MSI MGP z790 Carbon Dreaded NIC Issues

[ryanboyti158502e5]

Got the new mobo yesterday, installed drivers from MSI website and immediately in game noticed event logs of NIC installation error/corruption. I then try every different driver variant I could find for the Intel i226-V network controller and none of them worked. the 1.1.3.28 was the best from March 5th 2022 but it still drops packets here and there. What kind of trash is this? I had the same issue with my Asus Prime z490 board and the Intel i225-V controller but atleast back then I had a driver option that worked I just had to make sure it never got updated. MSI/Intel fix your trash....Now I have to install a 3rd party NIC card to even be able to use this thing when I paid 500$ for a mobo which is robbery to begin with especially when it doesn't work.....

 

[hozy8159502e2]

Exact same issues on my Z790 edge i226-v, Best driver so far is this 27.8 from intel which is 2.1.1.7(Windows11) when installed. Still issues, Just less than before.

Intel® Network Adapter Driver for Microsoft* Windows* 11

This download record installs drivers for Intel® Network Adapters using Microsoft Windows 11*

www.intel.com

I don't understand how this isn't a larger issue and how MSI/Intel can get away with this.

 

[ryanboyti158502e5]

Exact same issues on my Z790 edge i226-v, Best driver so far is this 27.8 from intel which is 2.1.1.7(Windows11) when installed. Still issues, Just less than before.

Intel® Network Adapter Driver for Microsoft* Windows* 11

This download record installs drivers for Intel® Network Adapters using Microsoft Windows 11*

www.intel.com

I don't understand how this isn't a larger issue and how MSI/Intel can get away with this.

Im super pissed, I just ordered a RTX4080 and didn't realize the aftermarket NIC card in the PCI-E slot isn't going to fit now with the thickness of the 4000 series.... So looks like I am Wifi gaming until MSI fixes their [***CENSORED***].

 

[ryanboyti158502e5]

To be fair, its not MSI specifically. I had the same trouble with my Asus z490 board and the intel i225-v

 

[milad.eslamini15e602e7]

how can I check for this issue? I haven't really noticed any problem with mine in almost 9 months. (MPG Z690 Force)

 

[th156802df]

I personally just installed the network drivers that came with the bundled flash drive (in the CARBON's motherboard's box, under the cardboard) and it's been fine. Since then I've just installed the Intel utility to install & update the rest of the drivers I needed, and installed whatever else required (e.g. GPU drivers).
Windows 11's installation was annoying because the 22H2 installation media is not new enough to have the new drivers, and the installation requires an Internet connection to proceed.

 

[rsharp5515be02e5]

Same issue for me and I'm so pissed off how much time I had to waste not to mention money. Spent hours googling and never even came across anything specific until just the other day on these forums. By that time I'd already taken out the damn motherboard and ordered another one. That of course meant I had to get a new windows 11 pro key and just the principle of it having to spend $25 because of Intel's half-ass working NIC makes me so mad. This has been nothing but a waste of time and crap loads of aggravation for an issue that I had never once encountered in 20 years of computer building. I'm so sick of these garbage companies and their garbage products that don't give a damn about how it impacts the people that are paying them. Hey if you have hours upon hours of extra time and get off on ordering new parts and uninstalling and reinstalling then that's good for you but I have a full-time job and other responsibilities so my personal time shouldn't be wasted for absolute nonsense like this.

I'm just going to use Wi-Fi at this point but what are the suggestions for a USB ethernet?

 

[opensourceghos152c02d1]

Make sure to install drivers-only, not the whole Intel package, and use Device Manager to install. It consists of only 4 files. The latest driver version from Station Drivers is 1.1.3.28, dated 03/05/2022, but driver file version date can be later. The files are:
- e2f.cat
- e2f.inf
- e2f.sys
- e2fmsg.dll

Make sure to install the mentioned Windows 10 drivers (1.1.3.28) even on Windows 11. Windows 11 is tricky. It comes with some generic buggy drivers for many network adapters that are part of Windows 11 "Features" component needed for network adapters to work specifically for Windows 11 installation as an attempt to enforce creation of non-local Microsoft cloud-based account during Windows 11 setup. That process can be bypassed, but that's off-topic. If you uninstall those generic buggy drivers from Windows 11 "Features", then official Intel Windows 11 drivers can't even be detected as compatible by Windows 11 Device Manager, but Windows 10 1.1.3.28 drivers work fine. I suggest either sticking to the latest version of Windows 10 or disabling Windows 11 network adapter "Features" with DISM commands or a tool like NTLite before performing Windows 11 installation.

I also suggest trying the following optimized settings (that can be changed in Windows Device Manager for Intel I226-V) to reduce latency, packet loss, increase throughput, and improve privacy at the cost of some CPU power:
- ARP Offload - Disabled
- DMA Coalescing - Disabled
- Enable PME - Disabled
- Energy Efficient Ethernet - Disabled
- Flow Control - Disabled
- Interrupt Moderation - Disabled
- Interrupt Moderation Rate - Off
- IPv4 Checksum Offload - Enabled
- Large Send Offload V2 (IPv4) - Disabled
- Large Send Offload V2 (IPv6) - Disabled
- Log Link State Event - Disabled
- NS Offload - Disabled
- Packet Priority & VLAN - Disabled
- Receive Buffers - 2048
- Selected Suspend - Disabled
- Select Susepnd Idle Timeout - 5
- Speed & Duplex - use whichever one fits your router Ethernet port speed, try to not use Auto-Negotiation
- TCP Checksum Offload IPv4 - Rx & Tx Enabled
- TCP Checksum Offload IPv6 - Rx & Tx Enabled
- Transmit Buffers - 2048
- UDP Checksum Offload IPv4 - Rx & Tx Enabled
- UDP Checksum Offload IPv6 - Rx & Tx Enabled
- Wait for Link - Off
- Wake from S0ix on Magic Packet - Disabled
- Wake on Link Settings - Disabled
- Wake on Magic Packet - Disabled
- Wake on Pattern Match - Disabled
- Untick/disable "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" in Power Management tab

Download TCP Optimizer and use the settings I provide in attached screenshots (but adjust MTU based on what your ISP offers).

 

[rsharp5515be02e5]

Make sure to install drivers-only, not the whole Intel package, and use Device Manager to install. It consists of only 4 files (the latest files from Station Drivers are dated 6/2/2022 driver version itself is 1.1.3.28, dated 03/05/2022)
e2f.cat
e2f.inf
e2f.sys
e2fmsg.dll

I did that and two days later it still randomly went to crap.

 

[opensourceghos152c02d1]

Has MSI commented on this? I also began having some packet loss that I didn't experience with previous Intel NIC...

 

[IA64]

Had this issue before solved it by disabling one of the network adapters and setting the negotiating speed to 1Gbps manually.

 

[rsharp5515be02e5]

Had this issue before solved it by disabling one of the network adapters and setting the negotiating speed to 1Gbps manually.

That may have worked for you but I doubt it's more than a temporary fix as that so-called fix has been mentioned many times and been proven over and over that it doesn't actually do anything long-term.

 

[IA64]

That may have worked for you but I doubt it's more than a temporary fix as that so-called fix has been mentioned many times and been proven over and over that it doesn't actually do anything long-term.

So far uptime is 11 days and not a single disconnection. Used to reboot and get a " network cable unplugged" and the only solution was to restart the network interface. I downloaded Intel driver update utility and it took care of the igpu, wifi and ethernet card drivers.

M/B Z790 ACE ... goodluck

 

[mcgrate1000026e]

I too am having issues where it is dropping packets like crazy disconnecting too. I have installed the latest drivers from the website but has not fixed anything. I will try some of the things mentend here to see if i can get mine to work. Very frustrating.

 

[rsharp5515be02e5]

At this point there needs to be some kind of compensation if this problem can't be fixed. The amount of hours I spent troubleshooting and dealing with having to get another motherboard only to have the same issue again is no fault of my own. The ethernet port is a simple component that should function properly and should not be causing issues resulting in aggravation time and money lost for end users that are already paying out the rear end for motherboards. Maybe companies like Intel should focus less on diversity and inclusion and more on actually making sure their products work as intended. The blame is also on MSI as they make the motherboards that use these components and they've had to have known for months that this is an issue. Even someone from MSI responded in my one-star review of their motherboard but mentioned nothing about this known issue.

 

[lostking20015bf02e6]

At least you got Intel nic on your board.
On my MSI x670e Carbon, it is a Realtek one

 

[mcgrate1000026e]

Ok here is what i did to resolve my network dropouts hopefully this will help someone else as well. At first I rolled back to the feb driver from above version 2.1.1.7 but that had no effect. Next I Turned the Speed and duplex to 1 gig to match my network. I do not have 2.5 gig at this time. That change alone helped a lot but didn't fix the issue completely. So after that (through some trail and error) I found that Energy Efficient Ethernet was the next to turn off and my ping time went to less than 1ms to another machine connected to the same switch and I had no more network dropouts.
I am still running the 2.1.1.7 driver as it is working for me and I decided to leave well enough alone.

 

[metrotp159102dd]

mcgrate1000026e Thanks for your post. Intel has had problems with their NIC's and wireless cards for a long time. About 10 years ago I bought my daughter a Toshiba laptop with a Intel card in it. Would drop connection randomly and you almost had to be sitting next to the router to get any reception. When I was going to sell it I discovered that there was a newer Intel card that was stable with the later driver. It was much better! I bought it and sold the laptop. Then about 5 years ago I paid $1500 USD for a HP laptop Spectre x360 and it too had an Intel card with connection issues. Had to buy an wireless adapter and a USB multi-port for about $100 so it wouldn't drop the connection. Intel woos the manufacturers and screws everyone that gets one of their cards. Typical business practice IMHO so no surprise to me that Intel is silent (crickets) about this problem.

 

[weht]

I wish to buy but am afraid. I read so much bad about this 1225v. Intel site says its the mobo vender's fault. Said they make the chip and send to vender's, and they place it on board and make changes to it. The vender's say its Intel yet keep using it. Some says its the cable or router or switch, and can change everything and have the same problems. Yet if buy and install a 3rd party nic with a Realtek chip it seems to work fine with the original cable etc. for like 100% of users. Something is amiss for sure.

I know Asus charges 1 way $25.00 or more for RMA shipping. Ship cost should be free or like 5 dollars- its actual cost, so they seem to run a side hustle and make 40 extra or more dollars off of yah for their broken stuff, and do not care if you like it or can use it or not after you by it, is in part is why I wish to come back to MSI. My past MSI board and all software with it always worked, not so with my Asus Hero board. Then Windows updates, venders cant keep up and make new drivers/ software etc every month. You might get a few updates until the next gen comes out and then they drop support even before warranties run out. We that buy have to suffer all of this. Sucks.

 

[metrotp159102dd]

I bought a MPG Z790 CARBON WiFi but never going to use the WiFi connection due to having superior NIC performance. I had bought the MB and while waiting on a backordered MSI MEG Ai1300P PCIE5 PSU, I discovered a thread on this Intel problem over on TechPowerUp back on Jan 20th. After reading about it, and how long it's been a known issue, I decided to take the advice of one poster who said something like "Just go buy a NIC with a Realtek chip" so I did and it arrived quickly. Due to problems with internet connection and troublesome Win11 install, I installed that card and the problems went away. Then I found the workaround in settings described by mcgrate100026e here and so far the Intel is working.