K8N Neo2 Raid0 - Useless!

[fusewerx]

I posted over on the MSI forums yesterday about some serious frustration with the new K8N Neo2 that recently received Anand's gold award. I'll include that post by reference here. If anybody has anything new to add that might help me out, it would be greatly appreciated. In a few hours, it's going back to the store, and I am going back to Intel.

Thanks, in advance, for your help! This forum seems pretty active, so I'm sure I'll get some great responses.

 

[Megatomic]

I can't help you out here but I can offer this:

1. This forum is VERY active and A64 is very popular here. You'll get some advice.

2. My own advice is to NOT go back to Intel but rather get a better board. Asus or Gigabyte make nice NF3 boards, check them out first.

 

[fusewerx]

Better board? Anandtech says that the board I bought was the best! I think the NF3 chipset might be the ultimate problem, and the Neo2 appears to be flaky as hell with memory timings. I don't care about overclocking, I care about a machine working when I put it together, and working for time immemorial after that (read: stable). What MB for Socket 939 is best for that?

Here's the text of my most recent post there, that I think sums up the problem and will help this post show up in various keyword searches.

(keywords to help forum searchers: K8N, Neo2, SATA, NVRAID, raid, format, freeze, hang, lock up, stuck, stops responding

1) I've tried numerous memory combinations, including single chip in 1 and two chips in 3/4.
2) I've read the FAQ, I've tried every step in it, I've also tried enabling all SATA channels while using only 1/2 and then using only 3/4, and I tried disabling the unused SATA channels while plugged in to 1/2 and then to 3/4.
3) Nothing that isn't required to install XP to a RAID0 Raptor array is plugged in.

I just can't believe it's a memory problem, because the point of failure is predictable, and I refuse to try every combination of 1-4 sticks of PC3200 (corsair not-cheap-memory) and 1-4 sticks of PC2700 (off-the-shelf-slow-memory). I've tried a few of them, and none have made any difference.

Every single time, when I run setup, I select the drive to format (NTFS full, not quick, per previous advice, though I've tried quick and it, too, hangs), the screen switches to the progress bar, and it freezes. Every single damn time. I leave it alone for 30 minutes, still stuck. Has anyone actually encountered this particular problem, and found a solution?

 

[Megatomic]

If you look around enough you'll see many users who badmouth MSI boards. I myself have had one in service for 3 years now and it is powering my wife's computer - no problems at all. But there are many who do have problems with MSI. So take that for what you will.

If I were in your shoes, I'd get the equivalent board from Asus or Gigabyte and give it a serious go before abandoning the A64 platform for good.

 

[fusewerx]

I really can't afford the downtime if I go out to get another board and it, too, fails to work. If you can recommend a specific board (socket 939) that is likely to work out of the box in a rock-stable fashion, I'll try it. Otherwise, A64 is out of the picture. I'm just so frustrated with my experience, I've been at it in some form or another since Saturday!

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: fusewerx
I posted over on the MSI forums yesterday about some serious frustration with the new K8N Neo2 that recently received Anand's gold award. I'll include that post by reference here. If anybody has anything new to add that might help me out, it would be greatly appreciated. In a few hours, it's going back to the store, and I am going back to Intel.

Thanks, in advance, for your help! This forum seems pretty active, so I'm sure I'll get some great responses.

Would you mind posting the issue you're having here, for us bandwidth-challenged folks who might not want to load up a whole 'nother Forum? Thank you.

edit: and post complete system specs, I mean everything, including brand/model of the power supply.

 

[mechBgon]

BTW, I have to jam for work but when I'm home I'll see if I can help with some suggestions.

 

[fusewerx]

mechBgon:

I would copy and paste the whole diatribe from the other forums, but it probably won't be much of a bandwidth savings.

As for my complete system specs, I've posted much of it on the other forum. The PSU is supplying `34 amps to the 12v rail, and I've tested voltages under load using my multimeter and all are well within normal parameters.

At this point, honestly, I've given up, and by the time you get to work, I'll already be at Frys getting a refund. MSI tech support tells me "the board is bad, return it and get a new one", and I may still stick with the A64 platform, but with an ASUS board instead of the MSI.

Thanks, anyway!

 

[mechBgon]

There are plenty of 500W power supplies out there that are trash in a flashy box. I want to know the brand and the model.