Asrock939 Sata2 Heatsink/Fan combo

[Jacksn]

Ok folks. I'm about to make the jump also to this Asrock board.
Can I get opinions on who is using the following HSF combos with it:

XP-90c

XP-120

Zalman 9500LED

Big Typhoon

(Please include difficulty level of installing or mods, Temps. at Idle/Burn, noise levels, comparisons to previous HSF, and any other info you care too!)

My heart is set on the Zalman 9500 (performance?) or The Big Typhoon (Price/Performance). But Which one of the 4 is really best? ...And why!!?

Thanks-

JC

 

[Cruise51]

If you are planning to overclock that motherboard you may be disappointed. Few people get more than 2.4Ghz and not much higher than 2.7 with a few mods. It's good for a mild overclock (mine is 2.4Ghz from 1.8 with stock cooling). Getting a 7700-cu didn't improve my overclock at all. Fact is one of those coolers may be wasted doing a job a stock heatsink can do just fine. However if your going for a quiet setup, this board is perfect.

 

[Jacksn]

Thank you for that. A very good point made!
I hope I can achieve atleast 2.6Ghz w/ a 3500+ and the vmod that has been posted.
If I can do that at under 37c-39c w/ any of the HSFs mentioned, I'll be in hog heaven.
I will be content though if I can get it under 43c at high overclocks (2.6Ghz - 2.8Ghz)
What kind of rig (CPU, HSF, MB, memory, etc.) are you running, and at what voltage(s)? Thanks for your input!

JC

 

[dunkster]

I've run this board with both the standard AMD Retail CPU Heatsink and the plain XP-90 (Heatsink Factory has both the XP-90 and the backplate-adaptor, but shipped late).

I didn't keep good notes for the standard AMD heasink, but I don't recall Prime95 temps reaching 50C at 11X250. With the plain XP-90, CPU temp is 41C after an hour at 11X250 with Prime95.

My max stable overclock seems to be 11X252, which was completely stable with the standard AMD heatsink.

With the XP-90 installed, I barely have enough room to reach my RAM sticks (I have the heatsink-overhang over the RAM). I'd be hesitant about installing anything larger.

Hope this helps!

 

[Jacksn]

Did you do the vmod to achieve 2750Mhz?
What are your BIOS settings to achieve that?
Also, are you using a fan for the XP-90- and what size?

 

[Zebo]

Stock. What do you need a aftermarket HSF for with a board which only gives 1.4 volts, if your lucky and also use a hacked bios?

 

[Jacksn]

What about doing the Vmod & running 1.55v?
Won't that generate quite a bit more heat?
Or do you think even @ those volts it wont generate quite the heat to validate the better investment in a heat-pipe solution?

 

[dunkster]

With neither Vcore nor Vdimm mods, my max stable overclock is 11X252.

System is rock-stable at 11X250 with RAM at 250MHz 2.5/3/3/7 at 2T command rate. Using 1.20 BIOS.

This system - whether due to board or components - will not stabilize with 1T command rate with memory clock speed set higher than 133MHz. I've tried OCWB1 and 1.30 BIOSes, but neither BIOS helps with the 2T problem.

Edit: System will run Prime95-stable with 1T command rate, but crashes quickly in the real world with page-fault whenever a significant page-write occurs. Fails Memtest86 Test#8 instantly.

The 2T thing is really my only disappointment with this board.

Hope this helps!

 

[hooflung]

I run my system stock but I follow the OC info for it... 1.20 is the best OC bios at the moment. 2T is the only stable memory timing setting with current VDimm voltage. It is a great motherboard but if you want an Overclocker then look elsewhere, maybe DFI. If you want a cheap OC then you might look into that ECS Premium board. Personnally, I love the 939Dual and so does my 6800 softmod w. OC.

 

[Jacksn]

Thanks for the info guys.
So what kind of thermal dissapation are you using?

JC

 

[OvErHeAtInG]

Sorry to hijak here but I have almost the same question. Will an early Zalman 7000 fit on the ASRock? When I bought the cooler, it said it would work on Socket 478 as well as athlon XP, but said nothing about A64... ?

Edit My bad, these were also for S754

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: dunkster
With neither Vcore nor Vdimm mods, my max stable overclock is 11X252.

System is rock-stable at 11X250 with RAM at 250MHz 2.5/3/3/7 at 2T command rate. Using 1.20 BIOS.

This system - whether due to board or components - will not stabilize with 1T command rate with memory clock speed set higher than 133MHz. I've tried OCWB1 and 1.30 BIOSes, but neither BIOS helps with the 2T problem.

Edit: System will run Prime95-stable with 1T command rate, but crashes quickly in the real world with page-fault whenever a significant page-write occurs. Fails Memtest86 Test#8 instantly.

The 2T thing is really my only disappointment with this board.

Hope this helps!

You might want to check out the ocwb3 that just came out. There were several people on the forum that reported it got 1t working for them.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: OvErHeAtInG
Sorry to hijak here but I have almost the same question. Will an early Zalman 7000 fit on the ASRock? When I bought the cooler, it said it would work on Socket 478 as well as athlon XP, but said nothing about A64... ?

Pretty unlikely. The mounting mechanism is a lot different from the A-XP days.

 

[BlackPear1]

My older 7000AlCu fit on this board. It attached to hardware that fits (after removing the retention bracket) the 2 mounting holes adjacent to the CPU socket (just like on S754 and the compatible S462 boards).

 

[OvErHeAtInG]

Originally posted by: BlackPear1
My older 7000AlCu fit on this board. It attached to hardware that fits (after removing the retention bracket) the 2 mounting holes adjacent to the CPU socket (just like on S754 and the compatible S462 boards).

Yeah, that's right, I just remembered the box did advertise it would fit on S754, just not 939, so when 939 came out I was wondering if I could use it to upgrade... so if it works on S754, does that mean it will fit 939?

 

[Jacksn]

Anybody using:

Zalman 9500LED

Big Typhoon

..and is it that big of a difference then Stock fan?

 

[BlackPear1]

overheating - the HSF retention brackets on my 754 and 939 boards look the same, but mounting my Zalman requires removing the standard bracket and using their mounting system with the 2 motherboard mounting holes.

jacksn - comparison of some air coolers here. I'm using XP-90 on this board w/X2 3800+ and so far have reached 10x270 (1.20 bios - windows benchable but not 100% stable for games) without vmod and am still playing around. Temps have not been an issue.

 

[Jacksn]

Whats your idle and burn temps?

 

[stanmc1]

Originally posted by: Jacksn
(Please include difficulty level of installing or mods, Temps. at Idle/Burn, noise levels, comparisons to previous HSF, and any other info you care too!)

I looked at the XP-120, but since it has so many caveats I opted for the Thermalright SI-120 which fits the Asrock939 Dual Sata2 board. The HSF unit does not extend beyond the top edge of the MoBo so it does not interfere with my PSU, but it is within 3/8" approx. It also does not interfere with the DIMM area or the surrounding capacitors etc. It requires the backing plate that is shown with the XP-120. The SI-120 web page did not show this at the time. I did find one small problem in the install with the backing plate. After you remove the original RM and install the K8 Adapting RM the backing plate has a small lip on it which interferes with the board mounting hole and post on my particular case. I used my Dremel to grind off the lip on the corner where contact was made with the post. The install instructions also suggest you loosen the original RM with nail polish remover. Not needed. When the screws are removed it comes off easily. The airflow from the 120mm fan cools the ram (2 sticks of 512) and the heatsink very well. I have at times opened the case and put my hand beneath the fins of the HeatSink and the airflow is unbelievably strong.

The unit is in a room at 78 degrees F and is showing 35.5C while running Folding @ Home and the Opera browser. It is relatively quiet. I have the 120mm fan running at 2100 rpm. My processor is an AMD64 X2 3800+ running under LInux Fedora Core 4. I used Arctic Silver Ceramique paste.

I bought the HSF setup from www.sidewindercomputers.com for $61.95 and $5.95 for the backing plate. Shipping was $4.75.

 

[BlackPear1]

My o/c temps with setup above are 39C idle, 54C load (2 instances of SP2004). Ambient is a warm 26C - still feels like summer in mid-November.

 

[Jacksn]

Thanks for the info guys.
Your getting good results it seems...

JC

 

[Jacksn]

deleted by poster

 

[Jacksn]

Up & running with Win XP loaded. So far so good...

I got an Opteron 148 to go with the motherboard.
No issues so far.

I am getting 36-38C idle with the heatsink fan that came with the CPU.
Will let you know soon about burn temps.

Jacksn

 

[Jacksn]

Ran both 3Dmark2001 & '05 w/ Super pi calculating to 8mb- no issues at all, and get a burn temp of about 43c with stock cooling. Very happy with this.
I will be going for a modest 2.5Ghz overclock @ stock volts (go higher from there) and will you keep you posted on stability and temps soon....

Jacksn

 

[Jacksn]

Still running great with this board and the Opteron 148.
I still had the voltage underclocked @ 1.35v lastnight when I took the chip to 2.5Ghz.
Memory running @ 178Mhz 7-2-2-2 1T
It never got above 42c with stock fan while "burning". I ran some loops of 3Dmark2001 and Super pi together for about a 1/2 hour and it never even broke a sweat. This chip and motherboard have some serious potential for the investment. Next mark to reach is 2700Mhz... will keep you posted.

Jacksn