MSI 694D Pro?

[gino X]

Is this a good board for a dual processor system? I recently bought one off ebay and am expecting it by next week.

I'm just wondering just in case there's anything to careful about.

[Darthgary]

Never heard of it, MSI imo is a very good mobo manufactorer, but why would you buy a dual CPU board any way?

[Ultima]

I have that very same board, and I gotta tell ya, I love it.

Ya don't have to worry about the cpu's having the same stepping, cause there is no need for that.

Ya can set the Vcore per cpu independantly, and she's quite fast.

MSI's site says max is 933Mhz, but she'll take the 1Ghz no problem.

If ya wanna know more, lemme know.

[gino X]

Darthgary:

I wanted a dual processor system to crunch more FaD and for my long-term server project.


At least the board isn't finicky about the same steppings for the CPUs, which is a plus.

What OS do u use for your MSI board?
Does the processor have to be Coppermine? I heard about Intel switching the pins around for the Tualatin core, but is it true?

[Ultima]

Tualatins won't run on this board, trust me, I've tried.

I run windows 2000 Server on it, and it works like a charm.
Tested it with sisoft sandra, and she's very fast.

The chipsets are very fast, ata controller seriously outpaces my amd rig with KT400 chipset when comes to copying from dvd to harddrive.

You'll love the board, trust me, she's stable as can be, has agp 4x support, 5 pci slots and a cnr slot, but nobody ever uses those.
Also 4 dimm slots for max 2Gb pc133, so can't think of any downside to the board as of yet.

I have one downside . . . poor quality capacitors. I used to have the same board for my dual 933's. After about 6 mos. the capacitors around the voltage regulator went bad. I changed it for a Supermicro P3TDDE

[gino X]

Well I only plan to run Windows 2000 Pro since I don't have the funds to go and get W2000Server and I really don't care to step into the land of software pirates.

Evilrick:

When capacitors go bad, are there serious malfunctions?

[gino X]

For the server, would this make a good case and PS?

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...156-114&DEPA=1

Its the top one, priced 46.00 as of 8/26/03
Thx guys
Any recommendations are welcome.

[Ultima]

That is a midi tower, isn't it??

Altho it is a nice case, I would suggest looking into a full tower, cause the board is quite big.

Trust me, I've got mine in an A-Open HQ08 case, where you have a motherboard tray to slide it out, ideal for server.

Lots of room in the case, leaving the motherboard clear from all kinds of cables, which is needed for a good airflow.

Up to you ofcourse, but I'd take a hightower or fulltower for this board.

PS here's a pic of my server, with the high-tower, cables are rounded now and all wrapped to the sides for max airflow.

http://www.techimo.com/photo/showpho...cat=500&page=1

[gino X]

Hmmm your right. It is a mid tower. I'm looking into the fulltower cases now, thanks for the warning.