My Unofficial K8t Neo Guide

Question

Disclaimer: You try any and all troubleshooting at YOUR OWN RISK!!
Here is my unofficial guide to the K8t Neo fisr2 If you Like It give it a thumbs up so it will stick out. I will warn you it is long and I will edit off and on.
to add as needed.
first I'll start off with components,
CASE..you will need an atx case with good cooling a few extra fans like a blowhole at the top can help cooling, also bundle cables and power leads
so that they don't interfere with airflow.
MOTHERBOARD,...This is based on the K8TNEO series, when you attach it to your case make sure that is is mounted to risers to keep it from contacting case, they are usually small brass pins, also make sure that all the mounting screw are secure and in place, this will prevent the PCB from flexing and cracking as you install components, there should be around 9 or so screws, that usually go into the riser pins or raised case mounting points,don't forget to use those fiber or plastic insulated washers. These should be the only case contact point to the mobo other then the back plate with all the usb, net jacks etc..
Also use all of the mount points you can..if not you can crack mobo putting in cards etc...
CPU...Athlon64 processor2800+, 3000+, 3200+, or a 3400+, all 754 pin chips...k8neo CAN NOT USE FX chips or Opterons. 3200,&3000 are basically the same chip, same clockspeed of 2.0 ghz but the l2 cache is different 3200 1mb...3000 512k, you may not notice the difference in many applications but will see 2~10% diff in benchmark testing, the 3000 is usually about $75 cheaper
the 2800 is a newer model an a good way to get into 64bit without high cost.
PSU.... one of the most overlooked and most important component,
that old 300 watter you have from your old duron 800 don't even try.PSU's have caused a lot of trouble with a64 systems, they use a lot of power Get a good name brand psu if you can, and make sure it is at least 400 watts and has at the minimum of 20a on 12v, also look at combined total wattage
the psu must have a 20 pin connector and a 4  Pin( Square) Connector, and there is Only 1, Called the+12V 4 Pin Processor Connector.
some of the recommended brands are enermax,and antec.
Here is the reason most problems are the psu
amd64 uses 12v power, Intel chips used a lot of 5v power.
so until now most big psu's pushed 5 v not 12v
almost everything in your computer uses 12v except ram (3.3V)
AMD 64 and motherboard =12a @12V
so your already at 12A with no fan,s no hd, no CD,no DVD ,no mobo chip-set , no mem, no sound..etc  
so what happens is your mem gets starved for power and then gives out errors,in your data, which = corrupt sata,or it fails to post. .
MEMMORY...Another big trouble spot,not just with the MSI board but with Via chip-set, and or the A64 memory controller.
DDR non ecc- single channel 400 is baseline although slower chips also work, The CPU's memory unit only supports 4 banks total so in order to use three sockets at least two of the memory sticks have to be 1 bank,.one bank or two bank chips look similar so check specs, dual bank chips usually have chips on the back as well. mem should match type and speed. if you run into problems try going into bios and limiting ram to 333.mem should match type and speed.
(edited out till i find more info [STRIKEOUT] if using two mem sticks it is best to use slots 1 and 3,[/STRIKEOUT])
edit :ok tiresmoke just replied so have a look. "One thing that often does not get addressed. I had a couple Blue Screens early on. Here is how I fixed it. I run my RAM in sockets 1 and 3. 1 and 2 gave a little instability.Yes I decided to keep mine in slot 1/3 but I did test in 1/2 since I changed Bios. Typically slot 1/3 can slow you down but it did not with mine so best to say that difference RAM will give different symptoms. Try combinations to find what works best for you."
LOL Keep in mind that Jocko uses 3 sticks of dual bank RAM and according to AMD they only support 4 banks total. Jocko has 6 so you do the math.
you can check msi's website for compatible ram, but be careful it can be confusing,
they list by part numbers,
but some known configurations that work are:
I would stay away from corsair xms mem right now many people have problems.
corsair and kingston owners may want to look here
AMD 3000+ systems...
BIOS 1.2
2 x 512 - Corsair CMX DDR400 @2-3-2-5
2 x 512 - Corsair Twin Pro DDR400 @ 2-3-2-6
2 x 512 - Corsair Value Select DDR400 @ defaults
1 x 512 - Geil Golden Dragon DDR400 @ 2-3-3-6 (2.7V)
2 x 512 - Hynix DDR400 @ 2-3-3-6
2 x 512 - Kingmax DDR433 @ 2.5-3-3-6
2 x 512 - Kingston DDR400 @ 3-3-3-8
1 x 512 - Kingston HyperX DDR400 @ (defaults?)
1 x 512 - Kingston ValueRam (KVR400X64C3A) DDR400? @ (Defaults?)
2 x 512 - Muskin Level 1 DDR400 @ 2-3-2-6
2 x 512 - Muskin Level 2 DDR433 @ (defaults?)
2 x 256 + 1 x 512 - Muskin Basic DDR400 @ 2.5-3-3-8
1 x 1024 - OCZ EL DDR400 @ 2-3-2-6
BIOS 1.3b2
2 x 512 OCZ EL DDR433 @ 2-3-3-7
AMD 3200+ systems...
BIOS 1.1
2 x 512 - Mushkin Level 1 Black DDR433 @ 2.5-3-3-6
BIOS 1.2
2 x 512 - Apacer DDR400 @ 3-4-4-8 (2.5v)
2 x 512 - Corsair Twin X DDR400 @ 2-3-2-6
1 x 1024 - Corsair TwinX DDR400 @ 2-3-2-6
2 x 512 - Crucial DDR400 @ defaults
2 x 512 - Elixer OEM DDR400 @ defaults
1 x 1024 - GeIL GoldenDragon DDR400? @ defaults
2 x 512 - Geil Value Series 512MB DDR 2.5-3-3-6
2 x 512 - Hynix DDR400 @ 2-3-3-6
2 x 512 - Kingston HyperX KX DDR433 @ 2-3-3-8
2 x 512 - Kingston HyperX DDR400 @ (defaults?)
2 x 512 - Kingston HyperX DDR400 @ 2.5-3-3-8
2 x 512 - Mushkin Level 2 DDR400 @ 2-2-2-5 (2.75V)
2 x 256 - Mushkin Level 2 DDR400 @ 2-2-2-5
2 x 256 + 1 x 512 - Muskin Basic DDR400 @ (defaults?)
2 x 512 - Twinx CLPRO DDR400 @ (defaults?)
2x512- Pny Verto DDR433 @defualts
AMD 3400+ systems...
BIOS 1.2
2 x 512 - Kingmax (MPXC22D-38KT3R) DDR400 @ defaults
2 x 512 - Mushkin Level 2 Black DDR433 @ 2-3-2-5
you may have to email you mem manufacturer and manually set timings and voltages to get your memory working.
HARD DRIVES......Here you have alot of choices, basically two categories, SATA and PATA(IDE). There are many brands and speeds, IDE drives come in different speeds, such as ata33, ata66, ata 100, ata 133 for hard drives, the 33,100,133, being theoretical maximum transfer rating MB/sec.
newer ata(IDE)hard drives are ata100 which is ultra 5, and ata133 ,ultra6 is ,
PIO mode is the standard data transfer mode without the ultra enhancements, the fastest being 16.66 mb/sec. ultra 2 is 33 mb/sec . So when i say my CD,DVD, and DVD are ultra 2 it means they transfer at a maximum of 33 mb/sec, and my Maxtor hardrives are ultra 6 and have a maximum transfer of133 mb/sec. my old zip100 transfers at a max of 16 mb/sec since its in pio mode. Note these are maximum speeds, my hardrive transfers more like 65 mb/sec sustained according to SIS Sandra.
That is why SATA 150 is such a big deal, vs say a Western digital ata100
SATA is a different interface all together and can transfers closer to its maximum
theoretical speed. BUT the pci bus itself is limited to 133 mb/sec so an add-on card
should never be able to reach over 133, regardless, of SCSI,IDE, or SATA
so on the k8t neo you have some choices. With the IDE you can use, IDE1,2, or 3
IDE1&2 are ata100. ) to attach use a 80pin round or flat cable, the first slot goes into the mobo, the middle connector is for a slave or should be left empty, use the end for master, or single drive. you must also setup jumpers for hd or cds.
The master is primary unit and the slave is secondary unit, for each channel.
Or use the Cable Select jumper and USUALLY the BIOS will select the drive for you.
IDE1 & 2 is ata100, or 133 depending on board if using for only 2 drives put them on different channels
...ie master on IDE 1, and master on IDE 2 . that way they will have maximum bandwidth. especially for disk to disk copies or burning
IDE3 RAID is ata133, or can be raid 0 or 1 by the promise chip. 0 being striped for performance,1 being mirrored for safety, mirror only protects hd from failure,not viruses,or corruption for that you need a backup or as i prefer a drive image program such as accronis trueimage..linux compatible.and Norton ghost.you will first have to enable the promise chip in the bios, then you have to load drivers by hitting F6 during windows installation, and insert floppy drive, yes you will need a floppy, at least for initial setup. If you want to set up raid you will have to do that first before loading windows,by hitting ctrl+F  (read quick user's guide Serial ata raid, serial ata) only hd's can use ide3.If you don't have enough IDE slots you can add on pci card with one or two more headers for up to 4 more drives, I added a Maxtor ultra ata133, since i have 5 idehd's and 3 DVD/cds.
SATA, here you have two choices, use the Promise chip set or the Via. Either one or both can be set to raid0 or 1, see users guide to setup, You will also have to enable them first in bios, and F6 and load floppy drivers to use in windows install, or load drivers in windows if using an existing install. either chip-set can be set for raid, in the manual, opinions are that the Via is faster, but you wont have a HD LED activity indicator light, The promise will have a HD light, but is slightly slower.
Also note that SATAs don't OC as well as IDE hard drives, they can even crash and loose data.
always make a backup of your computer, and remember raid 1 does nothing for virus, or contaminated installs.
SOUND....Here you have a few choices, On board or Card, unfortunately not both, yet.(UPDATE Bios Version 1.5 and above will fix this)... If using a card there have been some issues with Audigy 1 cards, but there may be a cure in this threadhttps://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threadid=46849&sid=( Moved to stickies) audigy2 and 2zs cards work fine as do turtle beach.
on-board sound is not as high definition and uses some CPU cycles, so a card might be advantageous to gamers.
REALTEK GIGABIT...Is the on-board Ethernet, you will need to load drivers once in windows, it has caused some problems booting, as it can be set to a boot device as well. you will get a message "failed to boot press any key."..then "ntdlr error"...to fix this you may need to hit the key combination during boot to set it up, it will bring you to a menu, you need to set boot order, i recommend setting it to bios, and you can adjust or disable message and time length it is displayed.
VIDEO CARDS-  You should install an agp 8x directx9 video card for best performance. Ati has better directx support so is better for gaming, but Nvida has better OpenGL so if you want to do 3d in Linux, you have better luck with Nvida.
When you set up windows, install via 4-1 drivers first, then the video drivers, check video manufacturer's website for updated drivers. make sure any extra power leads are plugged in. In bios Agp should be  fast write enabled, and
if you are using 1024 of ram aperture size to 256, but check 3dmark to see which setting is faster.
BIOS- NO BIOS INSTALLED This is a message that you see during boot up from the promise on-board raid saying that it found no drives attached to its SATA or IDE channels so it's not installed the BIOS.This IS NOT a problem or anything to worry about!
jumping Bios reset jumper, be careful, make sure power is off.  jump it and return it to the original position. If you power on with jumper in reset position you can erase your bios...requiring a Return to Manufacturer Authorization(RMA)
I have had no problems using windows updating to the latest bios ,It cured some issues, such as firewire ports, sound blaster audigy1 troubles,tweaked temps displayed,and so on. but be sure to have a backup of original bios disk. I have heard new 1.8 beta bios cures Newcastle temp problems.
some good settings are.. SMART enabled this will warn you of hard disk failure,System bios cacheble and shadow ram are more for older computers and should be set to disable.boot to os2- disable...memory setting vary by card and some even need to be set manually so check with manufacturer or get familiar with cmos reset jumper.(just be sure to have power off)...plug and play os to disable(more of a win 98 thing) disable serials and parallel ports if you don't need them, as with on-board sound firewire etc. this is just a few pointers the rest is a more personal thing, but i have heard turbo setting causes problems and is best left to fast, and dynamic oc'ing is similar use at your own risk
USB keyboard don't forget to enable USB in the BIOS. This caused some problems when installing XP. Without USB enabled in BIOS when you come to the "Hit any key to proceed" the install will fail with the ntldr error
POWER SAVINGS...Having trouble getting fans or case lights to shut off on standby set to S3, then disable apm, and be sure to set a wakeup event..such as wake from usb, or keyboard command. I have agp boot disable, but depends on card.
Want to know more about bios, and what those settings are? click this link
http://www.rojakpot.com/(eb1mg5zatgcf5r55lv5no155)/default.aspx?location=9
CORE CENTER....Another personal choice, I like it and use it a lot, to increase and decrease fsb without going through bios. the NB fan sensor should read 0 unless you plug a fan onto it, personally i have an 80mm antec and it doesn't read it, but i tried a old CPU fan and it worked fine.
COOL AND QUIET Another personal choice, I don't use it because some people have had there CPUs power down in the middle of games, and such
(it goes down to 800 MHz) others had small bugs in there system that went away when they disabled it. But some like it and use it a lot. Good for energy savings.
want to get your boot time down
start by selecting  OS drive as first in boot sequence, you can always change bios when you want to boot from floppy or CD(which isn't often).disable floppy drive seek
then clean out your startup folder under rt click explore start button.
try and get services set to auto down to about 25. defrag your hdrive routinely,
. ditch wall paper, and get rid of windows startup screen.(msconfig,boot.ini.and check noguiboot). keep your drivers updated
if you can find it you can use then try bootvis, but microsoft doesn't support it anymore.Programs ..some useful free utilities are listed below, check goggle, until i make links for them.
SiS Sandrahttp://www.sisoftware.net/, a good all around benchmark,burn in and, info display
3DMARK.http://www.futuremark.com/download/.Mostly a Video tester, good for checking OC though.
Microsoft Memory testerms memtester
+86memtest.http://www.memtest86.com/..and Prime95http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htmvery good mem testers, and tests for stability
spybot search and destroy, http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=homeand
Lavasoft's ad-aware http://www.lavasoftusa.comgot to have for house cleaning.
atitool, http://atitool.ocfaq.com/oc ap for ati cards,click find max core let it go for 15min or so,then set back to default, and click find max mem...for 15min or so, and now you have the max you can set your video card too.(but set safety limits before manually setting)
[STRIKEOUT]mbm5 mbm5 link good alternative temp readings to corecenter.[/STRIKEOUT]
good program but discontinued.
OTHER USEFUL PROGRAMS
Norton utilities, good all around disk and OS utility
Norton Internet secuirity, or similar firewall and virus protector
Norton ghost, or other drive image software fantastic for backups
BF1942...lol just fun
HOME NETWORKING I will add this part because of additional posing of errors
dealing with USB Broadband routers...try using on board realtek or other Ethernet connection it will save your sanity.
well i have a real poor mans router setup for you
2 Ethernet slots, one for for broadband router and one to share.
if you only want one other computer, use a crossover cable, otherwise, use a hub or switch(better) and let Internet connection wizard and home networking on your machines work their magic,want a firewall download some software there are even, fairly decent free ones.the speed of the card isn't important because broadband still isn't over 10mb/sec yet, so blow the dust off that card in the closet and put it to work.or if your really brave or really cheap you can try to use the usb input from broadband, and on board ether, or firewire port, to link computers
Trouble shooting
for total no boot/post failure
I know you may know how to build a  computer, and i know this is basic, so bear with me here, but at this point you have to do a methodical by the book check list.
revision
A: when you first install your motherboard make sure it does not contact case,
use all nine mounting points, make sure that your case either has built in risers, or use the small brass standoffs, and don't forget the fiber washers.
when you installed your CPU you:
1 ___you properly handle equipment so no static damage can occur, (properly grounded)
2____.you fully lift the CPU ziff socket arm up, orient the gold triangle marking arrow,pins and it easily dropped into socket, with no bent pins ,
3 ___ backer plate mounted carefully no missing pieces of the board flying off, ( i have seen people launch capacitors, and the like )
4 ____obviously you removed the plastic thermal pad cover, and heatsink was evenly locked down, and fully seated, and correctly plugged into mobo cpufan1.
and you fully removed old thermal pad/grease and applied new artic silver, or new heatsink with plastic on pad,you didn't reuse old paste or pad.
memory
5 _____memory stick(not sticks, at this point you just want to get it working, not full blast with a gig of ram etc)is fully seated and properly oriented in slot, and is 184 pin ddr non-registered , non ecc ram , and you have tried different non corsair, non twinmoss, brands that have been known to work. and/ or
tried to set manually mem speed/voltage for some models of corsair, twinmoss, and kingston)
6.____ plug in only power switch pins 6,8and power led to jfp1, pins 2,4 and they are turned correctly,
7. ____your new psu has the 20 pin and square 4 pin power connector plugged in to jpw1 turned right and fully seated. and has  a bare min of 18a on 12v+ rail.
8 ____your video card is fully seated an locked down,also securely screwed in.
9 ____your floppy drive cable iss facing right way (pin1 is matched with red stripe)
10. ____you have ata cables for hd and CD set to master/slave or cs. with hard drive set as master, end of cable.
11 _____the power plugs are all fully seated, including psu rear plug,floppy ,hd, and CD.
12. _____keyboard(ps2) and mouse plugged in, monitor plugged into video card,
13 ______every thing is fully secured in case, side cover is off.
14 ______CMOS jumper is set 1,2 keep data, all usb stuff is unplugged, except for dbracket.
power it up, one beep, fans spin, in psu and CPU, and video card,
you get no bios found error,(promise adapter not finding satas..no worries)
or hit Del to go into bios, set boot order, and .......
.........your now at the end of the road, and it should by all means work,
now what i am after,
there are no bent pins, on CPU, you reapplied artic silver paste.
no loose wires,
properly applied heat sink with fan cooling,
you have tried different brands of known ,to work in an MSI k8tneo
ddr ram 1 stick at a tme.
you have tried different video cards, and in case of higher end card, the external molex power supply as plugged in,
you have tried different ata hard drives
you then have tried have set up your SATA drive correctly .
everything is securely plugged in ..fully seated and oriented the right way?
what are d-bracket error light, and any beep codes?
you have tried a different wall outlet, you have changed surge protectors,
you never hot plugged video cards, hd cables or power etc.
i know this redundant , and basic , it is not meant to be insulting , it is meant to be a checklist and rule out all basic errors and potential problems
if your mem bandwidth is slower then 3000..like 2400 this may help
Received from a user - Slow memory 1T Command fix
OK, here's what to do. Download the following ftp://ftp.vector.co.jp/pack/win95/hardware/other/wpcrs120.exe extract it, and run InstDD.exe. It'll ask to reboot, you don't need to do it right away, at least I didn't have to. Fire up WPCRSET.exe and do the following. Under startup, click on start, and under device, click enable. Now click add. The bus device and function will be 0,24, and 2. The register and data values will be the 93,08. There we have it! Enjoy everyone. I know I'm much happier now.  
Here's a graphic to make it easier:
I will add more by edit, or post as needed but i should post now so it can be put to use.
I would like to Thank BAS,wonkaboy, Jocko, ethereal, Tiresmoke, Reilly, and the many others whose valued input helps solve problems.

Answer 1

Quote
amd 64=12a @12V
ati 9800=7.5~10.5a @12V (assuming 90~125 watts) a max load,
a 9600 ir nvida 5200 used far less power
so your already at 18a with no fan,s no hd, no cd,no dvd ,no mobo chipset , no mem, no sound..etc
If you exclude the motherboard, memory, etc like you did there, the amd 64 draws 7.2A @ 12V.
90~125W for an ATI 9800?! [irony]Are you working for a PSU manufacturer or what?[/irony] That's just absurd.  
Go read this post to get a feel for the actual power consumption: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?postid=297061&sid=#post297061