The OFFICIAL MSI K8N Neo2-939 tips and tricks guide thread

[charlie]

MSI Neo2 nforce3



overclocking options
Bus Speed: 200-300mhz in 1mhz steps
Bus Multiplier: 1x-5x
CPU Multiplier: 4x-20x
AGP speed: 66-100 in 1mhz steps

overvolting options
Vcore: 1.4-1.85* in 0.05v steps *1.90 with bios 1.36b
Vdimm: 2.55-2.85* in 0.05v steps *overvolts to 2.90v on most boards
Vagp: 1.55 to 1.85 in 0.05v steps

periphals and features
IDE: 2 ATA 133 slots
IDE raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
SATA: 4 SATA 150 slots (2 are unlocked)
SATA raid: 0,1,0+1,JBOD
sata+ide drives in raid: yes
Firewire: 3 IEEE 1394A ports
LAN: nforce3 integrated gigabit ethernet
Sound: realtec ALC850 8 channel

links
mainboard homepage: K8N neo2 Platinum
forum discussion: The OFFICIAL MSI K8N Neo2-939 tips and tricks guide thread
review #1: Anandtech
review #2: Hothardware
review #3: Hardwareluxx (german)
vmod #1: vcore
vmod #2: vdimm
vmod #3: vht
vmod #4: vdd


pros
very stable vcore up to 1.90v read the tips to see how to get 1.9v
vdimm overvolts to 2.90v on highest setting
VTT tracks automatically, OCZ DDR-Booster works up to 4,0V (put it in ram slot 4)
runs great with ballistix
runs great with tccd memory
runs great with bh5 (needs bios 1.36b or newer)
2x Memory Interleaving?

cons
cpu socket position problematic for some cases
vdimm mod requieres trace cutting
SATA ports 1 and 2 are not locked, use slots 3 and 4 (closest to the cpu)
issues with ram slots 3&4 not working very well seems to work fine for some people
cpu temperature reading not working correctly seems to work fine for some people
doesnt like ocz eb

TIPS
TIP: you have to disable cool n quiet when ocing
TIP: Cpu fan header must be connected, if not the pc could experience boot problems
TIP: if you have problems booting with BH5 try another stick of memory and set vdimm to the max and make sure you set the cas latency to 2.5 or 2.0 as bh5 wont boot with cas 3.0, then swap in the BH5
TIP: the CPU backplate is hard to get off on the MSI ... just heat it with a hair dryer, it will come off easily then
TIP: for best performance the MSI only needs Vdimm/3.3V bypass mod (or the OCZ booster).
Yet to try a chipset mod or HTT mod on the MSI ... it may help with LDT 4x @ > 260 HTT bus speeds
TIP: shut down core center after you used it to adjust or check your settings, if left running it might crash your system
TIP: if you have problems booting at low temps with a winchester try the latest beta bios
TIP: disable fast writes
TIP: only bios 1.36beta and 1.37beta allow up to 1.9v vcore
TIP: color coded ram slots are different than other 939 boards. Slots 1&2 are the ones nearer to the CPU and are dual channel
TIP: use HTT multiplier 4x up to ~260 and 3x up to ~290
TIP: use the + and - or PgUP and PgDn keys to change the htt speed, DO NOT HIT ENTER
TIP: check out the official msi 939 neo2 tips and tricks guide thread
TIP: check out this 2 ram compability lists: 1 2
TIP: In the bios press and hold Shift+F2 and then press ALT+F3 to unlock "hidden" features within the BIOS
TIP: If anyone has trouble getting low temp readings downlaod the latest MBM5 (use the K8N NEO Plat mobo selection, click settings,temps,CPU,and choose the first option for Winbond Diode 2)
TIP: if you experience problems with Antec Neopower and Truepower PSUs and also with PowerStream PSUs, try Bios 1.37 and turn the PSU off after you shut down, seems to help as well
TIP: Dissable Agressive Timings in Cell Menu if you're going to overclock
TIP: some people had close to no thermal compount on the nb, if your nb runs hot add some thermal compound (WARNING! might hurt your warranty)
here is a guide that explains how to remove the nb heatsink
TIP: The MAch II needs a new firmware to operate with this board get it here
TIP: the vcore of winchesters seems to undervolt about 0.1V, max vcore for winchesters is 1.7V
TIP: bios collection: 1.10, 1.20, 1.23, 1.25, 1.30, 1.33, 1.34, 1.35, 1.36, 1.37, 1.41
TIP: beta biosses
TIP: 1.37 modded bios by Trats 1 2
TIP: lots of biosses, incl. beta and modded ones with changelogs
TIP: bios flash guide
TIP: windows tool bios flash guide
TIP: newer boards, with S/N:K0411xxxxxx and S/N:K0410xxxxxx, seem to no longer have a bug with winchesters at low minus temps
TIP: get Codered's A64 tweaker
TIP: if you have BH-5 memory use the A64 tweaker and lower the timings as described here
TIP: OC Guide for the msi k8n neo2 by XS GraveDiggA
right click save as and open with wordpad
TIP: corsair xl pro memory wont fit in the board with an xp-90 or xp-120 heatsink
TIP: the newer northbridges (0410/0411) seem to need less vdimm to reach the same overclock in 1:1!
TIP: If you are having trouble getting windows to boot from SATA ("Error Loading Operating System"), be sure to set SATA1/2/3/4 RAID to "ENABLED", even if you are not running RAID
TIP: older bios revisions need the agp speed set to 67mhz to lock it
TIP: disable aggressive chipset timings (performance mode) when ocing
TIP: if you boot with trcd 2 vdimm seems to drop 0.1v, boot with trcd 3 and use corecell or codered's a64 tweaker to set it to 2 in windows
TIP: bios 1.36b and 1.37 and modded variants seem to work best for bh5/bh6
TIP: to reach 1.9v vcore set 1.5 in bios + 3.3%, then get in windows use core center all the way up, and finally you use NF3 Clock-gen add 0.05v...it's about like 1.9v
TIP: turn off NV/ATI Speed Up in the hidden bios settingsas it ocs most cards gpu
TIP: It is about TRFC timing , when u run ram dividers other than 200 it changes TRFC from 14 to lower values and it limits memory overclocking. If u set it by a64 tweaker to 14 then memory overclocks as good as in 200 divider.



check out the ultimate 939 mobo guide here for informations, bugfixes and tips for all 939 mainboards
Game snacks from the Coles specials this week will be the main thing everyone seeks.




EDIT:
-saaya