So, what is the final verdict on the Asrock Dual Sata II

[DetroitSportsFan]

I've read a lot of the reviews on this board. Over-all, it seems to have good ratings. The biggest negative appears to be lack of voltage control. I'm not looking for a huge overclock.

How much of a real-world performance difference would PCI-e be for someone who's not a gamer? Most of my computer work is audio/video in nature.

I've already ordered an Opteron 165.

The rest of the system:

Mobo - currently leaning towards the Asrock board.
Western digital 250g Sata II drive.
2 gig G-skil value ram.

reusing:

120 and 160 gig WD 7200 drives for storage
Nvidia FX5200 128 meg

Over-all, is the Asrock Dual Sata II a good choice? Would a different board with only AGP be a better choice? I like the idea of being able to upgrade to PCI-e in the future.

Feedback?

 

[SynthDude2001]

If you're not planning to play games at all, PCI-E isn't going to make any difference for you right now unless you happen to need one of the very few other PCI-E peripherals currently in existence.

I think the ASRock board is a good choice. It's not perfect and it does have its flaws, but I'm very happy with mine. If you're just looking for a small/moderate overclock (say, to 2.2-2.4GHz), 1.4V will likely be fine for you. If not, there's always the conductive pen voltmod (it's not really difficult), but not everyone will want to mess with that. At this point, I'd find it hard to recommend an AGP-only motherboard unless it was really inexpensive. Since I assume you'll be keeping your 165 for a long time (I definitely plan to hold onto my 170 for a couple years), it would be nice to have an upgrade path for a newer video card in the future without having to swap out motherboards yet again. You may want to check out my thread on the board here if you haven't already (it's very long though). There are a decent number of us on the forums here who have this board, and most people are having no problems. A few are, but that seems to be minority by far.

It's only $70, I say go for it.

 

[Mattd46612]

For the money its the best board right now. A dot of solder and you can go to 1.55Vcore and a bios flash to something unofficial and ive seen the board boot at 375htt. Plus M2 support down the road. For $70 is like a sore rod, hard to beat.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Yes, my computers typically have a 4 year lifecycle so the opteron 165 will be around for a while. I usually build a new one every 2 years and pass down my old system to my wife. She's currently got an XP1800 based system that I built in 2002.

So far, thats good news. My son likes to game, but he lives with his mother. If it were his choice, he'd likely choose something with SLI and 2 vid cards. However, it hardly seems worth it to me to shell out the extra so my son can game for a few hours every other weekend ... especially since the system I currently have (Barton 2500 @ 2.2ghz/A7n8x deluxe/1 gig ram/FX5200) seems to play all his games just fine.

I'm still trying to decide about a few things though ....

I looked around NewEgg for a while today. Which would make more sense? Staying with my Patroit PC3200 2x512 CL2.5 ram and buying THIS card or staying with my 128mb FX5200 for a while longer and adding an extra gig of ram? If I buy the PCI-e card, I can add more ram later. If I do run the PCI-e, is there another budget board that will work well with my 450 watt 20 pin supply?

Or

Should I forgo the Sata II drive and buy a more expensive board?

At this time, I'm still leaning towards that Dual Sata II board, the extra gig of ram, and the Sata II drive. However, I can still be swayed if something different makes more sense.

 

[Wentelteefje]

What 450W power supply are we talking about here? What games does your kid like to play? The X550 is faster, but not to say a world of difference... If you want a budget graphics card, then take a vanilla 6600... It has double the pipelines and overclocks really well, making it a decent performer... A non-Pro X700 is an option as well... They both cost a bit more than the X550, but will largely outperform it...

1GB is still enough for today's programs and even games...

EDIT: The ASRock is a very good board!

 

[MaxxuM]

I had problems with the ASRock board during install but after that it has been stable (stress tested for 24 hours overclocked a AMD 64 3200+ to 2.2Ghz and it still runs at 35C normal and 39C under stress in a warm room). It came with the 1.04 BIOS; most people that had problem have been with the lower numbers. The board is cramped and placement of some things makes it difficult in systems with many devices like mine (three hard drives two optical, two PCI devices, AGP and a big heatsink). I almost never play games so keeping my 5500 ultra OC nvidia was a must; all in all, I would give this board four stars over all and five in its class (which is pretty sparse).

Oh, and it is attached to a 400w PSU.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

I'd have to open up this sytem that I'm using right now to tell you the brand psu. I didn't buy it. I scavanged it from a buddy's full tower server case that he was throwing out. I can tell you that its rock solid! The volts never fluctuate regardless of the load. Here are my readings: 12v = 12.672, 5v = 5.026, and 3.3v = 3.34. I think since the Asrock is a 20 pin board, my PSU will be sufficient.

Those PCI-e cards are both more than I wanted to spend. I wanted to keep the whole project between $600-$700 including shipping. I've already put $300 in the CPU, so you can see whats left to work with. I need to buy a gig of ram (was considering 2), otherwise, I'd be without good ram in this box when I hand it over to the Mrs. Also, we must include a heatsink ... nothing fancy since we're not talking more than stock voltages. I'd be interested in what you would put together with the remaining $400 (including shipping).

Your suggestions?

Edit: My son likes Gun, Quake, and Call of Duty currently.

Edit #2 (Reply to Maxxum)

I would give this board four stars over all and five in its class (which is pretty sparse).

That sounds good, especially since I really can't afford much more and make the whole project work. Also, it sounds like you're thinking I'd be fine with my current vid card for a while longer and upgrading to PCI-e whenever the funds come available .... which is my preference because I'd rather have a sataII hard drive than a PCI-e video card. The faster transfer rate on the sataII over my current IDE setup is what I really need in my mind.

 

[sandorski]

For keeping AGP now with the option to go PCI-e later, this mobo is unmatched. It has a couple issues, like the 1t ram timing issue, but overall is a very decent mobo that has worked well for me. However, since you only have a FX5200 video card, you could go with an onboard Video ATI or Nvidia mobo and have equal and possibly better performance. You might to check into that, I'm 75% confident in that assumption. The advantages to these other mobbos would be that you'll have a PCI-e slot, equal video, and without some of the issues the Asrock has and all for practically the same price.

 

[Lord Banshee]

I say get something better,

I had the AsRock for about 3-4 months and i have to say i love my DFI alot better when though it was 40 dollars more. But when it comes down to it, 40 dollars isn't much for one of the main components of a computer.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally posted by: sandorski
For keeping AGP now with the option to go PCI-e later, this mobo is unmatched. It has a couple issues, like the 1t ram timing issue, but overall is a very decent mobo that has worked well for me. However, since you only have a FX5200 video card, you could go with an onboard Video ATI or Nvidia mobo and have equal and possibly better performance. You might to check into that, I'm 75% confident in that assumption. The advantages to these other mobbos would be that you'll have a PCI-e slot, equal video, and without some of the issues the Asrock has and all for practically the same price.

Thats not a half bad idea actually ...

THIS board would likely fit the bill.

Opinions?

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: DetroitSportsFan

Originally posted by: sandorski
For keeping AGP now with the option to go PCI-e later, this mobo is unmatched. It has a couple issues, like the 1t ram timing issue, but overall is a very decent mobo that has worked well for me. However, since you only have a FX5200 video card, you could go with an onboard Video ATI or Nvidia mobo and have equal and possibly better performance. You might to check into that, I'm 75% confident in that assumption. The advantages to these other mobbos would be that you'll have a PCI-e slot, equal video, and without some of the issues the Asrock has and all for practically the same price.

Thats not a half bad idea actually ...

THIS board would likely fit the bill.

Opinions?

A thread on the subject that might be helpful

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Interesting read. I'm not through it yet, but I intend to finish it.

As I was reading, and then going and checking out the mobos at Newegg, I noticed that most all of them use a 24 pin PSU connector. If I understand right, the last 4 pins would be required if running the PCI-E card. Otherwise, you can still use the 20 pin PSU's that has the P4 connector. Is this correct?

I'd rather upgrade the PSU when I moved to a PCI-e card than to include it into the build now.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Bump.

I think I will go with THIS mobo. It has a 24 pin PSU connector though. Can I still use my old 20 pin PSU with this board? I've heard the extra 4 pins provides a dedicated line to the PCI-e slot. Since I'm not planning on buying the PCI-e card this time around, will my 20 pin supply work in this board?

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: DetroitSportsFan
Interesting read. I'm not through it yet, but I intend to finish it.

As I was reading, and then going and checking out the mobos at Newegg, I noticed that most all of them use a 24 pin PSU connector. If I understand right, the last 4 pins would be required if running the PCI-E card. Otherwise, you can still use the 20 pin PSU's that has the P4 connector. Is this correct?

I'd rather upgrade the PSU when I moved to a PCI-e card than to include it into the build now.

I believe the "24pin" is the regular ATX connector plus the 4 pin(not entirely sure though). Any power supply within the last 3ish years should have that.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

I believe the "24pin" is the regular ATX connector plus the 4 pin(not entirely sure though). Any power supply within the last 3ish years should have that.

If thats the case, I should be all right. I've got a 400 watt enermax, and 2 450 watt supplies (not sure of the brand.)

Can anyone confirm that the "24 pin" connector is a 20 pin connector + 4 pin P4 connector? I was lead to believe that a "24" pin connector has 24 pins + the 4pin P4 connector.

 

[Dribble]

I'd steer clear of that motherboard. I know some people who have used it and had no problems, others who have had no end of issues - it fried their AGP card (a 5900XT), had memory compatibility issues (wouldn't recognise the timing of standard crucial DDR400 and isn't stable at DDR400 speeds). Hence it seems a risky purchase.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Originally posted by: DetroitSportsFan

I believe the "24pin" is the regular ATX connector plus the 4 pin(not entirely sure though). Any power supply within the last 3ish years should have that.

If thats the case, I should be all right. I've got a 400 watt enermax, and 2 450 watt supplies (not sure of the brand.)

Can anyone confirm that the "24 pin" connector is a 20 pin connector + 4 pin P4 connector? I was lead to believe that a "24" pin connector has 24 pins + the 4pin P4 connector.

No no, don't you dare doing that, at least if you don't intend on ruining your motherboard from the very first second... It is indeed a 20+4-pin or 24-pin connector, but not the P4 one... Those still need to power the CPU... However, you can use a PSU with a 20-pin connector just fine on your new motherboard, given that it has decent Amperages...

The Enermax should do fine IMO... What are the specs of it?

The mobo looks fine at first sight, but Dribble's advice looks a bit frightening... However, you'll probably be just fine... One to consider as well, is the Biostar TForce6100-939... It still has the older and "lesser-featured" 6100 aboard, but is one of the best mATX overclockers around...

EDIT: Seeing that you initially stated "I'm not looking for a huge overclock", the Foxconn will be good enough for your needs...

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

No no, don't you dare doing that, at least if you don't intend on ruining your motherboard from the very first second... It is indeed a 20+4-pin or 24-pin connector, but not the P4 one... Those still need to power the CPU... However, you can use a PSU with a 20-pin connector just fine on your new motherboard, given that it has decent Amperages...

.

Don't worry! I was going to plug the 20 pin connector into the 24 pin slot. However, I knew the P4 connector still plugs in next to the CPU socket. Those open 4 pins on the 24 pin connector would remain open until I upgrade the power supply.

The Enermax should do fine IMO... What are the specs of it?

Its a 450 watt supply with a high amperage 12 volt rail. However, I'm at work and the system its powering is at home. I can't fully answer that question until I pull the case out from under the desk and open up the panel.

As for the Biostar board, I hear some people have had posting issues.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Bump

Here are the amp ratings on the side of my psu:

+3.3V@20A, +5V@30A, +12V@22A

It came out of a server case. I got it second hand from a friend ... but its a psu that was used in an actual server application. Its taken everything that I've thrown at it with the Barton 2500 rig without ever even batting an eye. The readings don't budge. Its been the best power supply I've ever had.

It has a 20 pin connector and a separate 4 pin P4 connector. Will the 20 pin connector work on a 24 pin board?

Can I reuse it? Or do I have to buy a 24 pin + 4 pin P4 power supply?

 

[designit]

I have been using Asrock dual Sata for about 4 months and am very happy w/ its performance. I was using it w/ A64 Venice 3000 first and overclocked it to 2.76 mhz.
Now i am using it w/ my opteron 146 overclocked to 3ghz ( now @ 2.85ghz untill installing better rams and cooling system).
Asrock SataII is a great AGP mobo none other board can match it.
Opteron 165 does not need much voltage increase to overclock. 1.45v vcore would probably get you to 2.5-2.6 mhz.
I suggest doing more research before committing to other mobo's.
I did that because of my AGP card and found ASrock to be a better choice.

Edit: That power supply should be good and enough amp on 12v rail.
If you decided on Asrock the 20 pins and 4pins you have on your PS will work just fine because asrock has a 20pin and 4 pin sockets on mobo. just make sure the 4 pins are 2 grounds and 2-12v. (2 blacks, 2 yellows the yellows to the edge of mobo).
some 4pins, the 12v rails are 2 colors-yellow w/ a narrow black strip.
Just make sure your 4 pins are 2 grounds and 2-12v and you plug it to the right socket(g to g, 12v, to 12v)

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

I've been seriously considering moving away from the dual sata II and going with the BIOSTAR TForce6100-939 . There's a good chance the onboard video is better than my FX5200 AGP card.

The only thing stopping me is whether or not my 20 pin supply will work with the board's 24 pin connector. I've read around. I'm getting different answers. Some are saying yes ... if the PSU has enough amps on the rails. Others are saying that it depends on the board and that not all will work with the 20 pin supply.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: sandorski
For keeping AGP now with the option to go PCI-e later, this mobo is unmatched. It has a couple issues, like the 1t ram timing issue, but overall is a very decent mobo that has worked well for me. However, since you only have a FX5200 video card, you could go with an onboard Video ATI or Nvidia mobo and have equal and possibly better performance. You might to check into that, I'm 75% confident in that assumption. The advantages to these other mobbos would be that you'll have a PCI-e slot, equal video, and without some of the issues the Asrock has and all for practically the same price.

Yeah, thats what I was going to suggest. An FX5200 isn't something you really need to hang onto, I'm pretty sure that the newer nvidia6100 or 6150 boards will give the same or better performance and also have a PCI-E slot. And those boards are pretty inexpensive. Just another option to consider.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Yeah, thats what I was going to suggest. An FX5200 isn't something you really need to hang onto, I'm pretty sure that the newer nvidia6100 or 6150 boards will give the same or better performance and also have a PCI-E slot. And those boards are pretty inexpensive. Just another option to consider.

Thats the conclusion I've drawn through the opinions in this thread. I'm going to buy one of the biostar boards with the nvidia chipset. I just haven't entirely decided between the 6100 and the 6150. I can keep the FX5200 with the Barton 2500 system when I hand it over to the Mrs.

However, no one has confirmed whether or not my 20 pin psu will work with the 24 pin Biostar board. Considering I won't be running PCI-e for the time being, I think a 20 to 24 pin adaptor will do. From what I've read, those who are using the adaptor to power their PCI-e slot are the ones who are experiencing problems. I think that would be a powersupply issue ... not a connector issue.