939Dual-SATA2

[paulxmn]

Hi,


My hardware addiction has led me to purchase the the ASRock 939 Dual Sata2 motherboard ($58.00 US tax inlcuded) . This weekend I will be setting up the motherboard with the following:

AMD 64 939 3000+ ( only socket 939 sold in the city where I live, Xiamen China)
Crucial Ballistix DDR 400 PC3200 LED 512x2
Thermaltake Silent Boost
Asus DVD, CDRW ( since ASRock is a div. of Asus so they should get along fine)
Galaxy 6600 GT AGP ( this board also has a PCIe slot)
Seagate SATA 80BG x2 Stripe Raid
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream Case
Thermaltake 400W Pure Power

If anyone has this board and wishes to comment please do so, if not "follow along" as the newbie tests and reports on this motherboard. Check out the OC and Gaming results of the board agaisnt the DFI!


2005-10-07 ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 is proudly awarded BEST VALUE at PCSTATS.




http://www.asrock.com/product/product_939Dual-SATA2.htm


http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2524&p=10


Disclaimer: I am not employed or hold shares in any of the above listed companies. I hold no qualifications in the area of PC testing, I am not employed by and probably never should be by any PC related manufacturer and have absolutely no education related to the computer field. No professional or other PC reviewer should take offense to my posting. No animals were harmed, mistreated or abused in any manner during this test. (except the cows in Call of Duty)

[paulxmn]

The installation and set up was easy.
final oc- 255FSB@9 HTT 3X (600 on this board) Memory Divider 166
Timings 2.5.3.3.10 T1 ( Uli recommends 10 )
OCCT (level torture) passed
Future Mark 03 8801
Aqua Mark 3 59061 CPU Score 10681
Bios 1.20 (came with the board)

Graphics Card: Galaxy 6600GT
For the price this is a stable board but lacks the memory and CPU voltage to achieve higher OC's (based on my hardware)

Had the board as high as 270 but no amount of adjustment would produce a stable condition. ( must be my set up)

Notes: Thermal grease applied to the passive HS was well placed

Overall for a value board
( changed to Artic Silver)
Replaced the cables that came with the board (very cheap)
Uses MBM 5 customized to monitor, other similar utilities like Evergreen caused re-boots to freeze ( on this mobo)
Central Brain works better than CPUZ
Fast start ups into Windows Screen ( less than 10 seconds)
Bios setting for CPU is 1.45 but monitoring shows 1.50 fluncuations verified by OCCT Graph
The planned OC to 255FSB was without any BSOD's and was very quick using increments of 10.
Used the drivers downloaded from the Uli site (recommended) DO NOT USE THE CD DRIVERS
Using Creative Labs 5.1 Surround Sound with Real Tek Driver produced great sound effects during game playing. Loud pop on shut down.
Install Uli drivers prior to NVidia or Ati installation. Disable Fast Writes

Game Play: cannot see any differences from my higher end boards (compared to DFI Lanparty and MSI K8N Neo FSR socket 754)

:idea: This board produces higher results with PCI express cards.

[Googer]

My only complaint about this board from my experiences with it that the BIOS is just a bit clunky when it comes to memory suppot and a fast POST. it always wants to revert to 133mhz memory clock @ 2t when running on Corsair 1GB DDR400 value kit.

[paulxmn]

My only complaint about this board from my experiences with it that the BIOS is just a bit clunky when it comes to memory suppot and a fast POST. it always wants to revert to 133mhz memory clock @ 2t when running on Corsair 1GB DDR400 value kit.

I stopped using the mobo (for gaming) after I installed a PCIe Card and COD2, too many BSOD's. it was all related to the memory voltage being too low. It was a fun Mobo for the novelty of the product and its price. I am now using it for the office where it turns out to be quite a good CAD and Lightscape PC with a Galaxy 6600GT AGP.

The reverting back to T2 is Bios related. I never experienced this issue but read quite a bit about it on the forums. Use Bios 120 with the RAM you are using. With the exception of the voltage settings and PCIe problems with my Mobo I still believe this is great Mobo for the price and features.

Best

[Googer]

My only complaint about this board from my experiences with it that the BIOS is just a bit clunky when it comes to memory suppot and a fast POST. it always wants to revert to 133mhz memory clock @ 2t when running on Corsair 1GB DDR400 value kit.

I stopped using the mobo (for gaming) after I installed a PCIe Card and COD2, too many BSOD's. it was all related to the memory voltage being too low. It was a fun Mobo for the novelty of the product and its price. I am now using it for the office where it turns out to be quite a good CAD and Lightscape PC with a Galaxy 6600GT AGP.

The reverting back to T2 is Bios related. I never experienced this issue but read quite a bit about it on the forums. Use Bios 120 with the RAM you are using. With the exception of the voltage settings and PCIe problems with my Mobo I still believe this is great Mobo for the price and features.

Best


There is a reason why they make quadros. A 6600GT is not a smart choice for engineering.

[paulxmn]

My only complaint about this board from my experiences with it that the BIOS is just a bit clunky when it comes to memory suppot and a fast POST. it always wants to revert to 133mhz memory clock @ 2t when running on Corsair 1GB DDR400 value kit.

I stopped using the mobo (for gaming) after I installed a PCIe Card and COD2, too many BSOD's. it was all related to the memory voltage being too low. It was a fun Mobo for the novelty of the product and its price. I am now using it for the office where it turns out to be quite a good CAD and Lightscape PC with a Galaxy 6600GT AGP.

The reverting back to T2 is Bios related. I never experienced this issue but read quite a bit about it on the forums. Use Bios 120 with the RAM you are using. With the exception of the voltage settings and PCIe problems with my Mobo I still believe this is great Mobo for the price and features.

Best


There is a reason why they make quadros. A 6600GT is not a smart choice for engineering.


Not for engineering, it does a great job rendering from AutoCAD to Lightscape for interior projects. In the part of China where I live anything higher than 6600 did not show up till last month. The staff had been using the 5000 series. Quadros not avialable but we get along. Are you in a graphics related area? I am going to replace all the P4's in our office with the ASrock Dual 939 because it is avialble and only costs $50.00 US.

Best

[Googer]

My only complaint about this board from my experiences with it that the BIOS is just a bit clunky when it comes to memory suppot and a fast POST. it always wants to revert to 133mhz memory clock @ 2t when running on Corsair 1GB DDR400 value kit.

I stopped using the mobo (for gaming) after I installed a PCIe Card and COD2, too many BSOD's. it was all related to the memory voltage being too low. It was a fun Mobo for the novelty of the product and its price. I am now using it for the office where it turns out to be quite a good CAD and Lightscape PC with a Galaxy 6600GT AGP.

The reverting back to T2 is Bios related. I never experienced this issue but read quite a bit about it on the forums. Use Bios 120 with the RAM you are using. With the exception of the voltage settings and PCIe problems with my Mobo I still believe this is great Mobo for the price and features.

Best


There is a reason why they make quadros. A 6600GT is not a smart choice for engineering.


Not for engineering, it does a great job rendering from AutoCAD to Lightscape for interior projects. In the part of China where I live anything higher than 6600 did not show up till last month. The staff had been using the 5000 series. Quadros not avialable but we get along. Are you in a graphics related area? I am going to replace all the P4's in our office with the ASrock Dual 939 because it is avialble and only costs $50.00 US.

Best

Actually It costs $72 for it and that was the lowest price on the web a few weeks ago.

How Ironic that almost all Video Cards are made in China but you cannot buy them there? As for motherboards there are better choices than the ASrock 939 DUAL. The only reason why anyone might want to buy a 939 DUAL is if they have an AGP card and want to keep it around for a while. But if you are starting from scratch with a new video card and are shopping for a new motherboard then Ignore the ASROCK 939 Dual and get something better. Iwill and Tyan are wise choices for a graphics orented buisness. If they are not avalble then I am sure an ASUS workstation board can be found somewhere in China.

It has been rumored that Supermicro is getting in to the AMD market but I have not comfirmed this yet.

Check out ASUS (I am not sure what models are avalable in your area) and shop on ebay, many merchants will sell overseas to someone in China and ebay does have a Chineese version that might sell something faster than a 6600.


Chineese Ebay 7800GT
http://search.ebay.com.cn/7800gt_W0QQfcdZ2QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8QQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1Q QmaxrecordsreturnedZ300

I cannot read chineese, but this is a top of the line Quadro FX 4500
http://cgi.ebay.com.cn/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8766170523&category=162&ssPageName=WD2V&rd=1

This is the hottest Consumer Video Card on the market- ATi X1900XT
http://search.ebay.com.cn/x1900xt_W0QQbsZQe6Q90Q9cQe7Qb4Qa2QQcatrefZC6QQfcdZ 2QQflocZ1QQfromZR10QQfrppZ50QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQfsty peZ1QQga10244Z10425QQmaxrecordsreturnedZ300QQsacat ZQ2d1QQsargnZQ2d1QQsascsZ1QQsaslcZ0QQsbrftogZ1QQso focusZbs
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Googer
CompTIA Certified.

[paulxmn]

My only complaint about this board from my experiences with it that the BIOS is just a bit clunky when it comes to memory suppot and a fast POST. it always wants to revert to 133mhz memory clock @ 2t when running on Corsair 1GB DDR400 value kit.

I stopped using the mobo (for gaming) after I installed a PCIe Card and COD2, too many BSOD's. it was all related to the memory voltage being too low. It was a fun Mobo for the novelty of the product and its price. I am now using it for the office where it turns out to be quite a good CAD and Lightscape PC with a Galaxy 6600GT AGP.

The reverting back to T2 is Bios related. I never experienced this issue but read quite a bit about it on the forums. Use Bios 120 with the RAM you are using. With the exception of the voltage settings and PCIe problems with my Mobo I still believe this is great Mobo for the price and features.

Best


There is a reason why they make quadros. A 6600GT is not a smart choice for engineering.


Not for engineering, it does a great job rendering from AutoCAD to Lightscape for interior projects. In the part of China where I live anything higher than 6600 did not show up till last month. The staff had been using the 5000 series. Quadros not avialable but we get along. Are you in a graphics related area? I am going to replace all the P4's in our office with the ASrock Dual 939 because it is avialble and only costs $50.00 US.

Best

It costs $50.00 here in the store . I use Asus and DFI for home use. At the office we have MSI K8N Neo, Asus Force 3 250 754. The Dual is good for the staff since they are hard on the equipment, the problem is the CPU's only Sempron's and 939 3000+, value ram only and I had to bring my memory from overseas. US is the largest market and thus the mainstream of exports go there. Asus is very common here. Customs charges too high to buy on the web and deliver to China. Just the way it is. The two PC's on my signature are the most powerful rigs in Xiamen "LOL" shark in a goldfish pond. The only other choice is Dell which are made in this city. But not interested.