MSI K9A2 Platinum V.1 + Phenom II overclocking?

First Topic/Post ^^

Is anyone running this combo? Myself I baught this motherboard at release and a cheap Brisbane 4000+ that's clocked to 3,0Ghz 24/7, kind of knowing that I could use future AM2+/AM3 CPUs.

Now it's here and February/March it's time for another upgrade consisting of a new GPU and CPU, most likely a Phenom II 910 2,6ghz when it's released.

Now to the question, what kinds of 24/7 clocks should one be able to pull off without the magical SB750 and ACC? I've read ACC does help improve alot on bad overclocking CPUs, while it helps less when you get a good sample.

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Originally Posted by Smartidiot89

First Topic/Post ^^

Is anyone running this combo? Myself I baught this motherboard at release and a cheap Brisbane 4000+ that's clocked to 3,0Ghz 24/7, kind of knowing that I could use future AM2+/AM3 CPUs.

Now it's here and February/March it's time for another upgrade consisting of a new GPU and CPU, most likely a Phenom II 910 2,6ghz when it's released.

Now to the question, what kinds of 24/7 clocks should one be able to pull off without the magical SB750 and ACC? I've read ACC does help improve alot on bad overclocking CPUs, while it helps less when you get a good sample.

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ACC is not needed for Phenom II (and actually currently doesn't work with it; causes a no POST when enabled) for high clocks. ACC on my Phenom I gave me ~400MHZ increase from when the same cpu was in a SB600 board.

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Originally Posted by pershoot

ACC is not needed for Phenom II (and actually currently doesn't work with it; causes a no POST when enabled) for high clocks. ACC on my Phenom I gave me ~400MHZ increase from when the same cpu was in a SB600 board.

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So all current results we're seeing out there of Phenom II overclocking is done without the use of ACC?

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Originally Posted by Smartidiot89

So all current results we're seeing out t
here of Phenom II overclocking is done without the use of ACC?

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yup.

Cool thanks, meens I won't have to worry to much about a mobo upgrade then:cool:

lets keep this topic going since a few of us have this board

right now im stuck around 3.6-3.7 it did like 3.75 but i forget how i got that, like 18.5x203. i cannot get past 230 HTT and my NB speed is locked at 10x. the bios 1.6 works great with AOD, however its missing the NB multi, and i have no idea what jonspd is doing, but hes proving this board works great with these CPUs.

i really am scared to push too many volts, i blew up a K9A2 cf, and people are skeptical that the platinums will do the same if you get unlucky.

I also have this mobo. I would like to know how the P2 does on this board.

Like Manicdan I'm stuck between 3.6 & 3.7 GHz if I want it to be Prime stable, I suspect that heat is the problem although it never exceeds 60 C according to Core Temp.
HTT is good up to 250 MHz which is ok for this board.

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Originally Posted by Linux4ever

I also have this mobo. I would like to know how the P2 does on this board.

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good enough to where it would be pointless in upgrading

@Karaya, what bios are you using, and does it let you adjust the NB mulit?

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Originally Posted by Manicdan

@Karaya, what bios are you using, and does it let you adjust the NB mulit?

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I'm using the 1.7 Beta3 BIOS, it will properly recognize the Phenom II otherwise it looks much like the 1.6 version.
It can be downloaded from http://www.msi-forum.de/thread.php?threadid=35629, you'll have to register first though.

The NB multiplier cannot be adjusted with the beta BIOS, however there is a way to change it. I changed the HT multiplier to 10 and suddenly the NB was running at 2000 MHz while the HT Link still was at it's original 1800 MHz.

A little warning here, now I'm not able to lower the NB multi regardless of the setting of the HT multiplier, looks like it's a one-way adjustment.

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Originally Posted by Karaya

The NB multiplier cannot be adjusted with the beta BIOS, however there is a way to change it. I changed the HT multiplier to 10 and suddenly the NB was running at 2000 MHz while the HT Link still was at it's original 1800 MHz.

A little warning here, now I'm not able to lower the NB multi regardless of the setting of the HT multiplier, looks like it's a one-way adjustment.

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I had a K9A2, on the older bios you could raise the NB Multi by increasing the HT Multi, but like you said it was a one way ticket and the only way to get it back down was to reset CMOS. (You may even need to pull 1 stick of ram before rebooting, can't remember exactly. Just remember it was a real PITA if you went too high..)

Some folks said you could save the original setting as a profile and restore it, but if I remember correctly that never worked for me...

One of the nice things about PhII is that it will run much higher NB speeds than the PhI's. Mine has no problem hitting 2600 @ 1.275v's

To test it without having to reset you could probably set the HT to 10x and then bring the HTRef clock up in AOD until you hit 2200, test it there and if everything runs stable bump it up to 11x until you find it's limit....

Hope this helps a little... :p:

Thanks for your help guys. My upgrade will most likely happen in late march/april so by then I hope K9A2 has proper BIOS :)

im trying to get my NB lower, i cant tell what my limitation is from if i cant keep the ram speed and the NB speed separate. im maxing out at like 235HT and i have everything lower except the NB

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Originally Posted by Manicdan

im trying to get my NB lower, i cant tell what my limitation is from if i cant keep the ram speed and the NB speed separate. im maxing out at like 235HT and i have everything lower except the NB

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haha I just noticed we both have posts regarding the same thing.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=214258

read my conclution at the end

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Originally Posted by Smartidiot89

Thanks for your help guys. My upgrade will most likely happen in late march/april so by then I hope K9A2 has proper BIOS :)

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Yeah, I'm wanting to know too. K9a2 has had the most amusing bios history I've seen. They were making good improvements up to bios 1.2, beta 1.1b3, performance beta p.0J, and then suddenly they stopped listening to people and are messing it up. Everything since P.0J has been kinda Meh.

I too am waiting for the AM3 procs to come out. Will drop one of them into the k9a2 plat until I can upgrade to an AM3 board, most likely after the 890fx/gx comes out. I still wish MSI would just release a V2 version of the k9a2 with the sb750 on it, just to get away from the sb600 problems.

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Originally Posted by Daveburt714

I had a K9A2, on the older bios you could raise the NB Multi by increasing the HT Multi, but like you said it was a one way ticket and the only way to get it back down was to reset CMOS. (You may even need to pull 1 stick of ram before rebooting, can't remember exactly. Just remember it was a real PITA if you went too high..)

Some folks said you could save the original setting as a profile and restore it, but if I remember correctly that never worked for me...

One of the nice things about PhII is that it will run much higher NB speeds than the PhI's. Mine has no problem hitting 2600 @ 1.275v's

To test it without having to reset you could probably set the HT to 10x and then bring the HTRef clock up in AOD until you hit 2200, test it there and if everything runs stable bump it up to 11x until you find it's limit....

Hope this helps a little... :p:

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I've tried to sort this out and with my BIOS just to load optimized defaults was enough , the NB multi was then reset to it's original 9x.

Karaya, whats your preferred method for bios flashing the beta ones?

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Originally Posted by Manicdan

Karaya, whats your preferred method for bios flashing the beta ones?

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Generally I'm using AMI's Windows Flash Utility AFUWIN.exe.
Works well even when using x64 OS'es.

o really, i was hoping to find a windows based flasher, and only knew of the "MSI never wanna touch it again" updater. and i already found it at ami.com

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Originally Posted by Manicdan

o really, i was hoping to find a windows based flasher, and only knew of the "MSI never wanna touch it again" updater. and i already found it at ami.com

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AFUWIN is Windows based.

I wanna be able to adjust the damn NB multi in the BIOS. Theres gotta be a BIOS that allows this... dammit MSI.

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Originally Posted by batmang

I wanna be able to adjust the damn NB multi in the BIOS. Theres gotta be a BIOS that allows this... dammit MSI.

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As I said earlier in this thread, just raise the HT multiplier to 10 and the NB multi will follow. It's upwards adjustable only, if you want to lower it you'll have to load optimized BIOS defaults.

well i want it lower, just so i know im not hitting limits on either of them and go for more ghz

By loading BIOS defaults you'll lower the multi to 9 for HT & NB, don't think the NB multi can be lower than that.

yeah kara, most k9a2 owners want to lower the NB multi. Sucks that we cant. :(

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Originally Posted by batmang

yeah kara, most k9a2 owners want to lower the NB multi. Sucks that we cant. :(

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Before my platinum bit the dust i was able to get the NB down again by loading Fail safe defaults.
But then i had the overclocked profile without the raised HT Multi to load back in after the reboot.

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Originally Posted by Final8ty

Before my platinum bit the dust i was able to get the NB down again by loading Fail safe defaults.
But then i had the overclocked profile without the raised HT Multi to load back in after the reboot.

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I'm talking about being able to lower it and keep it low. Say... around 8x or so.

Sure this mobo works for a 940BE, but for a 920 its nightmare due to the NB multi

^^^ True. It makes things A LOT harder. The max I'm going to be able to get on my K9A2 is 3.7. I won't really know until the rest of my water setup comes in.

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Originally Posted by batmang

I'm talking about being able to lower it and keep it low. Say... around 8x or so.

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I know what you mean.

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Originally Posted by batmang

I'm talking about being able to lower it and keep it low. Say... around 8x or so.

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I am using a Phenom II 920 which forces me to clock through HT, and without being able to lower NB multi you get the image. Got my new DFI board today will install it later...

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Originally Posted by Karaya

I'm using the 1.7 Beta3 BIOS, it will properly recognize the Phenom II otherwise it looks much like the 1.6 version.
It can be downloaded from http://www.msi-forum.de/thread.php?threadid=35629, you'll have to register first though.

The NB multiplier cannot be adjusted with the beta BIOS, however there is a way to change it. I changed the HT multiplier to 10 and suddenly the NB was running at 2000 MHz while the HT Link still was at it's original 1800 MHz.

A little warning here, now I'm not able to lower the NB multi regardless of the setting of the HT multiplier, looks like it's a one-way adjustment.

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Ok I've registered, just need to know which one is the most desirable to d/l? Do I want A7376AMS.174.zip? BTW this board will be used as a dedicated folding rig, anyone here using it for this purpose? Thanks everyone.

Mine folds 24-7 with a 945 np at 3.6ghz with 1.73 bios I haven't tried the 1.74 ones yet.

if you dl them can you host the file?

Yea the V1 board is funky to say the least. Pox on Tomshardware for saying it was a good board. The features on other boards blow this one away. *sigh*

I was able to get some decent clocking, but WTF is up w/having 3.5ghz stable at 1.38vcore and 3.6 stable at only 1.52vcore???

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Originally Posted by Governator

Ok I've registered, just need to know which one is the most desirable to d/l? Do I want A7376AMS.174.zip? BTW this board will be used as a dedicated folding rig, anyone here using it for this purpose? Thanks everyone.

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According to the German speaking forum at www.msi-forum.de some people have had problems with 1.74 and are actually suggesting that 1.73 is more stable.

I could be wrong here since my knowledge of German is only half decent, mostly gathered at various bierstuben in Munich and the surrounding areas :)

My system and my OC are:
Phenom II 940 Black Edition: CPU: 247x15 = 3705mhz; NB: 247x10 = 2470mhz - Vcore: 1,45V; VNB: 1,4V
MOBO: MSI K9A2 Platinum
RAM: 8GB 2 X G.Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ @ 988Mhz
Video: ATI HD4870
HD: RAID0: 2XHitachi Deskstar T7K250 250gb SATA2
PSU: LC Power Arkangel 850W
Liquid Cooled by: Ybris K11 Top1 + Ybris Keops K5 ATI + WaterStation HomeMade: Double Rad tri-fun + Pump Swiftech MCP655

I'm using k10stat to customize my pstate. Here they are:

http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/...4152011_P0.JPGhttp://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/...4152207_P1.JPG
http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/...4152225_P2.JPGhttp://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/...4152239_P3.JPG

Everything absolutely RS. Using bios beta 1.74.

How can I unlock the 4th core of my PII BE 720 on this board anyhow? Also, I thought that MSI had a win based bios flasher?