MSI 845G Max

[TELeast]

Anybody got this board?

I just bought the version with onboard LAN yesterday
only installed Windows and still in the process of installing drivers.

Anywhere that has review on this board?


some comments on the board so far:

>the box looks awesome, all shiny silver

>came with a fold-up desktop calendar, but not as pretty as the box.

>the onboard LAN is next to the PS/2 plugs, on top of the 2 USB plugs. But it didn't come with case back panels so I had to drill a whole thru the old panel to be able to use that LAN port.

>as the mobo has onboard video, so where the 2 COM ports usually are, one is now the VGA out. To use the 2nd COM port, need to use a expansion card slot to connect up from the motherboard to the back of the case. HOWEVER, this was not provided. The manual simply suggests that the user go buy one of this....not that I need it, but where the hell can I find something like this??? Why not just provide it??

>As this is my first MSI board (I previously use ASUS and ABIT) and also first i845G chipset I still am learning the BIOS settings, but it looks like there are quite a lot of settings to tweak with. The FSB can be set anywhere from 100 to 200. Vcore can be set up to 1.8V

 

[oldfart]

Does it allow:
lock the PCI/AGP @ 33/66?
4:5 mem ratio @ any FSB?
3:4 mem ratio @ any FSB?

 

[TELeast]

This I have not found out yet - set everything to auto and default to install OS and drivers first.
guess I will tonight when I get home.

 

[Morph]

>as the mobo has onboard video, so where the 2 COM ports usually are, one is now the VGA out. To use the 2nd COM port, need to use a expansion card slot to connect up from the motherboard to the back of the case. HOWEVER, this was not provided. The manual simply suggests that the user go buy one of this....not that I need it, but where the hell can I find something like this??? Why not just provide it??

Who uses serial ports anymore? Why would you even bring this up if you have no intention of even using the single one that is there?

 

[KevC]

Originally posted by: Morph

>as the mobo has onboard video, so where the 2 COM ports usually are, one is now the VGA out. To use the 2nd COM port, need to use a expansion card slot to connect up from the motherboard to the back of the case. HOWEVER, this was not provided. The manual simply suggests that the user go buy one of this....not that I need it, but where the hell can I find something like this??? Why not just provide it??

Who uses serial ports anymore? Why would you even bring this up if you have no intention of even using the single one that is there?

I do. My IBM Workpad c3/Palm V needs that for HotSync.

TELeast: Thank you for every piece of information you have given us. Please inform us even more. I would like to know the answers to the questions that oldfart asked. Also, how fast can this board overclock?

I'm hoping to run a 1.6A @ 2.4GHz with Memory at DDR400.

 

[Tom]

Do you know how this motherboard handles the pci/agp speed ? I doubt that it has a lock like the Epox 845D but do you know if it has different ratios and at what speeds the ratios change ?

Also very interested in how the memory speed is affected by increased FSB speeds, if it's got 3:4,4:5,1:1 ratios ?

TIA

 

[Soldat]

yeah thanks for the info..ignore the a_sholes like morph

 

[Beatnik]

I just downloaded the manual for the 845G Max.
Under the page for DRAM Frequnecy it says the
setting options are: Auto, 200MHz, 266MHz, 333MHz
So it sounds like 333 may be possible. I hope our test guy
here has PC2700 or will give that a try for us. Whether we can
really run the DDR at 333MHz is a big question that a lot of people
want the answer too. The O/C's want even more than that, but
it would be a start to know that...

 

[KevC]

If DDR333 means the 4:5 divider, and DDR266 means the 3:4 divider, and DDR200 means the 1:1 divider .... I'm sold on the board

I just need confirmation that you can lock the PCI/AGP busses, and voltages up to 1.85v w/o using any hardware mod (pin wrap scares me).

If this can get my 1.6A to 2.4GHz, with DDR400 and my PCI and AGP busses in spec (with the help of dividers or locking) then this is the one

 

[Beatnik]

^ bump (Teleast, whatcha got goin? CPU is what? settings today what?)

 

[oldfart]

If DDR333 means the 4:5 divider, and DDR266 means the 3:4 divider, and DDR200 means the 1:1 divider

Sort of...
The thing is some board makers dont allow you to use certain dividers above certain bus speeds. For instance, i845D boards all have 3:4 dividers, but many dont allow them to be used at higher bus speeds. In your example, you want to run 1.6A @ DDR400. This equates to

16 x 150 FSB
2.4 GHz
3:4 ratio = DDR400.

For that setup to work, you not only need a board with a 3:4 ratio, but it also must allow use @ 150 FSB.

 

[KevC]

A bump for TELeast!

 

[Zap]

I have two of them here in systems we're building for customers. I'll peek in the BIOS and report what I find. Besides available settings, I don't have time to find out if the board is stable while overclocked. Anyways, here's the info:

FSB 100-200 1MHz increments
Vcore 1.5-1.8 .025v increments (this is with a 1.6A installed, some boards limit voltage if a Northwood core is installed)
DDR voltage 2.5-2.8 .1v increments
agp voltage 1.5-1.8 .1v increments
DRAM Frequency Auto/200/266

I'm not sure, but the DRAM 266 frequency may raise the RAM above whatever you set FSB to, such as 150MHzx1.33x2(DDR) = 399MHz. Besides these settings I didn't see anything that looked like it dealt with RAM or AGP/PCI multipliers.

 

[jaeger66]

Originally posted by: Zap

DRAM Frequency Auto/200/266

You sure you're not talking about the 845E? The 845G also has 333.

 

[Zap]

The 845E is the one without integrated video, right? Nope, I'm talking about the 845G. The setup I checked on was running a 1.6A at default speed. Perhaps if it was overclocked, or perhaps if I had a true 533FSB CPU in there it would have allowed the setting. Hmmm, lemme check... Alright, here's the deal. Even clocked at 133/533 FSB the setting I see in BIOS is AUTO/200/266. Funny thing is that when I have this item selected in BIOS, to the right is a blurb saying that the 333 setting may or may not be stable - but it doesn't give me that setting at all! I looked in the manual and I see AUTO/200/266/333. Don't know how accurate the manual is because the next page says that possible manual CAS settings are 2 or 3, while the board lets you do 2 or 2.5 and I have yet to see a P4 DDR board let you set CAS to 3. The board is an MSI 845G MAX that I just got from Newegg. Here is a pic of the BIOS setting and manual (manual is almost unreadable - the last line reads "Settings options: Auto, 200MHz, 266MHz, 333MHz."

 

[jaeger66]

Are you actually running PC2700 RAM? Anand's 845G review used this board with PC2700 successfully.

 

[Zap]

I'm using Crucial PC2100, but right now I just popped in a stick of Original Samsung PC2700, and BIOS had the same options for me. Auto/200/266 and not Auto/200/266/333.

 

[jaeger66]

Very odd, is SPD disabled?

 

[crapito]

links for the 845G Max (w/o LAN) and 845G Max-L (w/ LAN):
both @ MSI in Taiwan
845G Max @ MSI in US
845G Max-L @ MSI in US
845G Max @ Newegg
845G Max-L @ Newegg

this sure looks like a sweet board, coming in just over $100 shipped from Newegg. the only real issue I've read about it, concerns a rather low CPU voltage maximum (1.6v), but is this P4 volt mod is as easy as it looks, then this motherboard looks like the one to get.

 

[lookin4dlz]

Any news on this board?? I need to make a decision this weekend for a good overclocking, low-cost board!

 

[crapito]

no news that I know of...

I bought an Abit BG7 motherboard cause I didn't want to wait for info on the MSI 845G Max. so far, my BG7 runs my P4-1.6a + 256mb pc 2700 Samsung combo flawlessly @ 160FSB/RAM [2.56GHz & DDR320] @ +10% CPUv and 2.6v RAM.

I can't complain...

 

[lookin4dlz]

Thanks crapito, I'm down to the Epox 4G4A and the Abit BG7 but will probably go with the Epox to save a couple of bucks...

 

[ColdBrew]

Originally posted by: Morph

>as the mobo has onboard video, so where the 2 COM ports usually are, one is now the VGA out. To use the 2nd COM port, need to use a expansion card slot to connect up from the motherboard to the back of the case. HOWEVER, this was not provided. The manual simply suggests that the user go buy one of this....not that I need it, but where the hell can I find something like this??? Why not just provide it??

Who uses serial ports anymore? Why would you even bring this up if you have no intention of even using the single one that is there?

Well I do! One for APC UPS so that it can shut my computer down during power outages and also one for my external modem (when my ISDN is down or I need to dial up to the office). But as long as I can add it with a connector, that is no problem. I'm sure I have a bunch laying around.

I really interested in hearing about the memory options at the different FSB speeds.

HardOCP has a review.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MzEz

But I didn't see where they mentioned locking the agp/pci or wheather the 4/5 is allowed over 133... etc...

 

[WangButter]

Originally posted by: crapito
no news that I know of...

I bought an Abit BG7 motherboard cause I didn't want to wait for info on the MSI 845G Max. so far, my BG7 runs my P4-1.6a + 256mb pc 2700 Samsung combo flawlessly @ 160FSB/RAM [2.56GHz & DDR320] @ +10% CPUv and 2.6v RAM.

I can't complain...

Why are you only running your Samsung pc2700 at DDR320? You should be able to get at least DDR400 with that RAM. At 160FSB and a 3/4 memory ratio you'd be running your memory at 427 DDR. Although you'll probably have to drop to CAS2.5, you'll probably see much higher memory performance.

 

[lookin4dlz]

bump for any news on the lock/dividers...