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

[subcodec]

Originally posted by: HT2001
Hi,

I've been reading through the MSI K8NGM2-FID thread and I see that subsonic somehow managed to install Vista RC1 using the same motherboard? I've pm'd him but he hasn't replied yet.

The thing is I can't even get the vista RC1 dvd that I burned to boot up, it justs keeps reseting after the bios screens and loops. The disc is fine because it loads up on my brothers P4/Asus pc. I don't use a RAID configuration so I am baffled.

My configurations are:

Athlon 64 X2 3800/Zalman 7000Cu
MSI K8NGM2-FID (Bios 3.0)
2x 250GB Samsung SATA Spinpoint HDD
2x 512MB 3200 Crucial ram
NEC 3450 dvd/rw
350w Seasonic PSU

Has anyone else successfully installed the latest Vista on their MSI K8NGM2-FID mobo?

Thanks

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. I haven't had a chance to check the forum in a couple days.

I've had problems in the past with certain boot CDs and DVDs in the past on the MSI board. They work fine with my other PC, but they would either not boot up at all or would start and then lock up. Some of them include Vista, Bart's PE, and Hiren's boot CD. Ever since I've flashed the BIOS to v3.5, I haven't experienced any problems with booting from discs. I did see you are on v3.0, so that might be one thing to try. Other potential problem makers might be the DVD drive itself (might be a little picky on discs) and or the disc itself. You could try reburning the disc at either 1x or 2x speed.

I'm not sure what else to suggest. Hopefully it will work out for you. Vista RC1 runs great on this board and I'm still running it as my main OS.

 

[hossma]

I am new to computer building, having only installed hard drives, PCI cards, DVD burners in the past, but I have an experienced friend who will help me with this build.

I am looking to build an inexpensive yet cool, quiet and of course functional HTPC. After a LOT of internet research, I came up with this board and build. Primary uses will be as DVD/CD jukebox (tired of my toddlers destroying our discs) and a little TV recording (from cable box). No gaming. My desired video output will be component output to a CRT SDTV. I probably won?t get an HDTV for 2-3 yrs, but I want the future capability. I?d like to send the sound to my stereo receiver. The main areas I would be willing to spend extra $$ to upgrade would be for a significantly more energy efficient processor, I figure it will save money in the long run, and probably be cooler, too. Here are my components, and cost, followed by some explanations and questions. Please critique and suggest as desired.

Board: K8NGM2-FID, $92.
CPU: Athlon 64 3200+ Venice, $75
Memory: Rosewill 1GB (512x2) PC3200 DDR400, (2.5-3-3-7) CAS-2 $68.
Hard Drive: Western Caviar 250GB, 7200RPM, SATA, 3Gb/s (already have)
DVD Burner: Samsung 16x, (already have)
TV Card: Hauppauge WINTV-PVR-150, $87
Case + PSU: Antek NSK2400, $80
OS: Windows XP Professional (already have)
?Media center? software: Media Portal (free)
Total: $402
I?d also like to put in a PCI wireless card so I can network to my other computers


Are there more energy-efficient CPU options, or are they only for AM2 sockets (I?m staying away from the K9 (AM2) board due to critiques I?ve read about inability to use a PCI slot or mount brackets due to some caps that are in the way)? Is the Rosewill memory any good? I chose it due to the recommendation in this thread of value RAM performing fine for most non-gaming apps. Will I need to do any modifications to mount 2PCI cards plus the TV-out and S/PDIF brackets to the NKS2400? Will I need any additional cooling? This thing will be sitting in a TV armoire, with only the front face open to the outside. Any other TV card suggestions?

Did I forget anything?

Thanks for your help.

 

[HT2001]

Thanks for the advice - it looks like the bios was the reason why I couldn't boot up Vista.

I do love the look of everything and it makes XP look slightly old.

Btw, what drivers have you installed for it?

 

[knightc2]

Are there more energy-efficient CPU options, or are they only for AM2 sockets (I?m staying away from the K9 (AM2) board due to critiques I?ve read about inability to use a PCI slot or mount brackets due to some caps that are in the way)?

Speaking of the AM2 version (K9)... I find it hard to believe that someone released this board with such a poor design. I know that some have complained about this issue, but I wonder if MSI has addressed this or is addressing this with a new revision? It would seem like this would really kill board sales. Anyone get or know of any revisions of the K9 board that may have fixed this issue? Has anyone who recieved the flawed board found a way around this issue? (ie. bending capacitors, modifying the PCI card, etc. ) Having not seen this in person I wonder how bad it really is and if ALL cards are affected by this flaw.

 

[blimey]

I've read this entire thread but I haven't noticed any info about using an aftermarket heatsink on the NB chip (for the K8NGM2-FID). The first post in this thread talks about adding a 30mm fan to the stock heatsink - but all of the aftermarket NB cooling products are 40mm. Will these fit?

I was looking at the Swiftech MCX-159-CU at newegg. Will this fit the NB on the K8NGM2-FID?

I just installed my K8NGM2-FID and I already have two blisters from momentarily touching the NB heatsink, and this is with the thing powered off. This has to be a fire hazzard as well as not so good for the chip.

 

[grits]

Blimey, you only need to add a fan on the current heatsink. 40mm fans are fine, just orient them 45 degrees off square with a dab of epoxy or something. 1000+ rpm is fine (and noiseless).

It wouldn't hurt to remove the heatsink and put some paste on the chip also. And fastening it with some 4-40 machine screws would be even better. Snugly, not like a cpu heatsink.

 

[Basilisk]

Just added new 3D Fuzion 7600GS -- and am having trouble.

System boots fine w/o 7600. [running latest BIOS (3.5?); in X-Qpack case w/ seasonic PSU]
System doesn't POST -anything- w/ 7600 and PCIE card as primary video.
System only POSTs part way w/ 7600 and onboard as primary video.

Will permute all BIOS settings soon, but after two hours haven't found anything to make card work. Have no other PCIE systems to test card, nor any other PCIE cards to test m/b.

Was disappointed to note m/b lacks a video lock-down device: weight of monitor cables and slight warp to case were lifting tail of 7600 for first hour of tests. Will have to fabricate something to lock down rear of card if I can get it to display at all.

Edit: 9/25 -- Have RMA'd board -- will post update on replacement ASAP, ~10/5
Edit: 9/27 -- Can't take the increasing trouble-reports on above card. Have gone for REFUND and ordered this 7600GT instead. Will post about new card in a coupla days.

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: Basilisk
Just added new 3D Fuzion 7600GS -- and am having trouble.

For reasons I can't imagine, the 3D Fusion 7600 GS seems to have compatibility issues with some motherboards.

See these comments on Newegg

 

[aeroguy]

Originally posted by: Basilisk
Just added new 3D Fuzion 7600GS -- and am having trouble.

System boots fine w/o 7600. [running latest BIOS (3.5?); in X-Qpack case w/ seasonic PSU]
System doesn't POST -anything- w/ 7600 and PCIE card as primary video.
System only POSTs part way w/ 7600 and onboard as primary video.

Will permute all BIOS settings soon, but after two hours haven't found anything to make card work. Have no other PCIE systems to test card, nor any other PCIE cards to test m/b.

Was disappointed to note m/b lacks a video lock-down device: weight of monitor cables and slight warp to case were lifting tail of 7600 for first hour of tests. Will have to fabricate something to lock down rear of card if I can get it to display at all.

Let us know if you get the card to work. I was looking at getting it.

 

[Mark9]

Ooops, posted this on the main Forum topic area accidently:

Two of my systems use K8NGM2-FID boards. One functions perfectly. The second board will not start on the first start, instead I get the "Reboot and select proper boot device, or insert proper media.... etc" message.

I have all bios settings set the same on each board. I've swapped C: drives - yet the second board will always fail to start on the first try. When I get the error message I'll do a Ctl-Alt-Del and the board always starts on the secong start.

There have been no other problems with the board. Both use the 3.5 bios along with 3800+ Athlons, 1gig matched memory sticks, all peripherals are identical. Memory timings are identical, etc...

Anyone with a suggestion??? Thanks for any help!!

Incidently, I've just ordered a Foxconn 6150K8MA-8EKRS (sort of an equivalent board) for another system so as to have a comparison with the MSI board.

 

[RishiK]

Originally posted by: Basilisk
Just added new 3D Fuzion 7600GS -- and am having trouble.

System boots fine w/o 7600. [running latest BIOS (3.5?); in X-Qpack case w/ seasonic PSU]
System doesn't POST -anything- w/ 7600 and PCIE card as primary video.
System only POSTs part way w/ 7600 and onboard as primary video.

Will permute all BIOS settings soon, but after two hours haven't found anything to make card work. Have no other PCIE systems to test card, nor any other PCIE cards to test m/b.

Was disappointed to note m/b lacks a video lock-down device: weight of monitor cables and slight warp to case were lifting tail of 7600 for first hour of tests. Will have to fabricate something to lock down rear of card if I can get it to display at all.

Edit: 9/25 -- Have RMA'd board -- will post update on replacement ASAP, ~10/5

I have had the same problem with a BIG 7600GS which is a Galaxy OEM...tried 3 different card but the same problem...got a 7300gt and its working without a problem...

 

[blimey]

Does anybody have any 7600GS card working with the K8NGM2-FID? I have a Biostar V7602GS51 7600GS in route to me, and I will be really bummed if I have to RMA the thing.

 

[jlharvison]

After reading about the possibility of the NB not having thermal compound on it, I removed its heatsink. My chip had thermal compound. I went ahead and replaced it with the compound I got with my NT06 (Artic Silver?) anyway. I want to say that the heatsink gets a little warmer now, but that could be my imagination since I didn't take any before or after temp measurements.

Just thought I'd share that not all of the chips came without themal grease.

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: blimey
Does anybody have any 7600GS card working with the K8NGM2-FID? I have a Biostar V7602GS51 7600GS in route to me, and I will be really bummed if I have to RMA the thing.

I would like to know this too, as I am about to get a discrete video card and the 7600GS is on my shortlist.

blimey, please tell us if yours works alright.

Thanks

 

[Basilisk]

Originally posted by: blimey
Does anybody have any 7600GS card working with the K8NGM2-FID? I have a Biostar V7602GS51 7600GS in route to me, and I will be really bummed if I have to RMA the thing.

That's interesting cooling (pipe+fan+large copper) on your card and its 512MB is attractive, but it's priced above some 7600GT's ($140+ vs. $119+ AMR) which are clocked higher and have significantly faster DDR3 RAM. With the current trouble reports (which came out after I purchased my card), in your situation I'd consider refusing delivery and switching to a GT -- although none of those carry 512MB and may well not meet your needs.

Only the low price and big rebate on my GS have me awaiting an RMA replacement... and I may cancel the rplacement and switch to that 7600GT. I'll post when my card arrives, although if I try the 7600GS and it fails you may hear my scream w/o the web....

Edit: 9/27 -- Can't take the increasing trouble-reports on 3D Fusion 7600GS. Have gone for REFUND and ordered this 7600GT instead.

 

[korinel]

> Can you post the exact model of your seagate and Western didgital SATA drives.

Dtube, sorry for the slow reply. They are:

Seagate ST3320620AS (320 GByte SATA-2)
Western Digital WD5000KS-00MNB0

 

[blimey]

Originally posted by: Basilisk
That's interesting cooling (pipe+fan+large copper) on your card and its 512MB is attractive, but it's priced above some 7600GT's ($140+ vs. $119+ AMR) which are clocked higher and have significantly faster DDR3 RAM. With the current trouble reports (which came out after I purchased my card), in your situation I'd consider refusing delivery and switching to a GT -- although none of those carry 512MB and may well not meet your needs.

Only the low price and big rebate on my GS have me awaiting an RMA replacement... and I may cancel the rplacement and switch to that 7600GT. I'll post when my card arrives, although if I try the 7600GS and it fails you may hear my scream w/o the web....

Yes, please keep us posted. I chose the GS over the GT mostly because so many comments and reviews described the 7600GT as insanely loud and hot.

If the Biostar 7600GS doesn't work with the K8NGM2-FID, I'm going to try the XFX PVT73GUGD3 7600GT because several reviews refer to the card as being quiet. If I have to RMA the 7600GS, I hope newegg doesn't try to nail me for 15% on my return.

 

[Aveli]

I also find that some people complain the 7600GS with nvidia 6100 chipset at:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/threa...B73D5A3851BD288?topicId=20342969&sid=1

And it seems that it concerns several brands of video cards...

 

[Basilisk]

Originally posted by: blimey

Originally posted by: Basilisk::
Only the low price and big rebate on my GS have me awaiting an RMA replacement... and I may cancel the rplacement and switch to that 7600GT. I'll post when my card arrives, although if I try the 7600GS and it fails you may hear my scream w/o the web....

Yes, please keep us posted. I chose the GS over the GT mostly because so many comments and reviews described the 7600GT as insanely loud and hot.

If the Biostar 7600GS doesn't work with the K8NGM2-FID, I'm going to try the XFX PVT73GUGD3 7600GT because several reviews refer to the card as being quiet. If I have to RMA the 7600GS, I hope newegg doesn't try to nail me for 15% on my return.

Color me coward: I just switched a "replacement-RMA" on my 3D Fuzion 7600GS to a "refund-RMA", then ordered a BFG 7600GT . It's a few bux cheaper than your GT option and lacks that sexy black color [I can spray-paint it ], but it -has- a 2nd VGA adaptor which is a deciding feature for the near-term [jk] !

I share your interest in a quiet card as my PC is near-silent. Unfortunately, fanless cards on GT's are double-slot or tall, which I can't fit. I may de-tune the card to reduce heat or replace the cooler (if I can find a no-wasted-slot after-market cooler) if noise is a problem. Please post your experiences with either the GS or GT so we get a handle on what cards work.

 

[Aveli]

So have you tried it with play some 3D games for more than 1 hour? Thanks. Since I am worried about the Compatibility issues between 6150 and 7600GS. Thanks.

 

[blimey]

Originally posted by: Basilisk
Color me coward: I just switched a "replacement-RMA" on my 3D Fuzion 7600GS to a "refund-RMA", then ordered a BFG 7600GT . It's a few bux cheaper than your GT option and lacks that sexy black color [I can spray-paint it ], but it -has- a 2nd VGA adaptor which is a deciding feature for the near-term [jk] !

I share your interest in a quiet card as my PC is near-silent. Unfortunately, fanless cards on GT's are double-slot or tall, which I can't fit. I may de-tune the card to reduce heat or replace the cooler (if I can find a no-wasted-slot after-market cooler) if noise is a problem. Please post your experiences with either the GS or GT so we get a handle on what cards work.

I installed the Biostar V7602GS51 7600GS in my K8NGM2-FID today. So far, it seems fine. It boots and runs XP normally. I've had it installed for several hours. The testing I've done so far is to play 2 hours of 720p video, and I played the game that came with the card (trackmania nations) for about an hour. I don't have any 3D games, so I'm not able to test with those. If someone knows of an intensive 3d game demo that I can download for free, let me know and I'll test it with that.

I'm using MSI bios v3.5 and I used the nvidia drivers that came with the card (84.21)

 

[BernardP]

Concerning problems with an add-on video card, there are a couple of different ways of setting onboard graphics and discrete card priority in the BIOS.

---There is another setting for choosing one or the other (but the integrated video will be used if no add-on card is present)

---There is also a setting to disable On-chip VGA if a card is present in the PCI-E slot

---And there is a setting for "Both exist and On-chip VGA by frame buffer select". In that case, I understand that setting the frame buffer to 0 will also disable On-chip VGA.

I am wondering if this last setting could not be the source of some potential problems. Disabling the On-chip VGA if a PCI-E card is present seems to be the safest way to go.


Also, I would be curious to know if there are people running an ATI X1XXX discrete card with this board, how successfully they have removed the NVidia drivers, and how the On-chip graphics works with only the basic Windows video drivers.

The upcoming X1650XT looks very promising

 

[aeroguy]

Originally posted by: Basilisk

Originally posted by: blimey

Originally posted by: Basilisk::
Only the low price and big rebate on my GS have me awaiting an RMA replacement... and I may cancel the rplacement and switch to that 7600GT. I'll post when my card arrives, although if I try the 7600GS and it fails you may hear my scream w/o the web....

Yes, please keep us posted. I chose the GS over the GT mostly because so many comments and reviews described the 7600GT as insanely loud and hot.

If the Biostar 7600GS doesn't work with the K8NGM2-FID, I'm going to try the XFX PVT73GUGD3 7600GT because several reviews refer to the card as being quiet. If I have to RMA the 7600GS, I hope newegg doesn't try to nail me for 15% on my return.

Color me coward: I just switched a "replacement-RMA" on my 3D Fuzion 7600GS to a "refund-RMA", then ordered a BFG 7600GT . It's a few bux cheaper than your GT option and lacks that sexy black color [I can spray-paint it ], but it -has- a 2nd VGA adaptor which is a deciding feature for the near-term [jk] !

I share your interest in a quiet card as my PC is near-silent. Unfortunately, fanless cards on GT's are double-slot or tall, which I can't fit. I may de-tune the card to reduce heat or replace the cooler (if I can find a no-wasted-slot after-market cooler) if noise is a problem. Please post your experiences with either the GS or GT so we get a handle on what cards work.

Basilisk, that looks like a great card for the money. It was another option I was looking at but am concerned about the noise. I also wonder if it's overkill for strictly HTPC applications (no gaming).

 

[avi85]

Originally posted by: aeroguy

Originally posted by: Basilisk

Originally posted by: blimey

Originally posted by: Basilisk::
Only the low price and big rebate on my GS have me awaiting an RMA replacement... and I may cancel the rplacement and switch to that 7600GT. I'll post when my card arrives, although if I try the 7600GS and it fails you may hear my scream w/o the web....

Yes, please keep us posted. I chose the GS over the GT mostly because so many comments and reviews described the 7600GT as insanely loud and hot.

If the Biostar 7600GS doesn't work with the K8NGM2-FID, I'm going to try the XFX PVT73GUGD3 7600GT because several reviews refer to the card as being quiet. If I have to RMA the 7600GS, I hope newegg doesn't try to nail me for 15% on my return.

Color me coward: I just switched a "replacement-RMA" on my 3D Fuzion 7600GS to a "refund-RMA", then ordered a BFG 7600GT . It's a few bux cheaper than your GT option and lacks that sexy black color [I can spray-paint it ], but it -has- a 2nd VGA adaptor which is a deciding feature for the near-term [jk] !

I share your interest in a quiet card as my PC is near-silent. Unfortunately, fanless cards on GT's are double-slot or tall, which I can't fit. I may de-tune the card to reduce heat or replace the cooler (if I can find a no-wasted-slot after-market cooler) if noise is a problem. Please post your experiences with either the GS or GT so we get a handle on what cards work.

Basilisk, that looks like a great card for the money. It was another option I was looking at but am concerned about the noise. I also wonder if it's overkill for strictly HTPC applications (no gaming).

If you're looking for a card strictly for HTPC, then why not get the 7300GT? It's much better than the onboard graphics and will probably be enough to solve your problem with the jerky HD video (assuming that you are sure that the onboard graphics are the source of the problem, BTW a 7300GS would probably be enough too)

 

[aeroguy]

Originally posted by: avi85
If you're looking for a card strictly for HTPC, then why not get the 7300GT? It's much better than the onboard graphics and will probably be enough to solve your problem with the jerky HD video (assuming that you are sure that the onboard graphics are the source of the problem, BTW a 7300GS would probably be enough too)

Actually, I don't think it's the problem, but I'm willing to try anything at this point. A clean install of MCE did nothing for me. Your point is well taken though.