Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2

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doubleOseven

Member
Jun 23, 2008
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My understanding is that pctreiber used a stock asrock bios and then modified it themselves. I wouldn't worry too much about it being a beta -- as this version apparently works ok. A user on their pctreiber forum, named: "Sisti", wrote that the bios works well with 4gb ram etc... see: http://www.pctreiber.net/threa...postid=57416#post57416 (scroll up to read his comment and later his benchmark scores).... As an aside, I recall reading in this very long discussion thread that even Asrock tech support suggested to a user to try the pctreiber bios releases, as they had more 'options'. So that's a good sign that Asrock acknowledges and to some degree suggests these bios releases.
A word to the wise though -- even if you put 4gb of ram in your computer with the right bios, if you're using the Windows XP 32 bit version, you'll only "see" something like 3.3 gb of ram, as that OS has limitations. Perhaps the PT880 chipset also has limitations, I'm not sure. However, yes, at least with the beta bios you can address more than 2gb... which is pretty impressive for this very economical board.

 

Alexraptor

Junior Member
Jul 27, 2008
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Its kind of funny really. The boards from the 775Dual-VSTA up to the 4CoreDual-SATA2 only officially support 2gb. But both the PT8800 Pro and PT880 Ultra chipsets are designed to support 4gb RAM.
 

rno

Junior Member
Sep 5, 2008
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Hi,

Just want to report that this board works perfectly with 3 GB of RAM (2GB + 1GB Kingston 667 CAS5), POST shows 3072 MB and i'm using official 2.0 BIOS.

Also has anyone tested Radeon 4850 with this mobo using official or unofficial BIOS and how it worked? I'm planning getting one, but I'm not sure how well it works.
 

doubleOseven

Member
Jun 23, 2008
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hi rno -- would I be correct that your 3gb is running in single channel mode, since it's not a matched (equal) pair? I'm guessing that to run more than 2gb ram in dual channel mode (with a matched dual channel memory kit), you'd need the unofficial bios (pctreiber) as the stock bios 2.0 wouldn't work....
 

rno

Junior Member
Sep 5, 2008
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Yes you are correct, it runs in single channel mode.

Also is this motherboard able to recognize 4 GB of RAM (2 x 2 GB)?
 

dylan0451

Junior Member
Sep 1, 2008
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thats interesting to know that a 2gb + 1gb module work, though would 3gb in single channel mode be better than 2 in dual channel?

obviously having more ram in applications would be advantageous but would the speed hit be a worthwhile trade off?
 

rno

Junior Member
Sep 5, 2008
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Originally posted by: dylan0451
thats interesting to know that a 2gb + 1gb module work, though would 3gb in single channel mode be better than 2 in dual channel?

obviously having more ram in applications would be advantageous but would the speed hit be a worthwhile trade off?

I haven't experienced any slowdowns in general system use and gaming. Before 2 + 1 setup I was running 1 + 1 GB modules in dual-channel mode and tbh I don't see any difference. Maybe if I run some specific benchmarks the difference might come out, but I don't see much point for that.
 

donxcore

Junior Member
Sep 10, 2008
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Hello! I too am planning on buying the asrock 4coredual-sata2 but im worried that my E7200 and my sapphire radeon hd 3850 agp might not be stable :(

i read somewhere in the topic where someone said it will work with the new 2.0 bios, but does that mean i should update the bios before i put in my processor and video card or should i try it out with my mobo right outta the box?

just a little confuse about updating bios (noob).
 

JonW

Member
Jun 23, 2008
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I've come into conclusion that this mb just absolutely hates my ddr2 ram and dvd-rw sata. Some things just don't work right. I'm waiting for the prices to drop on those radeon hd4870x2 and get my biostar i45 running. It's the only thing that prevents me from using that setup, as I don't have a pci-e card to use. I just don't get this asrock mb though. I ran prime95 blend/memtest dos and windows 100% clean. After reboot, it would just bsod with the ddr2 ram. Not just a single bsod. When this thing do, it does it at a very extreme level. It would not even make it to bios post screen and clearing cmos, that too doesn't work most of the time. Could be the ddr2 regulator on my mb was completely bad. I just can't imagine those who are trying to run 4gb of ddr2 ram on this mb. Instability lurks at every corner and traces of this mb, so be prepared to counter it. :p


Regards,
Jon
 

doubleOseven

Member
Jun 23, 2008
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Jon -- were you able to test your DDR2 RAM on another board to make sure it isn't bad RAM? Guess it's back to the "old" reliable OCZ DDR ram to the rescue! ;-)

 

JonW

Member
Jun 23, 2008
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Originally posted by: doubleOseven
Jon -- were you able to test your DDR2 RAM on another board to make sure it isn't bad RAM? Guess it's back to the "old" reliable OCZ DDR ram to the rescue! ;-)

Hey bro, long time no talk :) The ddr2 ram tested fine on the I45. So it wasn't defective. I'll just stick with OCZ ram. The OCZ ram never bsod on me, only 1 time when I tried to hit 17s with superpi and I had boosted to 320fsb lol. That really nailed it with a blue screen. :)
 

doubleOseven

Member
Jun 23, 2008
113
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Well Jon, then I'd either chalk it up to a weak voltage circuit design which powers the DDR2 Ram on this Asrock board -- or as you say, you might have a defective board (which would not be cool). But those voltage regulators sure do look puny and incapable of doing much!
 

rno

Junior Member
Sep 5, 2008
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Originally posted by: donxcore
Hello! I too am planning on buying the asrock 4coredual-sata2 but im worried that my E7200 and my sapphire radeon hd 3850 agp might not be stable :(

i read somewhere in the topic where someone said it will work with the new 2.0 bios, but does that mean i should update the bios before i put in my processor and video card or should i try it out with my mobo right outta the box?

just a little confuse about updating bios (noob).

Be sure to upgrade your BIOS to 2.0 and I can say Sapphire HD 3850 AGP runs perfectly with this board - I'm running it :)
 

JonW

Member
Jun 23, 2008
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Originally posted by: doubleOseven
Well Jon, then I'd either chalk it up to a weak voltage circuit design which powers the DDR2 Ram on this Asrock board -- or as you say, you might have a defective board (which would not be cool). But those voltage regulators sure do look puny and incapable of doing much!

I think it's the combination of vreg + ost caps they used :) The ost caps just not as good at filtering power to components. My mb have a difficult time recovering from bad oc with ddr2. When it acts up, it needs a really long rest with the battery out and cmos jumper on clear position. If I try to power it back after just clear cmos. Almost everytime it would freeze during bios post screen. It doesn't happen with ocz ram. I even managed to boost the copy performance with ddr2 ram to 6000mb/s. Too bad it won't be doing with this mb. :(
http://img206.imageshack.us/im.../asrockmemtweakyp6.jpg
 

donxcore

Junior Member
Sep 10, 2008
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Originally posted by: rno

Be sure to upgrade your BIOS to 2.0 and I can say Sapphire HD 3850 AGP runs perfectly with this board - I'm running it :)
thnx!
that's a relief to hear that the 3850 works perfectly, after just buying two weeks ago.

is it possible to have 3gb of ddr memory with the asrock board?
 

qoma

Junior Member
Sep 11, 2008
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Hi, i just bought a 4coreDual-Sata2 R2.00 with a e5200 cpu but i can't get it too boot.. The bios-chip on the motherboard says P2.00-8a, this should mean that its with the bios 2.00 that suppports e5200 cpu right? But i get no post what so ever, it boots up for 1second and then dies. But it should post something even if it was the wrong bios right?

I've tried both ddr2 and ddr memories and several different gfx-cards but nothing helps. I've notice 1 part that is a bit loose, might just be that the motherboard is broke.. :(
 

JonW

Member
Jun 23, 2008
130
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Originally posted by: qoma
Hi, i just bought a 4coreDual-Sata2 R2.00 with a e5200 cpu but i can't get it too boot.. The bios-chip on the motherboard says P2.00-8a, this should mean that its with the bios 2.00 that suppports e5200 cpu right? But i get no post what so ever, it boots up for 1second and then dies. But it should post something even if it was the wrong bios right?

I've tried both ddr2 and ddr memories and several different gfx-cards but nothing helps. I've notice 1 part that is a bit loose, might just be that the motherboard is broke.. :(

Pop the battery out of the mobo for a good half an hour. Then boot with ddr ram and not ddr2. Once you get it running, reset bios to default then place the ddr2 ram. The board just acts funny with ddr2 installed.
 

rno

Junior Member
Sep 5, 2008
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Originally posted by: donxcore
Originally posted by: rno

...

is it possible to have 3gb of ddr memory with the asrock board?

Yes, look few posts back. This board takes 2+1GB DDR2 without any problems and same should do with DDR1.
 

cpmee

Senior member
Dec 3, 2007
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I've tried both ddr2 and ddr memories and several different gfx-cards but nothing helps. I've notice 1 part that is a bit loose, might just be that the motherboard is broke..

Could very well be. Look for the obvious first, like the cmos jumper placed wrong.
 

qoma

Junior Member
Sep 11, 2008
2
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But I should get a post even if it isn't the 2.00 bios right? Like you can boot to dos but not to windows if you don't have the right bios version(with the e5200)?
 

donxcore

Junior Member
Sep 10, 2008
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hey i read a few posts back and i just wanna know what's the difference between BIOS 2.0 and 2.0a? (besides beta)

oh and i have E7200 + 3850 agp + a bunch of ddr1 lol
 

Squalled

Junior Member
Sep 13, 2008
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I'm getting this board to replace my 4 year old blown mobo. Anyway I have one question.

I've seen a lot of posts with people having trouble with DDR2 ram and this board, do the problems exist for the DDR1 side of things?

Thanks a ton this thread has been really useful to me in my research.
 

doubleOseven

Member
Jun 23, 2008
113
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It works great with DDR1..... you might have to go into the bios to crank up the ram voltage from low to high, but other than that, as said, no problems!