Socket 939 Roundup: Battle at the Top
by Wesley Fink on July 30, 2004 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
MSI K8T Neo2-FIR: Features and Layout
| MSI K8T Neo2-FIR Motherboard Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket 939 Athlon 64 |
| Chipset | VIA K8T800 PRO/VT8237 |
| Bus Speeds | 200MHz to 280MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| CPU Ratios | 4 - 20x in 1x increments |
| PCI/AGP Speeds | Default, 66, 76.4 |
| HyperTransport | 1x-5x (200MHz to 1GHz) |
| Core Voltage | CPU default to 1.85V in .05V increments |
| DRAM Voltage | Auto, 2.55V to 2.85V in .05V increments |
| AGP Voltage | Auto, 1.55V to 1.85V in.05V increments |
| HT Voltage | Auto, 1.26V, 1.32V, 1.38V |
| Dynamic Overclocking | 3.3%,5%, 6.6%, 8%, 10%, 11%, 15% |
| Memory Slots | Four 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots Dual-Channel Unbuffered Memory to 4GB |
| Expansion Slots | 1 AGP 8X Slot 5 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA/IDE RAID | 2 SATA 150 drives by VIA VT8237 Can be combined in RAID 0,1,JBOD plus 2 SATA 150 Promise 20579 |
| Onboard IDE | Two Standard VIA ATA133/100/66 (4 drives) PLUS 2 IDE by Promise 20579 |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 8 USB 2.0 ports supported by VT8237 3 IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports by VIA 6306 |
| Onboard LAN | Gigabit Ethernet by Realtek 8110S |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC850 8-Channel with SPDIF |
| Tested BIOS | 1.0 |
MSI seems to have had a lock on supplying Reference Boards for the Socket 939 launch. While the K8N Neo2 was the Reference board for the nVidia 939 launch, a special version of MSI K8T Neo2 was the Reference Board for the AMD Socket 939 launch. You can find more information on both MSI boards in our Socket 939 Chipset Launch article.
The K8T Neo2 retail board adds many adjustments and tweaking options to the basic K8T Neo2 that we reviewed at launch. MSI also supplied a board with a working PCI/AGP lock just prior to the completion of this roundup, but it took several boards to finally get there. We have been assured that shipping K8T Neo2 boards will have working PCI/AGP locks and we are passing this information to you. When we finally received a fully working board, the K8T Neo2 was a decent performer and certainly one of the best of the VIA K8T800 PRO chipset Socket 939 boards.
The K8T Neo2 is available in several versions with different options depending on price. Our test board was the top-line version, which added a Promise 20579 SATA/IDE RAID controller and VIA IEEE 1394A Firewire. Layout of the board is more conventional than the MSI K8N Neo2, with the 4 DIMM slots to the upper right, and the IDE/floppy and ATX connectors on the upper right. The 4-pin 12V connector is difficult to route as it sits almost in the center of the board. The additional IDE and SATA connections are all in areas that could potentially interfere with longer PCI cards, but the AGP 8X is clear of obstruction for a large top-end video card.
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum: Overclocking and Stress Testing
MSI K8T Neo2-FIR: Overclocking and Stress Testing
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Richdog - Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - link
bigtoe33 - Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - link
If you are looking for the K8NN939 beta M03 again its availabale at bleedinedge.com on bigtoe's bios bin.http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showpost.php?p=32...
grdh20 - Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - link
http://forum.abit-usa.com/attachment.php?s=&po...abit av8 1.3 bios link
grdh20 - Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - link
The msi K8N Neo2 will hit the states in 2 weeks according to MSI.How will the A8V rev. 2.0 be sold in terms of order by model #. Same or different? Rev. # is only printed on the PCB, not the box.
Brickster - Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - link
I love my new Gigabyte 939 board! It kicks a*s and is perrrty in the dark! :)Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - link
#36 - The new Gigabyte BIOS DOES have multipliers in BIOS as I detailed in the review specifications. See the link in #35.RyanVM - Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - link
With performance getting so similar between the various boards/chipsets, it seems to me that AT is overlooking some of the bigger differentiating factors: integrated features. It would be nice to see how the USB, Firewire, IDE/SATA, Ethernet, Sound, etc. implementations differ in CPU utilization and overall performance.For example, the Gigabyte (inexplicably) uses a 3rd party GigE controller instead of the NF3-250's controller. What impact on throughput/CPU utilization does this have? How is VIA's SATA implementation compared to nVidia's?
It seems to me that those are become more relevant of questions than "Which board has a higher Winstone rating?"
Parc - Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - link
I had heard the Gigabyte board would not let you adjust the multipler in the bios but I saw a picture where it could be adjusted from the software in windows? Is this true? Any disadvantages to this? Also just how bad is the voltage limit holding the Gigabyte board back? Is there anyway Gigabyte could allow you any more voltage adjusts through the bios in the future or is this board hopeless for volts?bigtoe33 - Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - link
For all who want the AV8 bios...first join the forums over at www.bleedinedge.com, then look in bigtoe's bios bin. you will find the bios under abit amd boards.http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showpost.php?p=32...
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - link
#31 - A friend will post a host for the BIOS soon, as I can't handle all the individual requests. Until then email me and I will be happy to send it to you.#32 & #33 - The Socket 939 boards WILL handle ECC and non-ECC memory, but I suspect the question is larger than this. Socket 940/Opteron requires REGISTERED memory and the ECC can be on or off. We have tested the 939 with Registered memory and it is definitely NOT compatable with Registered memory. If you want to keep using Registered memory (Which you may have bought for 940) you will have to stick with an Opteron.