MSI K8N Neo2 Owners Post your rig and settings!

No O/C yet but plan on it very soon. Take a look at my sig please and let me know if you see anything that needs upgrading before I start to O/C?

well i tested my system out last night and the max OC i got was 2.850, boot windows but not prime stable or 3dmark03 either way though i was really excited to see that number

i tested things out benchmarking different settings, 1T timings versus 2T timings, looser timings versus tighter timings, more voltage versus less, higher fsb for cpu versus a 1:1 ratio for cpu/ram and my conclusion is this...

overclocking doesn't give that much more performance then just my regular stock settings, i paid 3100 bucks (well work paid 800 i paid the rest..) for this dream system of mine and even though im sure i will upgrade in 3yrs time or so, i dont find it very comforting to OC and put more voltage into my components even if they are rated at such, for instance i believe my ram can handle up to 3.0 and it came with samsung 250mhz chips not the 200 ones, but to overclock the ram i have to overclock the cpu and that requires a 1.55 with vid over 3/5/8 % meaning my vcore is 1.55-1.61.

the performance gain in sandra/3dmark03/pcmark/etc just doesnt seem to warrant any extra push i put on this system, afterall i bought this system so i didnt have to OC it lol, but it was lots of fun testing out what it was capable of, and i found that out windows bootable 2850mhz

specs are as follows:

Case: Thermaltake Shark full tower (i love this case, highly recommended)
mobo/cpu: MSI K8N Neo2 plat w/ amd 64 3500+ winchester using 1.51beta bios version
cooling solution: Thermalright XP-90 w/ 92mm tornado and the 2 stock fans using a vantec nexus fan controller to control the hairdryer in my system
psu: OCZ powerstream 470watt
ram: 2gb of OCZ EL plat rev 2 running @ 200mhz
hdd: 2 74gb WD raptors in Raid0 + 1 200gb WD 7200rpm sata drive
video: evga 6800GT
network: 802.11B wireless 11megs
cdroms: 2 NEC 3500 16x Dual-Layer DVD+RW drives (black)
sound: SB Audigy 2 ZS gamer
speakers: Logitech Z-5500 5.1 digital speaker system (this thing is INSANE!! highly recommended)
monitor: 21inch Viewsonic G220fb

temps are 31-33idle & 42-44 under heavy load (prime makes it goto 42)
OS: dual boot, Fedora 2/Win XP SP2

Ill cpy/pst my BIOS setting once I get back home <at school right now>

edpsx said:

Id like to know what voltage settings everyone is using to reach 2.5ghz and to what Ram settings as well. W/o adjusting anything Ive set it to 2.3ghz no problem.. I tried going higher to 2.5ghz downing to 3x HT and it wouldnt boot.. didnt change the voltage or timings at all though.. Just havent had enough time to play with it. Anyone give me a starting point please.

Click to expand...

See my settings in the very first post that started this thread....

Im at 2.4Ghz now. I might try tweaking it up to 2.5 but I dunno if its worth all the reboots to find the sweet spot or not. I do have a problem when I run Half Life 2 but I think its driver associated with the Nvidia stuff as they have discussed the problem some on Steams website. It will totally lock up while Im playing for approx. 10 secs or so then stutter the sound some and resume gameplay thereafter. It gets annoying but I know its not the overclock thats the problem.

ok got my new OCZ plat rev 2 (TCCD) and I'm still tweaking it out but here is what I got so far:

Dram Configuration
Max MemClock.............200
1T/2T Memory Timing....1T
CAS Latency...............2.5
RAS to CAS Delay........3
Min RAS # TRAS..........9
Row Percentage Time...3

High Performance Mode......Manual
Aggressive Timing.............Disabled
Dynamic O/C....................Disabled
HT Frequency..................3x
Cool 'n Quiet....................Disabled
Adjust CPU Ratio/CPU freq... 10x255
Adjust AGP Freq...............70
Adjust CPU VID................1.500
CPU Voltage....................Over VID %10%
Mem Voltage....................2.80v
AGP Voltage.....................1.70v

Edit: I got the newcastle too

I hit 2.4 with 240x10 with my setup no prob..... i have very similar setup to you too... I have my ram set at 2.65V, 1T, 2.5-3-3-5, HT at 4x, CPU voltage at stock......

You should be hitting the same with yours.....(We have different cases though and I only have 1 HD right now...)

Edit: Actually i don't know what 3500 you have.. i have the 130nm.. (NewCastle i think)

whats the CPU VID setting all about? im a little confused, this aint like ocing my p4 where there was just one setting to change to alter cpu voltage - what do the options do? whats the over vid percentages do? help!

it's a second adjustement for Vcore, if you have let's say 1.500 at 5% overvolt you get a vcore of 1.575V if you set at 10% you get 1.650V...max with a non modded bios is 1.550+10% for 1.775Vcore

I have the Winchester at 2.4Ghz right now stock voltage except for the RAM.

System Is:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 @ 2808 (XP-90 & 92mm Tornado cooling)
Mobo: MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum BIOS 1.51 (AFAIK, a November 2004 SKU board)
RAM: 1024 MB OCZ PC3200 EL PE Rev.2 (2-2-2-5-11-16-1T) @ 2.85V
Video: BFG GeForce 6800 Ultra @ 440/1150 (stock cooling unit).
HDD1: 36.7 GB WD Raptor, 10000 RPM (SATA Port 3)
HDD2: 300 GB Maxtor DiamondMax 10, 7200 RPM (SATA Port 4)
PSU: OCZ PowerStream 520W
Chassis: Lian Li PC-71 (big-assed 15-drive bay black anodized aluminum housing that makes an Antec SX1080 seem tiny)
Cooling: 4x 80mm Vantec Tornado's (2 intake, 2 exhaust)

BIOS Settings:

Memory Menu --> Auto, 1T, 2, 2, 5, 2

Cell Menu -->
High Performance = Manual
Aggressive Timing = Disabled
NV/ATI Speed Up = Disabled
DRAM Signal Strength = Normal
Spread Spectrum = Disabled
Cool N Quiet = Disabled
HTT = 4x
Multiplier = 13x
FSB = 216
AGP = 66
VCore = 1.55V
VDIMM = 2.85V
AGP Voltage = 1.50V

Have had FSB as high as 260 FSB so far with memory 1:1 @ ****ty timings (2.5-3-3-10-11-16-1T). Will try for maximum overclock on air cooling during Christmas break...

Tekko said:

ok got my new OCZ plat rev 2 (TCCD) and I'm still tweaking it out but here is what I got so far:

Dram Configuration
Max MemClock.............200
1T/2T Memory Timing....1T
CAS Latency...............3.0
RAS to CAS Delay........4
Min RAS # TRAS..........8
Row Percentage Time...4

High Performance Mode......Manual
Aggressive Timing.............Disabled
Dynamic O/C....................Disabled
HT Frequency..................3x
Cool 'n Quiet....................Disabled
Adjust CPU Ratio/CPU freq... 11x218 10x238 9x266 8x299 (notice how they all cap out at a few mhz short of 2.4Ghz)
Adjust AGP Freq...............66
Adjust CPU VID................1.550
CPU Voltage....................Over VID %10%
Mem Voltage....................2.85v
AGP Voltage.....................1.70v

I haven't messed with the hidden bios settings but I find highly suspisious that wall I keep hitting on 2.4Ghz anyone got an idea on how to go around it or I just got a dud?

Edit: I got the newcastle too

Click to expand...

Tekko is that a Newcastle or a Winchester in your sig? You should be able to hit at least 2.5 (Prime95 stable) with a Winchester. Try 2.5-4-3-10 on your ram. I could not get Prime stable with 2.5-3-3-10. Also, you probably dont need your AGP voltage so high - stock should do it.

Hey SimGuy... that Rig loud enough? I had one 80mm Vantec Tornado and it was too much! That thing must sound like a Dyson!

Bios: Trats 1.41
Memory Menu --> 200 mhz 2T, 3, 4, 8, 4

Cell Menu -->
High Performance = Manual
Aggressive Timing = Disabled
NV/ATI Speed Up = Disabled
DRAM Signal Strength = Normal
Spread Spectrum = Disabled
Cool N Quiet = Disabled
HTT = 4x
Multiplier = 9.5
FSB = 250
AGP = 66
VCore = 1.65V
VDIMM = 2.75V
AGP Voltage = 1.7V

24 hour prime stable!!!

ok, well i just got most of my parts, still waiting for my waterblock to arrive.

i couldn't resist it, so i set my board up on my living room table for a quick session....

system said:

RIG= 3200+ winnie, 0431UPMW
neo2 0410 china
2 x 512 corsair 3200 ll 1.1 + ocz booster
x800 pro with silencer
enermax 465
ect...

Click to expand...

bios_settings said:

Bios: Oficial 1.41 (i think, shipped with the board)
Memory Menu --> 200 mhz 1T, 222 10

Cell Menu -->
High Performance = Manual
Aggressive Timing = Disabled
NV/ATI Speed Up = Disabled
DRAM Signal Strength = Normal
Spread Spectrum = Disabled
Cool N Quiet = Disabled
HTT = 4x
Multiplier = 10x
FSB = 250
AGP = 67
VCore = 1.4V
VDIMM = Auto (set to 3.2 on booster)
AGP Voltage = 1.5V

Click to expand...

stock heatsink. reading 38 - 39 celcius in windows idle. voltage rails seem a bit low, but are being reported within 4% of what i was on my nf7-s and DFI infinity, so i couldn't care less if it's stable.

booted fine, seemed rock stable. didn't prime yet though, expect more results after this weekend....

Yeah baby!

K8N Neo2 Bios 1.51
3200 Winnie
250 HTT x 10
Max mem @ 200
Ram @ 2.5,3,3,10 2.85V
HTT x 4

same settings as the rest of the posts for what I am not listing.
I did get 260 but not prime stable.....no worries. Going from my 3200+ Clawhammer with 1Meg L2 S754 to this is definately a bit quicker....so I am happy. I will test with more stuff later, just needed to get the ball rolling.

Great forum guys

oc613 said:

ok, well i just got most of my parts, still waiting for my waterblock to arrive.

i couldn't resist it, so i set my board up on my living room table for a quick session....






stock heatsink. reading 38 - 39 celcius in windows idle. voltage rails seem a bit low, but are being reported within 4% of what i was on my nf7-s and DFI infinity, so i couldn't care less if it's stable.

booted fine, seemed rock stable. didn't prime yet though, expect more results after this weekend....

Click to expand...

well, super pi stable, now come the prime 95 thrashing

Bios: 1.3
Memory Menu --> Auto 1T, 2,2,9,2

Cell Menu -->
High Performance = Manual
Aggressive Timing = Disabled
NV/ATI Speed Up = Disabled
DRAM Signal Strength = Normal
Spread Spectrum = Disabled
Cool N Quiet = Disabled
HTT = 5x
Multiplier = 10
FSB = 200
AGP = 67
VCore = 1.5v
VDIMM = 2.75v

just got her put together 2day so im still at stock

Mine

MSI K8N Neo2 Platimun 0409 w/ a Korean 0421 Chipset
A64 3200+ WC (90nm)
2x512 PQI Turbo TCCD
Antec True Power 550w - Rails modded: 3.3 @ 3.45v, 5 @ 5.21v, 12 @ 12.33v

Running 277x9 with: Vcore @ 1.375v + 15%, Vdimm @ 2.75v
Prime STABLE, as we speak it's going into the 17th hour, still running.

Bios 1.36
AGP = 67MHz
HTT = x3
Memory Timings: 3-3-3-8 1T

Cooling = Watercooled: TDX, Eheim 1048 and a Chevette '86 core.

Suma.

System Is:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ [Winchester] @ 2650 ( Water Cooled )
Mobo: MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum BIOS 1.51 beta
RAM: 1024 MB OCZ PC3700 EL Gold Rev.3 (2.5-3-3-8-1T) @ 2.85V
Video: ATI 9800 Radeon PRO @ 450/730 (Water Cooled)
HDD1: 36.7 GB WD Raptor, 10000 RPM SATA
HDD2: 300 GB Maxtor DiamondMax 10, 7200 RPM SATA
PSU: Aspire 500W

BIOS Settings:

Memory Menu --> Auto, 1T, 2.5, 3, 8, 3

Cell Menu -->
High Performance = Manual
Aggressive Timing = Disabled
NV/ATI Speed Up = Disabled
DRAM Signal Strength = Normal
Spread Spectrum = Disabled
Cool N Quiet = Disabled
HTT = 4x
Multiplier = 10x
FSB = 265
AGP = 66
VCore = 1.55V
VDIMM = 2.85V
AGP Voltage = 1.50V


I have hit 2750 but not stable at all. I would like to go higher but can't. Any help from the oc guru would be appreciated.