ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 - Socket 939 with PCI-E and real AGP and Socket AM2 upgrade path

[DarkManX4lf]

Originally posted by: Double Echo

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
will this board be able to run vista...eventually? (the 939-Dual Sata II)

My guess would be no, but I'm not an offical ASRock spokesman, so don't take it as the end-all-be-all. But I'm guessing no because they had to make an entirely different board, not just a BIOS update. This leads me to believe that it's something to do with the programming or type of chip on the board, and not something that a firmware update can fix.

I wouldn't worry dude. Like I said above, by the time Vista's really ready, you'll want to upgrade again. Hell, by the time Vista SP1 rolls out it could be 2-3 years from now.

i read some posts on the net (Heres one) where this person says he got vista to install and work but has problems with his 9600xt

 

[Double Echo]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf

i read some posts on the net (Heres one) where this person says he got vista to install and work but has problems with his 9600xt

Something else you have to realize too, is that people are working with a really buggy Beta version right now. Vista hasn't gone into a solid production build yet, and it's quite possible that once it does, or once SP1 rolls out, there'll be better support. On the other hand, by that time I anticipate there will be much better CPU and board offerings that will take advantage of Vista, so again, don't worry so much about getting good hardware yet. Corporations often don't migrate to a new OS until a service pack is released (remember when Windows 2000 came out, and how long NT network admins took to migrate?) for a good reason.

 

[Sandan]

I just installed this board with the x2 3800+ Installation was great once I figured out that I had to connect the small atx 12v power connector along with the other larger atx power connector. That one slipped by me for a while and I was in a panic. This is the first board I had to install that connector on so I was stumped. Also, my 2 sticks of PC2700 memory is not from the same manufacturer and in fact one is from a cheap company (Spectek). But they registered as providing Dual support. Anyway it is rock solid and multitasking has never been better......Namaste

 

[lmimmfn]

Guys,
i really need your help, pleeassseeee!!!!!!, i just got this board along with a 4200+ AMD socket 939, Gigabyte GZ-FSCA1-AN case, FSP Epsilon 600W PSU 20/24pin and Pioneer DVR-111D, 320 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA2 7200.10( NOTE: i didnt format the SATA 2 drive, but that shouldnt matter for this case )
I connected all the above including a Connect 3D X850 Pro AGP, 512 MB 2100 DDR and powered on, the lights and fans on the case flashed on power on, then i pressed the power on button( at the front of the case ), all fans in the case started, case lights and CPU fan, they all stayed on but there was no video output( the GFX card is fine as i put it back in my Dell and it works fine ), just the monitor power light flashing( i.e. no signal )

There were absolutely no error beeps, so im guessing it never POST'ed, i plugged in a keyboard and pressing caps lock wouldnt light the caps lock light, i.e. no keyboard response( but on power up the Numlock, Capslock and scroll lock would flash once to show the keyboard has power, i use this same keyboard on my dell so thats fine too )
Because of this i reset the CMOS by using the jumpers for the CMOS( based on the board documentation ), then tried again, nothing, but in fact its gotten worse, powering on from the back, case lights flash, cpu fans spinn just a bit, as do case fans, the npowering on from the front, the same, case lights flash briefly, as do all fans spin briefly then they all go off, now i cant get it to its original state of at least having power

I disconnected absolutely everything except the front power connector( i.e. i removed ram,gfx card, all IDE and STAT 2 connector ) and tried to power on from the back then the front, but the same thing, case lights flash briefly along with the fans

Im at a total loss here, i dont know if the problem was initially with the CPU or mothorboard, but now the PSU refuses to power the board and fans( it still could be the mobo or CPU )

How can i determine if mobo or CPU is at fault or even if its messed up my PSU( i dont know anybody with a 939 board/CPU to swap bits to test each individually )

Any help would be seriously appreciated,
Thanks

 

[Bill Kunert]

Did you hook up the 4 pin ATX connector to the motherboard?

Bill

 

[lmimmfn]

Yes( surely it wouldnt even spin fans/flicker case lights without this connector??? ), but the stupid thing doesnt have the connectors in the right place compared to those on the board, i.e. the curved and square connectors face the wrong way around, i tried one way, but it wouldnt even power, then i swapped it around then it powered up properly( that was when the fans and case lights were working ), but when i reset the CMOS it went to only spining fans and case lights briefly when powering on from the front

As far as i know if you dont have this power connecter in it wont even spin the fans/flash the case lights on power connect/power on from the front of the case

I also disconnected absolutely everything apart from the front power connecter, the CPU and heatsink and heatsink power and the 4 and 20 pin power connectors and surely it should post then,even beep or something?

Oh this might not have been wise but i tried the 4 pin connector the other way around, but theres no power then,i.e. no fans spinning etc just some hum from the PSU, put it back the way it was and fans spin briefly and lights as before, but no constant power, just on and off

Do you think the board might be shorting in its housing in the case? i.e. somehow its earthing with the case or something?

 

[SilverTrine]

Many people are confusing the 4-pin ATX connector with the detachable 4-pin connector thats is part of the 20-pin power connector that combines to make 24-pin connector. They're two different things. However they both fit, so many people are screwing this up.

The fact that the instruction manual doesnt spell this out doesnt help and most people buying this board are coming from Socket A so they have no clue.

In fact the logical thing to do is hook the 4-pin connector that detaches from the 20-pin connector because its dangling right there in your case next to a plug that it fits into.

However this is wrong, the 4 pin ATX connector is totally seperate from the 20 + 4 pin connector.

They should put a little sheet out that says exactly that it would save a lot of installation headaches and supposed DOA Asrock dual sata 939 boards.

 

[deadlast]

i read some posts on the net (Heres one) where this person says he got vista to install and work but has problems with his 9600xt

That would be me

I've tried a PCI-E card and it worked fine, this problem is to do with the AGP Bridge Driver.

The onboard NIC was working post 5472 as well, but was broken in that build.

I believe this was because of the numerous network changes made in that build.

I see no reason why this board shouldn't run Vista at this point, RC1 should give a fair indication I gather.

 

[SilverTrine]

On a different note anyone have the specifics on what PCI-E video cards do and do not work on this Asrock Motherboard?

I've heard different things. Ranging from everything works to only the x300 PCI-E works.

 

[Wi1z]

I'd say the vast majority of video cards work on this board. I have a 7800GT and I've seen X1900XT and plenty of others in peoples signatures. If the board only accepted an X300, that'd be pretty useless

 

[imported_Seer]

/me has run a 9600 (AGP) and a 7900GT in this board

 

[Bill Kunert]

I recently ran the Vista upgrade advisor on my computer. It tells me the hard drive controller is not compatible and Vista will not install. It's the ALI M5229 PCI Bus Master IDE Controller from the Asrock cd. I can't find an upgraded driver. I'm assuming the 939Dual VSTA uses the same drivers so I wonder what gives.

Bill

 

[WT]

Running Vista beta 2 on my Asrock boardwith a 6800 AGP card. I installed onto a fresh 160gb PATA drive and dual boot to XP (installed on another 160gb PATA) as my main OS. Not sure why some users are having issues, but this was a lot easier to get running than an NF3 754 Soltek board that Vista really didn't like.

 

[SilverTrine]

I've been living with the board for a while now and its been rock stable and generally just a joy considering its such a bargain.

However I've been noticing that about every 2 weeks or so the internal clock loses an hour.

Anyone experienced this with this board?

 

[Bill Kunert]

Recently downloaded Vista build 5536 and thought I'd see if it would work. This build loaded with no problems. The Nvidia video support seems good as it feels about as fast as my XP. Windows update loaded new AC97 drivers. All in all I like it. Having some dsl problems due to incompatible software from Earthlink. Got a router coming so I can basically ditch their software.

Bill

 

[Medikit]

Has anyone posted benchmarks with this board when using the AM2 riser card? I'd be interested if there are any latency issues.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Medikit
Has anyone posted benchmarks with this board when using the AM2 riser card? I'd be interested if there are any latency issues.

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2006/asrock/AM2%20CPU%20Board/g1.htm

 

[vexingv]

as a stop gap before core 2 or ultimately an apple desktop, i'm looking to get this motherboard with a low end amd64 (or x2 if they drop) in the future (around december as i'm too busy to deal with upgrading now).
-from the few posts above, i gather that the 939Dual-VSTA is the "guaranteed" vista compatible version. but i don't see it many etailers, is it a newly announced/released product?
-will this series of motherboard still be available in the future as ULI was purchased by nvidia?

 

[Bill Kunert]

The VSTA board is a recently announced board. I have the original version and was unable to install the first public Vista beta. The recently released pre release candidate build 5536 installed perfectly and runs really well. Nvidia seems to be sabotaging ULI's chipsets. SLI enable boards using ULI chipsets have had the SLI capability disabled by newer Nvidia drivers. I would be really ticked if I bought a couple of 7600's and found out I could only use one of them. All in all the 939 Dual is a nice board, especially considering the price.

Bill

 

[Double Echo]

Originally posted by: Bill Kunert
The VSTA board is a recently announced board. I have the original version and was unable to install the first public Vista beta. The recently released pre release candidate build 5536 installed perfectly and runs really well. Nvidia seems to be sabotaging ULI's chipsets. SLI enable boards using ULI chipsets have had the SLI capability disabled by newer Nvidia drivers. I would be really ticked if I bought a couple of 7600's and found out I could only use one of them. All in all the 939 Dual is a nice board, especially considering the price.

Bill

I was able to install Vista RC1 as well without a problem. The only issue I had was with, not surprisingly, the oldest piece of hardware in my system (SB Live 5.1 PCI sound card). Initially the drivers weren't installed, but I was able to search for drivers via Update Drivers in Device Manager, but only for two speakers. Also, the joystick port doesn't have a driver either, and Creative doesn't have Vista drivers posted for the card (no surprise there either).

When Vista SP1 comes out, I'll probably have a better sound card by then, and I should know by then if it's a good choice to upgrade.

 

[Sandan]

Something I need to ask is, what is the fastest ram this board will support? I saw in the manual it will take ddr 400 PC3200. You guys might think me uninformed and I did a search on this but no results. I currently have pc2700 2 512sticks showing as dual channel. Anyway I am thinking about upgrading but not sure what the choices are above pc3200 and the manual doesn't address this. Thanks.

 

[logicmaster2003]

Hello all..

Just wondering if someone would give me some basic step-by-step in replacing my Sapphire ATI9800 (agp 8x) with MSI 7900GT OC (pci-e) on my ASROCK939-dual sata2 motherboard.

Do I uninstall the ATI9800 driver first ? then power down, pull out the ATI9800, plug in the MSI7900, power up, then install the MSI7900 driver ? or install the MSI7900 driver while ATI9800 is still installed ?

Any jumper settings on the ASROCK mobo that is needed ? how bout the settings on the BIOS ?

Thanks for your help in advance
FYI: I'm running winXP pro

 

[Sandan]

Make sure you use a driver cleaner to get rid of all the ATI stuff (search on google for one). ATI and NVIDIA drivers can conflict and cause much grief. Then install the new card.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Sandan
Something I need to ask is, what is the fastest ram this board will support? I saw in the manual it will take ddr 400 PC3200. You guys might think me uninformed and I did a search on this but no results. I currently have pc2700 2 512sticks showing as dual channel. Anyway I am thinking about upgrading but not sure what the choices are above pc3200 and the manual doesn't address this. Thanks.

The board doesn't have any upper limit on the speed of DDR it will take; however it will only be run at PC3200 (DDR400) speeds as long as your CPU is at stock. When you get a benefit from having faster RAM is in overclocking your CPU and being able to run the RAM 1:1 with the base CPU clock (HTT/"FSB"/whatever you want to call it). I'm personally of the opinion that it's not worth spending lots of money on fast "overclocking" RAM faster than PC3200 when running a divider works perfectly well and loses you very little real-world performance. For example, I used to run my CPU at 2.6GHz and RAM at 216MHz, but I found that the RAM wasn't completely stable at that speed (it's only PC3200), so I increased the CPU clock to 2.7GHz and then dropped the divider to 133 for a RAM speed of 180MHz....and I actually still got higher video encoding framerates even though the RAM was >30MHz slower, just because of the CPU speed bump. So I'd say just try to get your highest (stable) CPU overclock, and only then try to maximize your RAM speed with the available dividers at that point as a secondary concern.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: logicmaster2003
Hello all..

Just wondering if someone would give me some basic step-by-step in replacing my Sapphire ATI9800 (agp 8x) with MSI 7900GT OC (pci-e) on my ASROCK939-dual sata2 motherboard.

Do I uninstall the ATI9800 driver first ? then power down, pull out the ATI9800, plug in the MSI7900, power up, then install the MSI7900 driver ? or install the MSI7900 driver while ATI9800 is still installed ?

Any jumper settings on the ASROCK mobo that is needed ? how bout the settings on the BIOS ?

Thanks for your help in advance
FYI: I'm running winXP pro

As Sandan said, first boot to safe mode and run Driver Cleaner Pro to remove all traces of ATI stuff (assuming you already uninstalled the ATI software through Add/Remove Programs beforehand), then turn off the computer, remove the 9800, plug in the 7900, and install the drivers for it when you boot into XP....that should be it. You don't really need to change any settings in the BIOS (the only one you might change is the primary video from AGP to PCI-E, but even then that only makes a difference if you have multiple video cards so it wouldn't really matter). No jumpers to change either.

I upgraded from an AGP 6800GT to a PCI-E X1900XT on this board back in June and I've been very happy with the upgrade (and the board itself for allowing me to do it). Enjoy the speed boost.