ASrock 939dual mobo..are you happy?

[nealh]

I just got an opteron 165 and will palce this in my DFI SLI DR mobo..but I then have a very sweet Venice 3200@2750 that I would rather keep and update my wife's 3yr old P4@2.9 on IT7 Max 2 rev2 ..with this chip


Is it likily I will be able to run at 270fsb...I have a 400w antec smart power to run 2x 512 mg ram, 9700pro, dvdrw and this chip with XP90


is the onboard sound really that bad??

Thanks

 

[slatr]

I was skeptical of using a unknown chipset. I wanted to buy a DFI, but my budget was getting stretched tight with need for new video card, ram, power supply ect..

I decided to get this board and a new power supply over the DFI and give it a shot.

I am glad I took a chance on it. It seems to have typical Asus quality even though Asrock is not "top tier"

It is very stable and I am quite happy. Running the 1.2 bios, Opteron 148 in it at stock voltage, 2.8ghz.

As for sound..I am testing right now (new video card not in yet) and haven't hooked up speakers, but can when I get home if you want me to test. Just let me know if there is anything specific you want me to try and I will.

 

[SynthDude2001]

I'm quite happy with mine. I'm still trying to settle on a BIOS that works best overall, but as it is, I'm running an Opteron 170 at 2.75GHz right now on OCWB1. Got an AGP 6800GT (which was the reason I bought this board over an nForce4 one), and it performs great in the board. I'm very satisfied with the purchase, and it was only $70.

I used the onboard sound for a few days before I got my Audigy 2, and it's usable...nothing special, and I don't know how gaming would work with it (as far as CPU usage and 3D sound), but for basic computer usage it should be fine.

 

[nealh]

As for audio...all I need to know if it is pretty good..my wife will you to play educational video ...so voice is important and occasional music off Sirius online

I have inexpensive LAbtec pulse 424 speakers that are 4yrs old..so not looking for audiophile quailty but do not want alot of cracking and popping

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: nealh
As for audio...all I need to know if it is pretty good..my wife will you to play educational video ...so voice is important and occasional music off Sirius online

I have inexpensive LAbtec pulse 424 speakers that are 4yrs old..so not looking for audiophile quailty but do not want alot of cracking and popping

I don't remember noticing any cracking/popping at all (in the short time I used the onboard audio, anyway). It should be just fine for your (wife's) intended uses.

 

[McArra]

This is an incredible board, very glad I bought it (changed my Neo 2 Nforce 3 Ultra with this, and just love it).

 

[ponch007]

I'll check when I get home . . . right know I am using the on board audio and I think it is picking up some of the vibration of the drives. I am running a pair of those CompUsa Hitachi drives in Raid -- those drive vibrate a lot. I'll have to dampen the vibration soon.

 

[dunkster]

On my system, the problem seems to be the on-board chipset. It's like selecting 'Large Sewer Pipe' for an environment. I had no problem with popping or crackling.

Cure is add-on sound card for decent sound quality.

Hope this helps!

 

[BlackPear1]

I'm happy with what mine does for the price. The onboard sound is fine for the normal things most people will playback on computer - no weird noises and decent fidelity, and I'm using better speakers than you're talking about attaching to your wife's machine so I'm sure I would notice. Just be sure to use the latest Realtek drivers and not what comes on the Asrock disk. I don't know about 270 HT operation, it's probably dependent on lots of factors, but my X2 3800+ will easily bench at 270x10 and is completely stable at 260.

 

[nealh]

ok..sounds like a winner guys....$72 shipped from newegg ..cheapest mobo I have bought in a long time

 

[Jacksn]

This board has been nothing but "The SHI*" for me!
The best PC upgrade I have ever done.

I have the ASRock running a Opteron 148 @ 11 x 273= 3003Mhz (BIOS 1.2 official)
With memory @ 7-2-3-2.5 / 1T Command rate
This is without the Vmod. (running 1.45v)

Also, I can do 11 x 255= 2.82Ghz @ 1.35v
with memory @ 7-2-3-2 / 1T Command rate

I wonder what 1.55v and a heatpipe would bring me???

Jacksn

 

[Somniferum]

I'm happy with mine. Only issue I've had is that I can't run 1T and Dual Channel at the same time, but it makes very little difference in terms of real-world performance. I'm using my old Turtle Beach Santa Cruz so I wouldn't know about onboard sound -- it may be an old soundcard, but it still sounds great!

Only reason I can think of NOT to buy this board is if you are into hardcore overclocking -- the voltage options are very limited and the BIOS can be confusing at times. But for general use/moderate overclocking it's a great value.

 

[nealh]

what is max vcore on this mobo

 

[slatr]

That may be an issue for you Neal, I am not at home, but I am 99% sure it is 1.5.

 

[Somniferum]

Originally posted by: nealh
what is max vcore on this mobo

Max VCORE is 1.45v using a non-hacked BIOS. There are hacks out there that let you go higher (up to 1.55v), but I believe they all involve soldering points on the board, which is a bit extreme for my tastes.

VDIMM has only two settings -- 2.5v ("Normal") and 2.7v ("High"). Similarly, there is a mod that lets you go up to 3.04v, but it also involves physically altering the circuitry of the board.

See here for more info: OCWorkbench FAQ

 

[nealh]

hmm..you can not get 1.5v...crap..I hate waste this 3200@2750 by dropping down although my wife would never know the difference

 

[Bad Dude]

There's a Vcore mod.

 

[nealh]

I am not going to mod the mobo ..my luck I will kill it..if it is a simple bios flash fine..but hardware mod..not for me

 

[McArra]

Originally posted by: nealh
I am not going to mod the mobo ..my luck I will kill it..if it is a simple bios flash fine..but hardware mod..not for me

You only have to draw a little line with a pencil, is not hard to do

 

[Bad Dude]

Originally posted by: McArra

Originally posted by: nealh
I am not going to mod the mobo ..my luck I will kill it..if it is a simple bios flash fine..but hardware mod..not for me

You only have to draw a little line with a pencil, is not hard to do

I am not sure a draw of pencil will work. I used a tiny piece of copper wire to short the VID3 and it worked.

 

[hooflung]

Well I love my ASRock 939Dual SATA 2. I use default 1.20 bios and have 2 x 1gig OCZ DDR400, X2 3800+ stock speed, 6800NU unlocked and can tell you its the best mobo I have ever had. Sound I don't know to much about since I use a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS from day one with it. On my asrock 755 based mobo the sound I used a cheap Chaintech Envy 24 HT-S soundcard so can't comment too much on their past sound either.

If in doubt with the sound get the chaintech from newegg for 25 beans. Not that it matters about having hardware sound since most every new game doesn't support Creative anymore since they have gone the way of software sound engines.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Quick question for all u opteron users with this asrock board. I was considering buying this board with a 144 opteron, and the cpu support list on asrock says it supports opteron as of bios rev 1.4 Is there a reason u all use 1.2 (I wont ask the obvious question 'does it work' because obviously it does with 1.2).

 

[professor1942]

I'm very happy with it, although my initial overclocking attempts resulted in some very weird things like having to pull all my DIMMs out and clear CMOS 3 times in a row, repair WINXP installation, etc. The problem was memory related, and I would advise anyone getting this board to NOT run it with 4 DIMMs; get 2x1GB instead and you will hopefully be spared some headaches. Also, make sure you set DRAM voltage to "high' before attempting even the smallest overclock.

Performance with an AGP card is top-notch, way better than my old 2.8c/P4P800.

 

[Rhezuss]

I'm quite pleased for now. I'm waiting for a new video card to test it under full load. Came with BIOS 1.5 and run very stable. I never turned off my PC for the last 8-9 days and it's very stable.

 

[imported_Seer]

Broken Arrow:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1637097&enterthread=y

A much better thread to find answers in.