Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 + ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA + ASRock 775Dual-VSTA

[TaranScorp]

Hello to everyone,
Is anyone using the E7500 chip in this board( Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2). I wanted to overclock this chip to at least 3.7 but I hit a brick wall at 3.25 stable.
Anyone using this chip been able to go above 3.25?
Thanks

 

[vixensjlin]

Originally posted by: Hlafordlaes
For Win7 XP Mode, go for ones supporting VT

I understand newer R0 stepping CPU has some sort of VTx capabilities, but does any of our BIOS support CPU virtualization function? I thought XP mode takes all three (BIOS/CPU/BIOS) supports to run.

 

[PrTv1980]

Originally posted by: vixensjlin

Originally posted by: Hlafordlaes
For Win7 XP Mode, go for ones supporting VT

I understand newer R0 stepping CPU has some sort of VTx capabilities, but does any of our BIOS support CPU virtualization function? I thought XP mode takes all three (BIOS/CPU/BIOS) supports to run.

I saw this option in BIOS and can enable/disable it. However, as my current CPU (E5300) doesn't support VT, I don't know if this feature will actually work with this MB.

 

[Ileader36]

E5200 Bsel and Vpin info as requested here..

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=586596

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=2933913

TaranScorp, Your e7500 overclockis as good as it will ever get, on this mobo anyway, as the FSB
maxes out on these chipsets under 300.

 

[PrTv1980]

Originally posted by: Ileader36
E5200 Bsel and Vpin info as requested here..

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=586596

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=2933913

TaranScorp, Your e7500 overclockis as good as it will ever get, on this mobo anyway, as the FSB
maxes out on these chipsets under 300.

Thanks!

If I only want to adjust VCore, I only need to pay attention to the pins on the upper quarter, right?

I don't want to put too much VCore to the CPU so I think using 1.3625 may be too much for my stock fan. This one is not my main/gaming PC so I don't want to push it too hard, so If I just want, say 1.30, how do I know which pins to connect/close ?

 

[Ileader36]

You need to run Coretemp to find Your processors default Voltage (mine is 1.1625v), then
get the intel e5200? spec sheet (pdf), and You have to work out which
pins need blocking or shorting to ground based on the voltage chart
provided in the spec sheet.
Processor's use a different default voltage, so what pins need modding
varies from cpu to cpu.
Just google it if it seems too complicated at the start.

BTW. the chart in the spec sheet is top down, so You need to reverse that
left to right when looking at the underside of the cpu.

 

[giap69pavel]

Hello all

I'm new, and i'm really glad that i found out this forum and specially this post.

In the last weeks i received an ASRock 775Dual-VSTA as present, and i was a little confuse about the possibilities.

Now i have read in this post all the possibilities and i think that there are light at the end of the tunel.

My situation is update part of the system without drop several parts that i want to keep right now.

7950 GT AGP Card, basically.

So i'm going to change from a Athlon 64 +3200 to a Pentium Core E6300 2.8GHz, that i think that will be a good improvement.

With the last 3.19a, i think that i cover my idea, but...

Changelog:
- Add support for HD 4890
- Add support for E-0/R-0 Wolfdale CPU (Pentium DualCore E6300/E7600 supported!)
- Support 4 GB DDR2 (~ 3,3 GB useable)
- Enhanced Speedfancontrol for PWM-Fans
- Support Enahnced Halt State, SpeedStep and Thermal Throttling
- Instant Boot Support

I have a few questions.

1.- When it saids, support HD 4890, are they talking about the last (for example) ASUS 1GB RADEON HD 4890 PCI-E 2.0 HD4890 GDDR5?

Is the motherboard support PCI-E 2.0?

Sorry if my question is silly but with this possibility this motherboard can be also upgrade with very good result unless for me.

2.- Right now, i won't use Win7 and will keep on Win XP (32), about memory support the 4GB is only for Win7?

3.- I have never update a Bios in the motherboard, and i read the post of 28gdavinci about the steps to follow, using AVUWIN via windows. my question is: will the win xp run if i connect everything (NEW CPU, NEW MOTHERBOARD, NEW memories 4GB, ...) for launch the AVUWIN and update the BIOS?

if you flash your motherboard to v.3.19 via Windows
with the AVUWIN.exe 4.22 make sure that you check
the option "programm all blocks" !

The first time i did not and got an error-message at
the booting-process saying "CMOS checksum error".

After flashing again via windows with "programm all blocks" on
everything was fine .

Is better use DOS Mode?



Thank you.

 

[PrTv1980]

Hello giap69pavel,

I'm new here too, and don't have this board (I have other model), but I may be able to help you with some of your questions.

1.- When it saids, support HD 4890, are they talking about the last (for example) ASUS 1GB RADEON HD 4890 PCI-E 2.0 HD4890 GDDR5? Is the motherboard support PCI-E 2.0? Sorry if my question is silly but with this possibility this motherboard can be also upgrade with very good result unless for me.

This I don't know.

2.- Right now, i won't use Win7 and will keep on Win XP (32), about memory support the 4GB is only for Win7?

The amount of usable memory does not solely depend on the OS version, but depends on the BIT architecture. 64Bit versions of windows XP, Vista and Seven can address utilize more than 4 GB of memory (up to maximum capability of your MB).

3.- I have never update a Bios in the motherboard, and i read the post of 28gdavinci about the steps to follow, using AVUWIN via windows. my question is: will the win xp run if i connect everything (NEW CPU, NEW MOTHERBOARD, NEW memories 4GB, ...) for launch the AVUWIN and update the BIOS?

I don't know how good windows flashing application of AsRock would be, but from what I know only preferable ways to flash your BIOS are either through native BIOS update (such as QFlash), or DOS mode.

I myself own 2 Asrock MBs and tried their win flash application on a number of occasions (too lazy to boot into DOS to flash, and haven't run into any trouble, so I think it should be safe. However, always use DOS if you can.

 

[Hlafordlaes]

Originally posted by: giap69pavel

1.- When it saids, support HD 4890, are they talking about the last (for example) ASUS 1GB RADEON HD 4890 PCI-E 2.0 HD4890 GDDR5? Is the motherboard support PCI-E 2.0?

The mobo is PCIe 1.1 and a new BIOS does not change this. ATI PCIe2.0 cards are backwards compatible; the BIOS update helps read their ROM data when configuring the PCI space and booting.

2.- Right now, i won't use Win7 and will keep on Win XP (32), about memory support the 4GB is only for Win7?

As said earlier, 64 bit OSes support 4GB. If you use XP, I recommend using 2GB of memory and sticking with 32 bit version of the OS.

3.- I have never update a Bios in the motherboard, and i read the post of 28gdavinci about the steps to follow, using AVUWIN via windows. my question is: will the win xp run if i connect everything (NEW CPU, NEW MOTHERBOARD, NEW memories 4GB, ...) for launch the AVUWIN and update the BIOS?... Is better use DOS Mode?

You normally must use a supported CPU on the Asrock list to flash the BIOS. You will need to buy/borrow a cheap Celeron or Pentium4, or go to a shop where they can flash the BIOS for you. If you have not installed WinXP yet, DOS mode is best since you can use it to flash the BIOS with a borrowed CPU, then put in all the new hardware and install Windows XP. In the future, flashing new BIOS updates via Windows is easiest.

[Actually, I have heard some users report that they were able to boot and flash the BIOS using a newer CPU, but not everyone is lucky. You can always try with the new CPU, but if it does not work use the above recommendations.]

Because you are new to this, I recommend going to a shop and having them use a temporary CPU and flash the BIOS. Take your new CPU with you and have them put it in after the BIOS flash and test to see if the board boots.

Also, if things are not working right at any point, put a RAM stick only in the first slot to boot and flash. Then put a stick in the second slot and boot. If there are problems, repeat install the second RAM stick. It may take several attempts.

 

[Deanodarlo]

Originally posted by: Deanodarlo
Another thing I noticed with this board which I have NEVER come across before from other manufacturers. The Power LED pins are side by side, when my cases have a three pin Power LED connector with the middle pin a null connection (no wire)??? Every other motherboard I've owned has a three pin Power LED connector and I thought it was standard.

Were the 4coredual engineers on drugs, or is this a common design on Asrock boards?

eg Motherboard (x x) vs Case connector (x 0 x)

Luckily, I had an unused HDD LED connector I could use for power as this case has three HDD LEDS.

Anyone else had issues with this connector?

Just wondered out of interest.

And giap69pavel, I flashed in Windows using an old Pentium4 I bought for next to nothing off ebay. Very good bios, better than the official and no issues at all.

 

[Hlafordlaes]

@Deanodarlo,

Hey, there. I believe my case has individual positive and negative connectors, so it was not a problem (IIRC, been a while since I crawled under my desk and I am lazy today). As a quick fix, you might consider slicing your connector in 2 parts, you can always glue it back if needed for a new mobo.

I had to totally rewire *all* the connectors in an old Micron OEM case that all went to a single, monolithic connector. I just went to an electronics shop and bought a lot of spare single-wire connectors for the job. (I built a dedicated DOS/Win98SE classic gaming machine with an overclocked PIII-S Tualatin and rare SDRAM 166MHz mem).

 

[TaranScorp]

Ileader36,
TaranScorp, Your e7500 overclock is as good as it will ever get, on this mobo anyway, as the FSB maxes out on these chipsets under 300.

Is it possible to VID Mod the E7500 chip to 1.4v and get past the 3.2Ghz stable overclock I have now?

 

[imported_Krusty]

Hi,

I guess this forum is more or less my last hope with an annoying issue I have with the AsRock Board:
- Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0 (Bios 2.20)
- Core2Duo E7500@266MHz FSB
- 2GB DDR2 Geil Ultra2 800MHz@266MHz Dual-Channel
- Sapphire HD2600XT AGP
- System drive: IDE Samsung 250GB
- Logical drive: Sata2 Samsung 1TB
- 2 IDE DVD drives (one writer)
- Power supply: BeQuiet 450W
- Windows XP Pro SP3
The problem is that during trying to back-up on an external USB HDD windows freezes during copying large files (>20MB). This happens reproducibly but not always with the same files. This also happens when I use a USB stick instead of the USB HDD. Sometimes the monitor picture freezes, sometimes it turns black (no blue screen, no error messages in the system logs). But the system can only be revived by a reboot pressing the Reset button.
If I copy the same files via network onto the USB HDD connected to another PC without that board it works perfectly. I have read about this issues in some forums but never found a solution somewhere.
Does anybody have a solution for that issue? Can anyone try to reproduce it?
Thanks a lot

 

[Ileader36]

Krusty. Unfortunately (fortunately really) I have not had Your USB drive issue, and have had no problems copying files larger than 10Gb back and
forwards. I would suggest You use Everest to log temperatures and see if the 5v rail is low, possible PSU issue, 450w PSU is getting a bit low
for running a C2d. other than that I assume You have the USB set to the
maximum speed, 480mb/s.

 

[Ileader36]

Originally posted by: TaranScorp
Ileader36,
TaranScorp, Your e7500 overclock is as good as it will ever get, on this mobo anyway, as the FSB maxes out on these chipsets under 300.

Is it possible to VID Mod the E7500 chip to 1.4v and get past the 3.2Ghz stable overclock I have now?

The FSB on these motherboards is not capable of much better than 295 no matter what You do, as an example I managed to boot my e5200 at 3.7ghz the other day, 297x12.5, Windows 7 bluescreened in a short time, but at 295x12.5 was ok.
You may get more stability by vid modding Your cpu for about 1.3625v, but You won't get much in the way of higher mhz out of it.

 

[Hlafordlaes]

Originally posted by: Krusty
The problem is that during trying to back-up on an external USB HDD windows freezes during copying large files (>20MB). This happens reproducibly but not always with the same files. This also happens when I use a USB stick instead of the USB HDD. Sometimes the monitor picture freezes, sometimes it turns black (no blue screen, no error messages in the system logs). But the system can only be revived by a reboot pressing the Reset button.
If I copy the same files via network onto the USB HDD connected to another PC without that board it works perfectly. I have read about this issues in some forums but never found a solution somewhere.
Does anybody have a solution for that issue? Can anyone try to reproduce it?
Thanks a lot

Just a guess, but if VLink is set to High in the BIOS, I get your symptoms when using a USB WiFi dongle. Try setting VLink to Normal. Also try setting USB legacy support to Auto or Off.

 

[Deanodarlo]

Originally posted by: Deanodarlo

Originally posted by: Ileader36
AGP volts is the same as the Northbridge IC volts, so put that to high.
Also I had to put Vlink speed to fast as Vista kept crapping out in games at normal.

So strange! I was the opposite. I had to set V-Link to normal, or USB sticks hang my machine. It could be an incompatibility with the IDE->SATA adaptors I'm using however to allow me to run RAID, but I get rock stable performance at normal. You'd expect V-Link speeding up would not sort out stability, but perhaps it's a strange latency/timing or motherboard FSB hole issue that it balances out. Or perhaps helps with timing to your bridgechip 3850 - I've found they can be temperamental on VIA AGP chipsets in the past.

PrTv1980, glad you sorted it!

This board is quirky and tests the best of us. But that's why I kind of like it. It's so unpredictable and unique!

Ileader36, you should know better, we just had this conversation about freezing USB recently! (joking)

As Hlafordlaes said Krusty, it's V-Link speed being set to fast instead of the normal default that causes instability issues for some of us. Perhaps that will solve it for you as well. It did for me and I had exactly the same issue as you.

This setting makes no difference in terms of performance by the way. I don't think the North/South bridge connection is ever a bottle neck from my tests.

 

[Ileader36]

Originally posted by: Deanodarlo

Originally posted by: Deanodarlo

Originally posted by: Ileader36
AGP volts is the same as the Northbridge IC volts, so put that to high.
Also I had to put Vlink speed to fast as Vista kept crapping out in games at normal.

So strange! I was the opposite. I had to set V-Link to normal, or USB sticks hang my machine. It could be an incompatibility with the IDE->SATA adaptors I'm using however to allow me to run RAID, but I get rock stable performance at normal. You'd expect V-Link speeding up would not sort out stability, but perhaps it's a strange latency/timing or motherboard FSB hole issue that it balances out. Or perhaps helps with timing to your bridgechip 3850 - I've found they can be temperamental on VIA AGP chipsets in the past.

PrTv1980, glad you sorted it!

This board is quirky and tests the best of us. But that's why I kind of like it. It's so unpredictable and unique!

Ileader36, you should know better, we just had this conversation about freezing USB recently! (joking)

As Hlafordlaes said Krusty, it's V-Link speed being set to fast instead of the normal default that causes instability issues for some of us. Perhaps that will solve it for you as well. It did for me and I had exactly the same issue as you.

This setting makes no difference in terms of performance by the way. I don't think the North/South bridge connection is ever a bottle neck from my tests.

Interesting, I forgot about that obviously, but I have two 1TB hdd's on the sata connectors and one IDE drive, as well as two IDE burners.
I have had no problems with the USB at all with V-link on normal or fast, currently fast, but that was only due to Vista64 having freezing probs, I haven't tried adjusting again with Windows7, no need to as all is good.
Just remembered, I also have the IDE setting to max, so that may also affect it.

 

[Deanodarlo]

Originally posted by: Ileader36
Just remembered, I also have the IDE setting to max, so that may also affect it.

Good point, I never touched that setting so it may make a difference.

 

[TaranScorp]

I'm pretty sure 1.3625v is already stock on the E7500. I just read on another other forum that people were Vid modding to 4.0v or 4.5v to get higher Mhz. One modder claimed he got "E7500 @3.96ghz, 360x11 @1.4625v". My Bios has Actual Frequrncy from 90 to 340. Is it the board that is limiting my overclock or is it I need higher volts to keep it stable? And Thanks for your input.

Originally posted by: Ileader36

Originally posted by: TaranScorp
Ileader36,
TaranScorp, Your e7500 overclock is as good as it will ever get, on this mobo anyway, as the FSB maxes out on these chipsets under 300.

Is it possible to VID Mod the E7500 chip to 1.4v and get past the 3.2Ghz stable overclock I have now?

The FSB on these motherboards is not capable of much better than 295 no matter what You do, as an example I managed to boot my e5200 at 3.7ghz the other day, 297x12.5, Windows 7 bluescreened in a short time, but at 295x12.5 was ok.
You may get more stability by vid modding Your cpu for about 1.3625v, but You won't get much in the way of higher mhz out of it.

 

[imported_Krusty]

Hi all,
thanks for all the comments and hints... I checked the voltage: 5.01. The PSU has 28A on that rail, should be sufficient.
The power consumption of the whole system is not more than 150W even at high loads. So my PSU (400W, not 450W)
should be fine for the system.
I have played a bit with the BIOS settings you mentionened: No change whatever I choose. My system freezes reliably during
copying larger files to my USB HDD. I works perfectly if I don't. And the HDD works perfectly at other systems. I can copy the same files
via network.
This board really is a DIVA... any more suggestions? Noone with the same probs?
Thanks

 

[imported_Krusty]

H again,
I think I have encircled the problem!
As I said I have mounted Geil Ultra 2GB DDR2 RAM PC2-6400 (800MHz) @ 266MHz (because at 333MHz the system crashed, no matter what I set in the BIOS).
That is very strange to me, did you experience the same? I mean the board is meant to work with 333MHz DDR2 RAM, but not mine...
So, I switched back to 2GB G-Skill DDR RAM (400MHz) @200MHz and voilá everything work fine!
So, the board seems to have problems with that memory. I guess I have to send it back quickly to get my money back...
What kind of DDR2 RAM can you recommend? Anybody uses Geil?
Thanks!

 

[Deanodarlo]

The mysteries of this board continue. That's yet another strange one Krusty.

I'm using 2x1GB sticks of Aeneon 667Mhz DDR II and don't have any issues. I'm running it at 533Mhz cas 4 on a 266 bus for a 1:1 ratio, but tested 667Mhz and it ran fine - just had slightly worse performance!

 

[Hlafordlaes]

Originally posted by: Krusty
H again,
I think I have encircled the problem!
As I said I have mounted Geil Ultra 2GB DDR2 RAM PC2-6400 (800MHz) @ 266MHz (because at 333MHz the system crashed, no matter what I set in the BIOS).
That is very strange to me, did you experience the same? I mean the board is meant to work with 333MHz DDR2 RAM, but not mine...
So, I switched back to 2GB G-Skill DDR RAM (400MHz) @200MHz and voilá everything work fine!
So, the board seems to have problems with that memory. I guess I have to send it back quickly to get my money back...
What kind of DDR2 RAM can you recommend? Anybody uses Geil?
Thanks!

Krusty,

Way back when Anandtech reviewed the original board in the series (775Dual), DDR1@400 and DDR2@533 were neck-in-neck in peak performance, besting DDR2@667, so don't feel like you are losing performance by the 533 setting. You might check the voltage required for your RAM and look through this thread to see what voltage results from the high/low etc setting on these boards, but in general RAM rated for 1.8v and not 2.1v will give far fewer problems. And you haven't invested poorly in those sticks if you are going to transition to another socket 775 board (the new P55 and X58 are another question entirely, of course).

RAM errors from poor seating, wrong BIOS settings, wrong voltage, etc. are one of the leading sources of people having problems with these boards. Once you get it straightened out, I hope you'll enjoy this last chipset hurrah from VIA.

 

[imported_Krusty]

Hlafordlaes,

I know about RAM being a pain sometimes... and at 300MHz FSB the DDR1 RAM is almost as fast as the DDR2 ;-) And the G-Skill RAM still works perfectly at 225MHz. But still I am a bit disappointed about the poor compatibility of this board with DDR2 RAMs (not speaking about the 333MHz issue). I mean this trouble and effort with two well known RAM brands (Kingston and Geil) is annoying. I have sent an email to ASRock if they could send me some recommendations of DDR2 RAM usable at 333MHz. Who knows, maybe they'll respond and my journey will find a happy end and I can finally totally enjoy this board. I will keep you posted...
Does anybody use 333MHz DDR2 RAM successfully on the board?