Has Anyone Used A MSI 745 Ultra (MSI 6561-010)

[Tectron]

I have an opportunity to get a brand new MSI 6561-010 for really cheap, The problem is I can only find one review on this particular board. The results were not hidiously bad or anything, but I like to get several points of view. I want to make sure its not a problem board.

Any comments appreciated

Thanks

Steve

 

[Iron Woode]

It is a so-so board. SIS745 chipset is an update to the older SIS735 chipset. It has no onboard NIC and uses only DDR memory.

There are better boards.

 

[rogue1979]

There are faster boards, but I'm using one now and I like it.

Running a 1700+ @ 2100MHz, 175 x 12. It benches roughly the same as a KT266A, but no Via anywhere on it. On disk performance it is actually faster. It is rock stable with no issues using Win2000 Pro. I tried Win98 with it and it had a lot of problems. I put it away for a few months and then gave it another shot with Win2K. Glad I did, very happy with it.

 

[Tectron]

Cool , I can get it for $30 bucks so it sounds worth it to me.

 

[rogue1979]

Grab it, and put a cheap 1700+ on it, 2100MHz for $90! I forgot to mention it has a 1/5 pci divisor.

 

[Tectron]

Got it, Well worth $30 for a brand new in the box board.

 

[WetWilly]

Pretty good deal for $30. I'm running an XP 1600+ at 9.5x190MHz on a 745 Ultra with a 256MB stick of Crucial PC2100. BTW I'm running Win98 (First Edition) with no problems at all. Board is rock stable.

The only issue I have is that MSI didn't take advantage of the onboard LAN or FireWire controllers, which means my rig is out of usable PCI slots.

For more info, check the MSI forums at OCWorkbench.com. That's probably the biggest community of 745 Ultra users on the Net.

 

[Tectron]

So far without really trying I am runing a 1.1 duron @ 7x166 1.7v using an sk7 AS3 and a 32cfm quiet fan. Im curious to see what it will do when I get time to sit down really tweak it. Without a symptom of instability

 

[rogue1979]

Originally posted by: WetWilly
Pretty good deal for $30. I'm running an XP 1600+ at 9.5x190MHz on a 745 Ultra with a 256MB stick of Crucial PC2100. BTW I'm running Win98 (First Edition) with no problems at all. Board is rock stable.

The only issue I have is that MSI didn't take advantage of the onboard LAN or FireWire controllers, which means my rig is out of usable PCI slots.

For more info, check the MSI forums at OCWorkbench.com. That's probably the biggest community of 745 Ultra users on the Net.

I've had two that topped out at 175MHz. I just now adjusted the 3.3v pot on my Allied 450-watt to raise my 3.3v from 3.2v to 3.6v. Now I can get 183MHz fsb speeds. Is there a secret to reaching 190? My memory can handle it and the board boots up and runs 2D fine. 3D apps crash on anything greater than 183MHz.

 

[WetWilly]

Is there a secret to reaching 190?

The only things I did were a Vcore mod so I'm running the CPU at 1.95-1.98v and put AS3 under the northbridge; there's crappy double-sided tape there by default. I'm also running BIOS v1.3. It's not the latest version, but it appears to be much more OC friendly to PC2100 sticks than any other BIOS available.

The other possible issue is the 5v line and the power supply. MBM says mine's at ~4.7-4.75 volts when running Prime 95, which is rather low but I haven't had a problem with it using a 300w Lite-on PS. However, I tried to "upgrade" to a Turbolink 420w. Under the same load with that PS, the 5v line dropped to 4.5v then the system crashed. I was surprised it even made it down to 4.5v.

 

[Tectron]

Originally posted by: WetWilly
Is there a secret to reaching 190?

The only things I did were a Vcore mod so I'm running the CPU at 1.95-1.98v and put AS3 under the northbridge; there's crappy double-sided tape there by default. I'm also running BIOS v1.3. It's not the latest version, but it appears to be much more OC friendly to PC2100 sticks than any other BIOS available.

The other possible issue is the 5v line and the power supply. MBM says mine's at ~4.7-4.75 volts when running Prime 95, which is rather low but I haven't had a problem with it using a 300w Lite-on PS. However, I tried to "upgrade" to a Turbolink 420w. Under the same load with that PS, the 5v line dropped to 4.5v then the system crashed. I was surprised it even made it down to 4.5v.

Are you refering to AS3 epoxy? My motherboard has double sided tape also, but mine has no holes for mounting a better heatsink without useing epoxy.

 

[WetWilly]

Are you refering to AS3 epoxy

No, I used regular AS3 with a drop of SuperGlue on each corner of the northbridge. It's been holding fine for a few months now. It made a difference because the NB heatsink is definitely warmer.

 

[Tectron]

Thats pretty clever, Im going to try that. I wonder if it would hold with a crystal orb?