
DDRII 1080 CL4 4-4-9 2.3V
4 PI 32M test done.
Since that’s 4phase PWM design,
it still very stable with Quad Core overclock heavy loading test.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5...q3600pixa0.png

Dual Core E6700 extreme overclock test
555*6 => 3328MHz stable with dual SP2004 test
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6...fr555sppe2.png

This board can also into OS on 560MHz setting,
But it’s almost the CPU frequency top limited.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9...fr560ospu0.png

According to my experience with many P35 motherboards, compare with P965,
The FSB overclock frequency is 1~2 step higher then 965, support 45nm CPU is also an advantage.
MSI launched this great cost/performance value P35 Neo2-FR, have good
performance and spec with good price, that can make this board replace the 965 series motherboards.
We also hope that more motherboard makers will pull the higher P35 series
price down to 120~160USD, then end-users can have more options to choose.

Pros:
1.Retail price about 139USD, depends on different regional.
2.Full solid capacitors, all made in Japan.
3.Only reduce few heatpipe design, total functions very close to Platinum/Diamond segment.
4.CPU FSB overclock ability can catch up other competitors, the DRAM overclock ability is also good.
5.This heatpipe design did have better efficiency, the work temperature is lower then others.

Cons:
1.Other DRAM multiplier overclock ability could be improved.
2.BIOS options could design under voltage for CPU
3.Same boot-up screen already use 2 years, needs to be refreshed.

The upcoming review – about memory modules:
CORSAIR TWIN3X2048-1800C7DF
The fastest DDR3 and high-end spec product, frequency up to 1800MHz CL7.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9417/mp35fr14mv2.jpg

Wow, nice looking board I must say.

That looks a great board for the price :D Thanks for the info windwithme :)

If you have a chance, please could you bench a tweaked SPi 1M and 32M at 3600MHz, with a list of tweaks you use- I think my Giga boards PPC is a bit low and I want something faster per clock.

Thankyou :D :toast:

wind, would you take this board over a blood iron/DS3R/p5k?

What rev is your bord? I had a rev 1.0 which blew with a really nice blue flame off a cap around the socket

Wow, 560 FSB. Looks to do around 465FSB with a quad as well! I might get this board!

i liked it Cell menu. i've never used MSI motherboards before, now i'd like to have this one :).

I loved my Neo2 Platinum socket 939 board, hopefully this one will live up to the namesake!

nice ram

windwithme

Have you played with the board any more? Are there any weird bugs, quirks? Is there any new BIOS' out? Were you running a BETA BIOS? Thanks!

Nick

I have this board, it's great. I bought it because of the heatpipe system and it's almost identical to the Platinum version with less a less exotic heatpipe system.

This is my second MSI motherboard. My other board is the Neo-4 939 Nforce 4. MSI has NAZI like moderators on their hard to find support forum.

I was accused of hijacking a post titled NEO-2FR bios. I asked how to flash to the newest bios using Vista 64-bit. I'm still running bios 1.1 and it works well. I got no answer on MSI's forum and my post was deleted.

I would have bought the gigabyte P35 version if they had the heatpipe system at a lower price. I have the Gigabyte GA-965 DS3 board and they have 14 or more bios updates and they encourage users to update their bios to newer versions regularly.

MSI moderators told me I should never update my bios unless my current bios. Using Windows XP makes bios upgrading easy on MSI.

Anyway, I love the board, MSI makes great motherboards but the MSI forum moderators are the worst and they have around 10,000 posts.

PCSTATS.COM tested the platinum version of this board and it holds the record for highest FSB overclock of any motherboard.

If you crank up the NB and the FSB voltage, you get much more performance at lower voltages on the GO Q6600. I'm running at 3.4Ghz at 1.30v

I read your post in that thread Hans, the mods were complete asses to you, their attitude was uncalled for.

Just placed my order for this board, as I'm saying goodbye to my DS3R when it returns from another RMA.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NickS

Wow, 560 FSB. Looks to do around 465FSB with a quad as well! I might get this board!

---

I think this board is easy to overclock,
but I didn't test all of the functions, just feel smoothly when I use the board.

Overclock depends on all the components,
but this board did have great improvement compare with MSI P965 series.

I love MSI board.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hans Gruber

I have this board, it's great. I bought it because of the heatpipe system and it's almost identical to the Platinum version with less a less exotic heatpipe system.

This is my second MSI motherboard. My other board is the Neo-4 939 Nforce 4. MSI has NAZI like moderators on their hard to find support forum.

I was accused of hijacking a post titled NEO-2FR bios. I asked how to flash to the newest bios using Vista 64-bit. I'm still running bios 1.1 and it works well. I got no answer on MSI's forum and my post was deleted.

I would have bought the gigabyte P35 version if they had the heatpipe system at a lower price. I have the Gigabyte GA-965 DS3 board and they have 14 or more bios updates and they encourage users to update their bios to newer versions regularly. please post a link to the world record from pcstats. the records are 690fsb and 8.1ghz and both are not with this board.

MSI moderators told me I should never update my bios unless my current bios. Using Windows XP makes bios upgrading easy on MSI.

Anyway, I love the board, MSI makes great motherboards but the MSI forum moderators are the worst and they have around 10,000 posts.

PCSTATS.COM tested the platinum version of this board and it holds the record for highest FSB overclock of any motherboard.

If you crank up the NB and the FSB voltage, you get much more performance at lower voltages on the GO Q6600. I'm running at 3.4Ghz at 1.30v

---

the record is 690fsb with dfi lp ut p35 from andre yang and are not with this board.

Does this Board likes D9GMH's?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hans Gruber

I have this board, it's great. I bought it because of the heatpipe system and it's almost identical to the Platinum version with less a less exotic heatpipe system.

This is my second MSI motherboard. My other board is the Neo-4 939 Nforce 4. MSI has NAZI like moderators on their hard to find support forum.

I was accused of hijacking a post titled NEO-2FR bios. I asked how to flash to the newest bios using Vista 64-bit. I'm still running bios 1.1 and it works well. I got no answer on MSI's forum and my post was deleted.

I would have bought the gigabyte P35 version if they had the heatpipe system at a lower price. I have the Gigabyte GA-965 DS3 board and they have 14 or more bios updates and they encourage users to update their bios to newer versions regularly.

MSI moderators told me I should never update my bios unless my current bios. Using Windows XP makes bios upgrading easy on MSI.

Anyway, I love the board, MSI makes great motherboards but the MSI forum moderators are the worst and they have around 10,000 posts.

PCSTATS.COM tested the platinum version of this board and it holds the record for highest FSB overclock of any motherboard.

If you crank up the NB and the FSB voltage, you get much more performance at lower voltages on the GO Q6600. I'm running at 3.4Ghz at 1.30v

---

Hans, you could not flash the bios with the DOS option?

where is the Memory remap ? I don't see it in the PDF.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rolf

Does this Board likes D9GMH's?

---

seems to like my crucial ballistix just fine.
oc'd 2 sticks to 1gz @ 4-4-4-10 2.1vram
4 sticks can do 900mhz @ 4-4-4-10 2.1vram. need to cool them before i push them higher

not bad for a cheap board. paid 115 three months ago. though i would have personally gone with my friends gygabite for the extra 15 bucks. has advanced features. way better than my board. though his does run a bit hotter

This is a pretty powerful board especially for the price.. i built my system a month ago and have gone through p35 neo2 fr>>abit ip35 pro>>biostar tr2d7>>asus deluxe wifi and finally landed on the dfi lp.. i prefer the msi over them all except the lanparty. Overclocks super easy out of the box, easy to understand bios options, very good soundcard, had 0 problems with it.

Its underrated only because noone was willingly to give it a try.

I bought this board when it 1st released.
Its my 1st MSI Intel board.
Been using msi for amd and asus,giga for intel.
So far not bad.
Tested on my previous q6600 too.
In the Bios menu,
press F4, a power user menu will appear.
Dunno for what thou..

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3.../PowerUser.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...ser_config.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...8_3d06_885.jpg

Will try out on the LS when I have time.

how... how did you get the board to post lower than 9 clocks under tras??
the lowest my board allows me to go is 3-3-3-9 on any frequency.
i have crucual ballistix 667 and 800's.
i tried them each individually and they wont give me that option

thought i saw the ballistix hit pretty low clocks somewhere on this forum which is why i'm asking

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aleki

how... how did you get the board to post lower than 9 clocks under tras??
the lowest my board allows me to go is 3-3-3-9 on any frequency.
i have crucual ballistix 667 and 800's.
i tried them each individually and they wont give me that option

thought i saw the ballistix hit pretty low clocks somewhere on this forum which is why i'm asking

---

I used memset to adjust. :)

Bump - anyone got this board? I got one coming soon..

I'm using this board. Testing E2140 now. I can say this is a very good budget board. BIOS is little buggy though.

How so? Have you updated to v1.5? It shares the same BIOS as the P35 Plat... I can give you a link if you want.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NickS

How so? Have you updated to v1.5? It shares the same BIOS as the P35 Plat... I can give you a link if you want.

---

Yup I'm using 1.5 now. In fact, the board uses the same PCB as P35 so it shares the same BIOS. Only the two roller coaster pipes and firewire are missing. So basically you are getting a Platinum.

Hmm isnt this name Neo2-FIR instead of FR ( FR does not have heatpipes )

Actually there are two versions.

Neo2-FIR (with Firewire)

Neo2-FR (without Firewire)

Not sure what F stands for but I is for IEEE1394 and R is for RAID. Actually I don't see there is a need for Firewire nowdays. Not many ppl are using it. Anyway my Audigy 2 ZS comes with Firewire so I don't mind if the board doesn't come with firewire. Recently Toms hardware tested dual and quad core overclocking and recommended Neo2 in the budget segment.

clon22 : how about the vdroop with Q6600? Thx..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by neoman

Hmm isnt this name Neo2-FIR instead of FR ( FR does not have heatpipes )

---

actually, both are with heatpipes.
however there are many misleading sites with wrong pictures.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wyemarn

Yup I'm using 1.5 now. In fact, the board uses the same PCB as P35 so it shares the same BIOS. Only the two roller coaster pipes and firewire are missing. So basically you are getting a Platinum.

---

So what is so buggy about it and or what are the bugs? :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NickS

So what is so buggy about it and or what are the bugs? :)

---

Actually it's a minor bug. When I was using Pentium D, the BIOS menu shows wrong CPU speed when overclocked. However, this doesn't affect the effective overclocked speed so it's not really a problem, just a small bug.
However, after upgrading to E2140, the bug is gone.

Btw, I just updated to BIOS v1.72 beta downloadable from MSI forum. In fact there are lots of BIOS to be played with. Normal and performance BIOS. If you guys check out P35 roundups, you can see P35 Platinum performing quite good. That is because reviewers are using performance bios during review. I haven't tried them and from MSI forum, people find that performance BIOS is not really stable. So far, I'm happy with normal BIOS.

What is this "performance BIOS" and could you possibly link me to the new 1.72 beta?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NickS

So what is so buggy about it and or what are the bugs? :)

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NickS

What is this "performance BIOS" and could you possibly link me to the new 1.72 beta?

---

Here's link for 1.72. It's German forum but you can find bios attachment in one of the post.

http://msi-forum.de/thread.php?threa...user=0&page=12

Here's performance BIOS P08. It's somewhere middle of the page

http://msi-forum.de/thread.php?threa...tuser=0&page=3

I don't have free time to test out performance BIOS. If you can pls test it out and post the results up. Thank you.

Hey Nick, I have a q6600 running 9x380 on this board. I haven't really tried to tweak it yet, but it looks like a pretty good board so far. It's been running wcg 24/7 for about 2 weeks. The vdroop is not bad, way less than the DS3-R. It seems to run real cool also. I am using the ver1.1 bios and have had no problems with it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wyemarn

Here's link for 1.72. It's German forum but you can find bios attachment in one of the post.

http://msi-forum.de/thread.php?threa...user=0&page=12

Here's performance BIOS P08. It's somewhere middle of the page

http://msi-forum.de/thread.php?threa...tuser=0&page=3

I don't have free time to test out performance BIOS. If you can pls test it out and post the results up. Thank you.

---

Sweet thanks. So wait, are the "performance BIOS'" separate from the regular ones?

I'm not sure. Performance BIOS are never released for end users. All the reviewers used performance BIOS during testing so I guess the performance is better than normal BIOS. Not sure about the stability and effect on overclocking though. Why dont you try it out and compare it with normal BIOS.

I must ask the bios question as well i would like to see some testing on newer bios. I am running 1.1 no problems so far but would like to know if better one is available?:up:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by scooter.jay

I must ask the bios question as well i would like to see some testing on newer bios. I am running 1.1 no problems so far but would like to know if better one is available?:up:

---

Well, if you head over MSI forums, their mods will keep telling you not to upgrade BIOS if you don't have any problem. Personally I don't agree with this because I think BIOS upgrade will fix bugs and maybe enhance performance.

The latest BIOS released is 1.5 and beta is 1.72. I'm currently using 1.72 beta and if you are interested pls try it in the link above. Pls beware that a bad flash will ruin your board so I'm not responsible for anything.

thanks for the reply. At the moment running 400x8 e2140 at 3.2ghz on swiftech apogee water block. The reason i asked is for when i get e8500/e8400 i will need to use a more mature bios due to the high clocks they seem to be able to reach but at the moment everything is rock solid and the limit i have reached is almost certainly the cpu limit not the board or ram. The thing is that i have already been told not update my bios by msi forums which i must admit i found strange as with all the other boards i have used bios updates have always shown some improvement.:shrug:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by clon22

I bought this board when it 1st released.
Its my 1st MSI Intel board.
Been using msi for amd and asus,giga for intel.
So far not bad.
Tested on my previous q6600 too.
In the Bios menu,
press F4, a power user menu will appear.
Dunno for what thou..

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3.../PowerUser.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...ser_config.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...8_3d06_885.jpg

Will try out on the LS when I have time.

---

1.675 vcore in bios and only 1.213 in cpu-z?! Actually, how on earth did you hit 428x9 at 1.213?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jmmtn4aj

1.675 vcore in bios and only 1.213 in cpu-z?! Actually, how on earth did you hit 428x9 at 1.213?

---

9 times out of 10 CPU-Z doesn't correctly read VCORE on Intel mobo's. It said the same for me on my P5B DLX no matter what voltage was set in the BIOS.

please tell the witchcraft you are using to use 1.675 Vcore surely thats going to get seriously hot.:shocked: :shrug:

Just did this a little bit ago. Will try for highest fsb with 7 multi when I get more time. What I like is 516 on the memory with only 1.9v :up:

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/2...304532mhe3.jpg

BIOS 1.6 is out. Try live update to download it or get it from MSI's FTP site.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Henry

clon22 : how about the vdroop with Q6600? Thx..

---

I really never measure it b4.
but it seems fine.
(as i have sold away my Q6600 already.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NickS

What is this "performance BIOS" and could you possibly link me to the new 1.72 beta?

---

I dun really like performance bios...
they seem to be slower.
(*i suck @ tweaking spi too.) :p
I have test up till v1.5 bios..
so far, i'm still back to v1.1...
it seems to be the best for me...
:D
Which bios do you guys like?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jmmtn4aj

1.675 vcore in bios and only 1.213 in cpu-z?! Actually, how on earth did you hit 428x9 at 1.213?

---

1.675v is for me to boot @ 4gb, but I cldn't
bench 3dmark on it(too darn hot)...
the 3.86ghz was @ 1.55v i remembered.
Am now using my old E4300 on it.
I can't find my pic...
latest was my w/88gt.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...31100_3d06.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [XC] 4X4N

Just did this a little bit ago. Will try for highest fsb with 7 multi when I get more time. What I like is 516 on the memory with only 1.9v :up:

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/2...304532mhe3.jpg

---

Yes, but i think you got good rams too. :)
THe memory controller is not bad.
I use this board to to flash rams for my frenz
and it run quite well above 1200mhz oso.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wyemarn

BIOS 1.6 is out. Try live update to download it or get it from MSI's FTP site.

---

live update doesnt work and i have no idea what the FTP of MSI is. i simply cant find a newer bios.

:mad: :mad:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by heikis

live update doesnt work and i have no idea what the FTP of MSI is. i simply cant find a newer bios.

:mad: :mad:

---

ftp://ftp.msi.com.tw/BIOS/


EBL

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EvilBellyLint

ftp://ftp.msi.com.tw/BIOS/


EBL

---

Uhh.. user & pass?

From MSI forums

ftp://duser:duser@66.232.110.239/

Mainboard model is MS-7345

The only changelog is Peryn CPU support. I think it is compatible with .5 multipliers.

Try this:

Direct link to Beta BIOS v1.6

Anyone tested penryn with .5 multis with newer bios out of interest.

Is there a way to fix the "double-boot" issue? OC jumpers are set to 333MHz. At stock everything is fine but for example 420FSB and it double-boots. You restart the computer and it turns off, then on for a split second, then off and then ON.
Also when cold booting.

I have the latest 1.6v BIOS isntalled.
Any fixes out there?

For the MSI P35 FIR motherboard.........can we just use P35 Platinum BIOS on them?
Just got it couple of days ago and is having problems OCing over 400FSB.
I still have the original BIOS that came with the board and want to see if I have better luck with a new BIOS.

Doea anyway know what's the average OC for a E2180 on this board anyway?

Yup you can.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by heikis

Is there a way to fix the "double-boot" issue? OC jumpers are set to 333MHz. At stock everything is fine but for example 420FSB and it double-boots. You restart the computer and it turns off, then on for a split second, then off and then ON.
Also when cold booting.

I have the latest 1.6v BIOS isntalled.
Any fixes out there?

---

I think its normal with P35 boards. Try upping chipset voltage and VDIMM. If you can find the correct setting that it may only do single boot.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gudodayn

For the MSI P35 FIR motherboard.........can we just use P35 Platinum BIOS on them?
Just got it couple of days ago and is having problems OCing over 400FSB.
I still have the original BIOS that came with the board and want to see if I have better luck with a new BIOS.

Doea anyway know what's the average OC for a E2180 on this board anyway?

---

avg. is probably 3.4GHz out of that E2180


EBL

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EvilBellyLint

avg. is probably 3.4GHz out of that E2180


EBL

---

I'm seeing a lot of users online posting these CPUs (C2D CPUs) with over 400 FSBs...........is this common?
Kinda makes me aim for a 400FSB as well with my chip!
Just ran 300 x 9 overnight with dual 32M Pi and dual Orthos without any hickups!
Would a BIOS upgrade improve my OC?
I see on MSI's website, the latest BIOS release for P35 Platinum is Version 1.6 / 2007-10-31..........any recommendations on earlier versions??

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hans Gruber

...
If you crank up the NB and the FSB voltage, you get much more performance at lower voltages on the GO Q6600. I'm running at 3.4Ghz at 1.30v

---

You mean upping the nb and vtt voltage compensates for high vcore? I'm using 1,4v vcore now but it's more like 1,37-1,38v under load. Clocks are 3.4GHz.

anybody try the 1.6 P35 platinum bios on their p35 neo2-fr?

I'm currently on 1.1 bios, my e6300 is at 3.5ghz but my ATI 3870 is showing slower performance

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slugzkea

anybody try the 1.6 P35 platinum bios on their p35 neo2-fr?

I'm currently on 1.1 bios, my e6300 is at 3.5ghz but my ATI 3870 is showing slower performance

---

UPDATE: 1.6 bios sucks. vdroop is mad.

Tried 1.4 bios too, still no luck.

1.1 bios seems to be the most stable, little to none vdroop, and highest overclock for me. (e6300@3.5ghz)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scooter.jay

thanks for the reply. At the moment running 400x8 e2140 at 3.2ghz on swiftech apogee water block. The reason i asked is for when i get e8500/e8400 i will need to use a more mature bios due to the high clocks they seem to be able to reach but at the moment everything is rock solid and the limit i have reached is almost certainly the cpu limit not the board or ram. The thing is that i have already been told not update my bios by msi forums which i must admit i found strange as with all the other boards i have used bios updates have always shown some improvement.:shrug:

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Hi Scooter ~ I'm running a E2180 with a Apogee as well, just wondering what kind of temps are you getting?
My is 333 x 9 @ 1.45V ~ Idle:31 / Load: 55
400 x 9 @ 1.65V ~ Idle: 40 / Load 65
I had a AMD dual core system prior to this, the difference is in the idle and load temperatures. AMD would give me a difference of 10~15 degrees only where as the Intel CPU is about 25 degrees!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slugzkea

anybody try the 1.6 P35 platinum bios on their p35 neo2-fr?

I'm currently on 1.1 bios, my e6300 is at 3.5ghz but my ATI 3870 is showing slower performance

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I just did a P35 Platinum 1.60 flash on my P35 FIR..........it seems to be better than the 1.60 I had for the FIR......I am sure the 2 are different becuase of the different BIOS dates.

Prior to this, I did a performance P08 BIOS flash and that didnt work too well.....it wouldn't recognize my raid arrays!!

Which is why I reflashed it to the platinum..........

Compare to my old 1.60 BIOS:
I use to run 333x9 @1.45V, on the platinum 1.60 BIOS I can run 333x9 @1.375
Vdrop is just as bad....currently testing 366x9 @ 1.525V but CPU-Z shows its fluctuating between 1.504~1.512V
It seems to be running cooler at the same speeds as well or it might just be my watercooling system still flushing out air bubbles!!

I'll do more tests and get back to ya

So you can use the Platinum bios? What advantages does that give?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ownage

So you can use the Platinum bios? What advantages does that give?

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I'd like to hope it gives the advantage of not sucking, but I haven't tried yet.

This board is by far the worst motherboard I have ever owned. The BIOS sucks, the overclocking sucks, the performance sucks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by afireinside

I'd like to hope it gives the advantage of not sucking, but I haven't tried yet.

This board is by far the worst motherboard I have ever owned. The BIOS sucks, the overclocking sucks, the performance sucks.

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:ROTF: does it suck? :shocked:
What problems do you have, besides that PSU problem? Most ppl in this thread seem to be liking this board.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ownage

:ROTF: does it suck? :shocked:
What problems do you have, besides that PSU problem? Most ppl in this thread seem to be liking this board.

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BIOS is horrible. Bad layout and bad overclocking options.

performance sucks. My pi times are downright awful for the clocks at some settings.

Doesn't overclock well. My XBX2 and 680i took this chip a bit higher than this board with greater stability.

Hmm...I think this is a great mobo for it's price. Bios is good enough and has enough vcore, vdimm and other volts. Stability hasn't been problem. Only thing about the layout that sucks it he placement of the atx2 power connector. Running my quad at 3.6GHz without problems and it's enough for me :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nazu

Hmm...I think this is a great mobo for it's price. Bios is good enough and has enough vcore, vdimm and other volts. Stability hasn't been problem. Only thing about the layout that sucks it he placement of the atx2 power connector. Running my quad at 3.6GHz without problems and it's enough for me :)

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Yeah, what about quad clocking?
Does the 4phase power design keep up with higher then 3.6ghz (unstable, benchable)?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nazu

Hmm...I think this is a great mobo for it's price. Bios is good enough and has enough vcore, vdimm and other volts. Stability hasn't been problem. Only thing about the layout that sucks it he placement of the atx2 power connector. Running my quad at 3.6GHz without problems and it's enough for me :)

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Yup me too :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ownage

Yeah, what about quad clocking?
Does the 4phase power design keep up with higher then 3.6ghz (unstable, benchable)?

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Other people have ran their quads at almost 3.9 in this thread.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ownage

Yeah, what about quad clocking?
Does the 4phase power design keep up with higher then 3.6ghz (unstable, benchable)?

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Vdroop is about 0.02-0.03v and 3.6GHz is prime stable :)

Anandtech just reviewed this board.

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3169

Not bad considering the price.

Mines extremely stable.. see sig for settings. I love the board so far. It's been great!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NickS

Mines extremely stable.. see sig for settings. I love the board so far. It's been great!

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I just got mine up and running, second boot 9x445fsb and booting into windows with my e6600. No vdroop, not even a bit :clap:
I still use the stock 1.3v bios, so i think its not bad for only 10minutes of experience with this board.


I changed the overclocking jumpers on the motherboard from 333strap to 266strap. Now performance isn't even that bad. although i would have preferred to have this as an bios option instead of changing jumpers.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/mainb...tinum/p19s.png

Is 266 the best place to set the strap jumpers for overclocking? I have this board on the way the egg.

I have them @ 333, haven't played much.

I just bought one of these... what's the advantage of moving over the jumper?

HI!!
I have this mobo for 2 weeks and I am really very agreeable. Is accompanied by an e4400, and although I have cooler stock I could do 333x10 very easily. And now I have it running 266x10 with 1.175v.

Les story that makes 2 weeks that I have Intel, come from a mother with AthlonXP VIA chipset :p:

The negative:
1-Double booting annoying
2-Unable to lower the vcore unless 1.175v
3-Cant change the last digit of timmings to less than 9 (x-x-x-9).
4- Missing memory ratio 4:3 or 1:1,33
5-At overcome think that the 300, fsb voltage of NB automatically rises to 1.45vy can not get off (re-set)

Nothing important about what gives this mobo for money that is (here in argentina U$S S162, the same as P5N-E SLI or P6N-SLI)

Now a question:
I have doubts as to the operation of Jumpers and its necessity in the OC. If I change the strap to 266 my micro stari in 2666mhz? Excuse my ignorance.

I wish to comment that I have read that there is a limit fsb for each position of the jumper of strap, to which there is a significant drop in performance. I believe that with the strap at 200, the limit is on 380, fsb, 266 limit around 450 bus.
Here is developed in a little more detail:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...latinum_8.html

Perhaps here is the advantage of the strap jumpers not?

PS 1: is my first post :)
PD 2: forgive my poor English :down: :down: :down:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndrewZorn

I just bought one of these... what's the advantage of moving over the jumper?

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If you have set the jumper to 266Mhz, the performance decreases when you are over ~430Mhz FSB.

I've tested the Board here, klick for a chart to compare the jumper results:
click!

Nice work Arne. Looks like 333 is the best.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arne

If you have set the jumper to 266Mhz, the performance decreases when you are over ~430Mhz FSB.

I've tested the Board here, klick for a chart to compare the jumper results:
click!

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wow, i didnt expect the answer to be so simple... thanks
cant wait til thursday... new PSU, new ram, new watercooling setup. right after a new video card. with a new CPU, i'd basically have a new computer... which i am thinking about selling this B3 and getting a G0. after i lap it and put it on water if im still getting piss-poor overclocks i will.

Thanks guys, no problem;)

And a max FSB of 550Mhz with only 1,35V VTT FSB and 1,45V NB isn't that bad huh?
click!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arne

Thanks guys, no problem;)

And a max FSB of 550Mhz with only 1,35V VTT FSB and 1,45V NB isn't that bad huh?
click!

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Nice review!
I didn't expect a performance drop because you choose to use the 266strap with a jumper :down:
I'm just below 530fsb, my memory is holding me back :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arne

Thanks guys, no problem;)

And a max FSB of 550Mhz with only 1,35V VTT FSB and 1,45V NB isn't that bad huh?
click!

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Wow! Neat...
:D

Juz a an 8800GTS/512 to test.
Testing my E4300 on it.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3..._3d06_stoc.jpg
This board is good. :)
I'm still using v1.1 bios currently.
Which versions do you guys like so far.

1.
I got this board and i placed an 8800GTX in the white PCIE slot thinking that this is the 16x (#1) and the card was crawling at 9fps in 3dmark06 WTH ... i went to bios and changed the PCIEx4 speed controller from auto to 4x and disabled "Auto Disable DIMM/PCI Frequency" and 3dmark06 run 85-35 fps showing normal function

Is there a chance that the physical 16x is the yellow one ???


2.
with any bios version above 1.3 the CPU (Q6600) voltage options in the cell menu start from 1.300v, the only bios from the ones i tried (1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.76) that gives correct values in this field is v1.3 . The actual voltage the CPU receives seems to be right (aprox 1.260?), looks like its just the menu options that are labeled wrong, for example the 1.300 option corresponds to 1.252-1.272 of actual voltage. Again, WTH?


3.
I have two sata drives. Is it normal that in AHCI mode they are detected only in two of the four ports? ("3" & "4" i think)


4.
Also, is there a way to get rid off the annoying USB scan beeps on POST ?
And is it possible maybe to disable (or selectively disable) those usb checks anyway altogether ? (or speed them up. i have lots of usb stuff on)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clon22

Juz a an 8800GTS/512 to test.
Testing my E4300 on it.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3..._3d06_stoc.jpg
This board is good. :)
I'm still using v1.1 bios currently.
Which versions do you guys like so far.

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Nice chip you got there. I've no problems hitting more than 500mhz FSB for this board.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clon22

Juz a an 8800GTS/512 to test.
Testing my E4300 on it.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3..._3d06_stoc.jpg
This board is good. :)
I'm still using v1.1 bios currently.
Which versions do you guys like so far.

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W00t, nice e4300.
Thats how i like it :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by monographix

1.
I got this board and i placed an 8800GTX in the white PCIE slot thinking that this is the 16x (#1) and the card was crawling at 9fps in 3dmark06 WTH ... i went to bios and changed the PCIEx4 speed controller from auto to 4x and disabled "Auto Disable DIMM/PCI Frequency" and 3dmark06 run 85-35 fps showing normal function

Is there a chance that the physical 16x is the yellow one ???

Top one is 16x.


2.
with any bios version above 1.3 the CPU (Q6600) voltage options in the cell menu start from 1.300v, the only bios from the ones i tried (1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.76) that gives correct values in this field is v1.3 . The actual voltage the CPU receives seems to be right (aprox 1.260?), looks like its just the menu options that are labeled wrong, for example the 1.300 option corresponds to 1.252-1.272 of actual voltage. Again, WTH?

That's just vdroop. Overvolt more to compensate.

4.
Also, is there a way to get rid off the annoying USB scan beeps on POST ?
And is it possible maybe to disable (or selectively disable) those usb checks anyway altogether ? (or speed them up. i have lots of usb stuff on)

Nope, happens on all newer MSI's :(

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See red text :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NickS

See red text :)

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is it surely vdroop? 1.300 seems to be the lowest volt option in the menu, with bioses after v1.3. Its not a measured voltage, just the setting option

V1.1 is still the best bios I think.

After about a month or so of using this board, I have to say I like it. Very easy to set up and has good onboard sound. Could do without all the damn led's though. Haven't tried any real high fsb with it. I'm currently running a q6600 @ 8x450 with no issues. Vdroop gets higher the more voltage you give it. 1.375v in bios with be about 1.39v at idle and drop to 1.37v at load. But to get 1.43v at load I have go to 1.4875 in bios. Also, the vcore jumps around a little. 1.4785 set in bios jumps anywhere from 1.42-1.45 at load. My DS3-R droops a lot more but the vcore stays very steady after the droop.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wyemarn

Nice chip you got there. I've no problems hitting more than 500mhz FSB for this board.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by ownage

W00t, nice e4300.
Thats how i like it :D

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Thanks guys. :D

Personally, I still like v1.1 best too. :D
Anyone tried measuring the voltage?
The newer bios seems to have a slight vdroop.

Does anyone know if there is a working Windows FSB utility? About to start benching with this board and was hoping to eek out a few more MHZ once in Windows.

Setfsb works. link

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clon22

Personally, I still like v1.1 best too. :D
Anyone tried measuring the voltage?
The newer bios seems to have a slight vdroop.

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Can you share with us why you think 1.1 is the best? Better OC? More stable?
Currently I'm using 1.7 Beta 6 and I thinking of going back to 1.1 to push higher.