I have added a brief comment on MSI K8NGM2-NBP (Section 2. Picking up a GeForce 6150 board > Brief Comments > MSI K8NGM-NBP) to "MSI K8NGM2-FID: The Definitive Guide". The differences bewteen FID and NBP are listed.
this thread is really helpful!
anyone got compatibility issue between k8ngm2-fid and maxtor harddrive?
my maxtor sata driver(6v250fo) is unfortunate,i can't make my computer boot from floopy or any other bootable cd unless unplug the harddrive.
so i cant start windowsxp installation.anyone has this problem?
anyone got compatibility issue between k8ngm2-fid and maxtor harddrive?
my maxtor sata driver(6v250fo) is unfortunate,i can't make my computer boot from floopy or any other bootable cd unless unplug the harddrive.
so i cant start windowsxp installation.anyone has this problem?
Maxtor 6B300S0 SATA 300GB drive is not recognized by BIOS (a common problem to all NF4). I bought the Maxtor drive in November 2004 and have not upgraded firmware.
So I got my -FID from ZZF today. I had to RMA it for a weird memory issue so I didn't take as good of notes as I would have liked.
Note 1: (The reason I RMA'd the board) The board would only POST with RAM in slots 2 or 4. Whenever I put a stick in slots 1 or 3 (with or without the other identical stick in 2 or 4), the board would not POST. As in no DVI out, no VGA out, just a full speed CPU fan and powered drives. The problem is not the ram chips as they evaulated fine in memtest when I booted using them in ports 2 and 4 (purple). I also tested a PC2100 256MB stick from my old system on this board and it had the same problems.
When I called MSI tech support, they said that my configurations (1 or 2 sticks in slots 2 and 4 with none in 1 and 3) are the configurations where the board was not supposed to work.
Note 2: In the BIOS (v3.20), I noticed an option to enable something like TCQ/TPM both the fail-safe and performance defaults had this disabled. Is this on BIOS 3.2 for other users or is it new with version 2 of the board.
Note 3: The silk screened name had an H after it. (I didn't pay particularly close attention to the first half).
Other stuff: As others have said, the new board comes with the video bracket and the sound bracket (including the extra RCA SPDIF connector).
Hopefully when I get a new board in a week or so, it will work.
-nForcer420D
Note 1: (The reason I RMA'd the board) The board would only POST with RAM in slots 2 or 4. Whenever I put a stick in slots 1 or 3 (with or without the other identical stick in 2 or 4), the board would not POST. As in no DVI out, no VGA out, just a full speed CPU fan and powered drives. The problem is not the ram chips as they evaulated fine in memtest when I booted using them in ports 2 and 4 (purple). I also tested a PC2100 256MB stick from my old system on this board and it had the same problems.
When I called MSI tech support, they said that my configurations (1 or 2 sticks in slots 2 and 4 with none in 1 and 3) are the configurations where the board was not supposed to work.
Note 2: In the BIOS (v3.20), I noticed an option to enable something like TCQ/TPM both the fail-safe and performance defaults had this disabled. Is this on BIOS 3.2 for other users or is it new with version 2 of the board.
Note 3: The silk screened name had an H after it. (I didn't pay particularly close attention to the first half).
Other stuff: As others have said, the new board comes with the video bracket and the sound bracket (including the extra RCA SPDIF connector).
Hopefully when I get a new board in a week or so, it will work.
-nForcer420D
I got my MSI K8NGM2-FID yesterday and I got it up and running succesfully with my previous installation of windows on my harddrive. It automatically detected all display and sound and installing drivers from CD did the rest. Its a good motherboard with the good things you need. The bios version is 3.20.
I have a slight problem altough. When I connect my HDTV with DVI->HDMI connector, I don't get any display till windows loads completely (basically when the display driver is initializd). Connecting to a normal LCD monitor with DVI in works fine.
I called MSI techincal support and the answer I got was pretty lame. They said it would display till windows load as it takes a while to display on big screen TV. Asked me to disable quick boot in the bios options.
Has anybody else has experienned any issues like this. As I said, VGA and Compoennts works fine on HDTV is just DVI doesnt show anything till windows loads completely. Not a major issue but might be important. It could be my TV but that works fine with my previous motherboard and Asus 6200TC PIC-E card.
Any suggestion please.
ps: renethx, thanks for replying on avsforum. I changed my email id and I could join the forum
I have a slight problem altough. When I connect my HDTV with DVI->HDMI connector, I don't get any display till windows loads completely (basically when the display driver is initializd). Connecting to a normal LCD monitor with DVI in works fine.
I called MSI techincal support and the answer I got was pretty lame. They said it would display till windows load as it takes a while to display on big screen TV. Asked me to disable quick boot in the bios options.
Has anybody else has experienned any issues like this. As I said, VGA and Compoennts works fine on HDTV is just DVI doesnt show anything till windows loads completely. Not a major issue but might be important. It could be my TV but that works fine with my previous motherboard and Asus 6200TC PIC-E card.
Any suggestion please.
ps: renethx, thanks for replying on avsforum. I changed my email id and I could join the forum
** sorry for the long post - I've included background to try and make my questions clearer - and while the questions are nforce430 related - they do push the thread hijacking boundry **
I am looking to setup RAID arrays on my K8NGM2-FID. On my servers @ work I like to use smaller 2x 80GB HDDs in RAID0 (striping) for optimal performance and 5x 136GB HDDs for RAID0+1(striping+fault tolerance) or RAID1 (fault tolerance) for data. I would like to implement similar OS / DATA RAID arrays on my K8NGM2-FID (overkill you say?probably - but it keeps me entertained ;-)
The immediate problems are noise and the limitation of 4 SATA drives on the Nforce 430 chip.
1) Why not use a small NAS. Unforntunatly, both DIY NAS or consumer level options (i.e. Infrant) are beyond my budget. I have concluded that a 4x Infiniband (SATA Multilane) scenario is the best option. Why not use normal SATA or eSATA cables? Having 3-4 data cables hanging out of the case, even bundled with nice tubing, is too messy, and my mATX case does not have enough space for 4x internal to eSATA adapters. (FYI: after some price searches it seems that a multi-bay external HDD enclosure with 4x eSATA cables going back to the host is about the same cost as single 4x Infiniband cable with SATA/Infiniband converters)
2) Ideally I want to seperate my OS and DATA. I will ghost the OS array - therefore I dont care about fault tolerance. I intend to store my movies + HD content on the DATA array and since I dont have $$ for an 100GB autoloader, backup will be an issue... thus a minimal fault tolerance from RAID1, or 0+1 will allow me to sleep at night.
So my questions are:
1) are there significant performance differences between nforce430 raid and a dedicated PCI raid controller? has anyone seen a decent 4-port SATA2 raid controller for PCIe? I've only seen 2-port PCIe x1 cards or 4-port PCI-X cards [http://www.addonics.com/products/multilane/ad4saml.asp] which the K8NGM2 does not have. Does the 32bit PCI slot even have enough bandwidth for SATA2 raid?)
2) Do 4x Infiniband/SATA converters require power or a special controller? Will it even work with the nforce 430 controller? [http://www.addonics.com/products/multilane/connector.asp]
3) Does anyone have experience with / knowledge of SATA Port Multipliers? [http://www.cooldrives.com/cosapomubrso.html]I am assuming that the nforce 430 does not support "port multiplers" and I would need a PCI controller like this [http://www.cooldrives.com/rasaii3g4p1e.html] - any thoughts? I mean can trunking a 4 drive raid array into ONE single lane cable REALLY be a good idea? I can only think that performance would suffer compared to the 'true' 4x lanes provided by Infiniband... right?
EDIT: Here is the SATA spec on port-multipliers - but I cant really believe that there is no performance loss over standard point-to-point SATA connections... http://www.sata-io.org/portmultiplier.asp
EDIT2: the really annoying thing is that once you post questions - you find answers...these guys are MAC fanboys - but SATA is SATA regardless of OS. ;-)
[*]http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/PortMultiplicationGuide.php
[*]http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/sataguide_1.php
[*]http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/hotswapsataguide_1.php
Still hoping for input / opinions on nforce430 raid, infiniband vs port-multipliers, and general K8NGM2 raid issues.
I am looking to setup RAID arrays on my K8NGM2-FID. On my servers @ work I like to use smaller 2x 80GB HDDs in RAID0 (striping) for optimal performance and 5x 136GB HDDs for RAID0+1(striping+fault tolerance) or RAID1 (fault tolerance) for data. I would like to implement similar OS / DATA RAID arrays on my K8NGM2-FID (overkill you say?probably - but it keeps me entertained ;-)
The immediate problems are noise and the limitation of 4 SATA drives on the Nforce 430 chip.
1) Why not use a small NAS. Unforntunatly, both DIY NAS or consumer level options (i.e. Infrant) are beyond my budget. I have concluded that a 4x Infiniband (SATA Multilane) scenario is the best option. Why not use normal SATA or eSATA cables? Having 3-4 data cables hanging out of the case, even bundled with nice tubing, is too messy, and my mATX case does not have enough space for 4x internal to eSATA adapters. (FYI: after some price searches it seems that a multi-bay external HDD enclosure with 4x eSATA cables going back to the host is about the same cost as single 4x Infiniband cable with SATA/Infiniband converters)
2) Ideally I want to seperate my OS and DATA. I will ghost the OS array - therefore I dont care about fault tolerance. I intend to store my movies + HD content on the DATA array and since I dont have $$ for an 100GB autoloader, backup will be an issue... thus a minimal fault tolerance from RAID1, or 0+1 will allow me to sleep at night.
So my questions are:
1) are there significant performance differences between nforce430 raid and a dedicated PCI raid controller? has anyone seen a decent 4-port SATA2 raid controller for PCIe? I've only seen 2-port PCIe x1 cards or 4-port PCI-X cards [http://www.addonics.com/products/multilane/ad4saml.asp] which the K8NGM2 does not have. Does the 32bit PCI slot even have enough bandwidth for SATA2 raid?)
2) Do 4x Infiniband/SATA converters require power or a special controller? Will it even work with the nforce 430 controller? [http://www.addonics.com/products/multilane/connector.asp]
3) Does anyone have experience with / knowledge of SATA Port Multipliers? [http://www.cooldrives.com/cosapomubrso.html]I am assuming that the nforce 430 does not support "port multiplers" and I would need a PCI controller like this [http://www.cooldrives.com/rasaii3g4p1e.html] - any thoughts? I mean can trunking a 4 drive raid array into ONE single lane cable REALLY be a good idea? I can only think that performance would suffer compared to the 'true' 4x lanes provided by Infiniband... right?
EDIT: Here is the SATA spec on port-multipliers - but I cant really believe that there is no performance loss over standard point-to-point SATA connections... http://www.sata-io.org/portmultiplier.asp
EDIT2: the really annoying thing is that once you post questions - you find answers...these guys are MAC fanboys - but SATA is SATA regardless of OS. ;-)
[*]http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/PortMultiplicationGuide.php
[*]http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/sataguide_1.php
[*]http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/hotswapsataguide_1.php
Still hoping for input / opinions on nforce430 raid, infiniband vs port-multipliers, and general K8NGM2 raid issues.
I am using 2 x Samsung SP2504C SATA at RAID 1 as a system drive for Windows XP with the MSI K8NGM2-FID, works OK. There where none problems with the RAID setup, just remember to install both nvidia RAID driver and storage controller when asked. There is only one little issue, cannot find any program that do read S.M.A.R.T info or HDD temperatures trough nVidia RAID controller.
You are right, renethx. My mistake. I have been wrong from the beginning about this. Having read about the lack of heatsink on the A8N-VM CSM, I had simply assumed that this concerned the video chip. Also, I had not seen the heatsink "remnants" on the NBP 430 chip.
Sorry for the un-supported opinion on this, but I read something online in the last couple weeks that compared a couple well regarded $300-$500 hardware SATA RAID controller boards to the H/W & S/W approach that nVidia uses with the 430, and it was pretty surprising: the nVidia approach was as fast or faster than those hardware boards. This is not to say that $1K+ boards (or SCSI boards) aren't better, but it showed that unless you're going to spend a good deal of $$$, the nVidia RAID solution is pretty good.
Hey everybody. First I wanted to say thank you for this forum. It was the deciding factor in me getting my board. So far it rocks except for one thing. I didn't pay any attention when I installed XP and forgot to use the nVidia SATA drivers so now I have a 320GB hard drive with two partitions. Does anyone know of any free partition sesizing software out there?
Ultimate Boot CD contains several partition tools, though none of them may work with NTFS partitions. BootIt NG works in DOS mode without purchasing it. Always backup important data before resizing partitions.
Why oh why would you want only one partition?
So are folks enjoying their MSI 6150 boards? I am tempted to migrate and perhaps build some PC's for my family too
So are folks enjoying their MSI 6150 boards? I am tempted to migrate and perhaps build some PC's for my family too
Galby -
You can install the NVvidia RAID drivers after you install Windows XP and migrate over to a RAID setup... you need at least two hard drives of course... (I did this so I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of slipstreaming my Windows CD's, as I don't have a floppy drive).
1. Setup the BIOS to enable NVIDIA RAID Function, then enable RAID on the secondary hard drive only.
2. a. If performing a fresh Windows install Windows as per renethx's faq section 9, except when installing NForce drivers you *must* install the NVidia Storage driver. With at least one RAID enabled drive connected, installing the NVidia Storage driver will install NVidia Mediashield as well with associated RAID drivers (if you did not enable RAID on at least one hard drive in the BIOS this will not happen).
b. If this is not a fresh Windows install, run the NForce install utility and install the NVidia Storage driver. So long as at least one RAID hard drive has been enabled in the BIOS, Mediashield and associated RAID drivers will be installed.
3. Reboot and ensure that the secondary RAID drive is now recognized by Windows and can be accessed.
4. Reboot and enable RAID on the primary hard drive in the BIOS.
5. Reboot and renter the BIOS. Under "Advanced BIOS Options/Boot Sequence" set the primary hard drive to #1 in the boot sequence (after enabling RAID, NVidia Boot Agent may replace the primary hard drive in the boot sequence).
5. Windows will now boot off your RAID enabled hard drives. You can setup your array either with the NVidia RAID Bootup utility or using Mediashield in Windows. However, using the bootup utility it is relatively easy to accidentally mirror the wrong drive, erasing your primary hard drive... hence I recommend setting up the array in Windows using Mediashield.
- HJ
You can install the NVvidia RAID drivers after you install Windows XP and migrate over to a RAID setup... you need at least two hard drives of course... (I did this so I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of slipstreaming my Windows CD's, as I don't have a floppy drive).
1. Setup the BIOS to enable NVIDIA RAID Function, then enable RAID on the secondary hard drive only.
2. a. If performing a fresh Windows install Windows as per renethx's faq section 9, except when installing NForce drivers you *must* install the NVidia Storage driver. With at least one RAID enabled drive connected, installing the NVidia Storage driver will install NVidia Mediashield as well with associated RAID drivers (if you did not enable RAID on at least one hard drive in the BIOS this will not happen).
b. If this is not a fresh Windows install, run the NForce install utility and install the NVidia Storage driver. So long as at least one RAID hard drive has been enabled in the BIOS, Mediashield and associated RAID drivers will be installed.
3. Reboot and ensure that the secondary RAID drive is now recognized by Windows and can be accessed.
4. Reboot and enable RAID on the primary hard drive in the BIOS.
5. Reboot and renter the BIOS. Under "Advanced BIOS Options/Boot Sequence" set the primary hard drive to #1 in the boot sequence (after enabling RAID, NVidia Boot Agent may replace the primary hard drive in the boot sequence).
5. Windows will now boot off your RAID enabled hard drives. You can setup your array either with the NVidia RAID Bootup utility or using Mediashield in Windows. However, using the bootup utility it is relatively easy to accidentally mirror the wrong drive, erasing your primary hard drive... hence I recommend setting up the array in Windows using Mediashield.
- HJ
"The board would only POST with RAM in slots 2 or 4. Whenever I put a stick in slots 1 or 3 (with or without the other identical stick in 2 or 4), the board would not POST."
Just out of curiosity, why are no not running your ram in slots 1 and 2? I thought that was how you were supposed to run it in a DDR setup.
Just out of curiosity, why are no not running your ram in slots 1 and 2? I thought that was how you were supposed to run it in a DDR setup.
I actually tried that combination first, but the system wouldn't POST because there was a stick of ram in slot 1.
-nForcer420D
Quick question here for eveyone with this board.
I just got the K8NGM2-FID from PC Alchemy and unfortunately opened up the package to see that one of the clips to the on-board gpu heatsink broke off during shipping. The result is that the heatsink won't sit straight on the 6150 gpu chip. Anyone have an idea of where one could buy a replacement for this part? (basically a little white plastic prong with a spring around it).
Obviously I want to clear this up before connecting everything up. Does it make more sense for me to go and buy different passive gpu heatsink...any recommendations?
Thanks all!
Mrfreshness,
First you should contact PCAlchemy to rectify the matter. If you have to pay for return shipping, you may contact MSI and ask them to ship a replacement plastic prong (perhaps for a nominal charge). Another possibility is buy a Zalman NB heatsink (ZM-NB32J or ZM-NB47J) and use its prongs. You can't use the Zalman NB heatsink itself because it (37 x 37 mm) is larger than the stock heatsink (27 x 27 mm).
First you should contact PCAlchemy to rectify the matter. If you have to pay for return shipping, you may contact MSI and ask them to ship a replacement plastic prong (perhaps for a nominal charge). Another possibility is buy a Zalman NB heatsink (ZM-NB32J or ZM-NB47J) and use its prongs. You can't use the Zalman NB heatsink itself because it (37 x 37 mm) is larger than the stock heatsink (27 x 27 mm).
Hi,
I just installed Win2K Server SP4 on my new K8NGM2-FID, and everything seems to be working. CPU is an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ E6.
I am now trying to enable Cool'n Quiet.
I download amdcpu_xp2k.exe from MSI's website (couldn't find the Win2K version on AMD's website), but when I run the .EXE, I get a popup saying:
"The operating system is not supported by the Athlon 64 Processor Driver"
Does anyone know why this is happening? Is there a different download for this?
Thanks,
Jim
I just installed Win2K Server SP4 on my new K8NGM2-FID, and everything seems to be working. CPU is an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ E6.
I am now trying to enable Cool'n Quiet.
I download amdcpu_xp2k.exe from MSI's website (couldn't find the Win2K version on AMD's website), but when I run the .EXE, I get a popup saying:
"The operating system is not supported by the Athlon 64 Processor Driver"
Does anyone know why this is happening? Is there a different download for this?
Thanks,
Jim
Originally posted by: morkys
Why oh why would you want only one partition?
So are folks enjoying their MSI 6150 boards? I am tempted to migrate and perhaps build some PC's for my family too
Hi,
I just received the board and an Athlon 64 3000+ CPU (boxed). So far, it's been easy (except for question about Cool'n Quiet that I just posted.
I took a different route for installing Win2K Server, to save some time
.I had an image file (taken from an old system with a DFI Socket A mobo) that I had created on a different machine, so I restored that to the new K8NGM2-FID system.
Naturally, it blue-screened after the image restore, but I expected that.
I then booted to a full Win2K Server SP4 CD, and did an "in-place upgrade" (select "Install", then "Repair"). After that, everything came up pretty much ok, except I had to install the MSI drivers and used Windows update to bring Win2K up-to-date.
Jim
Renethx,
Thanks for the tips. I also emailed MSI and looks like they will ship out a couple prongs. In the mean time, I was able to borrow a couple temporary prongs from a buddy of mine (he's got tons of computer parts) so that at least lets me start setting the system up.
Thanks again!
Thanks for the tips. I also emailed MSI and looks like they will ship out a couple prongs. In the mean time, I was able to borrow a couple temporary prongs from a buddy of mine (he's got tons of computer parts) so that at least lets me start setting the system up.
Thanks again!
You can find AMD Athlon? 64 Processor Cool'n'Quiet Software for Windows ME and Windows 2000, Version 1.0.8.1 in AMD Athlon? 64/FX Processor Utilities and Updates though I am not sure if it works for the server edition.
renethx,
Ok, that version, from AMD, did seem to install ok.
I'm curious, though. Why doesn't the one from MSI itself, which I think was a larger EXE, and dated later, not install?
Also, I've enabled Smart Fan in the BIOS (V3.20), and set it to 40C, and my CPU temp is 30-32C, but the CPU fan (a stock AMD HSF) STILL seems to be running at full speed (~3200 RPM). Shouldn't the fan speed (as measured in the BIOS) drop, since the CPU temperature (again, as measured in the BIOS) is < 40C?
Is there some time lag between when the SmartFan detects CPU temp below the setting and when it drops the fan speed?
Thanks again,
Jim
The MSI version is larger because it also includes XP? Version number 1.0.8.1 of the MSI site is the same as the AMD site. I don't know why the MSI version cannot install. Perhaps the MSI engineer who combined 2K and XP did not take 2K server into account.
I don't think there is time lag. Did you try to raise Smart Fan temperature, say 60 deg C to see if it works? If it does not work, something (motherboard?) is wrong.
Hi,
Re. the CNQ software: Would it do any good to email MSI about this? Are they (generally) responsive to this kind of feedback?
Re. the CPU fan speed: Unbelievably STUPID error on my part!! I had the CPU fan plugged into the SYSFAN connector
!I moved the HSF fan connector to the CPUFAN connector (near the "top" edge of the mobo, and now the CPU fan speed dropped to ~1600RPM. COOL (both literally and figuratively
!)!I am REALLY starting to like this mobo, and the Athlon 64! My daughter's birthday is coming up, and she's "hinting" that she'd like a computer upgrade for a b'day gift, so it looks like I may need to order another mobo/CPU set.
I'll probably go with the same pair, K8NGM2-FID and AMD Athlon 64 3000+ E6, since it seems very stable, runs MUCH quieter than any of the previous Socket A systems that I've put together (with MUCH less effort), and runs REALLY cool.
Thanks for this very helpful thread!
Jim
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