The MSI Neo2 Platinum Owners Help Thread

MAllen said:
That Geil is 2-sided RAM modules. And I think I remember a post on the previous page which quoted the MSI manual which says that single sided modules are needed when populating all four slots.... I may be wrong with my (human) memory, so it could be worth a read of the old MSI manual. RTFM. :D

will do now :D



Edit: ok it says to run ddr400 with all for slots used it needs to be single sided ram, if you use double sided then you need to drop the speed down to DDR333 which i did and i get all sorts of crashes ,with two sticks in the p.c runs like a charm,when i put 4 in it crashes within minutes of booting into windows,ive dos memtested all the sticks and had no errors,ive tried all the sticks when using just 2 in the pc at any one time ,no errors or crashes :(

Looks like i'll have to save some pennies for a 2x1GB kit coz this board simply doesnt like have all four dimms full :(
 
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The SideEffect 1.C3B works also, i just flashed the Ballistix version, havn't tested it enough to see if there is any difference between that and the regular version.This version shows all the (normaly) hidden Cell Menu options, which is a plus, DDR tweaker heaven :D
 
well abit of an update on my problem with this board,all this time i have been following the manual instructions and reducing the mem to DDR333 when having all 4 dimms full ,ive had crash after crash no matter what timmings i used and what settings i tried ,until now

Ive left the bios set to DDR400 instead of the recommended DDR333 with 4 sticks installed and so for its been perfect ,no crashes, 3 passes of memtest86 ,2 loops of 3dmark2k1 , quick blast on BF2 and NFS:MW without issue


Very wierd to say the least
 
RTFM is not a viable option with the Neo2's manual in the state it's in re: contradictory information on RAM slot population. An errant "s" has caused so much hassle for so many people.
 
Kinetic said:
will do now :D



Edit: ok it says to run ddr400 with all for slots used it needs to be single sided ram, if you use double sided then you need to drop the speed down to DDR333 which i did and i get all sorts of crashes ,with two sticks in the p.c runs like a charm,when i put 4 in it crashes within minutes of booting into windows,ive dos memtested all the sticks and had no errors,ive tried all the sticks when using just 2 in the pc at any one time ,no errors or crashes :(

Looks like i'll have to save some pennies for a 2x1GB kit coz this board simply doesnt like have all four dimms full :(

I've had four sticks of Geil Value 512Mb in mine for over a year without a grumble :)
 
Carlito said:
I've had four sticks of Geil Value 512Mb in mine for over a year without a grumble :)

Yeah its working well now,i also managed to get my opti 146 upto 2.9 ,prime95'd for 4 hours without errors ,quite tight timmings 2.5 3 3 6 @ 197mhz so its looking good , not tried 3ghz yet ,im just happy to be running without constant crashes again :D

Damn manual :mad: :D
 
I have made a right booboo with my board, was running a BIOS file before quite an old one, but cant remember what it was, changed to the new 1B now cant get anywhere near my previous FSB speeds was running 320FSB before, wont even boot at that now.
Any ideas
 
King_Boru said:
Can someone post where they get all the custom Neo 2 Bios' from? Do they offer better vdimm options, more voltage and so on?
What software to flash these bios's
I used AWDflash822a, get message this is not an award bios file, this is the 70251b file, did try the latest beta, but get garbage all over screen.
 
I myself use MSI's Windows based BIOS Updater that I got through the LiveUpdate program.

I have had 300FSB and not bothered to try further and I only used the basic BIOS not some tweaked one, so try that... If only to get you back on track?
 
Anyone know of a newer modded NEO2 bios that does half multipliers? I know people generally disapprove of them because of the mem clock speed dodgyness but my PC3200 only does a strict 200mhz. A 8.5x multiplier combined with a ~305HTT is like the sweet overclock spot for me whilst keeping the mem speed at 200. I'm still using that 1.36mod bios. Its only one that I have that does high vcore too.
 
Got to about page 21 and decided I may as well post my question and while I await a response carry on reading this ridiculously long thread :)

So I want to dabble in a touch of over clocking. I’m a complete n00b and therefore need some help!

My system:
Neo2 Platinum
3200 winnie (with akasa evo 33 cooler) (soon to be reserator) (maybe) (:))
1 GB ballistix pc4000 (2x512)
6800gt

I don’t want to go overboard or anything, I just want to try and boost my cpu speed.

Does anyone have a similar system that can recommend a few bios settings i could try to get me started??

Thanks in advance



edit: this is what I understand so far:

The CPU ratio multiplied by the FSB or HTT by gives the cpu speed.
So my 3200winnie at stock is 10 x 200 = 2000 MHz

The bus speed (?) is the HT multiplied by the FSB again.
So on my system that is set at default as 4 x 200 = 800 MHz

Overclocking is done by increasing the speed of the FSB. This in turn overclocks the ram. Now this is where I’m going fuzzy. The Max mem clock thing is confusing me.

Would the following be a typical example of an overclock??
Increase the HTT to 250. Leave CPU multi as 10.
Therefore 10 x 250 = 2500 MHz CPU speed.
This will require more power though so the vcore will need increasing to something like 1.55?

Upping the FSB will automatically increase the bus speed to 4 x 250 = 1000 MHz. I don’t know what this means or how it effects the computer though??

I'm assuming upping the FSB in the previous steps means that the max mem clock will have also gone to 250 resulting in overclocked ram. My pc4000 ballistix should be able to handle 250 MHz? But to do this will require looser timings than the 2-2-2-5 1t I’m using at the 200 MHz speed.
So let’s say the timings will drop to 2.5-3-3-8 at 1t. It will need more volts like the CPU to obtain this though so up it to 2.8? (already at anyway, recommended by crucial)

Now if the CPU and RAM are good for that example the computer should remain stable under load?
Is that basically what overclocking means for an AMD64 CPU? Or have I gone completely off the tracks???
 
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SH4RKY said:
So I want to dabble in a touch of over clocking. I’m a complete n00b and therefore need some help!

My system:
Neo2 Platinum
3200 winnie (with akasa evo 33 cooler) (soon to be reserator) (maybe) (:))
1 GB ballistix pc4000 (2x512)
6800gt

I don’t want to go overboard or anything, I just want to try and boost my cpu speed.

Does anyone have a similar system that can recommend a few bios settings i could try to get me started??

Thanks in advance

Ok, lets get simple and get you clocked a small "SAFE" ammount yeah?

Go into the BIOS, and set the HTT to 4x

Now, put the FSB to 220

I have the Winchester 3200 and I have hit 300FSB and its peachy as heck there... I am currently runnign it at 2.5Ghz but this is purely cos I have no nee to take it to 3Ghz and it gives me the option to clock further when I do want it.

Anyway, at 220, this give you a 2.2Ghz system, rather than a 2.0Ghz one. The CPU should be good for 2.3Ghz before you need to adjust the CPU Volts, so at least 2.2 in an overclock that only need just one thign messed about with and you should be able to get a small boost with very little effort or worry.

If you fancy it, you can go to 230 and hopefully again, no need to adjust the voltag, but if your CPU is the same as mine, it will need to have more volts to go further and be stable.

We can happily take you further when you feel comfortable abotu it, but what I have just said is about as simple as it gets.

The HTT being set to 4x means, that the FSB will be multiplied by 4. As you are going over 200FSB, this will keep the final FSB x HTT below 1000 ( Which is then doubled, cos you need to get as close to 2000 without going over apparently? - I have had it at 1x and 5x and it makes bugger all difference in anything, but there you go! - I personally dont belive this stuff about no FSB ).

Anyway, there you go, have a play and get back when you can.
 
hmmm no luck with the 220.

the HT freq was already on 4 so i just changed the FSB freq to 220 and all i got was a black screen with a white flashy thing top left :) (bsod or what ever its called??)

after that it froze in the bios and didnt turn on. so i left it for a few mins turned it on changed the fsb to 210 and it just reset itself soon as it got past the msi screen.

so changed it back to 200 and here i am again :p

im wondering if its the volts? the default value is set as 'startup' and CPUZ says the CPUs voltage is at 1.36 but can go up tp 1.375 or down to 1.344 depending on what the cpu is doing. if i set it manually at 1.36 maybe that will help?
 
Ok, a BSOD is called a BSOD because its a Blue Screen Of Death, so thats not it.

Ok, no go on any kind of clocking then?

You have as you say Ballistix PC4000, so the RAM should be fine, it wont be that then.
even if it was, it should happily have done 210 surely?

Do you have any form of Dynamic Overclocking enabled? If so, switch it off.

Somewhere in the BIOS, there is an option to set the AGP speed, its normally on 66, so set it to 67.

I am not 100% sure where it is, but I think its in the CELL menu? - I never turn my PC off, so I cant be bothered right now to go and hunt for it, but its there somewhere?

There is a possibiliy that its just that that needs to be sorted out.

If you are using SATA, then the 2 ports in a nice position, are not locked, and the 2 ports that are in a really stupid place, are... So, move the SATA cables to the stupidly placed ones instead!!! - Dont ask me why this is, but on all my clocking boards, that have SATA, it seems to be the done thing by companies to put the locked SATA ports in the most thick and stupid place possible to make things awkward for us, but there you go!

With you saying that its just giving a blackscreen, so early on in your clocking tests, does to me sem a litte strange? on my MSI Neo2 & Winchester 3200, if ever I went over its capabilities, the worst I had was that it set it back to 200 and carried on... If it was unstable, then I just upped the CPU Volts another notch, but I never once had the screen go black? Or I dont think I did anyway?

Hang on, I just found the Manual..

CELL MENU is on the right hand column at the top.

Go into that.

Cool & Quiet - Get that off
AGP set that to 67
RAM set everything to AUTOMATIC
Aggresive timing and Dynamic clocking should be off or disabled
HT to 4x

Erm, thats all there is to it really???

Set CPU volts to normal... The Winchester 3200 is known to be a great clocker, and it should clock fairly well even on a naff BIOS, so if it still wont play nicely for you, then either somethign is seriosuly wrong,or we are missing something??? - Let us have your exact spcs for the PC you have, and what the AGP & SATA Situation is...Those are the most likely culprits I recon... Probably wrong, but Clocking on the MSI Neo2 with a Winnie 32 is really about as simple as it gets.
 
Ok Full system spec

AMD 3200 64. Winchester core. Fitted with evo33 cooler.
1GB (2x512mb) dual channel PC4000 Crucial Ballistix.
MSI Neo2 Platinum. where can i find the bios rev?
BFG 6800GTOC (agp) not overclocked anymore than BFGs spec
Coolermaster 450w realpower PSU
1x Seagate 160gb sata HDD
1x NEC 3500 DVDRW

I've obviosuly missed somthing in overclocking though; why do the AGP freq and where the HDD is plugged into matter??

Anyway, Eariler I quickly tried upping the agp freq to 67, set mem to auto, upped the FSB to 210 and manually set the cpu volts to 1.375 instead of 'startup'.
this set up froze when loading windows.

-1.5 hours and a new MOT certificate later-

I opened the case and managed to get the sata cable to plug into SATA port 3. Then set the agp to 67, fsb to 210, cpu volts to 1.4 ((although cpuz and corecentre both say its still 1.360)) and i forgot to set the ram back to auto but doesnt matter anyway as this set up booted fine.
not sure if its stable, havent ran any tests (whats the best prime test to run for stability? Torture - small/large/blend?)

Temps are same as before. 24idle in MBM5 and 29idle in corecentre.

So the problems before could have been the agp freq and the HDD in sata1. I'll try 220 fsb and see what happens.


edit:

up to 2.2ghz

upped the FSB to 220. froze on boot then just kept resetting itself
upped volts to 1.45. again not happy.
lowered volts down to 1.4 again, adjusted the rams cas to 2.5
boots fine. temps same as before.

mem timings at 200 = 2.0-2-2-5 1t
mem timings at 220 = 2.5-2-2-5 1t
 
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