The *Official* MSI K8NGM2-FID GeForce 6150 Motherboard Thread

[HungryJ0e]

Originally posted by: timotl
No matter what supply voltage these modules are expecting, I'm fairly certain they are expecting a TTL level input not coax.

I managed to get the Asus bracket working for both coax and toslink.
The Asus bracket is expecting a TTL signal to run the toslink transmitter and it converts it down for the coax out.

I used the Coax -> TTL circuit on this page with a couple changes:
http://www.andrewkilpatrick.org/mind/spdif/

timotl -

Wow, thanks for the good info. As my ASUS moboard will drive the bracket without a +5V line, it makes sense that its using a TTL signal. Interesting that the bracket will still drive the coax out regardless...

Looks like you used a specialized logic chip to build this... was it one of the Phillips hex-converters? If so, which one did you use and where do you recommend getting it? Did you pull your +5V off the USB port or did you get it somewhere else?

- HJ

 

[HungryJ0e]

Is it a good idea to place a fuse in here somewhere? If the MB sends more that 5v wouldn?t the wires melt / catch fire? Can someone more knowledgeable explain what the purpose of the resistor is? I understand what the capacitor does, I am a little fuzzy about the intervter?s true purpose ? and I really have no idea what the resistor is for ? or why it is in that spot. Also, the site i referenced said something about connecting the reamaining INVERTER INPUTS to GND to limit interference? huh? ;-)

piranhaj -

It's been along time since my college electronics lab, but here goes...

If you don't care whether your moboard bursting into flames, then the fuse isn't necessary. Otherwise, put it into the +5V power line (coming from JUSB1/2 VCC in this case). I recommend picking up an automotive type cartridge fuseholder at Radioshack along with whatever the smallest quick disconnect fuse they have is (mine was for 250 millamp).

The resistor is provided to bias the transistor output... in other words it defaults the transistor output to an "always on" or "always off" state when there is not input signal... which state it defaults to depends on the type of transistor, in this case I'm guessing it's always on.

It's a good idea to keep the unused inputs connected to a source to prevent them from picking up noise/flipping states and interfering with the rest of the chip. I'm not sure if it's correct to connect them to ground or to +5V... either would probably work. Be sure not to leave the unused outputs unconnected though...

- HJ

 

[timotl]

HungryJ0e -

Basically any CMOS compatible hex inverter will work. (74HC04 or 74HCT04 are very common) I think this is one of the few IC's Radio Shack still carries.

I did pull 5v from a USB header.
I didn't worry about fusing the circuit.
Remember, USB ports are regulated and current limited already.
Any draw over 500ma and the USB port will shut down gracefully.
This entire circuit including toslink transmitter draws somewhere around 50ma.

BTW-
Standard not-my-fault-if-something-smokes disclaimer.
I wouldn't recommend trying this on a board you care about.
While in windows, short the JUSB1/2 VCC pin to ground and watch what happens...
You will see a wsarning popup that something has exceeded the port power and was shut down.

-timotl

 

[Beefy6969]

I've just joined the MSI K8NGM2-FID Club!

I have a few questions...
Why cant I play Unreal 2004 at 1280x1024 on low settings? Framerate is slow.
I could barely play other older games at that resolution. What other games have you all played at 1280x1024 with acceptable framerates?

My Sys is a AMD64 3200+ with 1GB RAM. And I changed the VGA on BIOS to 128MB. 3Dmark05 gave me a score of 650.
Is this Ok?

 

[rei]

odd, something must be setup wrong. i could play at that rez with very high detail on my 6600gt, and even more easily on my x800xl and 7800gt.

 

[Beefy6969]

Originally posted by: rei
odd, something must be setup wrong. i could play at that rez with very high detail on my 6600gt, and even more easily on my x800xl and 7800gt.

Sorry, I ment playing Unreal 2004 with the onboard 6150 video.
Its barely playable at only 1024x768. =(

 

[piranhaj]

Originally posted by: Beefy6969

Originally posted by: rei
odd, something must be setup wrong. i could play at that rez with very high detail on my 6600gt, and even more easily on my x800xl and 7800gt.

Sorry, I ment playing Unreal 2004 with the onboard 6150 video.
Its barely playable at only 1024x768. =(

Beefy6969...

I was looking to play games with this MB's intergrated graphics as well.... at least until
I read this review.... http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/chipsets/display/gf6150-gf6100.html. Of interest to you... the review has FPS results from Unreal 2004 @ 1024x768 = 42.98!

here are some choice cuts from the conclusion...
- "the chipset developer didn?t even try to meet the needs of gamers."
- "The graphics core of NVIDIA?s new chipsets, although supports DirectX 9 and Shader Model 3.0, falls far from the performance of even the cheapest standalone graphics cards of today"
- "NVIDIA?s new integrated chipsets are intended for home multimedia PCs built according to the digital home concept."
- "only previous-generation games run at an acceptable speed on the GeForce 6150 and GeForce 6100"

basically - if you want to game with this motherboard - get a proper graphics card!

 

[HungryJ0e]

ohio68 -

I went into my Device Manager on the HTPC to disable the extra SATA controller as you outlined. Tried going into standby... the computer won't do it! This is odd as I haven't changed any system settings since last testing standby... in fact the only thing I've done with the computer in the last two weeks is play DVD's and run SETI@home to test long term overclocking stability...

When attempting to standby, windows closes the window (as if it were going to standby) but then just continues normal operation. Afterwards when doing a system shutdown, the system frequently hangs with only the wallpaper displayed (start menu and desktop icons have disappeared).

ACPI and S3 standby are still enabled in the BIOS. Any clues on a setting I could have accidentally change? Of further note: setting the power button to enter standby mode in the BIOS appears non-operational (BIOS v 3.13)... in Windows this will initiate a system shutdown.

- HJ

 

[AdamSmith]

Hey Team,

I spoke to my vendor about this and MSI is suggesting K8NGM2-NBP model as a replacement. Check it out at http://www.eproscomputers.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=9204 and let me know if you think this will serve as a valid replacement.

 

[Beefy6969]

Hey Piranhaj, thanks for the heads up about the limited gaming capability of the 6150.

All I wanted was a list of popular old games running at 1280x1024 (my LCD's native) from people who have tried this chipset.

I could have sworn that my neighbor's Nforce3 with shared Gforce4MX is faster than my Geforce 6150. Does anyone agree?

 

[ohio68]

Originally posted by: HungryJ0e
. . . ACPI and S3 standby are still enabled in the BIOS. Any clues on a setting I could have accidentally change? Of further note: setting the power button to enter standby mode in the BIOS appears non-operational (BIOS v 3.13)... in Windows this will initiate a system shutdown.

- HJ

HJ,

I have the same two Western Digital 250 GB Drives for my Raid setup.
Although I am using the latest bios 3.20. This new bios fixed a couple of S3 settings in the bios which previously didn't do anything (e.g. enabling or disabling the mouse to come out of Standby).

Also, you probably already did this, but make sure that the two SATA drives are on the controller that wasn't disabled (e.g SATA 1 primary and secondary).

Also, my unused SATA 2 primary and secondary drives are disabled in the RAID setup in the bios.

 

[ddm1969]

Originally posted by: jlharvison
In addition to WebDirect, NCIX still has some of these MB's in stock.

FYI - I received the following email from WebDirect last Friday (3/17). My order was placed on 3/14 as their site showed 10 mobos in stock.

"Hello,
Sorry, some of the items you ordered from WebDirect - Secure2U Inc. are not available, and can not be shipped at this time.
Order Number: ####
Email Address: ****
Unavailable Items:
MSI K8NGM2-FID Socket939/GeForce 6150/DVI+TV-Out/A&V&L Motherboard
Sku: MB-K8NGM2F Qty: 1
Your account has been refunded US $.
If you have any comments or questions about your order, please direct them to support@secure2u.com."

This doesn't come as a total shock given the status of this board and the dodgy nature of their site.

 

[ddm1969]

Originally posted by: AdamSmith
Hey Team,

I spoke to my vendor about this and MSI is suggesting K8NGM2-NBP model as a replacement. Check it out at http://www.eproscomputers.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=9204 and let me know if you think this will serve as a valid replacement.

Adam,
Can your vendor provide any details as to the difference between the K8NGM2-FID and the K8NGM2-NBP? On the surface these two boards seem identical. The MSI product info on NBP is loaded with a bunch of Stable Image marketing fluff.
Thanks.
ddm

 

[Basilisk]

ddm:
I'm curious about the reply you'll get, but as I edited into my earlier post:

Diff' between FID and NBP models:
From mindless staring at the product spec's, the difference between these models is "straightforward".
-- The NBP drops IEEE-1394 (firewire)
-- and adds TPM1.2 (some manner of secure crypto-service).


MSI said we should see the FND in the stores THIS WEEK.
I noticed ZZF is now listing FND at $+20 over their previous price; I'll avoid them and await other providers.
I'm guessing buy.com will get it quickly and at ~$92 shipped.

 

[DGC]

Hi All,

Hoping some one can tell me...

If I use the K8NGM2-FID with an Antec Aria case, which does not have room for a floppy drive, could I use an external floppy drive? The only external floppy drives I've seen are USB.

Does the BIOS support booting from USB device?

I am thinking that to set-up a SATA II driver, RAID 1, or maybe re-flash the BIOS from a floppy disk, I may need this.

Thanks for your help

 

[ddm1969]

FYI - pcalchemy has pushed their projected "in-stock" date out until Monday March 27. Bummer.

 

[ddm1969]

Originally posted by: Basilisk
MSI said we should see the FND in the stores THIS WEEK.
I noticed ZZF is now listing FND at $+20 over their previous price; I'll avoid them and await other providers.
I'm guessing buy.com will get it quickly and at ~$92 shipped.

The boards ZZF has in stock are open box. I'll wait as well.

 

[piranhaj]

FYI... a post from 'Steve52' on the "Nvidia 6150 motherboards and htpc build questions/help" thread @ avsforum.com has a lead on the "SPDIF Bracket" for the K8NGM2-FID motherboard.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre...51&page=9&pp=30&highlight=geforce+6150

"I got a response from the "MSI Technical Support Team USA" that you can obtain a SPDIF Adapter for $10.00 including shipping and handling. Shipping is FedEx Ground. The E-mail says to forward it to their ordering team for processing.

It looks like you're suppoosed to fwd the E-mail to VincentL@msicomputer.com.

So, I guess you can E-mail VincentL, tell them that techsupport sent you, and you want to buy the SPDIF bracket for the MSI K8NGM2-FID motherboard for $10. Sounds like a better deal than buying a plastic fan bracket from Antec was... "

here is an MSI page with the part listed as "SPDIF Bracket", note the difference from the "S-Bracket" seen @ censuspc and other e-tailers.

http://www.msicomputer.com.au/html/support/MSI_accessory.htm

 

[renethx]

Originally posted by: DGC
If I use the K8NGM2-FID with an Antec Aria case, which does not have room for a floppy drive, could I use an external floppy drive? The only external floppy drives I've seen are USB.

Does the BIOS support booting from USB device?

I am thinking that to set-up a SATA II driver, RAID 1, or maybe re-flash the BIOS from a floppy disk, I may need this.

BIOS supports USB storage, so you should be able to boot from a USB floppy drive. I am not sure whether you can flash BIOS in DOS mode from a USB floppy drive, though. Basically you don't need a floppy drive at all. BIOS flashing is possible (and easier) in Windows mode. If you use RAID, the RAID driver can be incorporated into Windows installation CD by using nLite. RAID driver is included in nForce4 430/410 v8.22 drivers (IDE\WinXP\sataraid), the same one supplied by the MSI RAID floppy disc.

 

[RjG]

It for sure boots off USB. I boot mine off a CF card when I make ghost images, no problem
The CF card comes up as a 128 MB a: drive
My USB dongle comes up as a C: drive if I boot off that one though. Not sure why the difference.
Might be how they are formatted. My CF card has boot files from a floppy image.

I have flashed the bios back and forth booting from there too. It worked nicely.

 

[renethx]

Finally MSI K8NGM2-FID became back in stock in ZipZoomfly, $89.99 shipped. (It was $85.50 shipped in Feb.)

 

[DCDenton]

Dumb question, could you edit the bios to unlock vcore yourself?

And how do i save my settings like in a slot of the "load defaults" when i go experimenting i hate clearing cmos and having to start all over.

 

[DGC]

Hi renethx & RjG,

Thanks for the reply!

 

[PacoD]

Great Post...really helped alot...I think this is the board I'll get for my HTPC. Thanks

 

[imported_JTDC]

Originally posted by: Basilisk
ddm:
I'm curious about the reply you'll get, but as I edited into my earlier post:

Diff' between FID and NBP models:
From mindless staring at the product spec's, the difference between these models is "straightforward".
-- The NBP drops IEEE-1394 (firewire)
-- and adds TPM1.2 (some manner of secure crypto-service).


MSI said we should see the FND in the stores THIS WEEK.
I noticed ZZF is now listing FND at $+20 over their previous price; I'll avoid them and await other providers.
I'm guessing buy.com will get it quickly and at ~$92 shipped.

I just checked at ZipZoonFly and it looks like they now have the retail board at $89.99 shipped. Looks like the drought may have ended!