Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 + ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA + ASRock 775Dual-VSTA

[Hlafordlaes]

@Krusty,

See Deanodarlo's post just three posts up and you'll see a working brand, as well as his comment that the 667 setting actually performs worse than 533. I understand you want to max out specs, but that is not always the surest route to best performance, as contrary to apparent logic as it may seem. If your current RAM works, all is OK. Spending extra now does not make sense.

 

[Ileader36]

Taranscorp, just about all Mobo's offer a FSB number that is way higher than what they can actually deliver. The PT880 PRO/ULTRA
chipset is not capable of more than 300fsb thereabouts, which is precisely the reason why these motherboards do
not accept any 333fsb processor, dual or quad.
If You want to know what Your cpu's default voltage is, then download Coretemp and run it.

If You wanted more processor speed, You should have gotten a e5200/5300/5400 as they have big multipliers
to go with the 200fsb, then Bsel modded it for a 266fsb default boot as I did.
3.2 ghz is no too shabby in my opinion, and due to the 3mb cache as opposed to the e5200's 2mb cache,
should give slightly higher performance than a similarly clocked 2mb chip.

 

[imported_Krusty]

Hi,

ASRock sent the list of recommended RAM today but as I don't know how to attach e.g. PDFs to a message in this forum I cannot show you. I will possibly try another brand some time.
I mean I know that performance won't increase significantly but on the other side I am not willing to give up that quickly ;-) With the DDR1 RAM from my old PC everything works perfectly stable, though. So, for now I am satisfied.

 

[tvshacker]

Hi!

I have a ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 + E4600 + GF 6800XT AGP and i'm thinking on upgrading my current graphics card to turn this rig into a HTPC.

The contenders are =P :
-HD 4670
-9600 GT
-9800 GT
-9800 GTX

My questions are: are all these fully supported by the current official bios (2.20)? or only those listed in the VGA Support List (beecause i noticed the last bios adds support to HD 4670 and there is none on the list.... )? Does it depend on the card brand (XFX, Asus, Powercolor, Saphire,...)?.

This is my first post here, and i must say i haven't read ALL the previous posts, but i browsed some of the content including the previous thread and it's 100+ pages.

So please tell me wich one you would recommend/is more compatible. I'm planing to buy one of those by the end of the week.

Thanks!

 

[Hlafordlaes]

@tvshacker,

See this link to the 2nd to last modded BIOS for your board. It lists the HD4670 as well as others. I think ATI cards are a bit better for video playback with more codecs supported for GPU-assisted playback than the NVidia cards that are compatible with these boards, AFAIK.

Any versions equal to or higher than the one linked to will work for the ATI card. Browse the BIOS version history on the pc-treiber site to see all the features added beyond standard Asrock versions, which may include the NVidia cards you list, so choose the supported card you like best, and a version equal to or later than what you select.

Totally reliable, almost all posters here use BIOSes from the pc-treiber site.

BTW, it seems the HD3850 AGP is the fastest-performing card on these boards if you are interested also in gaming. Edit: Careful choosing the OEM brand for this model, since not all support HDMI/HDCP.

 

[tvshacker]

First of all, thank you very much for answering so quickly!

Originally posted by: Hlafordlaes
@tvshacker,

BTW, it seems the HD3850 AGP is the fastest-performing card on these boards if you are interested also in gaming. Edit: Careful choosing the OEM brand for this model, since not all support HDMI/HDCP.

I wasn't especting this one at all! . I was thinking in making the jump to PCI-Express now. Should i buy a new motherboard? because i'm looking for a card that balances all the hardware. now the performance is being bottlenecked by the GPU, i don't think it makes sense to put anything higher than a 9800GTX because then it will be bottlenecked by the cpu/ram right (for games)?

Originally posted by: Hlafordlaes
I think ATI cards are a bit better for video playback with more codecs supported for GPU-assisted playback than the NVidia cards that are compatible with these boards, AFAIK.

I considered the Nvidias mainly because of physX and CUDA support.

I'm thinking about these options now:
-buy a HD3650 AGP for my old rig and turn that into a HTPC (can a 3650 handle it?) and buy a new Mboard and GPU for the less old rig so i can play some games(i did't want to do a new windows install :s)
-stick with my current ASRock upgrade the bios and buy a HD 4670 PCI-E (if the 3850 AGP gives the best performance i don't think it makes much sense to put a more expensive GPU)

Can you please help me decide?
Thank you

 

[Hlafordlaes]

@tvshacker,

I am not up on current pricing, but I think that the 3850AGP is actually more expensive than an HD4670. It makes no sense if the Asrock is used as a temporary transition board (next 9 months) to buy anything AGP, but even the faster PCIe cards this board will support are becoming dated (no DirectX11), and less and less "keepers" for the next new motherboard, so for some it makes sense to simply get the fastest card within one's budget and call it a day. By no means is the HD4670 a bad choice; it will be a nice improvement over the 6800XT.

You will have to do your own homework on the HD3650AGP, but I am guessing it can handle the job. Fan noise is a factor to look at. The Shuttle could make a good workingman's HTPC if not too noisy.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: PrTv1980
Hello again,

It seems I encountered a strange stability problem with Seven.

At first, the computer seemed to be "stable"
- I can install 7 without any problem.
- Pass Prime95's Blend test for 12+Hours straight [in XP].
- Can play game and any program that stress components for hours without any sign of problem [in XP and 7].

But it randomly locked up in Seven for no clear reasons!

I mean, it may lock up when I'm browsing the internet without doing other CPU intensive thing, or it may locked up after returning from screen saver while the system is 100% idle. It seemed to happen whenever it felt like it!

I tried using the CPU and ram at stock speed but didn't help. The thing is, it's perfectly stable in XP and completely unrealiable in Seven!

What's bugging me is the system is rock stable in XP but locks up every couple hours in 7.

Any idea?

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2345629&enterthread=y

 

[Hlafordlaes]

@VirtualLarry,

Are you using one the boards on this thread? Sure you're in the right place?

 

[WT]

Larry bought about a dozen of the Asrock boards last year when they were being blown out at a reseller for around $32 a pop, so yea, he's in the right place.


I sold my last Asrock Dual board a month ago, so I guess if I need to buy another for a project, I'll bug him about selling one off to me.

I still have my Asrock SATAII 939 board running like a champ (quite an oddball setup - running a B.E. 5000+ OC'd to 3.1ghz and a 7950GX2 card to boot) so that's still my favorite mobo of all time due to its complete upgradability in all aspects - CPU, Video and RAM upgrades all built onto one board.

 

[tvshacker]

Hi again.
I'm just posting to update my status. I stucked to my ASRock and last friday bought a HD4670 PCI-E from powercolor and upgraded the bios to version 2.20 (oficial) and it's been working fine
Thanks for helping me decide.

 

[DartisGr]

Hi everyone,

i replaced yesterday my old gigabyte mobo with a new 4coredual-sata2 motherboard.I have 3 HDD's ,one old IDE and two SATA-II HDD's.The problem is that i installed windows 7 on the IDE hdd and everything seemed working perfect ultil i tried to write/copy files to/from the sata disks.When I access both sata hdd's system freezes....On the other hand the IDE drive with the OS works perfect.I guess its a motherboard issue, because i didnt have such problem with the previous mobo.Any help...?

My system specs:

motherboard: asrock 4coredual-sata2 with bios version 2.20
cpu: pentium 4 650@3.4Ghz
ram: 2X1GB DDR@400MHz Crucial
vga: sapphire radeon HD3850 agp 512mb
2 optical drives
3 HDD's:1 IDE,2 SATAII
PSU:450Watt

 

[Hlafordlaes]

@tvshacker

Congratulations. Nice to see another happy user of these boards.

@DartisGR

Set VLink speed to normal. Set SATA mode to non-RAID. Use no overclocking, use auto on all RAM settings on the standard RAM BIOS page, and do not use compatibility mode. (There's a good advanced setting for RAM that should be enabled but I have to reboot to check the name). Check data and power cables to the drives and try each SATA drive separately. Make sure you have distributed multiple rails on PSU according to mfgr instructions.

 

[DartisGr]

@tvshacker

Congratulations. Nice to see another happy user of these boards.

@DartisGR

Set VLink speed to normal. Set SATA mode to non-RAID. Use no overclocking, use auto on all RAM settings on the standard RAM BIOS page, and do not use compatibility mode. (There's a good advanced setting for RAM that should be enabled but I have to reboot to check the name). Check data and power cables to the drives and try each SATA drive separately. Make sure you have distributed multiple rails on PSU according to mfgr instructions.

thanks for replying Hlafordlaes..i tried everything you suggested but still no luck..system keeps freezing every time i access one of the sata disks.I also changed the DDR RAM's with DDR2@667Mhz but same shit again..I also have another problem.When i connect my external usb hdd,it appears in the disk management but it does not appear in my computer.It works perfect in other computers..Maybe the motherboard was problematic from the beginning..

 

[vixensjlin]

2.- Right now, i won't use Win7 and will keep on Win XP (32), about memory support the 4GB is only for Win7?

1. For system total usable memory: 32 bit XP/sp1 or eairlier (not sp2 or 3) support 4GB. 32bit windows server 2003 support more than that. 32bit Linux also support 64GB if Himemory on. And of course all current 64bit OS support more than 4GB.

2. In addition to the BIOS, the addressing limit of motherboard chipset is also critical. It needs MORE than 4GB to get your usable 4GB ram, since some space is required for driver mapping or so.

3. The addressing limit of PT880pro/ultra on 4coredual-sata2 is 4GB flat, so totally we can only get ~3.5GB usable ram on 4coredual-sata2, even running a 64bit OS (I tried win2003 and Linux and XP64).

4. In a system with 4GB running 32bit Vista SP1 or win7, the total system ram will shown as 4GB but the USABLE ram is still ~3.5GB.

5. The real limit of a 32bit OS is: only 4G ram available for a single process/thread. In 32bit XP/sp3, the max ram a single process can access is less than 2G, quite painful for editing huge image or video. (I tried GIMP, can only reach ~1.3GB)

 

[gsilva]

Hi guys/girls

Im having a problem with the PowerColor PCS HD3870 512MB GDDR4 graphics card and the 4coredual-SATA2 rev2.0. The PC boots up but no image comes on. Ive tried various bioses, chaning PCIe settings on the bios, nothing...

My CPU is a Pentium dual core e5300.

I bought the card from ebay and the seller guarantees it was working. When I boot up the PC, the fan spins and the card has some heat to it.

My power supply is 350W, even though I dont think this is the problem (i removed every component except CPU, Graphics Card and Ram with the same results), i thought i should mention it.

So...

1. Incompatibility?

2. Graphics Card Broken?

3. Not enough power?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Hlafordlaes]

thanks for replying Hlafordlaes..i tried everything you suggested but still no luck..system keeps freezing every time i access one of the sata disks.I also changed the DDR RAM's with DDR2@667Mhz but same shit again..I also have another problem.When i connect my external usb hdd,it appears in the disk management but it does not appear in my computer.It works perfect in other computers..Maybe the motherboard was problematic from the beginning..

Swap out the SATA data cables. Detach all other components, including USB (except kbd and mouse) and connect one at a time. Recheck all BIOS settings, checking this and the older dedicated thread for the SATA2 for settings. Can you boot to BIOS with only a SATA drive and no IDE? If so, give a shot at installing the OS on that drive and test it alone, then with the 2nd SATA, then finally IDE. I'm outta ideas, otherwise.

 

[Johnny Sizzle]

Hi Guys,

Great thread. I'm hoping one of u gents could suggest the best video card for my needs.

current system:

CPU Type - DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo E6700, 2566 MHz (10 x 257)

Motherboard Name - ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA

Ram - 2x1 Gigs OCZ Gold GX XTC OCZ26671024ELGEGXT 1 GB DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM

Video Card - ATI Radeon X1600 Pro (RV530)

Bios version 2.30


What im looking to accomplish is to have a vidieo card that can support HDMI video/audio out for HTPC purposes, but also be able to play COD MW2.


Thanks

 

[Hlafordlaes]

@Johnny Sizzle,

The HD3850AGP seems to be the fastest on these PCIe limited boards. Contrary to my impressions just a few posts earlier, these can now be found for around $100 new, not too bad. The Powercolor version supports HDCP; check other brands on their sites before buying.

 

[Johnny Sizzle]

Hi again,

Thanks for the quick reply Hlafordlaes. I've found a powercolor HD3850 for $111.00 CDN just waiting for it to be delivered. Afer playing MW2 I've noticed my ram usage is maxed out. Can u suggest the maximum quanity and fastest ram currently available that will work with my board and the which Bios version to use?

Thanks Again

 

[Hlafordlaes]

@Johnny Sizzle,

Make sure you are using an up-to-date BIOS from pc-treiber (http://www.pctreiber.net/filebase.php?lim=40&cat=108) before installing 4GB of RAM. Note that you will get less than 4GB (closer to 3GB) in any Windows version that is 32 bits; you need a 64 bit OS to get it all.

For the RAM, search good deals from manufacturers on a 4GB DDR2 kit that is 533MHz or higher, trying your best to get sticks rated for 1.8v (I got mine from Crucial). You may need to look into spec sheets to find out the voltage rating. When installing, start with one stick in the DDR2 slot closest to the CPU and boot to check all is OK. Then do the 2nd slot, and know that it takes almost everyone several attempts to get the stick installed correctly. Place the edges into the holding tabs at each end of the slot and push it in firmly and evenly until both tabs click into locked position. If you cannot boot, clear the CMOS and try several times. If in the midst of it all you are not getting anywhere, remove the 2nd stick and boot just to reset everything before beginning again. It can be a royal pain-in-the-a**.

 

[Hlafordlaes]

@All My PT880 Friends,

After a serious illness in the family took our savings, and now the crisis both our family business and any prospects of jobs for me, I am going off-line for at least some months, if not more. We are losing absolutely everything and it will be a miracle if I even keep my PC.

In a few days I will be off to Miami to stay with a friend, and then on to Accra, Ghana for the only opportunity (a good one) that is open to me. I confess I am scared to death, as high heat and humidity are very hard on me. I am also rather getting on in years and am a life-long sufferer from ankylosing spondylitis, which has been less kind of late. To rebuild from scratch when in your mid-50s is, to say the least, a challenge. On the plus side, I am good at what I will be doing and even have a high level of youthful enthusiasm and a can-do attitude that I have never lost, even during the above. I also look forward to working in a culture where respect for elders is the norm, something that seems so absent in the West these days. Some of us gray wanderers do have a tad of valuable experience and wisdom to share, you know!

I wish you all the best, and will return to this forum if my fortunes, and fate, allow.

 

[Deanodarlo]

Hlafordlaes, sorry to hear about your real life issues.

All the best my friend, hope everything works out and thank you for all your help with these Asrock boards.

 

[vixensjlin]

Hlafordlaes, farewell and take good care!

Just got a Hitachi 2T and E7600, up and running normal at default/auto clock on 4core-dual-sata2. But Speccy report 1 core at 41C and the other is 51C, is it normal?

By the way, does anybody know if 4coredual-sata2 support AMD Radeon HD 5770 or 5750? Just saw a fan-free POWERCOLOR SCS3 5750 on newegg, really tempting.

 

[tcsenter]

Hlafordlaes, sorry to hear about your situation. Take care and Godspeed!