ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA

[imported_stickboy]

thanks for the great info! The default vcore on my e4400 is 1.325. I'm using the information found here... http://sg.vr-zone.com/articles...tage_Boost/3904-4.html

So the copper colored stuff is what i'm supposed to use and not the blue clear liquid, right? That makes sense but I read where someone said to use the *liquid*.

 

[imported_stickboy]

Also, do i need to do the BSEL mod? Can't I just set the FSB in bios to 266 without doing the pin mod?

 

[Requena]

Hi,

I Have the following issue:

I have the ASROCK 4CoreDual-SATA2 mother board with Core 2 Duo 6420 2.13
Sapphire X1950Pro AGP aperture size 256
Sound Blaster X-FI Fatal1ty Pro PCI
I use first with DDR 400 Mhs RAM and haven't any type of problems
now I mount in the mother board a Kingstong DDRII 667 Dual chanel RAM
and I get noise, Crackle/Pop sound.
If I connect a USB key the noise disappears if I disconnect the noise back
I have connected in the USB port a Logithech G7 mouse too.

Can I set same parameters in the BIOS to resolve this?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[MattressTester]

Originally posted by: stickboy
Also, do i need to do the BSEL mod? Can't I just set the FSB in bios to 266 without doing the pin mod?

I believe you probably can skip the BSEL mod with this motherboard. I had originally done the mod for an ECS board where the FSB and PCI/AGP were linked. If you do the BSEL mod with this motherboard you get a brief error message at post but it works fine. I never tried an un-modded CPU on the Asrock.

You should be able to hit 10 x 290 = 2.9GHz with your CPU.

 

[imported_stickboy]

well, i failed on my first try with the pin mod... the permatex stuff i was using just didn't work very well, it was very wet and never dried and got all over the rest of the chip. Maybe I am doing something wrong. And trying to cut a pin size piece of tape and place it on the pin is almost impossible for my big clumsy hands. I'll have to get my dental hygienist wife to help me with that one.

I'll eventually buy a conductive ink pen and give it another go.

 

[RtbChief]

Just an update. Installed my new Visiontek HD3870 yesterday and everything went fine. I even reflashed the bios back up to 2.20 and everything has been working great. 3dmark 06 went from 2800 with an X800XT to 9500 with the 3870. Oblivion is now maxed out and smooth as silk at 1680x1050 and Crysis on all high settings is smooth at 1440x900. Not too bad!

 

[Coolbodi]

I've been reading this forum for about three weeks now and have to say it's very informative. In fact I based my recent purchase based on the feedback in this forum.

I have a 4CoreDual-VSTA (2.2 Bios) with a D920 precessor; 2x 1GB Kingston Ram; 500W PSU; and have tried to install a PowerColor HD3870 board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814131077

I am having the same issua as one of the reviewers. The cards fan spins up but I get no post. I took the card to a local PC repair shop and they tested it for me. Worked perfectly. I changed the Bios around to pick the PCIE card first; changed the pipelines to disabled and still no display. I'm thinking about getting a new MOBO but started thinking it may be some other BIOS setting or even the PSU (it does not have a dedicated 6-pin leg on it - I am using th 6 pin adapter that came with the card).

Regarding the PSU; I've seen people out there using 400W and believe it or not 350W PSUs and this card works in there box. Granted they're using diferent MOBOs but it still seems like I have the power to back this card up.

I currently have an ATI Radeon 9700 128MB that works great in Windows XP with this system. I bought this card for the cooling, the fact it's slightly overclocked, and it's future possiblities (PCIe ver2). I've seen others get their Sapphire; Visiontek, and ATI HD3870s to work...so I bought this one thinking it would be better then dealing with the backwards BIOS builds for the 8800GT.

Any ideas or suggestion on how I can get this card to boot up would be grately appreciated.

 

[imported_stickboy]

Does the molex to 6-pin adapter use two molex inputs? The Nvidia 8800 card came with an adapter like that. I know the 3870 doesn't suck as much juice but it still requires a good bit of power. I would think one molex would be enough to post the machine, though.

 

[Coolbodi]

Hello Stickboy,

I think you're on to something with the power supply. The supply I have has no 6-pin connectors so I'm stuck with the 6-pin to 1 molex connector. I've been thinking Power supply for a day or two now as it is a cheapo supply. When I had the 3870 tested it went in a brand new system board with a brand new power supply. I lucked out as the guy was building a brand new system for a customer. The supply though had the 6-pin lead on it. To further make me believe the supply is an issue I received the following from ASRock:

Dear ASRock America Customer,
1. Please clear the CMOS (Need to disconnect the ATX power connectors and remove the battery from the motherboard, then clear the CMOS, by putting a jumper cap on the clearing CMOS jumper (CLRCMOS1), and keep it on for 5 seconds.)
2. Verify the power supply if it is in good functional condition, or try with another known good standard ATX12V power supply >450W.
ASRock America Technical Support
Email: supportjt@asrockamerica.com

I think I'll go buy the supply and give it a shot. I'll need it any way if I decide to crossfire the cards (new MOBO) later. Also, it's a win win situation as the kids 400W supply has a fan dead in it (I just noticed this when I checked the wattage on theirs).

I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks!!!!

 

[Coolbodi]

Well I tried a diferrent PSU. Still no good. Looks like the MOBO won'y handle the HD3870; at least not the ColorPower one anyway. This is beat. I've had the card almost a week and can't use it.

Any thoughts on how to get the ASROCK board to work?

Otherwise it looks like I'll be going with a new MOBO.

Any suggestions on a new one? I was looking at this Gigabyte board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128080

Thanks!!

 

[imported_stickboy]

I wonder if some of the 3870 cards may not function correctly with the older PCI-E 1.0 on the Asrock board. I know lots of people have had success but you never know when a board manufacturer is going to change something in the video card BIOS that may cause problems. Newegg has the 8800GTS SSC (PCIE 1.0) for 289 now (after rebate). You could always return the 3870 and pick one of those up. Or you could try your hand at flashing a 8800GT- that seems like a pretty easy process if you have a spare computer with PCIE.

Upgrading motherboards is always my last resort, unfortunately, because of all the stuff installed on the OS.

 

[complain]

I can only confirm that Sapphire HD3870 512DDR4 PCIe works without any flaws with 4CoreDual VSTA board. I have latest bios 2.20. Anyone with this boards should choose Sapphire, because it simply works. Otherwise card cooling is very silent and efficient, because dual slot cooling is exhausting hot air outside of case. Also power requirements are not so demanding, i think GOOD 450 W Power supply is more than enough, of course it also depends on other components of your PC.

 

[buggy]

complain: are you sure you don't have any 2d artifacts on some webpages with firefox (3dMark 06 result analyzer after scrolling down-up). There are also some missing pixels on desktop screen. I am using Win XP sp2, 4coreVSTA, sapphire 3870, 7.12 drivers and I did noticed that.

 

[complain]

There is known solution for that. Right click on desktop somewhere and give Properties. You will be in Display Properties. Go to Appearance /i have czech Windows, so my translation may not be absolutly precise/ and choose Effects. In Effects turn on something like "Method of Fonts Edges Antialiasing" either to Standart or Cleartype, whatever will help, try both. I think it should take care of this problem))

 

[complain]

Also there are new Catalyst drivers out, 8.1, you should try them too. I have nice increase in Crysis FPS.

 

[complain]

So, after all, i have noticed some artifacts in FIrefox 2.011 and missing pixels on desktop. When using Iexplorer 7 or Firefox 3 beta2, there are no artifacts whatsoever, thats interersting. And i found severel missing pixels on destop. If you overlay them with widnow, they disappear. Strange.
I didnt notice any artifacts in 3D and system is otherwise stable. Maybe its time to go for another mobo with Intel P35 chipset with fully functional PCIe slot.
Have you tried to write to Asrock technical support?

 

[zimagold]

I've been looking for information on how to make this board sleep properly (with all fans powered off). I finally upgraded the bios from 1.50 to 2.20a and it now works as it should. All fans off - minimal power draw. We should all do our small part to save electricity whenever possible. Cheers.

p.s. It was also nice to see Speedstep in the bios, which wasn't there before.
______________________
Core 2 Duo E4300@2.1Ghz
Asrock 4coredual-vsta, 2.20a
Windows XP SP2, ATI Radeon 7500 AGP

 

[stevvie]

I've updated my bios from 2.00 to 2.20 and now when I boot I get this message "MAC address are invalid in both cmos and flash!" on the POST screen. I've contacted asrock about a week and a half ago and got no reply from them. I've searched around and a lot of people have solved the problem with some MAC tool from the asrock websit but when i run it I get this error "Write MAC funtion call fail!" Has anybody got any ideas how to fix this ?

 

[imported_stickboy]

Has anyone tried a E4600 on their 4coredual? I'm thinking of upgrading but I'm wondering what the max clock speed would be with the default vcore.

 

[Alex0915]

Besides the Sapphire, has anyone got any other version of the 3870 to work? I was thinking of getting the HIS turbo ice-q version to benchmark against the 8800GTS 640 but dont know if the HIS would work. BTW stickboy, did you have to change the pcie settings off of bidirectional with your 8800GTS but not with your x1950pro pcie?

 

[Alex0915]

btw complain, how long is that sapphire 3870...I have about two inches of room past my x1950pro before it hits the hard drive so Im hoping the card isnt any bigger than the x1950pro. The 8800GTS 640 seems to be about the same size.

 

[imported_stickboy]

PCIE downstream pipeline did not seem to have any effect with the x1950pro.

By the way, EVGA 8800GTs and 8800GTS 512s *supposedly* now ship with a new bios that is compatible with the 4coredual type boards and doesn't require flashing. It may take a few weeks or months for these cards to replace all the old retail stock, though.

This ended up being a video card bios issue and not specifically an asrock issue. 3870 cards working from the get go was the first clue to this fact. The new EVGA bios is not specifically a gen1 bios but a gen2 bios that has better gen1 compatibility.

 

[Alex0915]

Wow, thats some news! Should I hold off and get an evga 8800GT from newegg? How is one to know if it'll work or not? 8800GT > 3870 by a fair bit.

Im wondering about something though and this is pure theory but listen to this... why is it that with its 320 processors, the 3870 cant compete with the 8800GT? Is it because games simply dont require that much shader power right now to fully utilize the 320 processors? Will we see a situation like we did with the x1950pro overtaking the 7950GT when games became more shader intensive?

 

[Alex0915]

by the way stick, after fixing the bios, are you noticing any artifacting at all (whether in 2D more or 3D) with your 8800GTS 640?

 

[imported_stickboy]

no 2D or 3D artifacts.

My guess as to why the 8800GT is better than the 3870 is because the G92 (and G80 for that matter) is a much better architecture than the RV670. The RV670 was just a rework of the previous generation which wasn't that great to begin with. The RV670 was rushed to market in order to compete with the 8800 series which was dominating the gaming market, especially the newly released G92 parts, which totally outclassed anything ATI had to offer.