AGP and PCI-e on one motherboard?

[djgandy]

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=245&num=11

Also several people are reporting DOA boards and stability issues.

· Lack of accessories
· Poor packaging
· Poor overclocking options
· Only 2 fan connectors
· AGP performance suffers
· No 10/100/1000 support
· VIA DualGFX Technology failed
· DDR/AGP voltage options

Lack of accessories: How many accessories does a mobo need? What do they mean by this the amount of cables? I get fed up of these top end boards which way over do it. Majority of people don't need all the crap they bundle in, and all the useless features that are on motherboards these days.

Poor packaging: What did they want it boxed in re-enforced steel casing?

Poor overclocking options: It's a £33 mobo.

Only 2 fan connectors: Again, if you are buying this board you there is a 99% chance you don't actually give a **** about this.

AGP performance suffers: really?

No 10/100/1000 support: Who cares.

VIA DualGFX Technology failed: Can't comment on this.

DDR/AGP voltage options: Can't comment on this either.


Now, i have looked at the date of that review. Maybe there were problems 14 months ago. With the board i own however, there isn't.

 

[muffin]

There are a few overclocking BIOS files at OCWorkbench for the Asrock 939 Dual SATA. Been running my Opteron 170 on it at 2.6GHz forever. Great cheap board and basically runs anything as far as hardware - a good workbench platform for testing parts.

 

[linux_0]

Also http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=355&num=11

The 939Dual-SATA2 scored somewhat better than the 775Dual-880Pro

The 939Dual got 8/10

The 775Dual got 7/10

I have 4 939Duals and I'm reasonably happy with them.

I have 0 775Duals so I cannot comment from personal experience but based on what I know the VIA solution is simply inferior to the ULi solution on paper as well as in practice.

Both boards do seem to suffer from some quality control issues and both are budget boards.

I got my 939Duals for between $32 - $48 USD delivered ( 15 - 30 pounds ).

 

[linux_0]

There are a few overclocking BIOS files at OCWorkbench for the Asrock 939 Dual SATA. Been running my Opteron 170 on it at 2.6GHz forever. Great cheap board and basically runs anything as far as hardware - a good workbench platform for testing parts.

Good to hear :-D

What's your stepping btw?

And what about your settings?

 

[djgandy]

once again

Author: Michael Larabel
Topic: Motherboards
Page: 11 of 11
Published: December 24, 2005
Discussion Link

http://www.asrock.com/support/download.asp?Model=775Dual-VSTA#bios

look at the newest bios on that page.

 

[chrone]

· VIA DualGFX Technology failed

well the dual gfx really did well in my case.

two days ago, i've been die trying fixing my screwed up x1900xt as i wanted it to be flashed to x1900xtx but failed. so i ran it with agp first and then the pci vga card to flash the bios, and it worked. afterward i was attempted to try the dual graphic card thing both with agp & pcie and they could display the windows desktop. i never tried the pci vga card ran with pcie or agp though since my problem was solved.

 

[Crashman]

I've only tested other brands so like I said, there are a couple things that could make a difference:
1.) It could be that some converter chips are 3.3V compatible, or
2.) It could be that the board manufacturer added a device to make the signal 1.5V

If number 2 is the case, than you have broad compatibility. If number 1 is the case, you still have to check models to figure out compatibility.

My testing used Gigabyte and ECS boards, which only worked with cards that could operate using 3.3V signals.

 

[muffin]

Just the basic 10x260FSB - cas2 1T. works great, but 2.8 ghz gets iffy. Mind you colder weather is upon us again...may help a little keeping temps down, though to be honest it doesn't get hot with a one of those big Zalman's. I think the major thing holding me back is the lack of voltage to the mem/proc. They have articles about modding the voltage regulation on the board at OCW too. They were enamored of it for awhile, before Intel stole their attention.

 

[linux_0]

Just the basic 10x260FSB - cas2 1T. works great, but 2.8 ghz gets iffy. Mind you colder weather is upon us again...may help a little keeping temps down, though to be honest it doesn't get hot with a one of those big Zalman's. I think the major thing holding me back is the lack of voltage to the mem/proc. They have articles about modding the voltage regulation on the board at OCW too. They were enamored of it for awhile, before Intel stole their attention.

@muffin

Cool thanks for the info! :-D

What kind of RAM btw?


@Crashman


Yes, it turns out you're absolutely right!

The AGP slot is 1.5V ONLY

http://www.phoronix.net/image.php?id=245&image=asrock_880pro_ide_lrg

· AGP8X/4X slot (1.5V only)

 

[djgandy]

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=133635

 

[bourgeoisdude]

Interesting...how come the manual for my Dual-Sata2 says that the AGP slot cannot use 3.3V AGP cards? See the PDF file and look at page 7, Caution 4.

So what does this mean? I can only presume it means that cards natively only supporting AGP 2X/1X are not supported--are my suspicions correct?

Funny the compatability issues with all of this--dangit, no wonder PCI video cards were so much easier to deal with Heh, the PCI bus is stuck at the slower 3.3V though

EDIT: By the way, if you look at the manual PDF file (just like my hard copy that came with the board), you will notice the clear and concise instructions and examples, along with almost over-emphasized warnings about system builder no-no's for the mobo setup. This is oddley enough one of the reasons I finally decided to go with a "no name" brand mobo. I was very much wanting to avoid past mistakes from previous builds when I got this one, and so far, it was one heck of a bargain for the money. The fact is, most mobo manufacturers don't really care to have detailed manuals anymore, and the ones like that which I have used turned out to be crappy systems. I know it seems like a little thing to some, but to me, it shows that ASROCK really wants their products to last. With all the cheapo's seemingly wanting me to buy a new mobo every year, that for me was one of the deciding factors in buying this motherboard.

 

[fluffman]

Hi guys, I am the OP of this topic.

I have to say thanks for the really good info about all these cards.

I have now made a decision about and am going to buy:

Either a 939Dual-VSTA or 939Dual-SATA2 (though at the mo i have no idea what the difference is... will research...)

A AMD FX 57

And I'll keep my current RAM.

Then in the future as i see it i can then buy some ddr2 ram and the daughter card and a AM2 processor and i am prepaired for the future.

Does anyone have any reasons why this won't work?

Many thanks,
Fluffman

 

[djgandy]

I hope you're not paying over £200 for it.

 

[bourgeoisdude]

Hi guys, I am the OP of this topic.

I have to say thanks for the really good info about all these cards.

I have now made a decision about and am going to buy:

Either a 939Dual-VSTA or 939Dual-SATA2 (though at the mo i have no idea what the difference is... will research...)

A AMD FX 57

And I'll keep my current RAM.

Then in the future as i see it i can then buy some ddr2 ram and the daughter card and a AM2 processor and i am prepaired for the future.

Does anyone have any reasons why this won't work?

Many thanks,
Fluffman

As far as I know, there is little if any difference between the ASRock 939-Dual-Sata2 and the 939-Dual-Vista boards. The only thing that I believe may have changed is the integrated audio, but I cannot even confirm what changes or if it has indeed changed. EDIT: verified that the Sata "hot plug" capability was added to the Vista version, which the Dual-Sata2 version lacked.

My guess--which is pure speculation--is that there is some "official" Vista requirement the original Dual-Sata2 board did not meet, and ASRock decided to change that tiny tidbit in the existing design so they could officially tout the new board as "Vista Ready". Now, the Dual-Sata2 board in my sig has run with Vista Beta 2 x86 and Vista RC2 x64 versions, and all the intg. drivers seem fine. The audio, network, AGP, USB, and chipset drivers seem to work fine for the board at x86 or x64 versions, so perhaps there is a catch, but I have yet to find it.