MSI K8n Neo2: worst mobo of all time

[jmartin357]

So I've rma'ed this baby twice now. I made zipzoomfly test the hell out of the last one, actually using a geforce 6800gt and they too found it didn't work. so they gave me a brand new board and guess what: it doesn't work.

but what makes it so crappy is that it kinda does. I'm typing this post on it right now -- with a geforce2 pretending to be a video card. but if I put in my 6800gt, it spins up for about 1 second and gives up. more maddening? it worked last night, right out of the box. but when I tried again this morning: no dice. I've tried everything I can think of (including posting in this forum before my last rma). I'm in bios ver. 1.3 (it booted in 1.2 but I can't believe that rolling back the bios is the right answer), I've got my nice new 3500+, quality corsair twin-x 3200 ram (that works great in my old mb) a nice antec trupower 430watt psu and a variety of hard drives (including none).... it just doesn't work. I've read a bunch of posts in a bunch of forums and that seems to be the consensus.

so am I crazy? is there anyone out there who actually made it work with a 6800gt or beyond?

 

[Dolph Dorcas]

My system is running with no problems. I'm running the memory at 250, the CPU at 2.25, and the 6800 GT at stock speeds. I'm also using BIOS 1.3. My system is stable for over 6 hours running prime95.

 

[Gnoad]

I don't own one, but I was considering getting one. From what I've seen, most are fine, but there is a good portion of people who have lots of issues. Compared to other mobos, I'd say it most definitly has a higher rate of failure than it should.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

Looks like you have an issue with your Antec PSU and your motherboard.

http://www.tweaktown.com/docum...p;dId=711&dPage=24
"Important note regarding the Socket 939 platform and the use of power supplies. It is a given that when you step up to this level of performance, you are simply going to have to have a solid performing PSU. If you are in the market for this type of system board and don?t have a quality power supply yet, please note that I was unable to get the Antec line of power supplies to work with any stability with either of these boards[ABIT AV8 and MSI K8N Neo2]. I will see about contacting them and trying to find out if they are looking at this issue, but as of right now I would recommend staying away from this brand until the problem is rectified. This is really a shame, too, as the Antec is one of the best performing brands on the market, but stability is a huge issue. When I changed out to a Thermaltake model and left all other settings alone, the system worked flawlessly."

They have an update from Antec about problems with the ABIT motherboard; apparently replacing a capacitor fixed the problem.

 

[mdahc]

I bought mine from Zipzoomfly, too. Mine works just fine. Prime95 was stable for around 12 hours using priority 10 setting and blend setting for the torture test (I had to stop the test to use my machine today) without any errors, memtest86 went for 4 hours straight without any errors, and 3D Mark 05 and PC Mark 04 complete just fine, although 3D Mark 03 will not complete for some reason (but I think Prime95's run testifies to my system's stability and trumps 3D Mark 03's results). I have a Radeon 9700 Pro, so I can't personally comment on whether or not a 6800 GT and this board really have issues.

However, I have an Antec NeoPower PSU, and I'm relatively sure my system is stable. Thus, the fact that your Geforce2 works on the board and not the 6800 GT makes me think your 6800 GT is defective, not the board and not the PSU. If your rails are solid and your system is stable with the Geforce2, then it's probably the 6800 GT. The fact that someone else has the two working together also makes me suspect that it's your card and not the other components.

One last thing, who is your 6800 GT's manufacturer, and did Zipzoomfly test with a 6800 GT identical to yours or was it another brand?

Good luck.

Setup:
AMD Athlon64 3200+, s939 Winchester core, overclocked to 2.2GHz (10xHTT/FSB) at default voltage
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (BIOS v. 1.3)
1GB OCZ DDR466 Rev. 3 running at 220MHz (2.5, 4, 4, 10 @ 2.7V)
Antec NeoPower PSU
single WD 36.7GB Raptor
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro (Catalyst 4.10)
Sony CPD-E540/B 21" Trinitron
Lian-Li PC-V1000 Silver case
Windows XP SP2

 

[effee]

I heard about this board, alot of its users are quite unhappy with it and its performance. Seems MSI churned out another buggy product again.

 

[mdahc]

I've heard similar problems with the A7N8X and the NF7-S, yet people still swore by these boards for socket A. If jmartin357's system is stable with his K8N Neo2 and his Geforce2, then, all other factors aside (i.e. memory), all things point to the 6800 GT. If he doesn't know if it's stable, then he should find out by maybe running Prime95 with the Geforce2. Simply dismissing the board because others have had problems doesn't really help him, does it? Plenty of people have experienced no problems as well.

 

[bap4201]

I went through 2 msi k8n neo 2 boards. I found them to be quirky and VERY unstable. When I tested using 3dmark 2005, i was stunned. I only got around 4200 3dmarks. I went back to my asus a8v and got 5190 3dmarks, and found the computer rock stable and seemed faster! The MSI board also seems cheaply built.

 

[Ironmanstl]

my neo2 was returned after 2 weeks due to a continual rebooting issue then it wouldn't boot at all


happy with my asus now

 

[Bonedoc1983]

Many are having GREAT difficulties with RAIDed SATA drivers (even connecting the drives correctly on SATA 3&4) - the 'reboot' or 'restart' causes a ARRAY discovery hang and / or an "unhealthy array" - so far the new bios and new RAID drivers from NVidia have NOT helped.
I wish that I'd know a bit more before biting on this 'highly reviewed' board.

 

[jmartin357]

my PNY 6800gt works great in my old system, and I put it in a friend's machine just to be sure... works there too. I'm about as sure as a person can be that the video card is working fine.

Ok, so I bought the antec 430 psu specficially because I knew I would be upgrading this fall. Several of you have commented that you think that's the problem. If that's the case, what should I "upgrade" to there? brand? wattage? it looks like I have to dump more money into this project, so should I switch mobo brands or just get a new psu?

 

[rpmcrash]

psu maybe the problem . the 500watt antec is ok . but i dont no what your
budgit is and if this is the real problem .

 

[jmartin357]

ok, so I've read several reviews and they all seem to really like the OCZ PowerStream 520W Power Supply (for whatever that's worth, this msi board and my antec psu both won anand's respective roundups). if I'm going to spend $150 on a psu (the very thought is making me dumber) I darned well better get the best one out there.

is this the best one out there?

 

[bap4201]

I think so! See my sig::laugh:

 

[Icepick]

For what it's worth, I've got this board working with a Gigabyte 6800 GT and an Antec TrueBlue 480 power supply. I would actually expect the True430 to work better than my power supply since it puts out 26A on the 12V instead of 22A on the TrueBlue.

 

[bap4201]

icepik, will you run a 3dmark05 on your machine or let me know what your marks are? Uncheck cpu tests.

Thanks

 

[syconub]

wow I have same problem, but like they tested it, and i still get blue screen when loadign windows with a fresh install on tehre 6 times!1 and then when it does get to my desktop id i click a button it crashes, or if i wait, it crashes again.


my friend had same problem with msi. I dont trust this brand at all, it breaks too much.

 

[mrupgrd]

bap4201 whats the max vdimm on that A8V?

 

[bap4201]

Originally posted by: mrupgrd
bap4201 whats the max vdimm on that A8V?

I believe it is 2.8

 

[Icepick]

bap, I just ran the 3DMark05 test. My score is 3910 3DMarks.

 

[bap4201]

Thanks icepik. See this is exactly my point. You had basically the same setup as me when I had the neo2 plat board. And I could only get around 4100 bench in 3dmark05. I went back to asus a8v and got 5130 marks! Can someone explain to me why MSI Neo 2 is supposed to be one of the best 939 boards? I couldn't even get the thing stable at stock speeds. I guess I just don't get these reviews by Anandtech.

 

[eagle101]

Originally posted by: bap4201
I went through 2 msi k8n neo 2 boards. I found them to be quirky and VERY unstable. When I tested using 3dmark 2005, i was stunned. I only got around 4200 3dmarks. I went back to my asus a8v and got 5190 3dmarks, and found the computer rock stable and seemed faster! The MSI board also seems cheaply built.

hey i almost went for my 2nd neo2 plat ive got a8v like you ....i just got the 3200r2 plat ocz hoping that would do it for a nf3.....so i was going to get the neo2 for the 2nd time........id rather go for the gigabyte ultra nf3.......i feel what you feel about this a8v.....what do you think about the ultra gigabyte nf3 thanks

 

[eagle101]

Originally posted by: bap4201

Originally posted by: mrupgrd
bap4201 whats the max vdimm on that A8V?

I believe it is 2.8

is the ocz r2 plat rated for 2.8volts ?or higher

 

[jmartin357]

well I know you guys are dieing to know how the old k8n neo2 war is going. ChineseDemocracyGNR suggested a link, which I followed up on and based on that, I got ahold of antec tech support and they thought that it might be the power supply. so they sent me a new "revised" one.

I think we all know where this is going. it doesn't work. and in case you're also wondering, I think I may be the only person who ever called tech support at antec. well, they're trying at least. maybe I'll piss away some more money on yet another powersupply. lord knows I need about $400 of those laying around the old apt.

 

[bap4201]

Originally posted by: eagle101

Originally posted by: bap4201
I went through 2 msi k8n neo 2 boards. I found them to be quirky and VERY unstable. When I tested using 3dmark 2005, i was stunned. I only got around 4200 3dmarks. I went back to my asus a8v and got 5190 3dmarks, and found the computer rock stable and seemed faster! The MSI board also seems cheaply built.

hey i almost went for my 2nd neo2 plat ive got a8v like you ....i just got the 3200r2 plat ocz hoping that would do it for a nf3.....so i was going to get the neo2 for the 2nd time........id rather go for the gigabyte ultra nf3.......i feel what you feel about this a8v.....what do you think about the ultra gigabyte nf3 thanks

oh my god, NO. Do not get the giga 939. It is more problems than it is worth. Simply read the boards and you will find out.