Have to add my $0.02 here:
My system,listed below,was very simple to set-up and has functioned flawlessly since day one and still does.I've noted many posts of problems regarding this MB,but I'm left to wonder if I just got really lucky with my board or just a selected few got unlucky and those are the majority of the posts I'm seeing,since thos without issues gerneraly won't post.
One thing I do know for sure is that quite a few of those "bad" posts dealt with misconfiguration issues,wether they were hardware or software settings.
As I said,mine was like plug & play with a few exceptions of bio's settings and paying attention to little things like using SATA 3 & 4 for single drive(no RAID drivers needed) & using side-by-side 1&2 or 3&4 memory slots to obtain dual channel memory mode and turing off fastwrites(FW) in bios and manually entering memory timings etc.
Having done my homework prior to build paid off and my system was an easy build.
Also carefully choosing my hardware components helped a lot.
One thing though is that I don't overclock and I suspect that helps a whole lot also.I find overclocking needlessly stressing components,shortening their lifespan,adding heat & noise to the entire set-up and adding to the problem list of troubleshooting things when the time comes.All for a negligable increase in performance?! No thank you.
My system performs good enough as it is and I can say it has been reliable sofar.My memory runs at it's stock specified timings of 2-2-2-5-1T,hardrive runs just like it should and so does everything else in my system.And temperatures are rather good since I added aftermarket coolers on CPU & VGA card (Zalman 7000A AlCu & NV Silencer5 both with AS5 paste)
I haven't had any hiccups even from the start and my rating of this board would be the same as Anandtech reviewed it.Simple as that.
I think most of the problems are due to misconfiguration of hardware and bio's settings and those that are overclocking.
As far as I'm concerned overclockers have no room to complain when their systems are crapping out period or can't attain the performance they are aiming for.If components run fine at stock settings then it's performing as it should and as the factory states it will.Anything beyond that is wishful on the overclockers part and should not be taken into consideration when reviewing or rating a specific component.
One other thing I forgot to mention is the bios upgrades needed to run Winchester core socket 939 CPU's.
Another needless negative gig from some of the posts I've seen.Yes,there are plenty of Neo2's out there still with older bios' that won't support the Winchester right out of the box,but will with a bio's upgrade.
Unfortunately if you can't boot up and it's your only sytem you're SOL on this issue uneless you use a Newcastle core CPU to boot up,install and then DL the updated bios or send in the board to have bios flashed.
That's why it's important to do your homework prior to assembling a list of components when you're building a new system and not just run out and buy just any components you think might work or on the basis of appearance i.e flashy disco lights and cables etc.
Anyways the MSI K8N Neo2 get's an OK rating from me.Why not a great rating you ask?Well that's simple.This board required a lot of prior knowledge of configuration and careful component selection to make it all work in harmony.More so than most other MB's Ive had in the past.
But I also think it get's a little too much negative exploitation for the above stated reasons.
Had DFI come out with the Socket 939 LanParty Ultra board they unveiled back in June of this year,I probably would have chosen that one instead of the MSI simply because I've never been an MSI fan and always regarded their products as subpar compared to say ASUS & Abit.Now DFI(who has come a long way and is rapidly reaching the top 3 tier pedestals - if not already)
One last thing.I think MSI's product quality control and customer support leave a lot to be desired,but all in all this MB cannot be rated "the worst of all time",not by a long shot.I've had far worse boards than this.