K8N Neo2 Platinum Ordered - Advice for a noob please

Hi there,
this seems like a great forum, was hoping someone could give me some advice - Im trying to pre-empt any major probs....
I am a relative noob to building P.C's - done a few P4 based systems before but this will be my first Athlon based. This systems primary use will be gaming. I have the following on order (should be with me next week) : -
a) MSI K8N NEO2 Platinum Edition SCK 939 Motherboad
b) AMD ATHLON 64 3500+ 64bit SCK 939 Retail Inc Fan
c) 160GB Maxtor Calypso 8mb Cache 7200 SATA DHH
Components I have already
a) Graphics Card - Nvidia 6800 GT
b) Memory - Generic 2 X 512MB PC2700 DDR333 RAM
c) Sound Card - Creative SB Live Value
d) PSU - Jeantech 450W (22a on 12V Rail)
e) Case - pretty generic full tower case - no fans attached
f) CPU FAN - COOLERMASTER HYPER 48 SUPER SILENT HEATPIPE
g) Spare Hard drive - 120GB Maxtor IDE Hard drive
h) DVD Drives - 1 x Pioneeer 108 / 1 x Pioneer 104
I) Monitors - Ilyama 17" TFT & Toshiba 32WL36P LCD
I have some 'noobish' questions - apologies for my ignorance : -
1) Memory - Will my memory be okay ? Should I ditch it and buy some Corsair DDR400 (which everyone else seems to have!). Will performance suffer if I stick with the DDR 333 ? Do I need to adjust settings in BIOS regarding memory timing ? (I only picked up on this from reading through other posts on this board, and am totally clueless on 'timing'- Ive never needed to adjust timing on any previous PC's....!)
2) Sound Card - will I be better off sticking with the onboard sound on the MSI K8N neo 2 ? Or for best performance do I go with the SB LIve ? (god its a nightmare trying to get updated drivers for this card), Would I get a noticable performance increase buying an Audigy 2?
3) Vcore / other power issues - Reading this forum Im kinda scared by many posts along the lines of "..for stability I need to change my memory voltage to xx-V" or "...for a stable system I needed to change my Vcore to xx-V". Will I need to change the Bios default values on this system just to get it to run stably??
4) CPU FAN - Are AMD stock fans any good ? My Hyper 48 is quite highly rated....
5) Im completely new to SATA drives, but Ive printed off the very useful install guide on this site (which I intend to use). Is there anything I need to look out for concerning adding my IDE drive also.
I think thats about it just now - if anyone can see any other potential problems with my specs then please let me know. Im really not trying to be negative / pessimistic - after all the reason I have went for this motherboard is that it is rated as one of the best. Im just a bit paranoid that the dreaded B.S.O.D awaits me!
On a more positive note - does anyone have similar system specs they use for gaming ? How well does HL2 / Doom3 / Farcry etc fly J ? I cant wait !
Thanks for the time

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K8N Neo2 Platinum 939 -new bios

Hey,
I wonder if there is any newer bios then the one on the homepage (msi) some beti bios or so for the K8N Neo2 Platinum 939 mobo ? If so please post link as well, thanx!

There is a beta bios floating around here 1.25 i think, i tried it but Cpuz didnt work properly afterwards

Is it possible to order bios chip 1b for K8N Neo2 Platinum

Hi there im wondering if its possible to order from msi or elsewere bios 1b for K8N Neo2 Platinum seeing as i have the bios tools here, if so whats the install procedure and setup please or any other releviant information?, i have 1.5 everything works fine but theres no way i want to flash
Thanks Blackrat7768

Quote from: BlackRat7768 on 09-February-06, 21:34:23
My issues are:
Improve compatilbility problem with some USB 2.0 devices
BIOS reported incorrect CPU temperature.
If you have the d-bracket installed, it may help to completely disconnect it. Sometimes it will cause inaccurate temp readings. You can always plug it back in if you need it for troubleshooting.
I unhooked mine & my reported CPU temps dropped by 8C...

K8N-Neo2 Platinum pauses for 25 sec at boot, nvatabus.sys the problem?

All,
After POSTing normally and starting to load Windows XP, my system halts at the Windows XP splash screen for about 25 seconds. Nothing happens, no disk activity or anything, the system just sits there.
I used Microsoft's Bootvis utility to see what was happening. It turns out that the nvatabus.sys driver consumes 100% CPU at boot for 25 seconds then the system continues to boot normally. Does anyone else see anything like this?
I am running the latest nForce drivers from MSI. The driver in question:
NVIDIA nForce3 Serial ATA Controller 2.6
Driver Date 6/3/2004
c:\WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\nvatabus.sys 5.10.2600.0446
Windows XP SP1
I have a RAID1 of two 160 GB SATA drives. The mirror is healthy and working fine.
After booting the system is rock-solid stable, no problems there. It's just this unexplained pause at boot. Does anyone have any ideas how to fix this?

ok check it out guy's this thing drove me insane all night last night and most of today. I was ready to return everything and give up. But alas all is not lost. Here is the rundown on what i just did.
My Equipment:
Athlon 64 3800+(w/ stock fan)
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Socket 939
2X512 Corsair TWINX1024-3200XLPRO ( with the cool led's )
2 SATA HD (1 Maxtor Diamond10 300 GB w/ 16mb cache, 1 Segate 160GB w/8mb cache)
PP&C 425 ATX Deluxe
Radeon 9700 Pro ( cat 4.8 )
Audigy2 ZS
Sony Floppy
Sony 8x52x52x32 DVD Rewrite
I have been reading and reading just like all you guy's. On a few websites i would pick up bits and pieces on what to try. Heres what i did. Upon Boot up i entered the bios. I then went to Cell Soft and adjusted my timings for my memory. I was at 2.5 not 2.75. I then set my speed down to 166. Exited and restarted. Big mistake everything ri=uns terrible slow and my expensive DDR 400 memory was showing up correctly at 333. Rebooted again entered the bios. reset my speed to 400. Then set the Overclock feature to manual. Set my timings at 2,2,5,2 200 and 2.75 volts. After saving settings and exiting I then turned off the computer. As per some other suggestions I moved my Audigy2 to the bottom most pci slot the one above the orange slot. I moved my memory to slots 2 and 4. I moved my SATA to slots 3 and 4. I rebooted went into the bios again and setup all my voltages. CPU was Auto, AGP was max yellow setting. Memory still at 2.75. I disabled the onboard serial and parrallel ports. Rebooted
Fearing the worst,
5 seconds, 10 seconds, windows screen loging prompt. There was nothing wrong at all. It rebooted effortlessly. It re found my Audigy card and wanted driver but that was it. I am going to reboot a few more times and then run sisandra to test. I hope some of this will help you. I post in a few after some of those reboots.

NOOB -MSI K8N NEO2 Platinum questions

Hi
I coming from an Intel background but am now considering changing to AMD; i'd like to keep my agp x800xt pe card and get a MSI K8N NEO2 Platinum board but have got a few questions /concerns.
I have looked on several forums including MSI's own forum and noticed people having problems with corsair value select memory modules.
My questions which i'd be grateful for answers to are:
1. Am gamer and planning to also purchase a 4000+ to put in it - will the board recognise it straight away or will I need to update BIOS..
2. Want to transfer my current 4x512mb 3200 Corsair Value Select sticks to my new board - will there be any compatibility problems? (cannot afford to buy new memory)
3. Will I be able to run the memory 200 + ? as heard the boards base clock for a 4000+ is 166
4. If I can run these at 200 can i do this straight away or will i need to overclock them slowly to get to 200 (will the board see them as 3200 and start at 200?)
5. Anything else I should know/look out for?
Many thanks to all. My first post here so hello to everyone.

Hello !!
Let´s try to answer your questions...
1. It depends on which Bios Version is installed out of the Box, i suggest version 1.8, if you are not using a Venice / Dual-Core or later CPU Core. The advantages of biosses later than version 1.8 are the new Steppings Support and some new Memory Timing Options available in Bios Setup.
2. I do not know exactly, i think most corsair sticks are running well on this Board if you are not going to overclock. But it depends on which Chips are used your Corsair Modules. What could be a problem is that you are going to use 4 Ram Sticks, because with Winchester Cores you would not be able to run 4 Sticks in PC3200Dual Channel Mode (DDR333), even if your Ram would be 100% compatible with your MOBO. Venice and later Cores are able to handle 4 sticks at 400Mhz DDR clock. Except you own 4 single sided Ram Modules.
3. Should be possible if your memory likes it.....
4. No, the Bios will recognize your SPD Timings. So you will have to overclock them from a 166Mhz Memory Divider Base.
5. Take a look here:
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46730
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=72024.0
http://www.msi.com.tw/html/products/mainboard/testreport_pdf/7025/memory.pdf
Good Luck
Greetz MurdoK

Best ram for MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Edition?

Ho guys
Im getting a MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Edition this week but cant decide what memory to use what is the best memory for this board here
are my options.
http://www.stegcomputer.ch/details.asp?prodid=kin-KHX32-1c2
http://www.brack.ch/aspx/default.aspx?ID=17879&mod=artikel
http://www.brack.ch/aspx/default.aspx?ID=17636&mod=artikel
http://www.brack.ch/aspx/default.aspx?ID=17885&mod=artikel
http://www.1000ordi.ch/2500
I will be overclocking.
Any help would be appreciated

Quote from: mehdi on 13-July-05, 22:09:22
XL's is verified by anand to top at 2-3-3 on DDR466 so this would be how much of a oce on a 3700sandy at those timings.
Well the 3700 San Diego har a max multilplier equals 11 and you can use the lower ones also .
So you have more options than one to reach say you set a goal for 2700mhz assuming you have air cooling (2.7ghz seems to be what most aim for without extreme cooling)
HTT reference clock at 233 with memory index 200 times multiplier 11 gives 2530mhz on the cpu and 233mhz/466DDR on the memory .
To maintain same memory speed (around or below 233mhz) with higher cpu frequency you must use a divider by setting max memory speed to 166 etc and use a higher HTT clock reference .
E.g
HTT=270
Multiplier=10
Memory index=166
Gives CPU/12 divider
CPU is then 2.7ghz
Memory speed = cpuspeed/12 = 2700/12 = 225mhz or DDR450 .
Multilplier memory index dividers:
7x with 133 : cpu/11
8x with 133 : cpu/12
9X with 133 : cpu/14
10x with 133 : cpu/15
11x with 133 : cpu/17
7x with 166 : cpu/9
8x with 166 : cpu/10
9X with 166 : cpu/11
10x with 166 : cpu/12
11x with 166 : cpu/13
7x with 183 : cpu/8
8x with 183 : cpu/9
9X with 183 : cpu/10
10x with 183 : cpu/11
11x with 183 : cpu/13
7x with 200 : cpu/7
8x with 200 : cpu/8
9X with 200 : cpu/9
10x with 200 : cpu/10
11x with 200 : cpu/11
( with 200 you will se the divider is the same as multiplier , thats why some calls this 1:1 )
There are also some tables for the dividers made by orcar wu over at extremesystems in this thread:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=41595&highlight=a64+divider+table]
Using this calculation you can figure out your ram frequency before trying it in the bios .
E.g use 183 mem index/divider with cpu multiplier 10x with 2.7ghz as the target .
10 x 270 = 2700
memory will run at
2700/11 = ~ 245mhz or DDR490

Which power supply for k8n neo2 Platinum

I need to buy a new power supply for my computer. With the ATX12V v2.2 standard and ATX12V 2.01 and the "no -5v on new psu's" issue I'm at a loss as to what to look for. I have looked and cannot find what "standard" (is that even the correct term?) the k8n neo2 supports.
My main requirement is that the psu be 550-650 watts and have modular cables. I know someday I will have to upgrade my system to PCI-E and modern components, so I would like a PSU that would work now and in the future.
Could someone point me in the right direction?
Many thanks
system spec's
Motherboard- MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
CPU- AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual core 4800 939 socket
Memory-CORSAIR 2X1G Twinx2048
Video- ATI HIS 4670 1GB AGP
HD- Seagate 100 gb 7200 rpm
Drives CD-DVD and CD-RW
PSU- Ultra X Connect 500W ATX
Sound- Creative SB Audigy2 Gamer
OS- WinXP Home SP3 32 bit

Why do you need 550-650W or is that just because of future needs? I would suggest one of the Corsair +12V single rail modular PSU's if you insist on the modular design. Check newegg for what they have for modular in the Corsair lineup. I'm sure you're aware that their price is considerably higher than the non-modular. K8 MB's that needed -5V are the early ones that had Creative Sound Blaster onboard audio.
HX650
   * Was: $139.99
   * $109.99
   * After $10.00 Rebate
   * $10.18 Shipping
That's what it is now but if you don't need it in a big hurry you can probably wait a while and get for the same price but with free shipping.
Edit: Gee, Ultra with blown caps, I just happen to have a xPRO 800W that blew some caps, repaired it and started going bad again and then got my TX650 to replace it. Got it for $70 after rebate (which I haven't received yet) by waiting for the right price, rebate and free shipping. VX550 would have been good enough but at the time I got the TX650 at a lower price.

Is this RAM ok for a K8N NEO2 Platinum

I am currently building a system and have got my FX-53 and K8N NEO2 Platinum but i have hit a problem in that i dont know what memory to get for it i have been looking at this http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=116120&cks=PRL
or if this is no good could some one recommned me one perhaps from this list
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/kl.asp?bn=10529

If you know very little about memory, then what it IS telling you, you won't understand. Here's a tip....on the offset, don't spend a lot of money on memory just yet. Purchase some PC3200, like Kingston KVR RAM or Kingmax...something relatively inexpensive...until you begin to understand timings and voltage adjustments. You will not have any problems with this type of memory, and usually...initial boot-up goes very smoothly.
Then, after you start to play with timings and such...when you begin to feel comfortable with making these adjustments, and you know your system is stable....then you could experiment with higher-performance RAM.
That's just how I do it..as I am conservative when first assembling a computer!
Tim186...."Welcome" to the MSI Forum. Also, check out RexB's 939 build thread...you will find good information in that!!!!

BIOS for K8N Neo2 Platinum

Hi to all.
Just wanted to know what's the best and most stable bios for my K8N Neo2 Platinum. I'm currently running ver. 1.B, but I've read that ver. 1.9 is the best. Just wanted to know everyone's thought on this one.
In case ver. 1.8 is better,
¿can I flash my bios to ver. 1.9 from 1.B without having any problems?
¿Is ver. 1.9 better for overclocking?
Thanks.

Quote from: Stu on 20-May-06, 07:55:41
if you wanna OC, then Syar's BIOS is the best bet; its the one i use
I agreed with you Stu as I'm also using Syar's Bios 1C.

Sound Question for K8N Neo2 Platinum

Here's my current setup:
AMD FX-53
XP-120 heatsink
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Mobo.
1 GB Crucial Ballistix (Slots 1 & 2)
NVidia 6800 GT 256 MB
200 GB SATA SEAGATE HDD (SATA3)
Lite-on Dual Layer (Model# SOHW-1633S BLK)
Ultra X-Connect 500W PSU
I am presently using the onboard sound, and I am able to hear left and right channels of sound when using media player, winamp, etc. I can play both music and dvds.
I'm using the optical output on my mobo, and sending it to my Sony Home Theatre amplifier with an internal 5.1 decoder. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get 5.1 surround sound. I set the MSI Sound effect manager Speaker configuration to 6 Speakers, and I have my CD player transmitting sound via the normal 2 pin cd rom audio cable.
Does anyone know why I cannot get 5.1 surround sound when listening to DVD's??? Do I need to connect the digital output on my DVD burner? If so, where does it connect to the mobo?

My DVD drive didn't come with any kind of driver CD. I'm trying to use Media Player to run the DVD's. Is it compatible with Dolby Digital?
Has anyone ever used PowerDVD? This software came with the DVD burner, but I haven't installed it as I don't know much about it.

K8N Neo2 Platinum - satisfied except cold boot

My new build is doing well except for the near-famous cold-boot problem. When the box has been off for a while, I hit the power button, fans & drives spin up, the optical blinks a couple times, but no video or POST. The LEDs look like 4 green, but 2 seem dimmer, as if they're just reflecting the light from the other 2. A 5-second hiit on the power button shuts it down, hit it again and it fires right up, but stops during post with the message that it's in safe mode and to reset my (nonexistent) OCs. From this point I can F1, boot up, and run for hours. No probs unless it's off for a while. I have seen the problem since early in the build, when I powered up outside the case with just 1 stick of RAM and the LEDs (no vid or drives).
Searching the board shows a lot of people having the problem, but nobody seems to have a solution, so I went to the support site to check the knowledge-base and FAQs. Interesting to find there that A64 boards do not appear to exist. No FAQ, no option to spec socket 939 or 754 to search the KB.
Maybe if we get a number of us with the problem to post specs & observations in one thread we can spot a pattern?
I have noted that I can't just do an on-off-on. It has to spend 20-30 seconds in the lockup mode before cycling the power results in a successful boot.
BTW all, some really nice things are happening with RAM prices lately. I got my 2 gigs for US$190 delivered.
K8N Neo2 Platinum
Athlon64 3500 (130 nm)
2G (4 x 512) SuperTalent PC3200 RAM
2 120G Maxtor SATA (1 & 2) in raid0
1 160G Seagate SATA (3)
1 Sony DRU 720A 16X dual-layer DVD +/- R/RW (primary master)
PNY Verto nVidia 6800 vid
Mad Dog 600W PSU (30A on +12)

Quote from: elliott on 13-April-05, 09:23:05
I'll give the bios a shot, but the idea of using the HT to slow the box down and then speeding it back up again in Winders...
Putting HT to 4 does not slow down the box... Especially if ur FSB is over 200 (if ur overclocking) like in my case: FSB=260mhz, I must put down the HT to 4 in order to run everything perfect. HT standard is 200x5=1000, in my case its 260x4=1040... as long as HT is between 800-1200... I believe there is no real time performance loss as long as u have STABILITY. I have seen a lotta people in this forum fixing stability problems just by reducing the HT when they overclocking... some cases even to HT=3.

Os/2 or beos on k8n neo2 platinum

i want to run beos on my system
or os/2
i have the k8n neo2 platinum
athlon 64 3500
1 gig geil ram
80 GB maxtor Pata hard drive
30 gb seagate Pata hard drive
60 gb SATA maxtor
ati card (wel figure that one out later)
BeOS 5 pro just reboots
and for some ungodly reason i cannot write my os/2 image files without some crap about "BAD TRACK 0" and i just bought a new pack of floppies. and it tells me this with EVERY disk
the only OTHER OS i can get to run is linux
which im quite fond of... "anything except WINDOZE"
I guess what my question is .....WHAT KIND OF VOODOO RITUAL DO I HAFTA PERFORM TO MAKE THIS WORK!!!!!!!
I dont have any chickens to bleed, but the neighbor does!!!!
Please help
ANY help would be GREATLY APPRICIATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi,
I tried to do the same with os/2 and MSI Neo4 Platinum/SLI and Athlon FX55.
OS/2 Warp 4 requires 256MB ram or less installed to do initial install. The first partition of HDD must be less than 2.06Gigs in order for the Kernel to compile.
EComStation has the newest version of OS/2. A Google search should take you right to Sundial's site.

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (WAKE On Lan with Realtek)?

Hello can the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (BIOS 1.B) WAKE On Lan with the Realtek card?
It does not appear to work for me and there is nothing in the BIOS.
My WOL packets wake up other PC's.
Please Help.

Hello !
Go into Bios Setup, Integrated Periphals, and disable the nvidia Lan, but let the Onboard LAN enabled.
Now go to PCI Configuration, Wakeup Events, and enable wakeup on PCI event and wake on LAN.
Check in Boot Order Menu if you can select the realtek onboard Lan as first booting device, push it in first place.
Another Option could be using the nvidia Lan, its reported to work with wakeon lan.
Greetz

K8N Neo2 Platinum not shutting down properly

I built a new system with this motherboard and the Athlon 64 3500+ Processor. I also installed Kingston Hyper X memory. I installed Win XP pro with SP2. I also have a eVGA 6800 GT card. Everything works fine, surf the internet, and play games. Problem I have is, that when I goto shut it down it starts to shutdown but it then will reboot instead. If I keep selecting shutdown it will eventually shutdown. I hope someone can offer advice to what the problem is, and offer a fix. Thanks
My Specs:
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Processor Socket 939
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
Kingston HyperX KHX3200K2/512 512MB Kit DDR400 PC3200
eVGA (256-A8-N344-AX) GeForce 6800 GT AGP 8X 256MB
Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB Serial ATA 10,000RPM
Seagate Barracuda ATA V ST380023AS 80GB Serial ATA 7200RPM
Sony DRU700A Double Layer DVD+RW Drive
Sony CD Writer/DVD drive
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card
Antec TruePower True430 430W Power Supply

Go to Control Panel > System > Advanced > Startup and Recovery > Settings
and make sure "Automatically Restart" is unchecked.
Its possible you are getting a Blue Screen stop error for some reason. Doing the above will enable you to check if that is the case.
Chip

Possible to flash bios on k8n neo2 platinum without single core athlon64?

Hi.
I just bought a k8n neo2 platinum v1 and also managed to find a decently priced athlon64 X2 3800+ (which should work fine with this mobo according to msi's website and a number of forum posts I've seen across the web). The cpu hasn't arrived yet, but I'd appreciate if someone could answer something I'm wondering about before that happens. I've read that the mobo (like many others) will need a bios update to use dual core cpu's. A problem I have is that I don't have a single core athlon64 to use for flashing it. I did read on several forums and in some articles that a lot of mobos would be able to boot the dual core as a single core without the bios update, in which case I should be able to flash the bios with a boot disk, or similar. However, it occurred to me that it may only be nforce4 mobos that could do this.
Now, I'd really appreciate if anyone knew whether I could flash the bios with the dual core working as a single core, or if I have to start looking for a single core athlon64, to use for that purpose alone.
Thanks in advance!

Quote from: Bofast on 06-December-06, 04:56:32
Finally got it assembled (after having to order a new fan, since I couldn't get the old one to work)!
It worked to boot without flashing first, the BIOS recognized the cpu as an unknown hammer cpu. After flashing (which went without any sign of trouble), I'm now up and running
Thanks for the help :D
Tried to used the CPUZ to check on the cpu version? Cos dual core doesn have a hammer but manchester only. Gd luck.

K8N Neo2 Platinum Ordered - Advice for a noob please

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