K8N Diamond Plus - ram issue

Ok, I just got this board and some bran new Corsair ram to go with it. The problem is the ram will not do 1/1 clocking. It will only do 5/6 and reads it as 333 ram, which it is not. I tried to change it in the bios manually but it will not go above 5/6 clocking. So at 222FSB I am only running the ram at 185MHz. Here is my system specs.
MSI K8N Diamond Plus - Athlon XP64 3200+
Corsair TwinX 2048-3500LLPRO (2x 1gig PC3500)
OCZ 600w PSU
Does anyone have any ideas how I might be able to accomplish running the ram at 1/1 speed? Is there some bios update that I'm not aware of (the live update says there isn't any)?
Thank you!

Quote from: K6dude on 20-January-06, 13:23:13
Hi,
I think you might need to use banks 1 and 2 to get the 128bit contoller working, otherwise you will be stuck with the 64 bit single channel mode.
Not sure what's up with the 4 banks full though for Latin.
A possible fix could be to reduce the HT multi?
I assume that you all know that Corsair default ram Voltage is 2.75v, and MSI is known for only giving 2.5 to 2.6v. Try manually setting 2.75 or even 2.8v and see if that helps.
K6dude
Thank you for the help... I just found the entry in the User's Guide on page 2-7. I followed the instructions of using banks 1 and 2, my computer would not boot. I used banks 3 and 4, like what was also shown on the table, my computer would not boot at all. As far as the voltage goes, I have it set at 3.0 volts so there's plenty of power.
On every configuration I have tried I am watching the LED lights on the ram and they are getting power on the bootup just fine, I hear my hard drives spin up, all fans spin up just fine, but monitors don't turn on. For some reason, it's just not reading the ram right. The only way it boots up is with the sticks in 1 and 3 slot. Any ideas?

Similar Messages

K8N Diamond Plus shutdown issue

I am running the K8N Diamond Plus with bios 1.2
3500+ <stock ghz>
2x1gb corsair
1 74gb raptor
1 7900GT 256
2 samsung dvd burners
OCZ520ADJSLI powersupply
2 case fans
Recently, my powersupply went out and i ordered a new one.. same model...when i hooked it up and turned on the computer, Windows loaded, i logged and shortly after i logged in, the computer shutdown... like, no blue screen, no reboot... it just turned off like it was shuttingdown or someone pulled the power cord.
confused, i hit the power button and the computer turned back on, but this time, it barely made it to the login screen and it shut off again.. each time, i would turn it on, it would shut off sooner than the previsous time. so i stripped everything out.. no fans, no hd, do dvds, different ram, same cpu, same vid card. This time i just booted to the bios. at 30 seconds it turned off. i turned it back on. at 23 seconds it shut off, i turned it back on. at 15 seconds it shut off, i turned it back on... it got to the point that as soon as i would hit the power button, it would shut off...
thinking that i could of possible received a bad power supply, i hooked it up to a different mother board. this system did not shut off.
any ideas on what could be going on? unfortunatly at this time i do not have another power supply to test on this board. I will pick one up if people think the power supply could be the problem.
thanks in advance!!

hello, sound like a bad new psu to me did you plug in both mobo connectors? do you have a volt meter to ck psu outputs might try that. another psu would be the next thing to try. good luck Henry

K8N Diamond Plus memory issue

Hi all,
Just replaced my ASUS A8N32-SLi Deluxe with the above board (what an excellent choice, glad to be back on MSI!).
Anyway - my problem is this:
When inserting two x 1GB double-sided PC3200 modules, the BIOS auto detects the memory as DDR333 rather than the DDR400 it should be. Removing one stick immediately fixes the problem, and shows up as DDR400.
The memory is Micron - MT16VDDT12864AY
Now I noticed that these sticks are on the compatibility list, but with one slight problem - the ones listed show the last 4 digits differently, but how different can they be?
Any suggestions would be most welcome, I need my extra GB of memory back!
Rgds,
czrsiNk

Quote from: Stick on 09-February-06, 16:48:02
once again, it is not a mobo issue since the memory controller is on the CPU. What kind of CPU are you using? Did you place your memory in slots 1&2 (green and purple)? what are the memory timings and voltages that you are using in BIOS?
Hello Stick, My new PC with a diamond plus mobo should arrive tomorrow (see signature for rest of bits). Over the last few weeks I've read most of what has been written here on this mobo. You have on a number of occasins commented that the memory problem, if it is a problem, is CPU related which must be true in the strictest sense but surely the mobo configuration and control systems must also play a part? If this were not the cae then would not other forums be commenting on similar memory problems with AMD 64 CPUs? If that is correct then the solution lies with MSI.
By the way, I make these comments to you because you appear to have consierable experience with MSI boards and I hope will shed more light on the issue rather than confuse.
Talking of confusion, I tried to banish that from my mind by downloading the PDF manual for the diamond plus. Its states that double-sided memory will only run in dual channel mode if 2 separate DImm channels are used (assuming you only have 2 sticks). Channel A is on Dimm1 and 3, Channel B is on Dimm2 and 4 - therefore, and the manual makes this clear, if you have two sticks the choice is to put the sticks in DIMM1 and 2, or, DIMM3 and 4. There are no other choices! Putting sticks in DIMM1 and 3 will not enable dual-channel and the result is DDR333.
But, the manual might be wrong, I might not understand it correctly - both?
Bottom line - I'm confused and doubtful about exactly where the sticks should go. I think I have it right above.
Dear Stick, please jot down a few lines indicating what you believe the correct solution is for two sticks of double-sided memory running dual-channel at DDR400.
Thanks very much, Tanimbar

K8N Diamond Plus Sound Issue

I connected my Creative Inspire P7800 90 Watts 7.1 Speaker with the Sound Blaster Auidiogy on board sound card. I can run the "Test Speaker" program and get sounds from each speaker, but I can not get sound when I play a CD or music file from the desktop. What am I doing wrong?

Quote from: SnOt_BuBbLe on 30-March-06, 11:59:47
If you are getting sound when you are "testing" but not when trying to play files it could be that you didn't connect your cd rom to your sound card's auxillary (for playing cd or dvd) or you have certain file types muted...for example...it is possible you have wave muted...but midi is not. check your volume control properties and see what is marked with a red X...creative is notorious for having some sources muted.
STUPID QUESTION #1, With the Diamond Plus Sound card having sound card on board the MB, where do I find the AUX of the sound card?
STUPID QUESTION #2 I recall years ago having similar issues with a sound blaster card, and yes it was related to some things being muted. Where are those volume control property settings, and what are the proper settings?

K8N Diamond Plus Ram problems OCZ

I have a problem getting my board to find my OCZ pc3500 el ram as ddr 400, in auto the find em as ddr 333 and cant get em up too ddr 400.In manuel too
they still only find em as ddr 266 or ddr 333, tried too update my bios too 1.2 but then board gets unstable but can find emas ddr 400 in manuel mode but how too find the ram as ddr 400 with the 1.00 bios where board is stable.

Quote from: Whisper72 on 13-October-06, 23:32:42
thx for the response and that last tip from bosskiller worked like a charm my ram was sitting in dimm 1 and 3, now sitting in 1-2 and working perfeckt with manuel mode thx all
you are welcome mate , also keep in a mind Syar advice if you are planning to upgrade your memory in a future.

K8N Diamond Plus SATAII issue

I've got a little problem in that the BIOS is not recognising my WD SATA drive. This is a brand new board so can anyone tell me if a BIOS update or Nvidia update will fix this? I had the same issue on a ASUS A8N SLI-Deluxe board.

Yeah same problem with the drive on the ASUS board I have. This is actually the second 400GB drive, because after the first attempt I took it straight back to be swapped over. I initially thought it was a faulty drive issue but I doubt that could be the case for two in a row and only on the 400GB's. The 160's all worked fine.

K8N Diamond Plus + Vista upgrade issues + Memory

When I go to install Vista Business , I receive an error before the install saying that my motherboard is Non-ACPI compliant. I went into the bios and and made sure that all ACPI settings were turned on. Also I installed 2 more gigs about a month ago and only see 3 gigs on post instead of the 4 that is installed. I tried to update my BIOS using the MSI utility but received a memory error saying it can detect the correct amount. I ran MEMtest and it passed .Here are my system specs:
K8n Diamond Plus - Bios ver 1.0
AMD Ath 64 x2 4800 toledo
4 gigs of Corsair XMS DDR433 3500LLPRO
2 x EVGA 7950 GT KO Superclocked 512mb
WD Raptor 74 ( OS)
WD SE16 320 gb (storage)
Plextor 18x
PC Power and Cooling Turbo Cool 510 SLI
XP SP2

Quote from: iampiglet on 02-February-07, 23:18:28
When I go to install Vista Business , I receive an error before the install saying that my motherboard is Non-ACPI compliant. I went into the bios and and made sure that all ACPI settings were turned on. Also I installed 2 more gigs about a month ago and only see 3 gigs on post instead of the 4 that is installed. I tried to update my BIOS using the MSI utility but received a memory error saying it can detect the correct amount. I ran MEMtest and it passed .Here are my system specs:
K8n Diamond Plus - Bios ver 1.0
AMD Ath 64 x2 4800 toledo
4 gigs of Corsair XMS DDR433 3500LLPRO
2 x EVGA 7950 GT KO Superclocked 512mb
WD Raptor 74 ( OS)
WD SE16 320 gb (storage)
Plextor 18x
PC Power and Cooling Turbo Cool 510 SLI
XP SP2
I have the same motherboard with 4GB Ram. I had to enable the memory hole in the memory configuration of the bios for it to see the full 4GB. However, Windows 32-bit will not show the full 4GB ram since 32-bit addressing limit is 4GB and all your peripherals have to be included like vid card memory, etc. So don't beat your head against your desk once you get your bios seeing the 4GB and Windows 32-bit doesn't. My Vista gives 2.8GB ram of my 4GB, some get more, but I know I have two video cards with 768MB ram also. I'm using 1.2 bios.
Incidently, I ordered an OEM Vista X64, it will be interesting to see if it sees all my memory since 64-bit can go up to enormous addressing ranges.
Good Luck

Anoying issue with K8N Diamond PLUS and overclocking.

I just got the motherboard wehn i overclock and restart the PC either from windows or BIOS etc. The PC will not boot and have to turn it off then turn back on. Apart from this annoying issue it's a great board better theen my A8N SLi Premium mostly due to the extra CPU voltage yay :D Is anyone else getting this issue?
System spcs are
AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ @ 2766MHz (1.6v)
2GB Crucial Tracer PC4000
2x DELL Slient Geforce 7800GTX 256MB card
Espison 700w SLi cert PSU with EPS CPU voltage connected
Koolance EXOS AI Watercooling
MSi K8N Diamond PLUS
2x 150GB Raptor X in RAID-0
Coolermaser RC-830 w/ 4x 140mm + 3x 120mm fans

thats funny mine did that when i first got it , but when i received my new memory and video card everything was normal...so i dont remember if it was the memory or the VC..i just totally forgot about it..funny though i thought it was only me

K8N Diamond Plus Power Supply Issue?????

I just recently got my pc functional. I am getting an error from the nvidia software about the power supply. I am running a 600W supply. This machine has 2 western digital 250g hard drives, 1 western digital 500g hard drive, 2 nvidia 7900 gtx w/512mb single gpu graphics cards, 1 floppy drive, 1 dvd-cdrw burner, 1 13-n-1 media reader, case has 2 - 120mm fans, 1 cpu fan, 1 nb fan, built in sound blaster audigy, about 8 usb 2.0 ports, a couple of firewire ports. The mobo is the K8N Diamond Plus MSI board. The nvidia software keeps telling me that the video cards aren't getting enough juice. With 600w is this possible? The power supply is made by Ultra. Any insite would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bill

Did you connect the pci-express connectors from your power supply to the connectors on the video cards? If your power supply is indeed not sufficient then take a look at this one. It will easily handle your system..
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/OCZ_GXS_700W_PSU/

MSI-K8N Diamond Plus - which memory?

Hello,
I will soon buy the K8N Diamond PLus motherboard. For that motherboard, I have selected the following memory: Corsair 512 Mo DDR-SDRAM PC3200 CMX Cas-2. But I can not find if this is ok for this type of motherboard. Does someone knows something about that? ???
Thx in advance!

Marlysa,
I would suggest that you stay away from the corsair xms ram as i figured the sme thing when I built my system, that it,s Corsair and its the #1 selected ram and usualy the most compatible, But this is not the case with this motherboard it's very picky about hardware pretty much the same as DFI board's!!!
Of course the CORSAIR WEBSITE will tell you this they want youre money!!!!!! Their certainly not going to reccomend OCZ MEMMORY that's for sure!!!!!
Please reconsider youre decision as I myself have traveled down that road you about to take. Personaly I love Corsair ram and i certainly wont bash it, but get the OCZ5002048ELGEGXT-K it cost me $213.00 wth tax for 2 gigs instead of $160.00 with tax for the corasir xms 2- 512 sticks Believe me you will be thankful that you took my suggestion!!!!! with the new 1.20 BIOS at optimized default's it posts and configures itself automatically where as befor you would usealy have to configure it manually in bios to get it to post at 500mhz believe me this OCZ MEMORY ROCKS!!!!
Save youreself alot of this.... BUY IT!!!!!!
Brother Esau
P.S just check around the forum their's alot of peop[le that have issues with the DIAMOND PUS AND CORSAIR RAM.

K8N Diamond Plus audio out problem

Hi,
I'm having an issue with the audio out on my K8N Diamond Plus. The rear audio out works fine when left jumpered. However when I connect the front panel audio connector to the mother board the volume of the rear audio out drops to an almost in audable level while the front panel audio works as expected.
At first I thought the rear audio had been completely disabled until I tried turning my speakers all the way up.
Is there a software issue here?
FYI I'm trying to use the front pannel audio connection on a Silverstone TJ07 case.

hey - mikein_texas here - i have same board but with a Centurion case -
couple of things i ran into - maybe will spark some ideas
initally i hooked up front panel audio and got nothing
then i read on page 2-19 of manual that 5-6,9-20 have to be jumpered for rear audio to work
but that means no front audio which was a drag - but solved that prob with usb mike and headphones
apparently unless i am reading it wrong and someone please correct me if so, but you can have front audio OR rear audio
BUT not both
again look at page 2-19 in manual and specifically at text in grey box in middle of page
Yukon PXE 2.01 ( 20040406 )
Pre-boot Execution Environment PXE v.2.1
DLink Cable Modem - model DCM-202
ViewSonic VX2025WM 20.1" Widescreen TFT LCD - 1680x1050, 800:1, 8ms
MSI K8N Diamond Plus Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX AMD
SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Model SFD321B/LBL1
SONY Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s
XFX Geforce 7600GT PV-T73G-UDD3 Video Card
SAMSUNG 16X DVD±R DVD Burner - 5X DVD-RAM Write and LightScribe Black ATA/ATAPI Model SH-S162L/BEBN
COOLER MASTER Centurion 532 RC-532-SKN1 Black Computer Case
AMD Opteron 165 Denmark 1000MHz HT 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core
CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3808110AS 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Ultra ULT31849 X-Finity 600W Power Supply
Cooler Master A12025-12CB-5BN-L1- 120 x 120 x 25mm 1200rpm, 43cfm, 22dBA, LED, 3-pin - front intake case fan
Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 1,600rpm, 49.0CFM, 20.1dBA, 3-pin, 120mm S-FDB Bearing - rear exhaust case fan

K8N Diamond Plus Questions?

I have a some questions about my K8N Diamond Plus. I recently replaced a K8N Neo Nforce 3 board and some other parts as well. The machine has been working very well with this new board so far but there are a few issues I’d like to get resolved.
1. Does anyone know if there is a new BIOS out for this board? I have that problem where at start up it shows that I have a new card in one of my PCI slots even though I do not….it does’nt seem to hurt the machine at all it’s just annoying….i’m wondering if they released a BIOS that corrected that?
2. On my old board I overclocked the machine with no problems at all. Now I’m no expert at over clocking but I do like to dable a little and last time I did I had no problems. This board seems like it will over clock well so I went and got better RAM….i just received some Corsair XMS 2GB DDR 400. I went into the Cell Menu to look at the options for the RAM and saw much, much more then I had on my old Neo board.
I know I need to adjust the CAS Latency, RAS# to CAS# delay, Min RAS# Active Time and the Row Precharge Time for this RAM….people have been saying that their motherboards do not detect the correct timings for this RAM (2.5-3-3-6) so you need to adjust it Manually…along with uping the Voltage to 2.7.
My question is…..do I need to worry about any other options under the MCT Timing Mode besides the 4 I mentioned above? Also…I could’nt seem to adjust the Voltage for the RAM? Every time I high lighted it and hit enter nothing would pop up for me to adjust (and it is white not gray like some things are)….is there something I’m missing that I need to shut off in order to access it???
Thanks ahead of time for anyone that can provide me with some answers.

I have not been able to find any information on those other settings. It is my current project and I am not having a great amount of success.
The defaults for them do not seam to have any adverse effect on stability the system in my signature is my MS-7220 system at FSB=225, CPU multiplier of 12, Memory/FSB =1/1 system is quite stabile if I am not playing with the BIOS settings.
I am working on, some major some minor these current problems. Watch out for number three it will flat blow your BIOS Parameters. It happens on my system every time, but I not been able to find any body that is will to trash the BIOS to verify it, so I can be sure it is a real BIOS problem or my system. “MCP Timing Mode” use to do the same thing, that where the V1.16 BIOS version came form MSI Tech Support sent my that one to fix the problem and this one looks to be the same.
1.   First boot screen the line “DRAM = 400 MHz, Dual-Channel.” It reads 400 MHz do matter what that actual memory transfer rate actually is.
2.   Cell Menu parameter “Adjust DDR Voltage (V)”, has two problems (1) the BIOS default voltage is outside the manufacture specification for normal operating range. BOIS default is 2.65V and manufacture states the Memory Module should be operated between 2.7V minimum and 2.9V maximum. (2) The voltage cannot be set to the manufactures minimum voltage of 2.7V. Starting with the BIOS default voltage of 2.65V and you press “+” key once and voltage jumps to 2.75V, press the “-“ key and the voltage jumps back to BIOS default of 2.65V.
3.   Cell Menu>Memory Configuration>User Config Mode parameter, when set to “Manual” and all of the “User Config Mode” sub-parameters left at BIOS default. The system will not boot. When I say will not boot I mean Blank Screen, no beeps, no drive activity, just case and motherboard fans come on.
4.   Menu “CPU Frequency Configuration”, parameter Adjust CPU VID. CPU correct voltage tracks the set by about 0.03V high. Example: if Adjust CPU VID to 1.375V and actual vCore voltage is about 1.405 Volts. The offset is maintained through the voltage adjustment range of the current CPU.
Roger
When submitting a problem, include a complete list of your system components; include part numbers, all Power Supply Voltages, and their output ratings. It is almost impossible to estimate what your problem is without knowing something about it.

K8N Diamond Plus: I LOVE THIS MB!!

I'm not a huge overclocker...but I soon will be. Sorry i just had to give major props to msi this time around..im spending way too much time with this thing and my gf is getting jealous

Quote from: nthexwn on 03-February-06, 11:44:39
Mine is being a major pain in the arse!
It refuses to recognize my Corsair XMS PC3200 memory as anything but DDR333. I've tried tinkering around with the BIOS several times but it either locks up (thank god for the CMOS reset switch) or doesn't change anything when I reset the frequency (by the way what the heck is with the numbers after the 133, 166, 200mhz, etc. options under the manual memory timings? The ones that say "us" after them. Is that microseconds?). I've even tried overclocking it through the BIOS with no luck and then I tried overclocking it in Windows with Ntune (which MSI seems to have butchered support for) and finally with Corecell which is being stupid and won't let me do any overclocking but the D.O.T options. I had the K8N Neo2 Platinum a while ago and I had control over the FSB with Corecell on that motherboard. When I try to adjust the memory frequency in the BIOS it just gives me ratio options. When I set it to 1/1 with a 200mhz FSB it STILL only runs at DDR333. I'm not even allowed to force the damn thing! Also, all of those smaller memory timings are nice to have, but I don't understand them all and it forces you to set some of them to settings other than auto if you want to, say, change the command timing from 2T to 1T (which I still haven't been able to do without a lockup). On top of that, the SPD is detecting different timings EVERY TIME I RESET CMOS. I seriously need a newbie mode where it just lets me adjust the 4 standard timings (my memory supports 2,2,2,5 at DDR400 in dual channel but this motherboard doesn't friggin' understand that!), frequency, voltage, and command timing, but instead I have to deal with all of these obscure timings that I've never heard of, and when I get them wrong I have to start all over again. The documentation is sparse at best and the amateur English that MSI speaks in all of their documentation is infuriating. I swear my purchasing decisions will be based on comprehension of the English language by the company that I'm purchasing from rather than actual product quality in the future.
I'm about to go nuclear... I'm going to do some browsing here as I assume that I'm not alone on this issue?
No signature yet so here are my system specs:
-MSI K8N Diamond Plus
-AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Venice)
-1Gb (2x512) Corsair XMS PC3200 PRO (2,2,2,5)
-Raidmax 460W PSU (Only 14Amps on +12v, new power supply due for delivery on the 6th)
-MSI NX7800GT
-WD2500JS
-Don't think other components are related to issues
OMG buddy !! R U KIDDING ME....why the **** would u even get this board if you dont even know the first thing about overclocking....i suggest you educate yourself first then start asking questions...I think this board is too big for your britches...you should definitely stick with a nice and simple intel board especially if you dont even know how to put the ram into dual channel mode(do a search buddy its there!! the search button on the top of this page isnt just for looks!!!).....geeez how do you expect to do anything else..i'm just scared that you'll fry your board before you even get a chance to enjoy it...i have the same board and have no problems running 2 gigs pc 3200 (running dual channel), using ntune, manipulating the FSB or anything else...what the hell r u doing using core cell to overclock ...if your going to over clock dont pussy around fiddling with that thing...Do everything manually!! ...get cpuz get everest or something ...OMG ... PLEAASE for the sake of the board DO SOME RESEARCH
[Post edited by Tiresmoke] Knock off the double bold shouting and use of bad language. Also learn to spell and drop the crap AOL speak. I am watching and this is an official warning... This is a family freindly forum and this behavior will not be tolerated. I have looked at several of your posts and you have others with the same crap. Grow up or begone...

I need help DDR voltage and latencies (K8N Diamond Plus)

I noticed my DDR voltage was incorrect in the bios and I don't know what "Auto" is doing with my timings. I have 2GB of Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR400 Memory installed on DIMM1 and DIMM2 of my K8N Diamond Plus board.
So far I've made the following changes (as my RAM's specs indicate) in the BIOS but I'm new to this (first build).
DDR Voltage 2.75V
CAS 2.0
tRCD 3
tRP 3
tRAS 6
I left everything else at it's default setting. Are there any other changes I should make?

Quote from: memeticvirus on 14-May-06, 15:41:10
I'm having an issue with the 1.10 BIOS that is preventing me from manualy setting the timings...The problem I'm having right now is deciding what BIOS to install and where to download it. Perhaps you could help me with that?
With pleasure! I had the same problem with the v1.10 BIOS, as did another member here. I flashed BACK to the v1.0 BIOS (make sure to use the command line switched (just run the batch file)) and was able to set timings, and then I flashed directly to the 3.0A BIOS and was able to adjust timings still. See my old thread here.
For my success (I don't know if any or all of these influenced it, but I'm just happy it works) in flashing I did the following:
Download the 1.0 (original) and 3.0A (latest "official") BIOS images from MSI's support site.
Downloaded the DrDos BIOS flash bootable ISO CD image from bootdisk.com
Used my ISO software to add the BIOS image files onto the ISO image.
Burned the ISO to CD.
Booted from the CD
Flashed to 1.0
Cut Power (flipped PSU switch in back), held down the CMOS reset switch button on the mobo and the power button for 45 seconds.
Powered up, set "Optimized Defaults" and set memory voltage to 2.75v and rebooted.
Set all "normal" BIOS parameters (boot devices, et al).
Windows (x64) loaded with no issues, Everest reported timings appropriately
Did the same procedure for the 3.0A BIOS, with similar success.
You can see my post or click on the link in my sig for detailed memory reports.
Quote from: RogerP on 15-May-06, 03:04:55
Are you running just one set of TWINX2048-3200C2's?
Just one pair. I fiddled with the CR and the only result was with the single known good DIMM my latency got slightly slower (like a 5ns drop), but still no love with 2 DIMMS. I think it is just dead. But this is not my story (at least not in this thread)...this is memticvirus's story.

MSI K8N Diamond Plus - Guide to my first week

OK, not a newb here, but been around the block quite a bit. MSI K8N Diamond Plus is my 5th A64 mobo (ECS K8M800, my daily undestroyed computer, K8T800, my 12 year olds gamer, Asus A8V Deluxe, first 939 system, Abit AN8 SLI, first SLI gamer, and now the MSI Diamond Plus). Had the KDP (K8N Diamond Plus) for more than a week now, and here's what I've learned.
This is state of the art again, and we have no one to blame but ourselves for the pain this causes us when we upgrade like lunatics
And as usual, the drivers and BIOS are al Dente (i.e. not cooked enought yet, a little raw)
MSI is also oddly silent on this system, which is wierd, as they are a large company, and specifically cater to enthusiasts. But their BIOS guys are MIA. Hopefully this will not be forever. Asus, ABIT, DFI, Epox are always fast with fixes
The board is a nice design, with everything basically accessible, as much as any other board. Lots of purposeful components, not too many dumb frills. No tooty fruity colors, but rather practical parts.
The new 2 piece NForce chipset is fine, and the MSI guys gave us a decent, but funky cooler. It gets a little warm to the touch when you pound on it with Prime95, or Quake4, but other than that it is fine
The manual has a zillion typos, and fortunately for us in this forum, we have shared what we've learned. The translation from Chinese to English leaves quite a bit to be desired, and hopefully, MSI will learn from Asus and Abit and get a better translation service. In 2006 this is just plain stupid, especially with a $225 board
As usual, the mobo supplied tweaker utilities are just aweful. They look like a hallucination from a Hunter S Thompson book, and they work about as well. Core center is a sad state of affairs, and the rest of them just burrow their way into your otherwise stable system and cause it to have poor behavior. And therefore as usual, the BIOS is the best way, if slowest, to tweak this bundle of parts
Which brings us to the BIOS. IMHO, the worst one I've seen on a high end board. ZERO explanation for half the settings (this is not strange in and of itself, BIOS is still a black art, but in a tweakers board, we should have some basic explanation )
There seem to be adequate settings in the BIOS for all sorts of doodads and gizmos, but who the heck knows what half of them are. Roger points out rightfully, that we now need to "Tune" across all these different intermediary bus structures and test. But with the lack of info from either NVidia, MSI or anyone else for that matter, its kinda hard to know where to start.
The board is clearly sensitive, which is a result of it being high strung. This is no different than any "first out" product I've ever bought. Most take 2 or 3 turns of the crank to get totally stable and forgiving. This one hated my OCZ platinum EL 2Gb kit memory, and it brought out the worst in one of the SLI based EVGA 7800 GT COs. These components worked in the Abit AN8 SLI (although not always great), but the MSI has ZERO tolerance for even the slightest pertubation from the memory. It was BSOD city until I removed both of these components by process of elimination that took probably 100 hours
Once I removed the bad components, and replaced the memory with Geil Ultra X 2x512 2-2-2-5, it worked great, ran Prime95 for 10 hours with no errors, and seems reasonably stable. I've RMA-d the bad 7800GT CO back to EVGA, and will report back on how SLI behaves when I get the new one (cross shipped of course, I haveno patience )
I also now need to replace the 2Gb RAM kit with something that the board will tolerate. I may RMA the 2Gb kit back to OCZ and try another one, but I dunno. I love OCZ but I have a bad feeling about this, even though they have great!!! support. I may try OCZ PC4000 or the RAM that Roger successfully used.
I did upgrade to the 1.16 BIOS, and found that some new things were added, as well as voltage control in Cell was a little better, but registration of changes in voltage is still a disaster. I adjusted a bunch of times, it didn't register, and I ended up smoking a new A64 3700+ Diego with 1.95 volts, even though the BIOS claimed it was 1.53. I had to rebot to see what was going on. The Thermalright XP-90 kept the proc from melting down through the earth
Finally, I hope this board attracts more people, and therefore more tweakers that can figure out all these gadgets and settings. Everyone flocked to the Asus X16 SLI product, which is too bad, as this one needs lots o' folks to hack it up for us to figure out what is going on.
The on board Creative audio sounds lousy to my ears, and I will replace it with an Audigy 2ZS gamer that I had in the Abit. It just sounds better, but hopefully the drivers will not trash my newly stable system. Creative scares me, they scare me alot.
I've been able to get the CPU up to 2.4Ghz, with a .5 volt bump to the CPU and 2.9 volts into the Geil memory. So far, so stable, no smoke coming out yet
I hope this info is somewhat valuable to someone on this board. I will post details of all changes that I make, as others are doing, so we can at least take care of ourselves with this thing.

Quote from: nanohead on 15-February-06, 01:17:10
Which brings us to the BIOS. IMHO, the worst one I've seen on a high end board. ZERO explanation for half the settings (this is not strange in and of itself, BIOS is still a black art, but in a tweakers board, we should have some basic explanation )
There seem to be adequate settings in the BIOS for all sorts of doodads and gizmos, but who the heck knows what half of them are. Roger points out rightfully, that we now need to "Tune" across all these different intermediary bus structures and test. But with the lack of info from either NVidia, MSI or anyone else for that matter, its kinda hard to know where to start.
first of all, i do think that all the settings in the BIOS have an explanation in the manual, even if it's a basic one. if that explanation doesn't tell you everything in detail, is because if you do need a detailed explanation of the settings, you probably shouldn't be messing around with those settings.
Quote from: nanohead on 15-February-06, 01:17:10
I did upgrade to the 1.16 BIOS, and found that some new things were added, as well as voltage control in Cell was a little better, but registration of changes in voltage is still a disaster. I adjusted a bunch of times, it didn't register, and I ended up smoking a new A64 3700+ Diego with 1.95 volts, even though the BIOS claimed it was 1.53. I had to rebot to see what was going on. The Thermalright XP-90 kept the proc from melting down through the earth.
wanna tell me how did you get 1.95V on that mobo?
Quote from: nanohead on 15-February-06, 01:17:10
I've been able to get the CPU up to 2.4Ghz, with a .5 volt bump to the CPU and 2.9 volts into the Geil memory. So far, so stable, no smoke coming out yet
a 0.5V bump? again, you must be joking. maybe 0.05V.

K8N Diamond Plus - ram issue

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