MSI P6N SLI-F

[AstroDogg]

Originally posted by: Edge1
I see FSB at Newegg says "1066/800" although isn't this a typo (should be 1333/1066)?

That is not incorrect. The 650i chipset with current drivers do not support the upcoming 1333 Penryn processors. You can hope with the current motherboards a bios update will support it, But where will that leave the 650Ultra?

 

[Dobeez]

Originally posted by: AstroDogg

Originally posted by: Edge1
I see FSB at Newegg says "1066/800" although isn't this a typo (should be 1333/1066)?

That is not incorrect. The 650i chipset with current drivers do not support the upcoming 1333 Penryn processors. You can hope with the current motherboards a bios update will support it, But where will that leave the 650Ultra?

Technically NewEgg is not correct. You're right it'll take BIOS/Driver update in the future to allow it to support 1333, but there's no doubt it's going to happen.

MSI P6N Platinum

Supports FSB 533/800/1066/1333* MHz (FSB 1333 requires FSB 1333 CPU and manual FSB adjustment in the BIOS)

 

[Dobeez]

Originally posted by: Edge1
Bump that. Nice rig Dobeez - hope you tell us how the build goes.

Does anyone know if this HSF will fit on the Platinum 650i?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185038

Platinum:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage...i+SLI+ATX+Intel+Motherboard+%2D+Retail

Going into an Antec P180b...

TIA!

I don't know for sure, but I have seen pics of a Zalman 9700 in this board.

Here's a thread on Coolaler...

And another with a TT Big Typhoon VX

I don't know if that helps you at all...

 

[psprules7]

thanks guys looks like I'll get this board. The abit one is taking to long to come out

 

[Edge1]

That works, Dobeez. Thanks for those links. Big Typhoon...I've been looking at that one. Scythe also but don't know if it will fit. Gotta get the board first...this really looks like the one unless Gigabyte performs a miracle in the next few weeks.

 

[Heidfirst]

the abit is out in Europe so I'm sure that it'll be in the US very soon.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: Dobeez


MSI P6N Platinum

Supports FSB 533/800/1066/1333* MHz (FSB 1333 requires FSB 1333 CPU and manual FSB adjustment in the BIOS)

Interestingly though they don't have that statement for the cheaper P6N SLI-FI ...

 

[JJ7575]

Originally posted by: Heidfirst

Originally posted by: Dobeez


MSI P6N Platinum

Supports FSB 533/800/1066/1333* MHz (FSB 1333 requires FSB 1333 CPU and manual FSB adjustment in the BIOS)

Interestingly though they don't have that statement for the cheaper P6N SLI-FI ...

Actually they do here under the CPU on the sli-fi
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=P6N_SLI-FI&class=mb

 

[rkoenn]

I just installed this MB last night using my RAID 0 array of 2 Seagate SATA HDDs. It took the drives fine and went through the hardware configuration changes and I had a fully and nicely funtional system with the original RAID array from the ECS nForce 570 motherboard. I had to do some changes to get all the hardware working but after numerous reboots everything worked without a clean install. Then this morning I started up only to find it not booting. It does not recognize the RAID array and not only that, it will not let me into the RAID BIOS configuration utility, it seems to just skip it. I tried everything I know of, checked all the BIOS settings and no luck. It sees the 2 drives but will not go into the RAID setup menu. I even attached 2 new SATA drives and still no RAID setup menu. I reset BIOS, reflashed BIOS, everything I can think of. I anyone has any idea what to try next please let me know. I could try loading windows again but can't even do that on the old drive, the new drives, et. al. Kind of desperate and not knowing what to do. Maybe a bad MB? Who knows.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: JJ7575

Actually they do here under the CPU on the sli-fi
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=P6N_SLI-FI&class=mb

oh well, they must have changed it then.
I checked it a few weeks ago when I compared the 2 mobos on Komplett (an European etailer) & noticed that 1 had 1333 support & the other didn't - checking the MSI global site at that time seemed to confirm it.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: renethx
The difference between the Platinum and the FI is that the Platinum comes with

• a heat-pipe cooling
• all solid capacitors (vs. only parital solid capacitors in the FI)
• an eSATA port in the real panel
• both an optical and coaxial S/PDIF outs in the real panel (vs. only an optical one in the FI)
• extra accessories

Thanks for the summary. Also looks like the Platinum has 2 x PCI-E x 16 instead of 2 x PCI-E x 8 in SLI.

 

[aka1nas]

Nope, the Platinum is 2x8 in SLI mode also. That's one of the things you would get by going with the 680i.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: aka1nas
Nope, the Platinum is 2x8 in SLI mode also. That's one of the things you would get by going with the 680i.

Ah right that makes sense. Wasn't clear on the Newegg listing but I do remember the reviews tying x16 in SLI to the MCP. At this price point I'd probably just spring for one of the lower priced 680i boards. Seems like 650i is the neglected step-child of the 600 series in terms of compatibility and bios revisions.

 

[UNhooked]

Got this board hooked up last night.
Currently at 377X9 on my E4300 at 1.45Vcore. Ram at 475 at 15-4-4-5 @2.2Vcore. System is pretty fast. I do have an issue where I keep getting a warning msg everytime I boot at post that says this is a 200FSB chip blah blah. Also is there any way to disable SMART system, since it keeps saying my Raptor is bad.

Will drop the multi later and see if I can go higher, apparently this board has FSB holes from 380- 400FSB

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: aka1nas
Nope, the Platinum is 2x8 in SLI mode also. That's one of the things you would get by going with the 680i.

Ah right that makes sense. Wasn't clear on the Newegg listing but I do remember the reviews tying x16 in SLI to the MCP. At this price point I'd probably just spring for one of the lower priced 680i boards. Seems like 650i is the neglected step-child of the 600 series in terms of compatibility and bios revisions.

FWIW, it seems like they also are having less problems, probably due to the lower heat footprint of the 650i versus the 680i.

 

[AstroDogg]

Originally posted by: chizow
Seems like 650i is the neglected step-child of the 600 series in terms of compatibility and bios revisions.

The post in this thread specifically refer to the MSI P6N SLI-FI and the P6N-SLI Platnium. The differences stated earlier are not directed at the chipset itself. The differences in the 680i and 650i are the number of express lanes and the current official support of the 1333 Penryn processors the claim of better performance has not been tru with the current boards being produced running with the latest bios.
Another thing that has not been backed up is the claim by nvidia that the 8800 has the capability to take advantage of more than 8 expresslanes. At stock speeds there is no differance in SLi 16x + 16x and 8x + 8x with the 8800. I have yet to see results of this with overclocking of the 8800's. The 8950's will be out soon enough and can only wonder at this point if they will take advantage of 16x + 16x SLi. A very close claim was also made by Nvidia about the 7900 cards.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: AstroDogg
Another thing that has not been backed up is the claim by nvidia that the 8800 has the capability to take advantage of more than 8 expresslanes. At stock speeds there is no differance in SLi 16x + 16x and 8x + 8x with the 8800. I have yet to see results of this with overclocking of the 8800's. The 8950's will be out soon enough and can only wonder at this point if they will take advantage of 16x + 16x SLi. A very close claim was also made by Nvidia about the 7900 cards.

There is at least 1 review (VR-Zone iirc) that does show a noticeable difference between 8800 SLI performance on 680i v 650i.
However, it's only there at very high res/aa etc. (fair enough that's what you probably buy 8800 SLI to get) so you obviously need the (expensive) monitor capable of running at those res. too.

 

[Edge1]

These boards slowly getting positive user reviews, although the sample is small and we all know how reliable such reviews can be:roll: . All in all though this board (the Platinum version) is tops on my 650i list. Sure would like more data/official reviews. Basically just want it to get over 3 gHz with a e6320 or e6420 when late April hits, which I imagine won't be a problem for it.

Anybody find any new info on this board?

Anyone care to share real-world user experiences with it?

Will Gigabyte ever come out with a 650i board?

 

[UNhooked]

Well so far using the P6N- SLI FI, I am at 382X 9 FSB (1520) in bios. I can go a lil higher but that for some reason downclocks my mem a lil.
Right now mem is at 950FSB going over 1520 puts my mem at 938FSB. CPU is good for another 10-20 Mhz, but I am very happy with a 3.4+ Ghz on my $162 chip (E4300) at 1.48Vcore.

I do have some gripes about this board. I can't seem to use a lower multi like I was able to with my IB9. No matter what I use in the bios it always defaults to 9. I can't boot from my Promise raid card, it doesn't even go to the bios screen of the raid card. Thats all I can think for now.
Over all the board is pretty fast and stable.

 

[AstroDogg]

Thanks Heidfirst, I check that out Good to hear something is finally making the 680i worth it. To bad my twin Viewsonic VX922's only support 1280x1024.

Edge have you read the review over at Hardharezone?
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=6&id=2191

There is another review I'm having trouble finding it. I'm getting tired and will look for it more later if its not posted by then.

EDIT I still have not found the post I was referring to and know starting to wonder if I confused a different brand for the P6N SLI Platnium. But in searching for it I did run across this translated forum with amazing numbers from the board. Look on page 12.
http://translate.google.com/translate?u...=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

 

[AstroDogg]

UNhooked

I've heard mention of this in a review it is a bios issue hopfully fixed very soon. Did you search for a beta bios?

there is a thread started about this issue maybe you can help him as I'm sure I had nothing to offer.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=29&threadid=2015701

 

[Edge1]

Thanks Unhooked...that's exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking for. I would have just assumed you could step up the multiplier gradually and be able to use any one you wanted to. Strange.

Also did hear about a RAID issue in that other guy's thread that Astrodogg mentioned. Not planning on RAID so wasn't too concerned, but I can see how it'd be a problem for a lot of folks. Sounds like these issues could be handled with BIOS revisions - let's hope so.

Astrodogg - yes, I have read that article. Its the only thing out there for now (that's in English). Looking for reviews every day. Still want to see something from Gigabyte.

 

[jonks]

I built my rig this weekend (first time builder) off the p6n sli platinum. Raid set up with no problems. Using the cheap Corsair xms2 pc6400 ram, it works fine and only cost $160. I don't plan on running the fsb up to 400 anyway so no worries there. Currently at 2.4ghz at stock voltage.

I've had no problems other than figuring out how to disable C1E since it was a hidden option in the bios you need to press F4 to reveal it and disable it. Otherwise the system will keep throttling back the multiplier/cpu speed.

I plan on taking it to about 3ghz or slightly lower if it can maintain that at stock voltage.

 

[Edge1]

Nice rig, sirjonk - and congrats on the build. Glad to see that Ninja fit the board - I was wondering about that HSF. Temps OK I take it?

My first build is coming up and it looks a lot like yours, except I don't need an 8800 for a while. Those 4300s really do OC like mad...I'm trying to hold out for the e6420...we'll see.

Yep, stock voltage is good from what I can tell...not something you want to just crank up willy nilly:laugh:!

Good to hear your experience:thumbsup:.

 

[jonks]

Temps were an interesting story depending on which app you use. TAT seems to think I idle at 43 and load at 63, though the included MSI Dual Core utility and Speedfan agree I idle around 27 and load at 50, with load being the TAT cpu stresser. I understand that games don't tax the system nearly as bad as prime59 or other stress testers so 50c under torture load means somwhere in the 40s while gaming. Plenty cool.

The Ninja fit in there no problem, even if its less than 1cm above the first ram stick. I even had room to put the 40mm fan included with the mobo for the northbridge, but man, that sucker was loud so I unplugged it. Wonder if its okay to leave it on there...maybe I should add a silent 40mm to the northbridge but this fan came with custom mounting thunbscrews and I don't know if another brand fan will have holes in the same spots.

Far as I can tell the system hasn't broken a sweat at my current 33% OC. Looking forward to finding its limits.