Ideas for the 1st time builder

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Comments

  • edited December 2004
    build2.jpg

    Looks like the inside of a computer to me.

    I think I'm done but I'm afraid to power it up....lol.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    Neat and economical (aesthetically) work. Looks good.
  • edited December 2004
    Initial powerup....

    build3.jpg

    Sounds good (1 beep only)
    Smells good (no yucky electronics burning up smell)
    Looks good (I can read the monitor)
  • MedlockMedlock Miramar, Florida Member
    edited December 2004
    Congrats, looks like you have successfully built yourself a computer! :) Let this be a fun learning experience.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK Member
    edited December 2004
    Looking sweet T-Rexx, looks like you've done a good job. Looks like another dollar has successfully been kept out Dell's pocket. ;D
  • edited December 2004
    Yeah WinXP is installed and everything is running fine.

    I owe it all to you guys because I sure couldn't have done it without the help I got on these forums and your step-by-step instructions on your front page.

    THANKS SHORT-MEDIA! :thumbsup:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    I owe it all to you guys because I sure couldn't have done it without the help I got on these forums
    How do you think the majority of us started? :D
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2004
    Jimborae wrote:
    ...another dollar has successfully been kept out Dell's pocket. ;D
    ;D

    That alone makes it worth the effort. :D

    You have a beautiful system which ought to serve you for quite some time, even in computer terms. I'm glad it went well for you. :thumbsup:
  • edited December 2004
    I knew this was too easy....

    I'm getting some occasional lockups when I do things that are heavy on graphics. Rome:Total War runs for less than 5 minutes then locks up the system. The ATI screensavers that use alot of graphics has also locked it up but not every time. Other than that I've experienced no problems.

    Where can I start?
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK Member
    edited December 2004
    First place to start I'd suggest is with your bios settings. Make sure that AGP Fastwrites are disabled & and AGP Apature is set to 128. Also post what graphics drivers you loaded and the order that in which you installed DirectX 9.0c, chipset drivers & graphics drivers.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited December 2004
    I suspect the Power Supply. He has a Antec 380W PSU. IMO You need a 500+ watt PSU.

    Post the Amps of the 3.3v, 5v and 12v lines.

    Try Unplugging the Optical drive molex connector, & Drop the CPU multiplier to it's lowest level (7x I think) and see if you can run 3DMark loops.

    And of course you plugged in the Video cards power connector right? :)
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited December 2004
    Found this thread

    K8N Neo2 Plat and Antec Power Supplies

    Some excerpts.....
    Posted over at Tweaktown pg 24 , inside a review of the K8N Neo2 Platinum:

    Important note regarding the Socket 939 platform and the use of power supplies. It is a given that when you step up to this level of performance, you are simply going to have to have a solid performing PSU. If you are in the market for this type of system board and don’t have a quality power supply yet, please note that I was unable to get the Antec line of power supplies to work with any stability with either of these boards. .......When I changed out to a Thermaltake model and left all other settings alone, the system worked flawlessly......

    If you are having stability issues with your Antec TruePower PSU and the ABIT AV8 Motherboard, you can contact techsupport@antec.com.

    They are still looking into the issue with the MSI board and I will post any additional information I receive regarding the stability issue.

    ============
    Looks like I have this problem. I just received my k8n 2 platinum 3200+ and an antec neo power 480 watt. The fans will spin up for half a second then no boot. The only way around this for a cold boot is to unplug my power connection to my aiw 9800 pro. Then boot and plug the power back into the video card.

    Rebooting the system is fine it is only cold boots.

    ============
    Change of agp voltage to 1.65 seems to have fixed the issue.
  • edited December 2004
    Whew...ok, where to start?....

    The AGP Apature was already set to 128
    AGP Fastwrite was set to Auto so I Disabled it. After that I tried Total War again and it lasted a bit longer but instead of locking up the system rebooted itself.
    At this point I can't remember in what order I loaded anything. I loaded SO much.
    The graphics driver is ATI Technologies Inc. Version 6.14.10.6462. I have since gone to the ATI site and dowloaded the latest drivers but I have not installed them yet.
    I'm not sure what version of DirectX I have. I have since gone and dowloaded DirectX 9.0c but have not installed it yet.

    I wouldn't begin to know how to find out the Amps of any lines.
    Just about everything in the BIOS has been left on default. I looked several times when I was reading the manual before I started and several times since and nowhere can I find mention of "CPU Multiplier". I had a class a few years ago on Basic PC Maintanance and learned a little about jumpers and multipliers so I was concerned about those but when I couldn't find mention I just assumed since then things had changed to be more automatic.
    If I get a whopper power supply is it possible to get one TOO big?
    And finally...what the heck is 3DMark loops?..lol

    Sorry, I'm a rookie at this. I guess this is where people in the buisness earn their $$$.
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    I can help out with a few items in your post, Rexx.

    First, 3DMark is a benchmarking utility for graphics cards. It can be found on the website under the benchmarking tools section on the main page. The loops referred to are just basically running 3DMark repeatedly, to tax your videocard. They come in 3 different flavors, each utilitzing a different version of DirectX in different ways. Link here: http://www.short-media.com/download.php?dc=20

    CPU-Z is a utility you can download to gather information on your system, such as the cpu speed, multiplyer, voltage, RAM information, etc. Link here: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

    You can find your version of directX by typing in dxdiag in the RUN command of the start menu, a whole window pops up with information on more than you ever wanted to know as far as DX goes, chances are with Rome: TW installed, you have version 9.0b, since it comes with the disks.

    Any and all voltage changes you make can be found in your BIOS, I would hope. I'll leave exactly HOW to do that up to someone who has the motherboard.

    I had a link on my computer, which is still in San Diego, for proper installation and uninstallation of ATI's drivers. They leave behind traces of older drivers I guess that can cause conflicts, so before you install the new drivers, you may want to look into it. Also, there may have been BIOS updates for your motherboard, since it seems like TweakTown is making it out to be a common issue with 939 socket chips. Check on that, again, someone with the board would be able to help you out more along those lines.

    No, no power supply can be too big. Just make sure that if you're going to go out and buy one, the price you pay is the quality of what you're going to get. Stick with Antec and Enermax, its a bummer if you have to go out and do that though, after having just purchased all this new equipment.

    To everyone else: are you sure heat isn't an issue?
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited December 2004
    The Amps ratings is on the green stick of your PSU. Your 12v should be at least 18A
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK Member
    edited December 2004
    *Important edit*
    I just noticed something else from your picture above. It looks like you're running the ram in slots 1 & 3??? If so change that to slots 1 & 2. The motherboard & manual are a bit misleading but to enable dual channel memory & ensure stability you should put the ram in slots 1&2 or 3&4.

    If you have got it in slot 1 & 3 change it before changing any bios settings

    *end of edit*


    Well it seems its more a graphics issue as thats when it seems to crash although that could be a red herring.

    Anyways here an idea as to what's a good starting point bios settings :

    I cant take credit for this as it come's from Liquidsoul on Amdmb Forums. I've changed a couple settings as this was originally written for the K8N Neo but it's virtually the same.

    The original thread can be found : Here . I recommend you have a look as it has links to bios screen images.

    Depending on what bios you've got some of the setting below may not be visible or they're maybe others not included here.

    If in doubt about changing a bios setting my advice is not to until you've

    a: checked back here to ask for advice.
    b: know where the cmos jumper is and how to use it :)


    =======================
    Standard CMOS Features:
    =======================
    Date and Time will need to be set properly on first POST and after each BIOS Flash

    Primary IDE Master - Auto
    Primary IDE Slave - Auto
    Secondary IDE Master - Auto
    Secondary IDE Slave - Auto

    Drive A - Set Appropriately

    Video - EGA/VGA

    Halt On - No Errors
    (This option determines if the system will stop when errors occur.)

    ===================
    Advanced BIOS Features
    ===================
    Full Screen Logo Show – Disabled
    (This is a user preference setting. Set to disabled for faster boot time.)

    Small Logo EPA Display - Disabled
    (This is a user preference setting. Set to disabled for faster boot time.)

    Hard Disk Boot Priority - Press Enter
    (Complete this for intial setup. You may use the arrow keys to select the boot order of your hard drives.)

    Virus Warning - Disabled

    CPU Internal Cache - Enabled

    External Cache - Enabled

    Quick Boot - Enabled

    1st/2nd/3rd Boot Device
    (Set the boot priority as you see fit. Typically this is Floppy, CDROM, then your Hard Drive)

    Boot Other Device - Disabled
    (If you wish to boot from a USB device this will need to be enabled.)

    Seek Floppy - Disabled
    (Enable if you want the bios to seek the floppy when it posts.)

    Boot Up Num-Lock LED - On

    Gate A20 Option - Fast

    Typematic Rate Setting - Disabled

    Security Option - Setup
    (This is where you can enable a bios password to prevent unauthorized access.)

    APIC Function - Enabled

    MPS Table Version - 1.4

    Boot OS/2 for DRAM > 64MB - No


    =======================
    Advanced Chipset Features
    =======================

    AGP Apeture Size - 128mb

    AGP 3.0 Speed / AGP 2.0 Speed - [4x/8x]
    (This is the AGP speed that your AGP Card will run at. Settings for 2.0 cards are [1x] [1x2x] and [1x2x4]. Settings for AGP 3.0 are [4x] and [4x8x])

    AGP Fast Writes - Disabled
    (Most new video cards are able to use fast writes without problems however there is no performance increase and have been known to cause horrible stability problems.)

    AGP Sideband Address - Disabled

    System Bios Cacheable - Disabled

    =======================
    Integrated Peripherals:
    =======================

    IDE Function Setup:

    OnChip IDE Channel 0/1 - Enabled

    IDE Primary/Secondary Master/Slave PIO - Auto
    (Set to Disabled if you know that none of your devices are PIO - meaning that they all are UDMA

    Primary/Secondary Master/Slave Ultra DMA - Auto

    IDE Prefetch Mode - Enabled

    IDE DMA Transfer Access - Enabled

    IDE HDD Block Mode - Enabled

    Onboard Device:

    Raid Config:
    (Configure this sub menu only if you are using raid.)
    IDE Raid - Enabled
    (Disable if you are not using Raid)

    IDE Primary/Secondary Master/Slave RAID - Disabled
    (Enable the ports and channels that you will be using for RAID.)

    SATA1/SATA2/SATA3/SATA4 Raid - Disabled
    (Enable the SATA channels you will be using for RAID. REMEMBER: If you are using two SATA drives use ports 3 and 4 on the motherboard.)



    Onchip USB - [V1.1+V2.0]

    USB KB/Storage Support - Enabled

    USB Mouse Support - Enabled

    SATA1/SATA2/SATA3/SATA4 - Enabled
    (Enable the ports that you are using.)

    AC97 Audio - Enabled
    (Set to Disabled if you are using an external sound card.)

    MAC LAN (nVidia) - Auto

    VIA Onboard 1394 - Enabled

    Onboard Giga Lan - Enabled

    Primary Graphics Adapter - AGP
    (Set this to PCI if you are using a PCI Video Card.)

    Onboard I/O Chip Setup - Press Enter

    Onoard FDC Controller - Enabled
    (Set to disabled if you are not using a floppy.)

    Onboard Serial Port 1 - Auto
    (Set to disabled if you are not using serial.)

    IR Function Select - Disabled

    Onboard Parrellel Port - Enabled
    (Set to Disabled if you are not using a parrellel port.)

    Parrellel Port Mode - SPP


    =======================
    Power Management Setup
    =======================

    Sleep State - S1(POS)
    (If you wish to power on by keyboard or mouse set this to S3(STR).)

    Power Management - User Define
    (Configure these options as you see fit.)

    Video Off Method - Black Screen

    HDD Power Down - Disabled

    Hdd Power Down in Suspend - Disabled

    Power Button Function - Power Off

    PWRON After PWR-Fail - OFF

    Wake Up Activity - Press Enter

    Power-On By Alarm - Disabled

    S3 Wake Up By PS2/Keyboard - Disabled
    (If you wish to power on with keyboard you must have S3(STR) enabled instead of S1(POS).

    S3 Wake Up By PS2/Mouse - Disabled
    (If you wish to power on with keyboard you must have S3(STR) enabled instead of S1(POS).


    =======================
    PNP/PCI Configurations
    =======================

    Resource Controlled By - Auto (ESCD)
    (If you need to fine tune IRQ's set this to manual and then you will be able to control the resource. Only do this with EXTREME caution as you can easily hose your OS install.

    PCI/VGA Palette Snoop - Disabled

    =======================
    H/W Monitor
    =======================

    Chassis Intrusion Detect - Disabled

    Smart NB Fan Target - Disabled
    (Set this to enabled if you want the bios to control the speed of the NB and CPU fan by using the W83627THF Sensor).

    Smart CPU Fan Target - Disabled
    (Set this to enabled if you want the bios to control the speed of the NB and CPU fan by using the W83627THF Sensor).

    ========================
    PC Health
    ========================
    This is where you can view information concerning temperatures and also voltages. Please be aware of this page and check your readings periodically to make sure everything is functioning properly.

    ========================
    Cell Menu
    ========================

    DRAM Configuration - Press Enter

    Max Memclock - Auto

    1T/2T Memory Timing - 2T
    (1T does offer better performance but typically you will need low latency ram to run at that setting.)

    CAS# Latency - Auto
    (2.0 offers best performance but typically you will need low latency ram to run at that setting.)

    RAS# to CAS Delay - Auto
    (2 offers best performance but typically you will need low latency ram to run at that setting.)

    Min RAS# active Time - Auto

    Row Precharge Time (tRP) - Auto

    High Performance Mode - Manual

    Agressive Timing - Disabled
    (If you wish to enable this setting please use at your own risk. Post a thread on the forums if you have questions.)

    Dynamic Overclocking - Disabled
    (If you wish to enable this setting please use at your own risk. Post a thread on the forums if you have questions.)

    Spread Spectrum - Disabled

    HT Frequency - 5x
    (If you wish to enable this setting please use at your own risk. Post a thread on the forums if you have questions.)

    Cool 'n' Quiet - Disabled
    (Enable this setting if you wish for your processor to run at a reduced speed when it is not being used. When you processors clock is lowered, the temperature will go down.)

    Adjust CPU Ratio - Startup

    Adjust CPU FSB Frequency - 200
    (If you increase the FSB beyond 200 you are overclocking the processor.)

    Adjust AGP Frequency - 66
    (Some users have to set this to 67mhz if they are overclocking. Otherwise, the AGP/PCI bus is not locked.)

    CPU Voltage - Startup

    Memory Voltage - Set to between 2.6 - 2.85 (I'd go for 2.8v just to be safe)

    AGP Voltage - Set it to 1.55 to start with
  • rykoryko new york
    edited December 2004
    Jimborae wrote:
    *Important edit*
    I just noticed something else from your picture above. It looks like you're running the ram in slots 1 & 3??? If so change that to slots 1 & 2. The motherboard & manual are a bit misleading but to enable dual channel memory & ensure stability you should put the ram in slots 1&2 or 3&4.

    If you have got it in slot 1 & 3 change it before changing any bios settings

    *end of edit*...

    actually it looks like the msi k8n neo2 platinum requires slots 1 and 3 for dual channel. look at this pic below... i think he had it correct the first time...
    msi.JPG 48.3K
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK Member
    edited December 2004
    No it is not correct. Like I said the manual & board itself are misleading. Trust me, look at my sig, I have this board & I'm speaking from experience as I originally made this mistake.
  • edited December 2004
    OK first off...thanks a bunch for all the input.

    I moved the RAM to slots 3 and 4. I had them the way I did because the manual said to fill up the green slots first.

    The info on the power supply is: [voltage min-max] [+5 0-35] [+12 0.8-24] [+3.3 0-28] [-5 0-0.5] [-12 0-1.0] [+5SB 0-2.0]

    The multiplier is set at 10.0x
    DirectX 9.0c is what I have already.

    I will download that 3DMark stuff tonight while I'm in bed as it is 283mb and I'm on 56k.

    Since I changed the RAM slots I'll give it another stress test with Total War before I move on.

    Thanks again, folks.
  • rykoryko new york
    edited December 2004
    ok, i will take your word for it....do you know.....has msi admitted this mistake? is it only on this board? are new revisions of the board suppose to be fixed?

    seems like something simple that msi should have gotten correct. maybe somebody at the factory is colorblind. :scratch:
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited December 2004
    It is 18A. The PSU is fine. My 330W True Antec is powering my main system with a Mobile OCed to 2.4-2.5 on an NF7-S, 1Gb@PC3200 of RAM, 3 HDDs,2 Optical drives and several fans.

    11-129-127-01.JPG
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK Member
    edited December 2004
    ryko wrote:
    ok, i will take your word for it....do you know.....has msi admitted this mistake? is it only on this board? are new revisions of the board suppose to be fixed?

    seems like something simple that msi should have gotten correct. maybe somebody at the factory is colorblind. :scratch:

    Yeah it says somewhere on msi's forums about running dual channel & which slots to use. It's also well documented on xtreme systems, nothing has been changed in later revisions. I would have thought they'd have changed their manual by now but obviously not.

    T-Rexx, I'd try slots 1 & 2 first as this is supposed to give better stability although for me it makes no difference.

    This thread on Xtreme Systems is probably the best guide for MSI K8n Neo2

    MSI K8N Neo2 Tips & Tricks Guide
  • edited December 2004
    Well so far I'd say that RAM slot issue was the key. I just had 2 very nice and very graphically detailed battles in Rome:Total War and the only thing that died was the Barbarian scum.

    I will switch them to slots 1 and 2 and take a look at that site.

    Thanks again, folks.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited December 2004
    Tweaktown MSI K8N Neo2 Review pg4
    ’m not real sure about the designer behind the memory color scheme, but in my humble little opinion, he/she should go back to school. What do I mean by that?

    If you were to look at the memory slot layout and use a bit of common sense, you would probably figure to use the purple slots together and the green slots together to have your dual-channel memory in working order. Well guess again, my friend.

    You use slots one and two for dual channel as well as slots three and four. And if you happen to be the type who actually reads the manual, you’ll even find a blurb where it says not to install the memory in this configuration. Alas, a little further down the same page shows the graphic requiring the use of subsequent memory slots for the dual channel to be in effect. Is anybody else confused here?

    Needless to say, I went ahead and used slots one and two to get the dual channel capabilities working properly and had no problems. Just something to keep in mind if you happen to purchase this board.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK Member
    edited December 2004
    T-Rexx wrote:
    Well so far I'd say that RAM slot issue was the key. I just had 2 very nice and very graphically detailed battles in Rome:Total War and the only thing that died was the Barbarian scum.

    I will switch them to slots 1 and 2 and take a look at that site.

    Thanks again, folks.

    Let us know after some extensive testing/workout if this is the problem. It would be great if it is sorted.
  • edited December 2004
    Well with the RAM plugged into Slots 3 and 4 Call of Duty decided it wanted to reboot the system every so often. But I haven't had any troubles since changing them to Slots 1 and 2. Motherboards sure are touchy, aren't they? ;D

    Since doing that I have had zero troubles. I even managed to setup a wireless connection between my new one and the old one. :thumbsup:

    I haven't had a chance to download that benchmark utility but I'll be sure and post the scores as soon as I get them.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK Member
    edited December 2004
    Well thats good hear, glad to see my eyesight is still upto scratch.;D

    Well done on building it & getting it sorted.
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