MSI's Albatross - The K8N Neo2 (939)

[TourGuide]

I am ticked off.

Not since my Tyan (yeah I know) days have I had 2 defective mobos come in-a-row! Board #1 went back, at least THAT one would POST and allow me to go into the BIOS, change settings, etc, etc. The problem with board #1 is that I was getting random read errors off the IDE channels and I could not complete a WinXP install no matter what trouble shooting I did.

Board #2 comes in and it won't even get to the BIOS. Popping the CMOS battery and resetting the BIOS at least got me a beep out of the speaker, but I could not get to a POST screen and the diagnostic LED indicated a Real Time Clock error, so that means the board is borked.

I said to myself - The odds are against 2 boards in a row coming in defective - right? WRONG.

There are major problems with the stability and downright quality control of these MSI products. I'm stunned. I can't imagine why MSI would put this product out to market in this state.

Unless you can drive down the street and do multiple exchanges, DO NOT buy the K8N-Neo2 it IS NOT worth the hassle. I'm going to switch to the ASUS product next.

 

[Ironmanstl]

Thats no fun,
I can't imagine how ticked you are.

My neo2 seems to be doing well though, only problem seems to be, after flashing the latest bios, is the temp sensor on the cpu flip flops at times.
Good luck to you.

 

[Subhuman25]

Or wait for the DFI Nf3 LanParty Ultra D to hit the market.
I'm just disgusted at how long it's taking them.Maybe they're working out the little problems that are plaguing the current Nforce3 for S939 boards' problems and/or adding new features i.e. PCI-E,DDR2?
I'm trying my patience very hard waiting for that MB.Introduced 4 months ago and still a no-show on hte market.

 

[CraigRT]

only brand of mobos I've ever seen major problems with are EPoX. I wont buy them ever again.

but the MSI's I've had have always been good. I was working on a couple year old system today with an MSI 645 Ultra board.. P4 1.6A chip in it... that thing runs uber fast and stable without problem.

I think MSI is total hit and miss.. you love 'em or you hate 'em.

I love 'em, except I honestly don't think I'll buy anymore based on the horror stories.

I'll stick with Soltek, they truly kick ass.

 

[Subhuman25]

Well apparently MSI's quality control is severely lacking in the case of the K8N NEO2 s939 boards because there seem to way too many instances of DOA,malfunction during set-up,incompatibilities with other components(mostly memory) and varying degree's of performance even with identical set-ups.
I had my eye on this MB for a while and have been reading and researching for quite some time following others and their woes with this particular MB.
At this point I'm extremely reluctant to consider this MB or even MSI period.
I'm just hoping that any day now I see the DFI LanParty Ultra-D for S939 appear so I can finally build my new computer.I'm getting too anxious and patience is not my virtue at all.
And I'm not about to even consider a VIA chipset MB.VIA is forever canned from consideration for the rest of my lifetime due my experiences with them.
I'll sooner stick with Intel if there isn't a better alternative for S939 than VIA or the current Nforce offerings available.

 

[TourGuide]

I'm upset with MSI - yes, but I bought this board on ATs recommendation. It wasn't until the box was on the FedEx truck that I started to read about the problems people were having. Still, I thought, those MUST be random and sporadic issues that pop up with specific hardware config, right? Man did I find out different.

I'm just really disapointed in AT for making no aknowledgement as to the QC on these boards. It seems to me that it is nonexistant. I can see how the #1 board I received could have made it out of the factory on a check - it would post. What I can't understand is how this #2 board would have. You know what it tells me? IF there is a QC check it is ONLY RANDOM AT BEST. That's just not good enough.

UN-FREAKING BELIEVABLE!!

 

[Subhuman25]

I agree,it's sad that AT recommends this board.In fact in many reviews AT is recommending components that aren't quite what AT portrays them too be and furthermore in many reviews I find AT even contradicting.
I used to think AT was a decent guide to go by,but not anymore.
Hopefully the DFI S939 solution will arrive soon.Give that a try.I will.

 

[CraigRT]

I can't believe you guys are upset at AT.. I mean what did they do wrong? they got a good working board, and gave it a good review.. what were they suppose to do? "well we heard it sucked from other people so we are going to mark it poorly, even though in our experiences it's been great"

They did their job just like anyone else would have.

it's MSI's fault and no one elses. It's not AT's fault their board worked fine. Its not like EVERYONE has a problem with the board.... lots of people are happy with them.

 

[TourGuide]

You're right I suppose. I probably shouldn't be upset with AT for reviewing a working board.

What I am upset with is there seems to be no mention of poor QC from any of the manufacturers. If an OEM is turning out crappy boards, it would be in the best interest of the AT community to KNOW that.

This POS received AT's golden seal of approval! How does that figure, unless you get lucky and get a working board?

Bahh, I'm SO frustrated with this crap. I haven't had these problems since my days of buying budget mobos to save a couple of pennies. Then I could at least understand, in this case I am mystified.