- Joined
- Jun 5, 2004
- Location
- End of the Redline
LAST UPDATE: 1/30/2005
Added: Q&A added
Before you start reading, be sure to check out MSI K8N Neo2 Owners Post your rig and settings! by crash0veride007 - You can find similar systems and compare 'em to yours
Guide for settings up almost everything on MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum.
In this thread also included:
Reviews, BIOS (official, beta, modded & recommended bios settings), Drivers & Utilities, Voltmods and common Questions & Answers.
A64 Basics
A64 101
Sen's Ultimate Winchester Thread
Reviews
Anandtech: Socket 939 Roundup
Socket 939 Motherboard Roundup by Hothardware.com
MADSHRIMPS - MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
PCStats - MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
VIPERLAIR.com - MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
BIOS
Official - Here
Neo2 BIOS Collection (includes: official, beta and mod) - Here
Another BIOS Vault for Neo2 (better one) - Here
BIOS Settings
Hidden options
- Pressing SHIFT+F2 then ALT+F3 unlocks hidden options in Cell menu, and 1 in advanced chipset options.
this is on most bioses, including beta's
Cell Menu
- High Performance Mode: Disabled
- Aggressive timing: Disabled (if memory able to handle, turn this Enabled)
- Dynamic Overclocking: Disabled
- Spread Spectrum: Disabled
- HT Frequency: 3x if FSB higher than 250 / 4x if FSB lower than 250
- Cool'n'Quiet: Disabled
- Adjust AGP Frequency: 66 (if using BIOS 1.2 or newer. Otherwise, use 67)
Cell Menu -> DRAM Configuration
- Max Memclock(MHz): 200MHz (1:1), 166MHz (6:5), 133MHz (3:2), 100MHz (2:1)
- 1T/2T Memory Timing: 1T for performance / 2T for stability
Drivers & Utilities
A64Tweaker by CodeRed
Up-to-date drivers from MSI
Latest utilities from MSI
Voltmods
VCore, VDD, VDDR, VHT by Oohash
Questions & Answers
Q: I found they sell two different boards, MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum and MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum 54G. Do these boards difference eachother and is WLAN card only different what they have?
A: Yes, they do have differences and WLAN card isn't the only "add-on". 54G model has also more powerful power circulation (three more mosfets on the backside of the board)
Q: My CPU temperature is high or keeps fluctuating, how can I solve this problem?
A: Use BIOS version 1.3 or newer
Q: I have SATA-drive connected to SATA port 1/2, others seems to have much better overclocking results with same system?
A: SATA ports 1/2 are not directly connected to chipset like 3/4 so the "AGP/PCI lock" do not effect to ports 1/2. If your FSB stops somewhere 230-240, you probably have "wrong" SATA-port in use.
Q: I try to change my HT Frequency, empty window just pops on the screen and my PC freeze, what can I do?
A: Do not hit ENTER to change options, use +/- and Pg Up/Pg Dn instead
Q: I get no POST after I set HT Frequency to 2.5x, is this an known issue?
A: Yes and no, however there's some issues on half multipliers so use only full multipliers, 4x, 3x, 2x, etc
Q: How can I remove the "NVidia IDE Raid" message after POST?
A: Actually this message has nothing to do with NVidia's Raid. It is an Realtek Ethernet Configuration message (Press Shift+F10 to enter setup), however this can be removed by disabling Realtek RTL8169/8110 Gigabit LAN from BIOS (Integrated pheriperals -> Onboard Device -> Onboard Giga LAN -> Disabled)
Q: I have (example) KHX3000 BH-5 sticks and I need to have a 1:1 divider, how can I do this?
A: There's problem (according on Asus report) on AMD64's integrated memory controller, so ram sticks without 3200 SPD information this cannot be done through BIOS, however, with A64Tweaker it's possible to "force" 1:1 divider so you can use your FSB and memory with synchronized speed. Run A64Tweaker, and select MEMCLK Frequency: 200 and hit 'Set'. If you're facing instability or your PC freezes up after you have done this, reset your PC and when you're back on the Windows, run A64 Tweaker and select first Refresh Rate (Tref): 200MHz 15.6us and then select MEMCLK Frequency: 200 and press 'Set'. Now you're running your FSB / MEM with synchronized speed.
Q: I have RAM that requires 2,8V -> 2,85 VDIMM to work with tight 2-2-2-5 timings. I've set all the DRAM configuration manually (example: 200, 1T, 2, 2, 5, 2) but whenever I try to boot up my system just freezes?!
A: This is important to know, that if you set manually Trcd(RAS to CAS Delay) to '2' from bios, it forces your Memory Voltage to 2,7V.
Other important threads (worth to look at)
Problems with Antec PSU's & Neo2 Plat?
K8N Neo2 suffers some SERIOUS VDIMM issues?
XtremeSystems Forum MSI K8N Neo2 Tips and Tricks
Please, feel free to give any suggestions, corrections, new links, or questions & answers which may help people for not having so much problem.
And also we should thank MSI for creating and ultimate Athlon64 board.
Added: Q&A added
Before you start reading, be sure to check out MSI K8N Neo2 Owners Post your rig and settings! by crash0veride007 - You can find similar systems and compare 'em to yours
Guide for settings up almost everything on MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum.
In this thread also included:
Reviews, BIOS (official, beta, modded & recommended bios settings), Drivers & Utilities, Voltmods and common Questions & Answers.
A64 Basics
A64 101
Sen's Ultimate Winchester Thread
Reviews
Anandtech: Socket 939 Roundup
Socket 939 Motherboard Roundup by Hothardware.com
MADSHRIMPS - MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
PCStats - MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
VIPERLAIR.com - MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
BIOS
Official - Here
Neo2 BIOS Collection (includes: official, beta and mod) - Here
Another BIOS Vault for Neo2 (better one) - Here
BIOS Settings
Hidden options
- Pressing SHIFT+F2 then ALT+F3 unlocks hidden options in Cell menu, and 1 in advanced chipset options.
this is on most bioses, including beta's
Cell Menu
- High Performance Mode: Disabled
- Aggressive timing: Disabled (if memory able to handle, turn this Enabled)
- Dynamic Overclocking: Disabled
- Spread Spectrum: Disabled
- HT Frequency: 3x if FSB higher than 250 / 4x if FSB lower than 250
- Cool'n'Quiet: Disabled
- Adjust AGP Frequency: 66 (if using BIOS 1.2 or newer. Otherwise, use 67)
Cell Menu -> DRAM Configuration
- Max Memclock(MHz): 200MHz (1:1), 166MHz (6:5), 133MHz (3:2), 100MHz (2:1)
- 1T/2T Memory Timing: 1T for performance / 2T for stability
Drivers & Utilities
A64Tweaker by CodeRed
Up-to-date drivers from MSI
Latest utilities from MSI
Voltmods
VCore, VDD, VDDR, VHT by Oohash
Questions & Answers
Q: I found they sell two different boards, MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum and MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum 54G. Do these boards difference eachother and is WLAN card only different what they have?
A: Yes, they do have differences and WLAN card isn't the only "add-on". 54G model has also more powerful power circulation (three more mosfets on the backside of the board)
Q: My CPU temperature is high or keeps fluctuating, how can I solve this problem?
A: Use BIOS version 1.3 or newer
Q: I have SATA-drive connected to SATA port 1/2, others seems to have much better overclocking results with same system?
A: SATA ports 1/2 are not directly connected to chipset like 3/4 so the "AGP/PCI lock" do not effect to ports 1/2. If your FSB stops somewhere 230-240, you probably have "wrong" SATA-port in use.
Q: I try to change my HT Frequency, empty window just pops on the screen and my PC freeze, what can I do?
A: Do not hit ENTER to change options, use +/- and Pg Up/Pg Dn instead
Q: I get no POST after I set HT Frequency to 2.5x, is this an known issue?
A: Yes and no, however there's some issues on half multipliers so use only full multipliers, 4x, 3x, 2x, etc
Q: How can I remove the "NVidia IDE Raid" message after POST?
A: Actually this message has nothing to do with NVidia's Raid. It is an Realtek Ethernet Configuration message (Press Shift+F10 to enter setup), however this can be removed by disabling Realtek RTL8169/8110 Gigabit LAN from BIOS (Integrated pheriperals -> Onboard Device -> Onboard Giga LAN -> Disabled)
Q: I have (example) KHX3000 BH-5 sticks and I need to have a 1:1 divider, how can I do this?
A: There's problem (according on Asus report) on AMD64's integrated memory controller, so ram sticks without 3200 SPD information this cannot be done through BIOS, however, with A64Tweaker it's possible to "force" 1:1 divider so you can use your FSB and memory with synchronized speed. Run A64Tweaker, and select MEMCLK Frequency: 200 and hit 'Set'. If you're facing instability or your PC freezes up after you have done this, reset your PC and when you're back on the Windows, run A64 Tweaker and select first Refresh Rate (Tref): 200MHz 15.6us and then select MEMCLK Frequency: 200 and press 'Set'. Now you're running your FSB / MEM with synchronized speed.
Q: I have RAM that requires 2,8V -> 2,85 VDIMM to work with tight 2-2-2-5 timings. I've set all the DRAM configuration manually (example: 200, 1T, 2, 2, 5, 2) but whenever I try to boot up my system just freezes?!
A: This is important to know, that if you set manually Trcd(RAS to CAS Delay) to '2' from bios, it forces your Memory Voltage to 2,7V.
Other important threads (worth to look at)
Problems with Antec PSU's & Neo2 Plat?
K8N Neo2 suffers some SERIOUS VDIMM issues?
XtremeSystems Forum MSI K8N Neo2 Tips and Tricks
Please, feel free to give any suggestions, corrections, new links, or questions & answers which may help people for not having so much problem.
And also we should thank MSI for creating and ultimate Athlon64 board.
Last edited: