MSI P6N SLI-FI / Platinum (650i) Thread

Background:

Thanks to the input of several posters in this thread (and info from other sites as well), this thread has become a nice general resource of information on the MSI P6N 650i-based boards, so I've removed my original post to make more room. I've also annexed the second post in this thread and moved the heatsink and overclocking info down there.

MSI Product page:

Links to the latest 'release' BIOS, drivers and utilities can be found on these pages...

MSI P6N SLI-FI
MSI P6N SLI Platinum*

* Platinum board is basically same as FI board, plus the following:

• 100% solid caps (some interesting info from Gigabyte on Solid caps)
• heat-pipe setup across NB, SB and MOSFET areas
• fan included for NB
• S/PDIF coaxial out (in addition to the optical out that they both have)
• eSATAII port on rear, provided by separate Sil3531 ic (supports RAID 0) making 5 SATAII ports total vs 4 on FI
• packaging differences... round floppy and IDE cables and a handfull of other additional cables
• ~$50 - $55 higher price at NewEgg (it varies, depending on sales/rebates in affect)

Just for kicks, here's some other up-comming MSI 600-series mbs (release dates unknown at this point)...

P6N Diamond - top end 680i based board, with lots of bells and whistles (including 4 x16 PCI-E slots and onboard X-Fi audio)
P6N SLI V2 - a cost-reduced 650i based board (no firewire, a 2nd x1 PCI-E slot instead of 3rd PCI slot, CMOS jumper instead of button, different LAN controller, etc).
P6N Ultra - similar to P6N SLI V2, but uses 650i Ultra chipset, which has no SLI support (second x16 PCI-E slot is non-functional).

Official component compatibility pages:

For P6N SLI-FI
For P6N SLI Platinum

usama_ah reported the following:

...Aside from the new [Platinum] motherboards shipping with bios v1.1, they also come with a Vista drivers CD and a sticker that says "Vista Premium certified." Actually you don't need the Vista drivers CD because almost everything installed without a problem, except for one thing... which Vista found a driver for online automatically.

End-user reported successful memory pairing:

Your Mileage May Vary - some memory reported as working here may need some particular settings and some memory reported as not working might actually work, with some particular settings... The timings and voltages listed below are taken form the product pages, not what users are running them at.

Having cleared that up, memory compatibility in general on these boards has been extremely good. There have been very few reports (that didn't turn out to be something else) of some particular memory not working - even memory 'rated' to run at higher than 1.8v usually has some SPD settings to allow it to run at more reasonable voltage so you can get to the BIOS to set things up. If you have some extreme or odd-ball memory that you suspect is keeping you from booting, my first suggestion would be to try just 1 stick of it (in various slots, if needed) until you can get to the BIOS to configure it.

One last note before the list... unlike pretty much every other manufacture of modern motherboards, MSI colors thier DIMM slots 1&2 (for correct Dual Channel operation) different colors...

...so for proper Dual Channel operation, you should use DIMMs 1&2 (green slot closest to cpu and orange slot closest to cpu). The problem is, most people 'refer' to these by thier 'position' on the board, and end up calling them "slot 1&3" or even "DIMM 1&3", so just be aware of this when you read or post about DIMM slots on these boards - please be specific to avoid confusion.


[Editor's note: I'm trying to expand this list as I get new reports, so if you are successfully using some memory not listed here, please post the model number or link to the exact memory being used if possible.. thanks.]


A-DATA 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 800 5-5-5-18 @1.8v ADQVE1908K (NOTE: there are some reports of both of these A-DATA memory kits listed here as...
A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1024MB) DDR2 800 5-5-5-18 @1.8v ADQVE1A16K ...working fine in DIMM3&4 (dual channel), but not in DIMM1&2 (dual channel) )

BUFFALO Firestix DDR2 800 5-5-5-?? @2.1v FSX800D2C-K2G

Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 @2.1v Twin2X2048-6400C4
Corsair XMS2 Dominator DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 @2.1v Twin2X2048-6400C4D
Corsair XMS2 Dominator DDR2 1066 5-5-5-15 @?.?v Twin2X2048-8500C5D (no voltage listed, but I assume it's relatively high)
Corsair XMS2 Dominator DDR2 1142 5-5-5-15 @?.?v Twin2x2048-9136C5D (" ")

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1000 5-5-5-15 @2.2v BL2KIT12864AL1005 (Micron D9's)

G.Skill 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 4-4-3-5 @2.0v - 2.1v F2-6400CL4D-2GBHK
G.Skill 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 @2.0v - 2.1v F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK
G.Skill 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 @2.0v - 2.1v F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ
G.Skill 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 5-5-5-15 @1.8 - 2.0v F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - At least one Newegg reviewer says it works, but it is listed here (in yellow) because multiple people in the forums have claimed problems with this specific memory on these motherboards - You have been warned . Having said that, if you jump to page #10 of this thread, CarbonBased is reporting that this memory works - and is even using 4 sticks/GBs of it (see "4GB Memory Issue" below).

KingMax Mars 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 5-5-5-18 @?.??v KLDD48F-A8KI5 (or maybe KLDD48F-A8KB5 on that page - wasn't specified)

Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 @1.95v KHX6400D2LLK2/2G (it's possible that they were using this KHX6400D2LLK2/2GN instead)

Patriot eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 @2.2v PDC22G6400LLK

pqi TURBO 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 667 4-4-4-12 @2.0v PQI25400-2GDB

PNY 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 667 5-5-5-15 @1.8v D22GX53OPT (also reported to run fine at 800MHz 1.95v 4-4-4-12 and higher)

Mushkin w/EPP Profile 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 4-5-4-11 @2.1v - 2.2v 996533
Mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 4-4-3-10 @1.9v - 2.1v 996523 (Micron D-9, EPP)
Mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-1066 5-5-4-12 @2.2v - 2.35v 996535 (Micron D-9, EPP)

OCZ Value Pro Series (2x512MB) DDR2 667 5-5-5-15 @1.8v OCZ2667512VP Also runs fine at DDR2 750Mhz 3-4-3-6-10-1T @ 2.25v And also fine at DDR2 830Mhz 4-5-4-6-3-1T @ 2.1v
OCZ S.O.E. (2x1GB) DDR2 667 4-4-4-12 @1.9v OCZ2SOE6672GK (ProMOS chips) - I'm using this in my system... also runs fine at 4-5-5-12 DDR2 800 @1.9v
OCZ S.O.E. (2x1GB) DDR2 800 5-5-5-12 @2.1v OCZ2SOE8002GK
OCZ Platinum Rev 2 DDR2 800 4-4-4-15 @1.9v - 2.1v OCZ2P800R22GK reported: "The maximum OC stable was ddr2 950mhz 5-4-4-16 @ 2.25v, on Memset was 5-4-4-16-2T 20-40-6-8-6-7.8us"
OCZ FlexXLC Edition DDR2 800 4-4-4-15 @2.0v OCZ2FX800C42GK (Micron chips - actually, these may be ProMOS now)
OCZ SLI-Ready 2GB DDR2 1066 5-5-5-15 @2.1v OCZ2N1066SR2GK (Micron D-9, EPP, 2.35v EVP)
OCZ FlexXLC Edition DDR2 1150 5-5-5-18 @2.35v OCZ2FX11502GK "We managed to successfully get the memory to an extremely fast and stable 3-3-3-9-18-1T at 2.3V with OCZ FlexXLC PC2 9200. The board not only managed the whole test bench at these timings, but sat through the stress test with them also. "


A few non-specific reports (for whatever it's worth):

2x 1gb Patriot DDR2-667 4-4-4-12-1T
512x2 Buffalo Firestix
1GB Samsung PC2-5300 5-5-5-15 @1.9v
Mixed (G.Skill/Kingston) 2x1GB DDR2-800 @ 889, 5-5-5-15-2T


4GB Memory Issue*:

This problem is apparently not limited to the MSI 650i-based boards (various boards from others including ASUS are having the same issues), but I did want to put a link here so you know about it...

P6N SLI Platinum 4Gb Slowdown

*Update: If you get to the bottom of that thread, apparently there is a BIOS update that resolves the problem:

SLI-FI - v2.13 beta BIOS or later (including the latest "2.1" released BIOS)
Platinum - v1.22 beta BIOS or later (including the latest "1.2" released BIOS)

Some Site Reviews:

P6N SLI Platinum review here at [H]ard|OCP
P6N SLI Platinum review at hardwarezone
P6N FI review in MSI german forum translated to english via google here.
MSI P6N SLI Platinum: NVIDIA's 650i Part Two (AnandTech review)
MSI P6N SLI Platinum nForce 650i Motherboard Review (PCStats review)
EVGA 680i LT SLI: NVIDIA's 680i Cost Reduced - oh wait... that's not a review of the MSI P6N Platinum board... or is it?
MSI P6N SLI Platinum (bit-tech.net review)
MSI P6N SLI Platinum Motherboard Review (nV News review)
Abit and MSI take on the nForce 650i - Comparing the Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI and P6N SLI Platinum (techreport.com shoot-out/review/comparison)
MSI P6N SLI Platinum (viperlair.com review)

A few reviews in Spanish can be found here.

Other:

Thread here at [H]ard|Forum with some initial over-clocking info
680i overclocking thread at XS - should have similar results on 650i based boards
another thread at XS forums - P6N-Fi overclocking

Some Coolaler forum (Taiwan?) threads (some nice close up images, various testing)...

[Edit: looks like my links below didn't work out too well, so just click one of them and then go to the Hardware->New Intel Main Board and related test forum and look around .]
Initial testing thread
SLI video setup + zalman cpu cooler testing
more nice pics in this thread

NOTE: Continued in next post, below...

[Editor's note: I ran out of room in the first post, so I've annexed this post as well . I'll probably move some of the above info down here to re-organize things a bit over time... if you're curious, my original post here is quoted in the reply just below here (asked and answered long ago)].

Overclocking:

*** Disabling C1E (needed when overclocking) ***

Apparently, MSI decided to hide the C1E option in the BOIS (Note: later versions of the BIOS don't hide this option)...

• go to CPU Features screen (with Execute Bit Support and Set Limit CPUID options on it)
  • if "C1E Support" option is not available, hit the F4 key
• disable C1E
• go to the Cell Menu page and make sure that you've also disabled EIST, D.O.T. and all Spread Spectrum settings (Spread Spectrum settings are at the bottom of the page.. you have to scroll down to see this option)
• to change various voltages and other settings, use the PageUp/PageDown keys to see choices, or just type in the value
• the value for FSB speed in the BIOS is the Quad Data Rate (QDR), so the value you enter for a 200 FSB is '800'. The value you enter for a 400 FSB speed is '1600', etc.
• the value you enter for the memory bus speed is Double Data Rate, so the value you enter for eg. DDR2 667 is '667' (with a 1:1 ratio, this would be a FSB speed of 333.x, or '1333' QDR), for DDR2 800 speed, you enter '800' (with a 1:1 ratio, this would be a FSB speed of 400, or '1600' QDR)

All the OC'ing Utilities You Could Ever Need - links for various voltage/fequency adjusting/monitoring utilities.

Benchmark/Overclocking Software List - similar list to above.

NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Overclocking Guide - It should be apparent by now that the 650i operates substantially like the 680i chipset (they use the same C55 North Bridge, but different South Bridge - the NB handles the FSB and contains the memory controller), so this should be useful.

User-reported aftermarket cpu cooling installations:

For the most part, there doesn't seem to be anything specific about these motherboards that causes any clearance issues with popular heatsinks that you wouldn't find on other boards.

However, there is one or two issues to be aware of... when installing any heatsink that has a back-plate (push-pins don't have this issue)... on the underside of the CPU area, there are some little circuitry (SMD resisters?) right where many heatsink back-plates need to be mounted. Blue Falcon posted some images mid-way down on page 50 of this thread. The comments below discuss this issue, but another solution might be to add some form of non-metalic shim or washers to the bracket to get some clearance...

Also, note that the SLI-Fi board has a rather large NB heatsink, which might interfere with some larger coolers, unless you're planning to replace the NB sink as well.


Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - "No real issues.."

Zalman 9500 - "Be aware that the back plate I got with my Zalman 9500 would not fit this board stock.

The back of the board has 5 tiny surface mount components that the backplate hits. I routed a few of the honeycombed fins off the inside of the backplate and was able to mount it fine after that. But DO NOT force it. You'll feel it rocking, like it's not quite flush. If you knock those surface mounts off, you'll probably kill your board."

[Editor's note: It looks like several Zalman coolers may use this same backplate, so they'd have the same problem. The plate can be notched/dremmeled/routed out to correct the problem - just make sure you do that if you install one of these coolers]

Scythe Ninja Rev B - "I did a bit of dremel-shaving to one side of the base clip on my ninja, just cause it was too close to the capictors for my comfort level. Sirjonk has the same cooler installed with no issues and no modding" (additional clarification: "Sorry about any confusion about the mod. I wanted to make sure it had zero contact with the capacitors. May not have been necessary but too close for my liking. Probably shaved about .25" off the one edge. ").

Tuniq Tower 120 - "Tuniq Tower 120 fits [Platinum board], but barely. The HS is nudged up against the NB, and I've got the fan on it. (This is in an Antec P180B case, so the tower darn near blocks the top case fan. I guess I could turn the HS sideways to vent out the top, but now thinking about it, I don't know if there is enough clearance on the other sides of the cpu on the board to do that, either)."

Cooler Master Hyper Tx (model #RR-PCH-S9U1-GP) - no installation issues (the cowling clears MOSFET heatsinks on Platinum board).

AeroCool Dominator 140mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - "It mounts via an "H" plate with foam backing it does cover some of the small resistors but its not a prob due to the foam....as long as the mount screws are finger tightened it shouldn't ever be an issue" [Editor's note: I guess I'd have to see this for myself. I think that would concern me some...]

Thermalright XP-120 - "...the Thermalright XP-120 fits on this board without any clearence issuse."

Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme - "The only problem I had was... ...the fan clips were touching the added NB fan (the one that comes with the P6N platinum board)... I had to bend the clip towards me so that it would not touch and that fixed the issue." [Editor's note: See D_N_G's post on page 47 of this thread for details. Also, note that this HSF is the same overall size as the regular Ultra 120 and uses the same backplate mounting mechanism as several other later model Thermalright heatsinks]

TT Big Typhoon VX - was spotted in this thread, being used along with Corsair Dominator CMXAF1 memory cooling. Also confirmed by tty on about page 62 of this thread.

Various overclocking info from this thread:

• Spanki giving step-by-step procedure for overclock, with some example speeds
• usama_ah giving paragraph-type instructions on overclocking, with default speed examples and overclock speed examples
• BigTuna11's shotgun approach to finding fastest possible overclock in shortest amount of time. (not for everyone! )
• e4300, stable at 3.0Ghz (done by usama_ah)
• overview of RAM timings and how to begin overclocking (Spanki)
• Spanki, again with settings necessary for overclock.
• 3degree posts some overclocking results.
• D_N_G posts various E6600 results and Ultra 120 Extreme info.

(Thanks to usama_ah for helping to gather the above links)

Etc.

Building a new system? Here's some handy links to more general info that might be of interest...

How much power is enough? - nice article at Legion Hardware about PSU requirements.
Intel Conroe Cache Performance - yet another that looks at 1mb vs 2mb vs 4mb cache Core 2 Duos
DDR2 Frequency Performance - another interesting article at Legion Hardware about the relative need (or not) for high-performance memory with C2D systems.
DDR2 Latency Performance - sister article to the above.

FrostyTech Heatsink & Cooling Reviews - they use a simulated, by highly repeatable heat-source for thier reviews, which removes some guesswork and case issues, so the results are purely related to the HSF's ability to disperse heat. There are both pros and cons to this approach, but it's another good data-point to have.
CPU Heatsink Roundup April 2007 - MADSHRIMP's total list of reviewed HSFs (for comparison purposes) is pretty decent now, but unfortunately doesn't include any Thermalright products...
Intel and AMD Heatsink Roundup 2006 - ...many Thermalrights included in this one though.
AnandTech Cooler Reviews - looking at any recent review will show some Thermalrights in the list and maybe fill in some other gaps.
[H] Enthusiast Cooling Reviews - if you're thinking about moving up to a water solution, there's a good list here.

26 120mm Fans Compared - recent excellent fan review in XS forums.
Fan section at MADSHRIMPS - they also have some good fan reviews
SPCR's Fan Round-Up #2: 120mm Fans - a more restrictive review of 6 fans from the "Silence before everything else" folks .
SPCR's Fan Round-Up #3: 92mm Fans - thier review of 6 92mm fans.
SPCR's 80x25mm Fan Round-Up #1 - ...and the 80mm fans for good measure (the industry has mostly moved away from this size, but older cases still use them).

A general note for people asking for help...

"Help us, to help you"

...if you're trying to get some help with overclocking or whatever, please don't make it difficult for people to help you. If we don't know what your hardware is, or which OS you're using or which BIOS you might be using, then we either have to guess, or ask, or go scan back through this long thread hoping you mentioned it somewhere in some other post (or combination of posts, after we previously asked for clarification).

The easiest way to provide this information is to go and add it to your signature, then it's right there where we can see it and don't have to go looking for it.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Spanki

First question...

The ram I bought runs default at 1.9v (I assume the spd is set this way)... is this board likely to boot ok with that? Or am I going to have to have some 1.8v ram on hand to get to the BIOS the first time? (that would suck, because I don't have any).

I think you should be ok. Most of the "problem" RAM is stuff that needs 2.1-2.2V to run at the By SPD timings.

Thanks ~fingers crossed~.

Mine's still doing great. Have had no problems with it whatsoever. Totally stable at 440fsb (3.1 ghz on my e6300) and the northbridge doesn't even get too hot to touch (that was my main point of concern as I know the nvidia NBs get pretty toasty), and this is on the initial BIOS (I don't think there are any newer ones yet).

At 450fsb it was Orthos stable and stable within Windows but would bluescreen after about ten minutes of WoW.

Another note on the P6N SLI vs. P6N Platinum, according to MSI's web site they have the same model number even (MS-7350) so unless you really need the extra eSATA port or something, I don't see any reason to get the platinum.

Thanks for the update... I chose the Platinum for the solid caps, heat-pipe w/NB fan and the extra IO thrown in, but you're right - the P6N-FI is a great deal if you don't care about those things.

The 650i boards are still pretty new, but fortunately they share a lot in common with the 680-based boards, so hopefully some of that (larger base of) over-clocking and tuning results will transfer over.

I could only afford moderate level parts right now, so I'll be happy with moderate level oc as well - right out of the box, it'll be worlds faster than my old P4 / AGP / DDR I PC133 system .

Yar...overclocks are in my sig. Kinda surprised I could do what I did with the RAM considering they're mixed. I'll prolly tweak it some more...plus see if my system can handle the CPU overclock and RAM overclock at the same time. I'm currently at stock speed with my CPU. Hopefully a BIOS update will fix the FSB holes.

What's the difference in price between the Plat and the -F?

eSATA and SPDIF Out on it. Plus you got the heatpipes on the NB and SB. I think thats about it. Not really worth it since the NB runs fine with the stock cooler. Could be better to take that cap off the top so the heat can transfer off it better.

EDIT: Plus the solid state caps....almost forgot those.

The Platinum also has a fan for the NB and possibly some packaging (cables, etc) differences. I forgot about the SPDIF coax out.. I knew there was another IO difference, but couldn't recall what it was.

My new stuff should arrive on monday, but the case I ordered (Antec 180B) won't get here until late next week, so I may have to sit around staring at the other parts for a few days (grrrr).

I'd avoid any MSi parts if you plan OC. They seem to make great things to run at stock speed but they are crap when it comes to OC.

I have seen tons of enthusiasts getting rid of their mobos. And the only msi part i got currently which is 7600gt won't even reach 600 Mhz core clock despite dual slot cooling system.

Anyway they glorius days seem to lie far in the past of Athlon Xp mobos.

That may or may not ultimately turn out to be true, but I went with the MSI board for a combination of price/performance/features. It does look like MSI may be turning things (back?) around though... with favorable reviews of it's 975X Platinum PowerUp Edition , as well as innovative features on boards like the up-comming 680i-based P6N SLI Diamond.

The general sense I get from reading about all recent MSI mb offerings is that they are typically leading or in the top-tier in terms of price/performance/features. So this may not relate specifically to being a number 1 over-clocker, but the results I'm seeing so far, combined with the price/features make it worthwhile to me.

In my case, the P6N SLI Platinum has the features I want, at a price I can afford, so I'll be happy with whatever performance I can get out of it (which is the reason for this thread ).

Of course my board hasn't arrived yet, so I'll know more once I get some first-hand experience with it .

Hey guys... I just found this review of the P8N SLI-FI in the MSI german forums... it's a little difficult to read the translation, but one new piece of info (for me, anyway) is how to get to and disable the C1E option (!). Apparently MSI hid it... as best as I can tell, when you are at the CPU Feature screen (with Execute Bit Support and Set Limit CPUID options), hit the F4 key and that should bring up the option to disable C1E.

If you have already disabled EIST but haven't disabled C1E yet, then this should give you more room to oc.

Originally Posted by kirbyrj

What's the difference in price between the Plat and the -F?

Sorry, missed that 'price' in there before. Current NewEgg pricing is:

MSI P6N SLI-FI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - 109.99

MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - 164.99

...looks like $55 difference.

Originally Posted by Spanki

Hey guys... I just found this review of the P8N SLI-FI in the MSI german forums... it's a little difficult to read the translation, but one new piece of info (for me, anyway) is how to get to and disable the C1E option (!). Apparently MSI hid it... as best as I can tell, when you are at the CPU Feature screen (with Execute Bit Support and Set Limit CPUID options), hit the F4 key and that should bring up the option to disable C1E.

If you have already disabled EIST but haven't disabled C1E yet, then this should give you more room to oc.

really....guess I need to go in and disable it. brb to try.

EDIT: Yep it was definately hidden. Wonder why they did that. Also wonder if there is anymore hidden shit we don't know about.

I dunno.. it's possible that they actually tied the C1E setting to the EIST setting (similar/related functions, iirc), and then just hid the C1E as a convieniance (?). Was it 'enabled' when you got to it? (with EIST disabled?)

Yeah it was enabled with EIST disabled.

Originally Posted by Spanki

Sorry, missed that 'price' in there before. Current NewEgg pricing is:

MSI P6N SLI-FI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - 109.99

MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - 164.99

...looks like $55 difference.

Wow...$109. Just last week it was around $139 wasn't it?

yeah....and guess who bought it at that price...

The Platinum also dropped to $154.99 for a day or two, but I see it's back up at $164.99 now.