ECS NFORCE4-A939 mini review

[yukit]

Originally posted by: toyotacamry
Oh yeah, how do you get a core to run a certain test? I just ran Prime95 and 3d Mark05 CPU test and I guess a core each took on an application. Thanks for telling me. Maybe it could be that your case doesn't move air out fast enough? Or I'm getting a bad temp reading, because thats a pretty big difference in temperature.

You can create a shortcut to prime95.exe, then add -A1 in the command line parameter to indicate affinify to CPU1. I just run prime95.exe with no options for the CPU0.

On my setup, nvMonitor & speedFan are reporting the same temp of 34C idle, 58C prime so I guess I should get a better cooling setup if I want to keep loading the system.

My new video card is performing well, but I guess that is another thread.

 

[toyotacamry]

How many case fans do you have? My CPU never hits 50c , I'll do some harsher testing. Stock CPU fan but I have two 120mm thermaltakes and one 80 mm generic keeping the air moving. In relation to your video card, mine is performing well, but I'm having a bit of a problem. In games, My fps will "stutter" , it will a constant 120 or so and then just stop for around half a second and resume. I think the onboard sound is to blame for this , because it takes power away from the CPU, and when theres a lot of sounds it seems to panic, especially with the newer games and the surround sound. I'm not to sure, just a thought. Please let me know if you get these "stutters" too.

 

[Zap]

You may have to set affinity for your game because I've heard that stuttering framerate problems are from games not liking dual cores. Sound will probably be more or less a constant drag.

Don't know how hot my CPU is getting, don't care. I'm running it passive with a Scythe Ninja. My PSU and rear exhaust fans are 120mm and the exhaust fan is undervolted. Just about can't hear the system. Oh yeah, that's with it overclocked to 2.5GHz.

 

[toyotacamry]

Originally posted by: Zap
You may have to set affinity for your game because I've heard that stuttering framerate problems are from games not liking dual cores. Sound will probably be more or less a constant drag.

Haha, I learned that the hardway. Installed counterstrike, a game I rarely play, and I was moving twice as fast and emptied a 30 round clip in 2 seconds, people thought I was cheating. I thought a server streamed me cheats, but it turns out I had to set affinity for that, even the VALVe support techs didn't know what it was. Went to steam forums. I set affinity for my other games and I don't notice any major stuttering, so thats a good thing

I can't wait for dual core games to come out, I don't think it would make much of a difference though because my system would be limited by my graphics card.

I always wanted passive cooling, or any sort of after market cooling. I've been stuck with stock fans for a while. Quite honestly I'm afraid of installing heatsinks and fans onto CPU's, I've broken a few socket A chips doing that (I was 14 at the time). When installing the 3800x2 I heard a large snap and my heart sunk, but it booted up fine. Just installing heatsinks scare me And powersupplies, they've been the most bothersome component to me as far as noise is concerned. Don't really know how to undervolt casefan, I just wish I had a fan controller. One fan is going full blast with no control and its very loud. I'll get it quiet one day.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: toyotacamry
I can't wait for dual core games to come out,

I'll get it quiet one day.

Quiet computing is a process you go through. One day you say to yourself "dayam, that computer is kinda noisy." You proceed to replace or undervolt (using a cheap speed controller) the fan and are pleased with the results. Later, you decide that since you've made that really noisy fan quiet, that other fan is now the noisiest, so time to make that quieter....

Some games have dual core patches, some making them run properly and some actually increasing performance. IIRC COD2 has a dual core patch. Also, Quake4 has a beta dual core patch that supposedly really increases performance.

 

[AkumaX]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: AkumaX
Zap, you think you should change your review a little bit since new Bios has 400fsb max and 1T/2T timings?

I did in the OP almost a month ago:

12/01/05 UPDATE:

FSB up to 400MHz 1MHz increments
Now allows manual adjustments to 1T/2T Memory Timing

haha, how sad!! and i remember reading that too!!!

and i <3 quiet computing

it's been getting real cold lately.. idle temps are dipping to 26c!

case-less r0x

 

[dwcal]

I picked up one of these boards in a Fry's combo too. It runs nice and stable at stock speed, but how are you people getting up to a 250Mhz bus? I don't think this board has a PCI bus lock. When I OC with Clockgen, the PCI bus speed goes up with the HTT bus. I really want to avoid pushing the PCI bus over 37Mhz.

 

[Zap]

Well, my PCI sound card and Firewire card must not mind too much running 25% out of spec then.

BTW, the latest BIOS allows up to 400MHz so you may want to try that.

 

[teatime0315]

The only problem I have with this MoBo is the RAM ... I bought rosewill 2x512mb pc3200 of ram and the didnt work on the mobo... it just beeps when i fired it up... but when i put in a 512mb stick of kingston value ram at pc2100 it worked.... so i put all three 512's in and they worked... i was wondering why wont the 2x512mb pc3200 work by themselves?

 

[Zap]

Without more RAM to try out or another motherboard to test the Rosewill RAM... one possibility I can think of is that one stick of the Rosewill RAM is faulty and won't run at SPD settings. The motherboard detects SPD and sets RAM speed accordingly, and then gives the RAM error beep because RAM failed. When the PC2100 is inserted, the motherboard has to slow down the whole RAM subsystem to allow for the slower RAM, thus allowing the faulty RAM to run (at slower than rated speeds). Perhaps you can try inserting one stick at a time on the Rosewill.

 

[teatime0315]

Originally posted by: Zap
Without more RAM to try out or another motherboard to test the Rosewill RAM... one possibility I can think of is that one stick of the Rosewill RAM is faulty and won't run at SPD settings. The motherboard detects SPD and sets RAM speed accordingly, and then gives the RAM error beep because RAM failed. When the PC2100 is inserted, the motherboard has to slow down the whole RAM subsystem to allow for the slower RAM, thus allowing the faulty RAM to run (at slower than rated speeds). Perhaps you can try inserting one stick at a time on the Rosewill.

Oh ... i've tried inserting them into a dell (the rosewills) and they worked flawlessly...... my dell already had a gig of ram but it was from Samsung so i tried the Samsungs on the ECS ... still the same problem.
Thx for your reply though

 

[Zap]

Hmmm, perhaps the board isn't reading the SPD right. While using the PC2100 RAM that works, try setting the RAM speeds manually to CAS 3 (that's what the Rosewill is rated for, right?) and 133MHz MEMCLOCK. Then, try the Rosewill by itself. If it works, then raise MEMCLOCK to 166MHz. If it still works, then raise memory voltage to somewhere around 2.95v, set MEMCLOCK to 200MHz, cross your fingers and try it. If it still works, you can then try lowering the voltage bit by bit. If it doesn't work, then... dunno.

It is not unknown for there to be compatibility issues between memory and motherboard. The popular DFI LANPARTY socket 939 boards had problems with the popular Corsair ValueRAM series - may have been fixed by a BIOS update. The Shuttle AN35N-Ultra 400 boards sometimes didn't like low latency RAM and would not POST - solution was as I described to you, use RAM that worked and manually adjust BIOS, save&exit, shut off, swap RAM, power on, back in BIOS to set "proper" settings, profit.

 

[teatime0315]

ok i'll try that
THx

 

[sabbasaun]

Just wanted to post my specs and results:

ECS a939 w/x2 3800+ using Bios 1.1d
OC to 2.4 GHz at 240 FSB with default cpu/dimm voltages and mem freq at 166.
1 gb (2x512) PQI Ram at 2-3-2-5 settings
XFX 6600 256mb PCIe - stock settings
memtest/prime95 stable for several hours.
I will post benchmarks when i get them.

I was having problems using 1.1c as any setting I made would only report 2014 mhz (?) That went away with 1.1d, not sure exactly why that would be, possibly corrupt bios i guess.

 

[AkumaX]

hmm.. i didn't know 1.1D was out :evil:

 

[sabbasaun]

Yup, 1.1d is out. i posted a link to 1.1d in a separate thread.. it was also mentioned on the a939 locking/freezing thread.

 

[SuperNoob]

Hi all, this is my first post here....ever. Um, i pretty much know very little about wiring a motherboard and all, so keep that in mind when I ask this....on this a939 v1.0, there are usb 3,4, and 5 at the bottom towards the center-ish. there are 4 pins and 5 pins per USB connection. i have plugs that have a 4 slot connector with an extra ground branched off on its own. do i use the 4 pin or 5 pin? which side does the plug go as far as which side is hot/ground? help the Noob plz.

 

[Zap]

Generally speaking you can ignore the fifth pin. USB makes use of four pins and the "default" configuration on motherboards is in this order: VCC, D-, D+, Ground. They are usually color coded like so:

VCC = red
D- = white
D+ = green
Ground = black

The motherboard headers are "keyed" using two rows of five pins, but with one pin missing. Let me try my hand at ASCII art...

1 3 5 7 9
V - + G

x x x x x
x x x x

V - + G
2 4 6 8

Okay, the little x indicates each pin. Above and below the corresponding pins I put the numbers and the pinout. Does this help?

 

[boomerang]

Look in the motherboard manual for a diagram of those pins. Hopefully the connectors in question are marked.

Post back with what is written on the connectors and what the mobo manual says.

Also, welcome to the forums!

Somebody is eventually going to tell you, so it might as well be me. Double posting across two different categories is frowned upon here. Also, the other thread you posted in, well, that is considered hijacking someone else's thread.

You should have just started your own thread.

Please post back as I want to help. It's just contructive criticism. Others could or would have been kinda nasty.

Edit: Zap has got it explained pretty well. He posted while I was composing mine. Only post your markings if you're totally confused and we'll give you a pin by pin breakdown.

 

[SuperNoob]

ok, on mine heres the layout......

xxxx
xxxxx
usb3

the plugs are labeled. so, in this scenario, i would place the plug, like so?

xxxx
xg+-v

and x=pins, as in ur example

 

[SuperNoob]

note to self, the 2 rows are actually configured like this on mine: *=missing pin


*xxxx
xxxxx

 

[SuperNoob]

Originally posted by: boomerang
Look in the motherboard manual for a diagram of those pins. Hopefully the connectors in question are marked.

Post back with what is written on the connectors and what the mobo manual says.

Also, welcome to the forums!

Somebody is eventually going to tell you, so it might as well be me. Double posting across two different categories is frowned upon here. Also, the other thread you posted in, well, that is considered hijacking someone else's thread.

You should have just started your own thread.

Please post back as I want to help. It's just contructive criticism. Others could or would have been kinda nasty.

Edit: Zap has got it explained pretty well. He posted while I was composing mine. Only post your markings if you're totally confused and we'll give you a pin by pin breakdown.

my bad on the hijackin issue. as i said, pc illiterate. didnt mean to come across that way. as far as crossing threads, oops. wansnt sure if i was in the right spot. also, i have no manual for the board, as the pc was a gift. the only reason i know anything about it is because my brother told me that the person who built his didnt hook up front usb/headphone/mic jacks. thank you for the help on this though. which brings me to next question. where do i go to learn about hooking up front mic/headphone/speaker inputs?

 

[boomerang]

You can download the manual from the ECS site. I'm actually looking at it now.

Hold on a sec, I'm trying to come up with a diagram for you.

 

[boomerang]

Here we go.

9 7 5 3 1

10 8 6 4 2

Nine = No pin
7 = GND
5 = D0+
3 = D0-
1 = VCC

10= Not connected
8 = GND
6 = D1+
4 = D1-
2 = VCC

I don't know the exact markings on yourcase connectors but this should help. I'll get you a link for the manual in a second.

 

[boomerang]

Link for manual, drivers, etc. The audio is on p.20 and the USB is on p.21.

Don't worry about the other stuff. Personally, I don't care, but there are plenty here who do.