Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2

[NeonGerbil]

Anyone know anything about 3rd party and/or hacked BIOS versions for the board?

Or anything about the "F9" hidden BIOS settings posted a few months back?

Does anyone know if/when ASRock will be releasing a BIOS update or possibility of the board working with PCIe 2.0 NVidia cards??

 

[Budarow]

Originally posted by: OddJensen

Originally posted by: Budarow

I've got a PNY 9600GT in my 4CoreDual VSTA and it works fine. No issues immediately after install and/or after having it in for ~6 weeks. What issues are you having?

Computer locks up seconds after I log in to Windows (XP SP2) after installing drivers. The card is OK since it works fine in my other rig. What driver version are you using by the way?

From nVidia's website.....6.14.11.7474 (dated March 08). Is your PCI-E bus at 100MHz?

 

[cpmee]

Originally posted by: NeonGerbil
Anyone know anything about 3rd party and/or hacked BIOS versions for the board?

Or anything about the "F9" hidden BIOS settings posted a few months back?

Does anyone know if/when ASRock will be releasing a BIOS update or possibility of the board working with PCIe 2.0 NVidia cards??

You can get modded bioses for this board at pctreiber.net Basically, they just add fan and throttling options.


The F9 hidden bios thing was posted by some crackpot at newegg. No such thing exists.

 

[repsol23]

Just thought I would chime in here and let everyone know that this board works well with a Visiontek HD3870 PCIe card and 8.3 drivers (had usual trouble with the 8.4's). At least it has worked flawlessly for more than 8 hours of non stop of testing, benching, and gaming with absolutely no BSOD's or restarts. I just purchased this card recently since I just started my new build, I figured I would finally make the move from agp to pcie. I recently acquired a new Abit P35 Pro for $110 and a brand spanking new X6800 for $225 shipped!! I still plan on using the Asrock setup for my kids gaming machine while mine will be:

Abit P35 Pro
X6800
VisionTek HD 3870 OC
GEIL Evo One DDR2 800 (2x1GB)
2x80 GB Raptors (OEM's)
1x 150 Raptor X
Xfi Gamer
ThermalTake Toughpower 750 Modular
2x 3.120 Radiators
1x120 Radiator
10x120 Fans
3x90 Fans (All my fans run off an old PSU)
1 Highly modded window AC unit for waterchilling!!!

I will be doing comparisons between my AGP setup and my new setup to see how much of an increase I get. Will posts some results soon!!

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: NeonGerbil
Anyone know anything about 3rd party and/or hacked BIOS versions for the board?

Or anything about the "F9" hidden BIOS settings posted a few months back?

Does anyone know if/when ASRock will be releasing a BIOS update or possibility of the board working with PCIe 2.0 NVidia cards??

If you've got a high-end vid card your better off getting another board anyway
as the PCI-E is fixed@ 4X. I got an "open box" board from NE with a E4600, powered
right up and easy OC to 3Ghz via FSB. Been using a XP2700 for the last 3 years so
I'm hoping this will provide a big boost...

 

[Budarow]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1

Originally posted by: NeonGerbil
Anyone know anything about 3rd party and/or hacked BIOS versions for the board?

Or anything about the "F9" hidden BIOS settings posted a few months back?

Does anyone know if/when ASRock will be releasing a BIOS update or possibility of the board working with PCIe 2.0 NVidia cards??

If you've got a high-end vid card your better off getting another board anyway
as the PCI-E is fixed@ 4X. I got an "open box" board from NE with a E4600, powered
right up and easy OC to 3Ghz via FSB. Been using a XP2700 for the last 3 years so
I'm hoping this will provide a big boost...

I'm looking to upgrade a 4CoreDual VSTA from a Pent D 925 to the E4600 also. Glad to hear you hit 3GHz without any problems. You're running 250MHz FSB with 12x multiplier...correct?

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: Budarow

Originally posted by: BUTCH1

Originally posted by: NeonGerbil
Anyone know anything about 3rd party and/or hacked BIOS versions for the board?

Or anything about the "F9" hidden BIOS settings posted a few months back?

Does anyone know if/when ASRock will be releasing a BIOS update or possibility of the board working with PCIe 2.0 NVidia cards??

If you've got a high-end vid card your better off getting another board anyway
as the PCI-E is fixed@ 4X. I got an "open box" board from NE with a E4600, powered
right up and easy OC to 3Ghz via FSB. Been using a XP2700 for the last 3 years so
I'm hoping this will provide a big boost...

I'm looking to upgrade a 4CoreDual VSTA from a Pent D 925 to the E4600 also. Glad to hear you hit 3GHz without any problems. You're running 250MHz FSB with 12x multiplier...correct?

Yea, that's correct. I was gonna get an E2--- series CPU but for $118 the E4600 and
a 12X multi it's a much simpler OC, plus you get another 1mb cache. now to re-install
OS and see if it's stable in games..

 

[OddJensen]

Originally posted by: Budarow
From nVidia's website.....6.14.11.7474 (dated March 08). Is your PCI-E bus at 100MHz?

The reason it locked up was because it seems that with the 9600GT I can no longer run 300 MHz FSB. I tried with three different drivers (174.16, 174.74 and 175.16) and same result. Clocking down the CPU stabilized the system, but I still haven't checked what frequencies are stable. Will do soon.

Edit: Yes, PCI is at 33 MHz and PCIe is at 100 MHz.

 

[Natesroom]

Wow i'm so new to this, I thought after 10 years of doing most computer work installing and changing drives and installing new cards and stuff like that, that building my first system wouldn't be so hard!! It's terrible!! But somehow fulfilling..

I will say i just got The 4coredual-sata r2.0 and it accepts my E7200 right from the start its using Bios 1.8 and it correctly identifies the Processor. However whenever i set the CPU Frequency to Auto (266) it reads the Proccesor speed as 12.69!! The max cpuid is grayed out at 6.. once i get into windows it reads as 2.53ghz.

Is there no way to change the multiplier on this board?

Also it wouldnt boot up until i bought a sata Drive and installed that but now windows won't even recognize the drive. Anybody be able to help on that?

 

[jimmor]

Originally posted by: Natesroom

I will say i just got The 4coredual-sata r2.0 and it accepts my E7200 right from the start its using Bios 1.8 and it correctly identifies the Processor. However whenever i set the CPU Frequency to Auto (266) it reads the Proccesor speed as 12.69!! The max cpuid is grayed out at 6.. once i get into windows it reads as 2.53ghz.

Is there no way to change the multiplier on this board?

Welcome to the Anandtech forum!

The 4coredual-sata2 is only properly compatible with a E7200 when flashed with modded Bios 1.93a. And that is information you would have got from a simple search of this 4coredual-sata2 thread ---> in fact was last stated at only one page back?

See link below for 1.93a bios,

http://www.pctreiber.net/filebase.php?fileid=2424&lim=0

 

[Natesroom]

i did see that but as i was reading it seemed like it was a flash for those whose motherboards had an older BIOS... and that link seemed to be in german so i couldn't really read any issues about it. So you think that that might make everything so much better? How do i flash this file to my motherboard i think i can just boot my PC from a USB correct?

Thanks for taking the time to read my n00b post and responding!

I will post more info on my system after i get this up and running...

 

[Natesroom]

Nevermind i guess there's a utility AFUWIN that i can use so i'm gonna try that..

 

[jimmor]

Originally posted by: Natesroom
i did see that but as i was reading it seemed like it was a flash for those whose motherboards had an older BIOS... and that link seemed to be in german so i couldn't really read any issues about it. So you think that that might make everything so much better? How do i flash this file to my motherboard i think i can just boot my PC from a USB correct?

Thanks for taking the time to read my n00b post and responding!

I will post more info on my system after i get this up and running...

No prob's, glad to help!

Surely you couldn't believe that your mobos 1.8 bios was newer than a 1.93a bios ?

And for flashing, probably easiest to use the asrock winflasher v4.22. Click on link below,


http://www.pctreiber.net/filebase_redirect.php?fid=6499

 

[Natesroom]

I used afuwin... it seemed to work properly...

Lol no 1.8 isn't higher but it was from the manufacturer as 1.8 and not a 3rd party BIOS flash, soi anyways i flashed and now i'm about to restart but i think i read (in german) that i am supposed to put a jumper on the CMOS SETUP Pin on my motherboard or something like that...

We'll see!

Thans for responding..

 

[Natesroom]

well i did the reboot but when it POST's it says CMOS bad Checksum & Bad time and date

Then it says F1 to load defaults or F2 to fix

If i F1 it boots up in to windows adn all seems gravy but if i reboot it doesnt POST it just stalls to a black screen as if the video Card isnt working but the rest of the system seems like its working

If i F2 then save changes it just goes to black screen

then i have to put the jumper on the CMOS then take it off and reboot then it lets me POST and the error starts all over! Frustrating...lol

 

[jimmor]

Originally posted by: Natesroom
well i did the reboot but when it POST's it says CMOS bad Checksum & Bad time and date

Then it says F1 to load defaults or F2 to fix

If i F1 it boots up in to windows adn all seems gravy but if i reboot it doesnt POST it just stalls to a black screen as if the video Card isnt working but the rest of the system seems like its working

If i F2 then save changes it just goes to black screen

then i have to put the jumper on the CMOS then take it off and reboot then it lets me POST and the error starts all over! Frustrating...lol

Sounds like you may not have flashed the 1.93a bios properly?

To ensure proper flashing and resetting of your mobo when using AFUWIN v4.22, you must have both "Program all blocks" and "Destroy CMOS checksum" options selected ?

Then after rebooting, you are supposed to select "F2" in order to go into the mobo bios menu and reset Data/Time; and also select to either, set "default" bios options, or, select whatever bios settings best suit your installed hardware ?

 

[Natesroom]

yeah i thought i did all those options... now when it asks me to enter bios or load defaults i can get into windows if i let it load defaults but the time is wrong...

SO i should flash the bios again? making sure again that those items are checked? that wont cause a problem will it?

then i immediately enter BIOS set time and date and load defaults then boot into windows correct?

 

[Natesroom]

thanks for answering these jimmor!

 

[jimmor]

Originally posted by: Natesroom
yeah i thought i did all those options... now when it asks me to enter bios or load defaults i can get into windows if i let it load defaults but the time is wrong...

SO i should flash the bios again? making sure again that those items are checked? that wont cause a problem will it?

then i immediately enter BIOS set time and date and load defaults then boot into windows correct?

Yes, you should flash 1.93a bios again. But this time with the correct options selected.

And yes, you can try with Bios "defaults" to see whether they are good enough for your particular setup?

If still having overclocking or stability issues, then like lots of other people (including me), you could try manually setting some of the bios values to be a bit more compat with your installed hardware.

Typical bios settings could be,

CPU config:

Overclock Mode - CPU,PCI-E, Sync.
CPU Freq. - Start at 266
Spread Spectrum - Enabled
Boot Failure - Enabled

Max CPUID Val. - Disabled
CPU Thermal Thr. - Enabled
No-Execute Memory. - Disabled
Intel Speedstep - Auto


Chipset settings:

Dram Freq. - 266
Flexib.- Disabled
Cas Latency - 4
Interleave - 4-Way
Trp - 4
Tras - 12
Trcd - 4
Bus Select.- Dual
Command Rate - 2T

DRAM Voltage - High
AGP Voltage - High

Primary Gra. Adapt. - PCI ---> chipset will autoselect to whatever type VGA card is fitted.
AGP Fast Write - Enabled
AGP Aperture Size - 128Mb

V-Link - fast
V-Link Auto Dis. - Enabled

PCI delay Transaction - Enabled
IDE Drive Strength - High ---> or Ultra High
PCI-E Downstream Pipeline - Auto
Onboard Sound - Auto


Everything else at original defaults except for whatever is wanted for EIDE, SATA, Floppy, USB, etc ?

And as previously stated, stable overclocks of around 300, or more, will likely require increased Vagp and Vcore levels ---> to somewhere around 1.8-2v for Vagp, and 1.4-1.45V for Vcore?

Just for interest, my experience is that, even with increased Vagp and Vcore, overclocking will typically max-out at around 290-300 if using a PCI-E VGA card, and 310-330 if using a AGP VGA card !

Also, when/if you manage to find your acceptable stable overclock level, it would then be a good idea to try reducing your 4-4-12-4-2T memory latencies settings to much better performing 3-3-9-3-1T levels ?

Of course, the memory latencies discussed above assume that you are using something like DDR2 PC2-6400 memory ----> meaning different values would likely apply for other memory types?

 

[Natesroom]

hmmm...good stuff! thanks for the help,

I did reflash with the settings just like you said, this time when it POST's it just says CMOS checksum bad no time/date bad and the fate and time is actually april something so I F2 changed time - F9 to load optimal defaults and then save and exit but no good, no POST. I redo the jumper and then turn it back on i get same error but both checksum and time errors, so instead i just hit F1 and load defualts and it boots up. I run OCCT for a few hours, STABLE. Now if i restart the computer, no POST.

Weird.. Think maybe battery is no good? So when i change date and time it doesnt save and so it creates a loop?

Or do you think that maybe someother piece of hardware is not being set properly and so even though i save changes the "optimal defaults" don't fix checksum?

I could flash a third time but i'm not sure that is going to solve it but it might not hurt to try it again...

 

[Natesroom]

i thought even with this bios update you still cant change the vcore on this motherboard?

 

[jimmor]

Originally posted by: Natesroom
hmmm...good stuff! thanks for the help,

I did reflash with the settings just like you said, this time when it POST's it just says CMOS checksum bad no time/date bad and the fate and time is actually april something so I F2 changed time - F9 to load optimal defaults and then save and exit but no good, no POST. I redo the jumper and then turn it back on i get same error but both checksum and time errors, so instead i just hit F1 and load defualts and it boots up. I run OCCT for a few hours, STABLE. Now if i restart the computer, no POST.

Weird.. Think maybe battery is no good? So when i change date and time it doesnt save and so it creates a loop?

Or do you think that maybe someother piece of hardware is not being set properly and so even though i save changes the "optimal defaults" don't fix checksum?

I could flash a third time but i'm not sure that is going to solve it but it might not hurt to try it again...

There is always the possibility that your mobo is faulty; or some other part of your hardware is faulty/not-compat. To check if just a hardware compat issue, rather than opting for "defaults" have you tried manually setting bios options?

And not that it will necessarily help, but you can flash as many times as you want to ?

Also, at this point it would be very usefull if you had another CPU type (E2xxx, E4xxx, E6xxx) to try ---> including trying with an earlier bios, just to see if your problem is specifically E7200 related?

 

[jimmor]

Originally posted by: Natesroom
i thought even with this bios update you still cant change the vcore on this motherboard?

The increased Vagp and Vcore levels suitable for high overclocking are achieved by doing hardware mods ---> best info found at vr-zone and/or xtremeSystems forums ---> just a simple google search away ?

 

[Natesroom]

ahh.. i didnt know it was possible to flash with an earlier version once you've flashed a higher version... did that website have an earlier version like 1.90? I'll look around...

I did try to maually change the bios but no good.. like i said just doesnt even post after i enter in the info.. hmm maybe just keep messing with it..

 

[BUTCH1]

Well, I got my MB installed this weekend, works great and a steal from NE@ $39 (open box)
Strangely enough I didn't need to re-install the OS, I hooked it all up and was prepped for
it (re-install) so I let it boot and install the VIA drivers and all is well. I thought for sure going
from an Nforce socket A to a duel-core Conroe board would need a reinstall, guess I got
lucky!.