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

[x-built-Stan]

theYipster,

I checked my voltage and here are the results.
VID: 1.256v - Read from BIOS, EIST disabled Q6600@2.4GHz stock
Vcore(no load): 1.432v - Read from CPU-Z, EIST disabled Q6600@3.4GHz
Vcore(load): 1.376v - Read from CPU-Z, EIST disabled, Q6600@3.4GHz

Load was Prime95 v25.5, 4 threads, small FFT.

You can see that my voltage drop under load is 0.056v or 3.9%. Is that inline with your observations?

I'm going to push the Vcore up and see if I can drop back the terminator voltage. I'll keep the FSB at 1512Mz for now.

[BKA]

I'l chime in with some overclocking results of my own with my e8400 on this board. I started off going with 1600(400x9)(3.6) FSB and memory at 800 linked. Tried uping the cpu voltage all the way up to +.18750(1.200-1.208 in BIOS) (1.21-1.22 in CPUID) (1.208-1.216 in CPUZ). NB up to 1.4, memory at default of 2.2v. All other voltages on auto. I can boot into Vista but 3DMARK06 would lock up during the test at different test, requiring a hard reset.

Dropped FSB down to 1520(380x9)(3.4) and memory still linked, NB down to 1.35 and left the CPU voltage at +.18750. Got through a full 3Dmark06 test and and now running prime95 for about 2 hours with no errors.

I'm coming from an ASUS P5N-T deluxe which did 3.6 but required a very high CPU voltage. Not sure what I should try next to get stable at 400x9 but I will follow this thread and post when I can. I do know one thing though, it's much snappier than than the ASUS board and installed Windows a heck of a lot quicker.

[x-built-Stan]

I'm editing this post to clarify the beep codes. When you boot there are two series of beep codes with a slight delay between them. The first is the boot beep code - see table below. The second is the number of USB devices plugged into teh motherboard directly. So if you get 1 long <pause> 2 short you have an OK POST with 2 USB devices plugged into the motherboard. Note that plugging multiple devices into a monitor or USB hub and them plugging the monitor or hub into the motherboard only counts a sone device - 1 short beep. If you are concerned or confused, unplug all USB devices and boot to get the 'true' sequence.

Overspeed,

Here are thge AMI beep codes. Note that the 1 long is a good POST.

AMI BIOS Beep Codes:

1 short DRAM refresh failure The programmable interrupt timer or programmable interrupt controller has probably failed
2 short Memory parity error A memory parity error has occurred in the first 64K of RAM. The RAM IC is probably bad
3 short Base 64K memory failure A memory failure has occurred in the first 64K of RAM. The RAM IC is probably bad
4 short System timer failure The system clock/timer IC has failed or there is a memory error in the first bank of memory
5 short Processor error The system CPU has failed
6 short Gate A20 failure The keyboard controller IC has failed, which is not allowing Gate A20 to switch the processor to protected mode. Replace the keyboard controller
7 short Virtual mode processor exception error The CPU has generated an exception error because of a fault in the CPU or motherboard circuitry
8 short Display memory read/write error The system video adapter is missing or defective
9 short ROM checksum error The contents of the system BIOS ROM does not match the expected checksum value. The BIOS ROM is probably defective and should be replaced
10 short CMOS shutdown register read/write error The shutdown for the CMOS has failed
11 short Cache error The L2 cache is faulty
1 long, 2 short Failure in video system An error was encountered in the video BIOS ROM, or a horizontal retrace failure has been encountered
1 long, 3 short Memory test failure A fault has been detected in memory above 64KB
1 long, 8 short Display test failure The video adapter is either missing or defective
2 short POST Failure One of the hardware testa have failed
1 long POST has passed all tests

[x-built-Stan]

All, I updated the original post for clarity. There seems to be some confusion around the beep codes. It is really pretty simple and straight forward.

I'm editing this post to clarify the beep codes. When you boot there are two series of beep codes with a slight delay between them. The first is the POST beep code - see table below. The second is the number of USB devices plugged into the motherboard directly. So if you get 1 long <pause> 2 short you have an OK POST with 2 USB devices plugged into the motherboard. Note that plugging multiple devices into a monitor or USB hub and then plugging the monitor or hub into the motherboard only counts as one device - 1 short beep. If you are concerned or confused, unplug all USB devices and boot to get the 'true' sequence.

Overspeed,

Here are thge AMI beep codes. Note that the 1 long is a good POST.

AMI BIOS Beep Codes:

1 short DRAM refresh failure The programmable interrupt timer or programmable interrupt controller has probably failed
2 short Memory parity error A memory parity error has occurred in the first 64K of RAM. The RAM IC is probably bad
3 short Base 64K memory failure A memory failure has occurred in the first 64K of RAM. The RAM IC is probably bad
4 short System timer failure The system clock/timer IC has failed or there is a memory error in the first bank of memory
5 short Processor error The system CPU has failed
6 short Gate A20 failure The keyboard controller IC has failed, which is not allowing Gate A20 to switch the processor to protected mode. Replace the keyboard controller
7 short Virtual mode processor exception error The CPU has generated an exception error because of a fault in the CPU or motherboard circuitry
8 short Display memory read/write error The system video adapter is missing or defective
9 short ROM checksum error The contents of the system BIOS ROM does not match the expected checksum value. The BIOS ROM is probably defective and should be replaced
10 short CMOS shutdown register read/write error The shutdown for the CMOS has failed
11 short Cache error The L2 cache is faulty
1 long, 2 short Failure in video system An error was encountered in the video BIOS ROM, or a horizontal retrace failure has been encountered
1 long, 3 short Memory test failure A fault has been detected in memory above 64KB
1 long, 8 short Display test failure The video adapter is either missing or defective
2 short POST Failure One of the hardware testa have failed
1 long POST has passed all tests