ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: lookin4dlz
Thanks for the quick replies Mr Vain & timzak!

So, the e4400 multiplier would work out better than the e4300 & neither of you think that going with an e6320 that has an extra 2MB of cache is worth the extra $30 over the e4400?

If you are going to use this board the higher multiplier of the E4400 is a more desirable option IMO for your purpose.
If you are going to get a more capable board then yes I would get an E6420 or E6320.

 

[stevvie]

I brought this mobo to tied me over till I could afford a new PCI-E graphics card and more memory, and am VERY pleased with it. I am at the moment using 2 256 sticks of twinmos DDR400 @ 444. I'm about to get 2 gig of DDR2 memory, It's my understanding that although this board only goes upto 667 is that if I brought some DDR2 800 memory it would still work at 667+whatever overclock i have. Is this correct ?

Thanks

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: stevvie
I brought this mobo to tied me over till I could afford a new PCI-E graphics card and more memory, and am VERY pleased with it. I am at the moment using 2 256 sticks of twinmos DDR400 @ 444. I'm about to get 2 gig of DDR2 memory, It's my understanding that although this board only goes upto 667 is that if I brought some DDR2 800 memory it would still work at 667+whatever overclock i have. Is this correct ?

Thanks

Yes

 

[Y23KC]

I recently bought one of these, an e4400 to use with my 2gb pc4000 ocz ram and my x1950 pro agp card. I'm running stable at 295mhz fsb which gives me 2950mhz on the processor. It will run at 300mhz fsb, but fails prime at around 1hr 30min. Ordered some g.skill ddr2 800mhz ram that should be in today to use with it. After that, I'm going to wait til the dx10 wars die down to upgrade to a new motherboard and graphics card. Overall, I'm very please with the board.

 

[KeithTalent]

I like my board so far, though I have only been able to play with a few of the BIOS settings. I can't get XP up and running yet because it is saying my DVD drive is not working, though it was working 30 minutes earlier. Not sure what to do about that.

Anyway, I thought this was a nice, easy board for a noob like me to get all of my hardware in. A couple of spots were tighter than what I experienced with my M2N-E, but overall I found it to be pretty good.

Cheers,
KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Actually I have another question: after reading about the 8800GTS issues, does that mean my X1900XT may be bottlenecked by this motherboard? If so, I saw this quote earlier in the thread:

except for the fact that the 4x PCI-E slot is capping the 8800's speed (which will be fixed in a couple weeks, once semester is out!), runs perfectly fine.

How exactly can you fix this?

Thanks,
KT

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Actually I have another question: after reading about the 8800GTS issues, does that mean my X1900XT may be bottlenecked by this motherboard? If so, I saw this quote earlier in the thread:

except for the fact that the 4x PCI-E slot is capping the 8800's speed (which will be fixed in a couple weeks, once semester is out!), runs perfectly fine.

How exactly can you fix this?

Thanks,
KT

He was talking about buying a true 16X board ant therefore fixing this small problem IMO.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Mr Vain

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Actually I have another question: after reading about the 8800GTS issues, does that mean my X1900XT may be bottlenecked by this motherboard? If so, I saw this quote earlier in the thread:

except for the fact that the 4x PCI-E slot is capping the 8800's speed (which will be fixed in a couple weeks, once semester is out!), runs perfectly fine.

How exactly can you fix this?

Thanks,
KT

He was talking about buying a true 16X board ant therefore fixing this small problem IMO.

Heh, that makes sense. So do you think I am losing significant performance at 4x? Also, if I buy an 8800GTX, or whatever is out in a few months that I want, would I be significanlty affecting my performance by using it with this board?

Maybe I rushed out to buy this too quickly (damn that low price!!).

KT

 

[tno]

I'm going to need some help on this one guys!

Bought a 775Dual-VSTA from the boards and noted some damage around some caps. I put the whole thing together and tested it, no go. Assumed it was due to the damaged caps. Bought a 4Core, inspected thoroughly (no damage) and loaded her up. I had heard that it's a good idea to be sparing with the equipment you load onto a new mobo on first assembly so I installed the following components:

Pentium D 945
Zalman 9500
Thermaltake TR2 420W
Ocz El Gold DDR400 (2x256MB)
Excelstor (cheapo) 40GB drive (my boot drive)
D-Link Wifi card
Gainward 6800GT GS GLH

These are the exact components that I took off of my old system and placed on the new board. I must admit, I did put in just three chassis screws initially (doubt that made a difference). I plugged it all in and lit her up, the fans spooled up, the lights on the Gainward and the wifi card lit up, the hard drive spooled up, and then nothing happened. I swapped in some Corsair XMS DDR400 I also had, and no change. I pulled out the wifi card, nothing. I swapped in an MX4000 vid card, nothing. I unplugged the IDE drive and hooked up a WD 120GB SATA I drive, nothing. I repeated all of the steps but pausing to clear the CMOS, nothing.

The exact scenario is that when I plug the powercord into the powersupply with the switch off and then turn the switch on, the fans spin only sometimes (often after a rest). When I plug in the cord while the switch is in the on position, it pretty much always spools up, but never POSTs. Pressing the PWRBTN does nothing. Switching the machine off (from the PS) while the fans are spinning and then turning it back on means the fans don't spin anymore. This is the exact same problem I had with both the 775Dual and the 4Core. Hooking everything (the whole kit and kaboodle) back up to my old board boots right up.

The only things I haven't tried are a different PS (don't have one to test with) or other RAM (cheaper DDR or DDR2). I have some cheap DDR in another machine I might dig out, and I should receive some DDR2 by FedEx today, so I'll try those. But really, I'm at a loss. I have sifted through a lot of forum topics and found nothing similar. Anyone have any suggestions?

Tno

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Mr Vain

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Actually I have another question: after reading about the 8800GTS issues, does that mean my X1900XT may be bottlenecked by this motherboard? If so, I saw this quote earlier in the thread:

except for the fact that the 4x PCI-E slot is capping the 8800's speed (which will be fixed in a couple weeks, once semester is out!), runs perfectly fine.

How exactly can you fix this?

Thanks,
KT

He was talking about buying a true 16X board ant therefore fixing this small problem IMO.

Heh, that makes sense. So do you think I am losing significant performance at 4x? Also, if I buy an 8800GTX, or whatever is out in a few months that I want, would I be significanlty affecting my performance by using it with this board?

Maybe I rushed out to buy this too quickly (damn that low price!!).

KT

4CoreDual-VSTA does fairly well IMO against the latest P35 chips.

There is not that much in it and considering the price of the Asrock compared to others it?s impressive.

Check this review and see the 4X handicap is not that noticeable IMO.


http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/gigabyte/P35-DQ6/g1.htm

 

[Mr Vain]

TNO
Make sure that the board is not shorting out thru the case riser posts.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Mr Vain

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Mr Vain

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Actually I have another question: after reading about the 8800GTS issues, does that mean my X1900XT may be bottlenecked by this motherboard? If so, I saw this quote earlier in the thread:

except for the fact that the 4x PCI-E slot is capping the 8800's speed (which will be fixed in a couple weeks, once semester is out!), runs perfectly fine.

How exactly can you fix this?

Thanks,
KT

He was talking about buying a true 16X board ant therefore fixing this small problem IMO.

Heh, that makes sense. So do you think I am losing significant performance at 4x? Also, if I buy an 8800GTX, or whatever is out in a few months that I want, would I be significanlty affecting my performance by using it with this board?

Maybe I rushed out to buy this too quickly (damn that low price!!).

KT

4CoreDual-VSTA does fairly well IMO against the latest P35 chips.

There is not that much in it and considering the price of the Asrock compared to others it?s impressive.

Check this review and see the 4X handicap is not that noticeable IMO.


http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/gigabyte/P35-DQ6/g1.htm

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for the link. Some game show a bigger discrepancy, but hopefully in-game I will not see much of a difference. Would be nice to see with a 8800GTX in there though.

Now to get everything up and running!

Cheers,
KT

 

[vpunk]

Hey guys,

I just got this mobo last night, hooked it up with e6600, 6800GS agp, Geil 2x512mb ddr400, Ultra 550w PS. Try to power on and I hear a quick high pitch sound, the fans start spinning, but stop within 1 second, of course no video. The power light on the case stays on, but no fans spin, even in PS. I have reseated all components, cleared CMOS, hooked it up outside of the case to see if there is short, but no luck. I don't think it is the PS because I tested it with an amd asus board and it starts right up.

Do you guys think the mobo is DOA?

Thanks for the help.

 

[tno]

Mr. Vain,

Is the only way for me to test for case riser port shorts is to try and spool it up out of the case? If it is a case riser short then what do I do to solve it? (Like I said my older board works just fine in that same case with the same equipment.) Thanks in advance.

Jason

 

[tno]

Vpunk it sound slike you're having similar problems as I. Let me know if something works for you and I'll do the same.

Tno

 

[vpunk]

you got it Tno

 

[lookin4dlz]

Has anyone installed a Scythe Ninja on this motherboard? Just wondering how well it fit...

 

[tno]

So I pulled it out of the case, put it on a good nonconductive surface, hooked everything up and ... nothing. Or rather, the same problems as before. I'm really at a loss. The only other thought I have is to check whether the shipped bios supports the d 945 which I should hope it would or whether there's a video card conflict? Anyone use a Gainward with this board? It says not to use 3.3v AGP cards with this mobo, my 6800 isn't such a card is it?

tno

 

[Aeridyne]

Originally posted by: tno
vinnanater,
I'm pretty sure there's a well documented lack of compatibility with the 8x00 series video cards and this board, let me check.

tno

edit: yeah the 8800's aren't on their compatibility list and i think there's a good reason for that, the electrical difference between a x4 and x16 pci-e slot is pretty drastic.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/vga.asp?Model=4CoreDual-VSTA&s=

Wow, i am glad i read that, i have been thinking about getting this board for a few days now, but that killed it for me, I wanted to go DX10 in the future and was about to post about how y'all think that x4 is going to hurt the newest pci-ex cards, guess it hurts em pretty bad...

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: Aeridyne

Originally posted by: tno
vinnanater,
I'm pretty sure there's a well documented lack of compatibility with the 8x00 series video cards and this board, let me check.

tno

edit: yeah the 8800's aren't on their compatibility list and i think there's a good reason for that, the electrical difference between a x4 and x16 pci-e slot is pretty drastic.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/vga.asp?Model=4CoreDual-VSTA&s=

Wow, i am glad i read that, i have been thinking about getting this board for a few days now, but that killed it for me, I wanted to go DX10 in the future and was about to post about how y'all think that x4 is going to hurt the newest pci-ex cards, guess it hurts em pretty bad...

Quote assieburger on a 775Dual-VSTA same mobo virtualy.

My new mobo still hasn't arrived yet so I tested the gpu on this mobo.

evga 8800 gts 320 ACS3 KO edition

3dMark06 (Vistax64)

Overall: 7759

SM2.0 3703
HDR 3383
CPU 1823

at least a few thousand less than on another mobo as i'm lead to believe but not bad. Strangely enough in my bios I set everything back to defaults making sure my FBS was back to default, however when I restarted the bios had my cpu clocked at 2.33! (a E6300 btw). Inside Vista both Vista and 3DMark06 report my cpu clocked at 2.14 (my old overclocked speed !) ? Don't know what's going on there ...

Quote from previous page in this thread.

4CoreDual-VSTA does fairly well IMO against the latest P35 chips.

There is not that much in it and considering the price of the Asrock compared to others it?s impressive.

Check this review and see the 4X handicap is not that noticeable IMO.


http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/gigabyte/P35-DQ6/g1.htm

 

[KeithTalent]

I finally got mine up and running yesterday amd everything is working very well. I fell as if everything is a little smoother now.

I am, however, still concerned about putting an 8800GTX or 2900XT in this thing; I would hate for it to be wasted.

KT

 

[Aeridyne]

Originally posted by: tno
Vinn,

If you want to save some cash, pick up the Asus P5N-E SLI (open box is just $93 at the Egg). That'll save you money to pick-up some RAM. If cash is not an issue, pick up a 680i and some good Micron D9.

From the 77Dual-Vsta thread, though, it looks like the only way these boards will take that card is in Vista. If you're interested in that sort of thing.

tno

Hey, the open box items on newegg, have you ever gotten one? Or has anyone here gotten one for that matter? I was under the impression that they were returns, so they could be something refurb and that they come with NOTHING not even the back panel?

 

[Aeridyne]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I finally got mine up and running yesterday amd everything is working very well. I fell as if everything is a little smoother now.

I am, however, still concerned about putting an 8800GTX or 2900XT in this thing; I would hate for it to be wasted.

KT

OOPs, i meant to quote Mr. Vain's reply to me

Well, i can see that you are right, but I still wonder.... It seems to me that the bigger and better the vid card you pair with this board, the more that 4x bottleneck makes a difference, I am curious exactly how much a difference it makes when using the 8800 series cards, if it is 4% with slower cards, and 10% with higher end cards, then it makes sense that it would be more than 10% for the 8800 series cards and even more still for whatever comes out after those...

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: Aeridyne

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I finally got mine up and running yesterday amd everything is working very well. I fell as if everything is a little smoother now.

I am, however, still concerned about putting an 8800GTX or 2900XT in this thing; I would hate for it to be wasted.

KT

OOPs, i meant to quote Mr. Vain's reply to me

Well, i can see that you are right, but I still wonder.... It seems to me that the bigger and better the vid card you pair with this board, the more that 4x bottleneck makes a difference, I am curious exactly how much a difference it makes when using the 8800 series cards, if it is 4% with slower cards, and 10% with higher end cards, then it makes sense that it would be more than 10% for the 8800 series cards and even more still for whatever comes out after those...

The only reason you would use this board is if you got older DDR ram or High end AGP card or both, to extend your previous investment with a Core2Duo chip for performance.
If you going to buy new high end PCI-e graphics card and DDR2 Ram, then you might as well buy a more capable board.

 

[Aeridyne]

I see. Darn i was somehow hoping you could prove me wrong lol. Its so darn cheap! Guess I will have to go with the gigabyte ds3