MSI KT4V-L Motherboard

[marko]

Hi all wonder if you good people could give me your opinion of the MSI KT4V-L Motherboard ??. I'm about to build my second PC and was thinking of using this board as its in my £65 pound Budget. Have any of you built a system using this Board ??, did you have any problems setting it up ??, was it stable e.t.c. As i've said this will only be my second build so i want somthing thats
easy to set up and stable, what do you peeps think ??. Any advice would be most appreciated thanks in advance cheers .

[lemon]

Hiya,

I don't have much experience in building stuff, but the specs look good.

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/produc...il.php?UID=362

Dabs has 5 in stock (£54+£3 delv)

Looks like its via 400 (FSB333) rather than via 400A (FSB400)

I've read somewhere that the battle of nF2 v VIA chipset is down to Front Side Bus. Can anyone tell me how much difference between, say MSI KT4V and GA-7NNXP? (i.e. VIA 333FSB v nF2 333FSB)

Sorry for highjack.

I've been considering VIA chipset for its affordability only to be disaded by the claim that nF2 is the fastest.

I'm not interested in VIA 600 at all.

[lemon]

Whoopsy. Sorry.

GA-7NNXP is FSB 400.

I meant GA-7N400V Pro which is FSB 333.

[Lexeus]

I built a system for a frined with this exact board. I would highly recommend it as a decent board for anyone on a tighter budget. He hasn't had any problems with it, runs fine, and it was easy to set up. The D-Panel on the back can also be useful if you do have problems (its MSI's status display, 4 LED's glow different colours to report different status'). I was going to buy this board for myself a few months ago, before i decided to wait a while and buy an nforce 2 .

Good luck with your build

[joshuatrumpet]

I have had the MSI KT4V-L motherboard for about two years now. I have been having problems with it not starting up everytime and just giving me some beeps.(beep beep beep). After taking it to a local computer shop they realized after finding it on another board that if you connect the case fan to the motherboard, you get two chips that sizzle up and can ruin the board. Simply connect the system fan up to the power going to a hard drive, and problem is fixed.

So it can be fixed, just do it right the first time to prevent partically burned out chips on the board.

[LeeumH]

It's a VIA chipset, don't think they ever made a decent chipset for Socket A. Go for an Asus A7N8X or an Abit NF7-S/ AN7.

[Rave]

Rubbish. The KT333, KT400, KT400A and KT600 are all perfectly competent chipsets. All else being equal, a KT600 will be within a percentage point or two of NForce2 on pretty much any benchmark, sometimes they're actually faster.

Rich :¬)

[iranu]

I have used the MSI KT4-ultra which is essentially the same chipset but with sata and bluetooth etc.

This board is a nice, quick, stable board if you plan to run with a stock fsb of 166 and pc2700 (ddr 333) ram.

It does NOT like being overclocked!! I couldn't get it to post past about 174 fsb with xp2500 with pc3200 ram. It will support ddr 400 ram but there's no point.

For £65 you should be able to get a board capable of supporting a a fsb of 200 (400mhz) or get the kt4 at a cheaper price.

eg.

Asus AN78X-E deluxe £57.94
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=602579

Abit NF7 Rev2.0 £42.88
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...roductID=51444

MSI KT6-delta-FISR £45.23
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...roductID=73001

MSI KT4AV-L £33.46
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=45414

There are loads more out there.

Personally I would recommend the Asus A7N8X-deluxe as it has soundstorm and other good features. If you want to overclock then the Abit NF7 Rev.2.0 gets the thumbs up.

As an aside if you do go for the KT4 it's a good cheap stable board and it WILL run a case fan off the mobo without problems.

Good hunting

[joshuatrumpet]

I have had the MSI KT4V-L motherboard for about two years now. I have been having problems with it not starting up everytime and just giving me some beeps.(beep beep beep). After taking it to a local computer shop they realized after finding it on another board that if you connect the case fan to the motherboard, you get two chips that sizzle up and can ruin the board. Simply connect the system fan up to the power going to a hard drive, and problem is fixed.

So it can be fixed, just do it right the first time to prevent partically burned out chips on the board.

I wanted to add to what I wrote previously.
The computer/motherboard has been a reliable machine since fixing/getting around this issue. I realize that not everyone would/will have this same problem with identical boards, but I wanted to pass on what I experienced.