HOT HOT HOT. MSI 645 Ultra and 1.6 Mhz P4 A at Newegg for $221 + S & H

[Tom]

I have an MSI 645 Ultra, first of all it has 3 DDR memory slots. Secondly it is working very well for me with a 1.8a overclocked to 2.25g.

There are 2 issues with this board though, first the cpu temperature is apparently not reported accurately and second the vcore can only be raised to 1.6v(which is only 1.55v in reality on my board.)

Even with these problems I think it's a good deal for $73, the Epox 4SDA+ for $99 with raid is too.

 

[PlatinumGold]

dead parrot.

hmmm. doesn't the P4 have an internal thermistor? how would the mb report the temp inaccurately? it's not like the AMD boards where the temp is recorded by a IN SOCKET THERMISTOR.

 

[GiGoLo]

Any thoughts/suggestions on what ram to use?

I've been spoiled off of mushkin on how well its been able to overclock. Any thoughts on which would yield better results between the 512mb Mushkin High Performance PC2100 CL2 for $169, or their standard 512mb PC2700 stick for $219??

 

[Tom]

PlatinumGold,

The temperature reported in the bios is always 30C, the temperature reported by utilities in Windows(MBM and others) is always 49C. Neither number ever changes which seems unlikely to be accurate.

There are reports of this problem in the forums at MSI, so I don't think that it's just a problem with my board in particular.

 

[PlatinumGold]

dead parrot, i c.

then the mb isn't reporting what the internal thermistor is seeing.

 

[PlatinumGold]

BTW, for those who are wondering about the overclockability of this board, check out www.overclockers.com and check out their CPU database, searching under processor 1.6a you will see that MSI 645 Ultra MB have 3 of the 6 highest OC's there. in other words, the mb may not be the best, but it's surely not the worst.

 

[SSGTi]

Hey guys doesn't this board have a voltage limit of 1.6v... is there a way to overcome that ?

 

[Nightwatch]

I can get this bundle locally for $229 here.

I have built 3 systems with Pentium 4 and DDR RAM and love them all. I have been using the MSI 845 Ultra instead of the 645 Ultra. It cost about $70 more but it comes with RAID 0 or 1 and 8 USB slots (4 USB 2.0). It also comes with a Smart Key with has to be installed into a open USB port to start your computer. Good to keep those people off the computer that shouldn't be on it.

I got tired of waiting for ASUS to built the DDR board for the Pentium 4 and I am glad I waited. The 845 got The AnandTech Editors Choice Silver Award. Great Board!

 

[GiGoLo]

nightwatch,

good suggestion on the msi 845 ultra board. excellent reviews all over the web.
here's a link to the product specs MSI boards

Only difference I can see between the Ultra-AR and Ultra-ARU is that the ARU has 4 USB 2.0 ports and also SMART-KEY. They both have 3 DDR ram slots, promise ata/133 raid controller, and an integrated 6 channel audio board. About $125 + shipping for the Ultra-AR, $136 + shipping for the Ultra-ARU off of newegg.

 

[fornax]

Newegg is out of stock on the 1.6A, but mscomponent.com has it for $144 (cheaper than Newegg, in fact) and it's in stock. They have reasonable shipping as well, so even if you buy separately (MSI MB from Newegg and
CPU from MScomponent), it still runs to about the same: $246 for me here in CA, after taxes and shipping.

 

[Nightwatch]

$136 plus shipping for the 845 Ultra ARU is a good price

You can get the board HERE for $108 plus shipping without the RAID support. The same site has the one with RAID support for $132 plus shipping HERE.

Is says that the cheaper one is ATA/100 and not ATA/133 but unless you use the RAID you will not get ATA/133 with either board.

 

[toefutoefutoefu]

one question. i plan to get the MSI 645 ultra as stated w/ a 1.6a. i hear the MSI can only do 1.6 volts compared to the default 1.5 volts. i have crucial ddr pc2100 ram. Am i realistic to hope for 2ghz? or is that a long shot?
what are my percentages of success, given that of course all the other parts are decent quality, (antec 400 watt, etc)

just wondering on people's success rates.

 

[pepsimanz]

I got the same MB, ram, and the CPU and it was running at 2.3ghz with no problem using stock heatsink.
I even started with a 133mhz or 2.13ghz speed when I am installing winxp.

Then, I bump to 150FSB, it wasn't stable at 2.4 even at the highest voltage 1.6v (notice it's actually around 1.54v-1.57v).
The Crucial RAm is awesome and I know it's capable of 150FSB and beyond (It was from my Athlon system @ 155FSB)
So, it seems like the voltage max @1.6v is not enough.

Then, I went ahead and did the wire trick to the cpu, so now the MSI 645 has a 1.7default voltage setting. Running my cpu now @ 2.4ghz @ 1.7v (actual ~1.65v), for around $220 ($73 MB, $141 CPU +S/H), it's a great deal!!

To speed it up further, I think I will get a better heat sink and try for higher speed.

 

[fumbduck]

bumpz0r

 

[tommydn]

Wow P4 1.6Mhz! Dang that is fast...

 

[PlatinumGold]

Tommy

LOL.

ya, this post has been up for about 10 days, and ur the first to comment on that. My bad. but i'm not gonna edit it.

 

[GiGoLo]

No one answered this so I thought I'd post it again...

Would you recommend going for lets say Mushkin High Performance PC2100 (since their high performance sticks have always been excellent ocers), or would it be safe to say that their standard PC2700 stick will yield better results?

any suggestions??

 

[jaykay]

Good find PlatinumGold. Great price for a great combo !!!

 

[im2smrt4u]

I was looking at this combo for a friend's system and this is a great price! Thanks!

 

[ETLA]

this is great...just want I can use~

 

[JonnyBalls]

"HOT HOT HOT. MSI 645 Ultra and 1.6 Mhz P4 A at Newegg for $221 + S & H"

wow! sweet a 1.6 mhz computer!!
that brings me back, reminds me of MY first computer... which was actually much much faster, at about 8 Mzh!
i still have it in my room, it makes a good table to rest my mouse and keyboard on!!

 

[golfreak]

If you guys want a cheaper alternative i.e. Sis 645 chipset and are thinking of getting the MSI 645 Ultra,
I suggest you all look at the Gigabyte GA-8SRX.

This board is based on the Sis 645 and I believe Gigabyte came out with a revision A2 for the Sis 645 chipset.
The revision A2 suppose to be a little faster.

The board simply has the most features for the buck.
It has Vcore adjustment up to 1.85 where the MSI 645 ultra can only go to 1.60. (who wants to mess with the wire trick anyway)
This is a hugh difference as fas as overclocking is concern.
It also has AGP, memory voltage adjustment.
Pretty decent on-board sound as oppose to the crappy AC97(its not the C-media but still better than AC97)

And the best part of all, its only $227+ shipping at Mwave. Thats only $6 more than the MSI ultra and the board kicks the MSI up and down. Don't know if you will get the A1 or A2 version from Mwave or not.

A SIS 645 round-up
Another REVIEW that gave it great marks.

 

[beefjerky911]

nm

 

[Underclocked]

Has anyone here bought that EPOX EP-4SDA+ mobo? That's the one I've been eyeballing and can't see much of a reason not to get it, except that nobody here is providing any feedback on their results with the board.

Anybody?

 

[edowado]

EPoX motherboards are excellent. Excellent quality, excellent service, and I can also substantiate that EPoX has much less RMA's than MSI does. I was informed by a knowledgeable individual in the motherboard industry that half of the MSI K7T266 Pro2 (KT266A) were RMAed. However, I have used MSI boards before, and have not had problems with older ones, like the MSI K7TPro2a and K7T Turbo. It was probably just that particular model that had issues. Therefore, this does not necessarily mean that MSI's new P4 DDR333 motherboard will have problems.
EPoX 4SDA+ Review