ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA

[Stumps]

Now you have me all curious about the 1333FSB C2D's in the 4coredual...my Asrock currently has a lowlyP-D820@3.4ghz in it with a HD2900XT vid card.

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: Stumps
Now you have me all curious about the 1333FSB C2D's in the 4coredual...my Asrock currently has a lowlyP-D820@3.4ghz in it with a HD2900XT vid card.

How does the HD2900XT work with this board?

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: Mr Vain

Originally posted by: Stumps
Now you have me all curious about the 1333FSB C2D's in the 4coredual...my Asrock currently has a lowlyP-D820@3.4ghz in it with a HD2900XT vid card.

How does the HD2900XT work with this board?

It works pretty good (assume the PSU is decent) but the PCI-E x4 slot does bottleneck it considerably (so does the 820), but really no worse than an 8800 series, around 10-15% is lost because of the x4 slot (compared to a P35 setup running the same CPU)

 

[Mr Vain]

This is the Mod that I?m thinking of trying in the future if my board goes to at least 333FSB the BSEL 1333Mod.

Edit
So many typo's today.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...ighlight=1333+BSEL+mod

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: Mr Vain
This is the Mod that I?m thinking of trying in the future if my board goes to at least 333FSB the BSEL 1333Mod.

Edit
So many typo's today.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...ighlight=1333+BSEL+mod

looks good...assuming your asrock can do 1333mhz (333FSB)

 

[stown]

I will wait on E6750... Maybe a firmware update will clear things up also.


Thanks for review.

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: stown
I will wait on E6750... Maybe a firmware update will clear things up also.


Thanks for review.

I doubt that a bios update would allow this cpu to work right out the box. the 4coredual VSTA offically doesn't support the 1333mhz(333) FSB.

 

[Alphabetabase]

Does anyone know or has tried to see if the Q6600 quad core with the G0 stepping will work in this motherboard?

I'd like to pick one up with the price drop, but seems they are all G0's, and the asrock site only explicitly lists support for the B stepping.

 

[bazza12345]

I have been rebuilding my computer using all the old parts except for a new MOBO 4coredual -VSTA and new Core2Duo E6600. I just turned on the machine for the first time - expecting it to possibly burst into smoke and flames, but most probably to attempt to boot up off my old Hdd which has WindowsXp installed and then to tell me to go away.

BUT it booted into Windows!!!!!!

It wasn't too happy because it started saying that it had found new hardware and wanted to install drivers - so I quickly turned it off. I had intended to re-format the Hdd and reinstall everything.

But -- I have never experienced this before and have always re-formatted and re-installed everything.

What do I do now?? Where do I start? I guess that I could install the motherboard drivers that came with the MOBO and see how it all makes out? It would be much easier than reinstalling everything.

Any advice please

Barry

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: bazza12345
I have been rebuilding my computer using all the old parts except for a new MOBO 4coredual -VSTA and new Core2Duo E6600. I just turned on the machine for the first time - expecting it to possibly burst into smoke and flames, but most probably to attempt to boot up off my old Hdd which has WindowsXp installed and then to tell me to go away.

BUT it booted into Windows!!!!!!

It wasn't too happy because it started saying that it had found new hardware and wanted to install drivers - so I quickly turned it off. I had intended to re-format the Hdd and reinstall everything.

But -- I have never experienced this before and have always re-formatted and re-installed everything.

What do I do now?? Where do I start? I guess that I could install the motherboard drivers that came with the MOBO and see how it all makes out? It would be much easier than reinstalling everything.

Any advice please

Barry

Do as you said and it will probably work fine, I have swapped HDD from one pc to another with no issues before.
Here are the latest chipset drivers.

http://www.viaarena.com/defaul...420&OSID=36&CatID=3170

:thumbsup:

 

[bazza12345]

Thanks for that, Mr Vain

As it has turned out, even though my machine appeared to be working perfectly after booting up from the old Hdd loaded with Windows, I discovered that only one core was working (or at least being reported by CPU-Z and Windows Task Manager)

A format and re-install of Windows has fixed this. Apparently after Windows has been installed on a Uniprocessor computer, there is a way to get it to recognise a Multi-Processor later on if you move the Hdd- but too techo for me!!

Barry

 

[Hidari]

Originally posted by: bazza12345
Thanks for that, Mr Vain

As it has turned out, even though my machine appeared to be working perfectly after booting up from the old Hdd loaded with Windows, I discovered that only one core was working (or at least being reported by CPU-Z and Windows Task Manager)

A format and re-install of Windows has fixed this. Apparently after Windows has been installed on a Uniprocessor computer, there is a way to get it to recognise a Multi-Processor later on if you move the Hdd- but too techo for me!!

Barry

I think it can work if you just change motherboards, CPUs or else. I tried that before.
Some cases may not, e.g. you move from an AGP display to a PCI-E one.
But of course a clean install is always recommended.

I think installing the multi-core optimizer from Microsoft should fix that problem. Or actually there are some people also addressing the same problem, you can see in google.

My case is, I initially use this motherboard with celeron d 352. Then I switch to Pentium E2160. Even though I did not install the multi-core optimizer, windows can identify the dual-core.

 

[ssiu]

According to AsRock website, this motherboard supports E4300/E4400(L2)/E6320/E6420 since BIOS P1.40, and E4500(M0)/Q6700(G0) (and I assume E4400(M0)/Q6600(G0) too) since BIOS P1.80. If I put a E4500 into a motherboard with an older BIOS, will it at least boot and run well enough for me to flash the BIOS to P1.80? (I will not have any older Intel CPU to put in temporarily. If it won't even boot I will be in trouble.) Thanks.

 

[ssiu]

Originally posted by: ssiu
According to AsRock website, this motherboard supports E4300/E4400(L2)/E6320/E6420 since BIOS P1.40, and E4500(M0)/Q6700(G0) (and I assume E4400(M0)/Q6600(G0) too) since BIOS P1.80. If I put a E4500 into a motherboard with an older BIOS, will it at least boot and run well enough for me to flash the BIOS to P1.80? (I will not have any older Intel CPU to put in temporarily. If it won't even boot I will be in trouble.) Thanks.

To answer myself: Based on people's experience such as this, it probably won't post. Bummer.

 

[Hidari]

Originally posted by: ssiu

Originally posted by: ssiu
According to AsRock website, this motherboard supports E4300/E4400(L2)/E6320/E6420 since BIOS P1.40, and E4500(M0)/Q6700(G0) (and I assume E4400(M0)/Q6600(G0) too) since BIOS P1.80. If I put a E4500 into a motherboard with an older BIOS, will it at least boot and run well enough for me to flash the BIOS to P1.80? (I will not have any older Intel CPU to put in temporarily. If it won't even boot I will be in trouble.) Thanks.

To answer myself: Based on people's experience such as this, it probably won't post. Bummer.

I asked ASRock about this before and they said it wouldn't boot up.
At that time I wanted to buy E4300 and because of this I went for another cpu.

 

[Mr Vain]

4CoreDual-VSTA And 775Dual-VSTA Overclocking Guide

R. B. Inc.

http://forum.ncix.com/forums/i...erclockid=0#msg1311291
Here's a little guide of mine, compiled from information I collected from multiple reviews, forum threads, blogs, etc. It is intended for the ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA or ASRock 775Dual-VSTA, but you may find other motherboards with the same options to modify.

The point of this review is to allow users of said boards to get more speed out of their inexpensive value motherboards. Just because you paid a fraction of the price as other boards, which you certainly did, does not mean you have to settle for less, although you will ultimately settle for less, just not as less as many people would have you believe. This guide will allow you to get more bang-for-buck. Of course, having either of the boards is a major setback for overclocking enthusiasts, if you consider yourself to be one, then you chose the wrong board.

This guide will help owners with both DDR or DDR2 memory, as well as both AGP or PCI-E cards, as well as both SATA and/or IDE Drive users.


BIOS OPTIONS

Modifying BIOS options may be very dangerous, and, if configured incorrectly, may lead to a nonfunctional board. Make sure you know what you're doing before proceeding further, or get some help.

*This guide assumes you have the latest BIOS update: 2.60*
*All BIOS Options mentioned are found under the Advanced tab*
*Options are for Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors*

CPU Configuration:

>>Overclock Mode
-Set to: CPU, PCIE, Async
-Info: This setting determines whether or not the BIOS automatically sets your FSB, PCI, and PCIE frequencies. Setting to Async allows you to manually modify the PCIE frequency, setting to Sync automatically increments or decrements the PCIE depending on your FSB.

>>CPU Frequency(MHz)
-Info: This is essentially your Front side bus (FSB) speed. You have to stress-test different speeds to try and figure out what speed suits you fine.
-Note: The speed you choose will affect your memory speed and divider setting.
-Note: You should only increment in small 1-5 MHz steps and check for stability.

>>PCI Frequency(MHz)
-Set to: 34.78
-Info: You can set your PCI bus speed here. It really doesn't have any effect on your PCI devices unless you set the value too high or too low.
-Note: Setting the PCI speed to very high values will damage any PCI components you may have installed.

>>PCIE Frequency(MHz)
-Set to: 117-120
-Info: You can set your PCIe bus speed here. It really doesn't have any effect on your PCIe devices unless you set the value too high or too low.
-Note: Only modify the PCIe speed if you do not have a PCIe card, as modifying the PCIe speed will damage your PCIe card.

>>Spread Spectrum
-Set to: Disabled
-Info: This setting, when enabled, reduces the EMI of your FSB by modulating the signals it produces. This should definitely be disabled if you want to overclock your FSB, as it is the cause of many stability issues and crashes.
-Note: If you are not overclocking your FSB, you should still disable this, unless you really need to safeguard yourself from EMI problems.

>>Boot Failure Guard
-Set to: Disabled
-Info: I'm not sure why, but people have reported less instability if this is turned off on overclocked machines. If enabled, this simply checks for issues with your overclock, and if there is an issue, it will reset or revert your clock settings to optimal values on a crash.
-Note: This may potentially be useful for you to keep enabled if you are unsure about your overclocking skills.


If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, please post them here, or ask for my email.

[Still under construction]

This message was modified by the poster at 04 02, 2007 10:56 PM

Topic URL: http://forum.ncix.com/forums/topic.php?id=1311291

 

[Budarow]

Originally posted by: Mr Vain

4CoreDual-VSTA And 775Dual-VSTA Overclocking Guide

R. B. Inc.

http://forum.ncix.com/forums/i...erclockid=0#msg1311291
Here's a little guide of mine, compiled from information I collected from multiple reviews, forum threads, blogs, etc. It is intended for the ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA or ASRock 775Dual-VSTA, but you may find other motherboards with the same options to modify.

The point of this review is to allow users of said boards to get more speed out of their inexpensive value motherboards. Just because you paid a fraction of the price as other boards, which you certainly did, does not mean you have to settle for less, although you will ultimately settle for less, just not as less as many people would have you believe. This guide will allow you to get more bang-for-buck. Of course, having either of the boards is a major setback for overclocking enthusiasts, if you consider yourself to be one, then you chose the wrong board.

This guide will help owners with both DDR or DDR2 memory, as well as both AGP or PCI-E cards, as well as both SATA and/or IDE Drive users.


BIOS OPTIONS

Modifying BIOS options may be very dangerous, and, if configured incorrectly, may lead to a nonfunctional board. Make sure you know what you're doing before proceeding further, or get some help.

*This guide assumes you have the latest BIOS update: 2.60*
*All BIOS Options mentioned are found under the Advanced tab*
*Options are for Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors*

CPU Configuration:

>>Overclock Mode
-Set to: CPU, PCIE, Async
-Info: This setting determines whether or not the BIOS automatically sets your FSB, PCI, and PCIE frequencies. Setting to Async allows you to manually modify the PCIE frequency, setting to Sync automatically increments or decrements the PCIE depending on your FSB.

>>CPU Frequency(MHz)
-Info: This is essentially your Front side bus (FSB) speed. You have to stress-test different speeds to try and figure out what speed suits you fine.
-Note: The speed you choose will affect your memory speed and divider setting.
-Note: You should only increment in small 1-5 MHz steps and check for stability.

>>PCI Frequency(MHz)
-Set to: 34.78
-Info: You can set your PCI bus speed here. It really doesn't have any effect on your PCI devices unless you set the value too high or too low.
-Note: Setting the PCI speed to very high values will damage any PCI components you may have installed.

>>PCIE Frequency(MHz)
-Set to: 117-120
-Info: You can set your PCIe bus speed here. It really doesn't have any effect on your PCIe devices unless you set the value too high or too low.
-Note: Only modify the PCIe speed if you do not have a PCIe card, as modifying the PCIe speed will damage your PCIe card.

>>Spread Spectrum
-Set to: Disabled
-Info: This setting, when enabled, reduces the EMI of your FSB by modulating the signals it produces. This should definitely be disabled if you want to overclock your FSB, as it is the cause of many stability issues and crashes.
-Note: If you are not overclocking your FSB, you should still disable this, unless you really need to safeguard yourself from EMI problems.

>>Boot Failure Guard
-Set to: Disabled
-Info: I'm not sure why, but people have reported less instability if this is turned off on overclocked machines. If enabled, this simply checks for issues with your overclock, and if there is an issue, it will reset or revert your clock settings to optimal values on a crash.
-Note: This may potentially be useful for you to keep enabled if you are unsure about your overclocking skills.


If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, please post them here, or ask for my email.

[Still under construction]

This message was modified by the poster at 04 02, 2007 10:56 PM

Topic URL: http://forum.ncix.com/forums/topic.php?id=1311291

Perfect timing Mr. Vain. Since I just received my ASRocks mobo today, one would think I paid you to publish this guide today

 

[Hidari]

I was wondering if there's any forums to reach the author of the modded bios 1.80c. Anyone know about this?
(I don't know German)

BTW, for the overclocking guide posted by Mr. Vain, I actually got something to ask:
1) It seems that someone said before that if you are overclocking your FSB (say 290), it is better to use the sync mode to keep the pci-e frequency higher, or at least use async mode and set the pci-e frequency at something higher than the original clock (100MHz) to enjoy better overclocking margin, can anyone verify this?

2) I have long been hearing the term "spread spectrum". Seems that this term can apply to a various list of items (like wireless signals) but I am still not quite familiar when it is for CPU / mobo. Seems that most of the people told me to disabled this but this is often enabled in bios by default. Do anyone of you here know about this term and can tell me the pros & cons when enabled/disabled this item? And for this:

Note: If you are not overclocking your FSB, you should still disable this, unless you really need to safeguard yourself from EMI problems.

Does this mean, if disabled, it may emit EMIs which are harmful?

 

[bigsnyder]

The spread spectrum option fluctuates the FSB speed up and down by some small amount to help reduce EMI.
I might have this wrong, but I am under the impression it helps protect the board from outside EMI. Either way,
I have never heard of anybody having problems with this disabled, however I have heard reports of stability issues
with it enabled.

As far as PCIe speed, I have mine set to stay at 100Mhz. I am able to hit 300fsb without breaking a sweat.
That has been my experience anyway.

 

[capteric35]

Hello All,
I have ordered a 4CoreDualVSTA motherboard.
I hope to use it with the following add-on boards from my current computer:
ATI AIW 9000 Pro AGP card
Sound Blaster "LIVE" Dolby 5.1 sound card
PCI to PCMCIA adapter board
A USB board that is the ONLY one I ever saw that allows the simultaneous use of USB 1.5 and USB 2.0 devices and lets both types run at full speed
Promise Win 9X-Me Ultra 133 TX2 IDE controller card

Here is my question:
Aslong as I set the BIOS up with all onboard sound, SATA, and IDE controllers disabled, and select the CPUID as LIMITED Should I be able to run Windows 98SE on a Pentium 4 at 3.4 GHz with DDR2 667 (256 Mbytes( RAM?
I actually do NOT intend to OC anything, but will be upgrading to Windows XP Home in a couple of years (2009 the analog TV signals will dissappear and my AIW board won't work anymore anyway).

Any help will be highly appreciated,
Eric

 

[bigsnyder]

Why not upgrade to XP now? XP is far more stable than 98SE since the release of SP2. Just my two cents, but to answer your question, it will probably work. You might need to download VIA chipset drivers though.

BTW, what is USB 1.5?

 

[capteric35]

UH, ummm, maybe I mean 1.1?
I'm trying to talk about the older slower USB standard. Anyway my printer and my ATI Remote Wonder both use the slow USB but my scanner needs USB 2.0. I got the scanner with the hope I could scan and then use character recognition software to allow me to more easily read stuff (I am legally blind, central vision blindness) but I have had a LOT of trouble with the scanner. It's manual is in a "protected" pdf file and the font is set at about 5 points or so. I can't read it on my 20" monitor even using my 10 power magnifying glass.

Anyway I have to wait about 2 months to save enough to buy the CPU and RAM. That will total about 115 bucks. Living on disability checks SUCKS!
So that is why I don't want to send Microsoft any money until I HAVE to.
Oh well.
As far as stability goes, my computer never crashes except when I try some software that isn't setup for 98SE (some work, some don't).
I live on a sailboat and at my marina we get power interruptions ALL too often. In 1 year I had to re-install Windows 4 times. I have never had to do that since I bought the Promise HDD controller as it allows me to use drive drawers and back up my disk drive onto another drive once a week. I use Acronis True Image and it works like a charm! The HDD controller allows the use of "cable select" on the hard drives so I don't have to move the jumpers when I move the disks. Which is good as I CAN"T SEE the jumper pins!

 

[capteric35]

Hello Again All,
I have been reading the CPU reviews on Newegg. It seems the Prescott 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 I am going to buy runs pretty darn HOT.
Can I get reccomendations on the best (air only, now water cooling please) afrermarket CPU heatsink and fan?
Thanks,
Eric

 

[bigsnyder]

Look at a core2 duo that suits your budget. The stock retail cooler is a solid performer with some headroom for overclocking.

 

[Hidari]

An 2.00 bios has been in the asrock website already. Anyone tried that?

Just flashed. Seems no new settings.

Description from ASRock:
1.Modify for ATI 2xxx series cards.
2.Modify memory code.
3.Modify for Hercules Fortissimo III 7.1 sound card.

2.00B modded version also released...