ASRock 775Dual-VSTA for Conroe (Core2) with both AGP/PCI-E and DDR1/DDR2 support

Darg · 12 Apr 2007 at 10:44

E4300s clock well because of the higher multiplier and lower FSB. 280 is about right for DDR2 memory. Some can push 290 but that's rare. Mine can run stable (ish) at 285 but will crash occasionally so I turned it back down to 280 and now it runs stable as a brick. And at about the same speed as one too.

Althulas · 12 Apr 2007 at 19:13

Was about the same with DDR though, just a bit dissapointed that i could'nt get a better overclock with this board but the main point is to remember though this board allowed a cheap upgrade to core2 (o3 mark score upto 17812 without any OC to cpu or gfx) using a very good agp card that I'm unwilling to change untill dx10 cards are in full bloom then I can justify an upgrade plus a new board that will take advantage of this excellent ram too (was able to tighten up the timings to 3333 10 23 and no errors after 8hrs on prime)

[SSR]Wessy · 13 Apr 2007 at 00:54

"It sounds more like a graphics issue then a RAM issue"

Hi Darg, thanks for the reply.
My instinct tells me you may be right, last night was the first time I monitored GPU temperatures.
It hit 72c in a cool room, just going online to run a few laps of GT Legends and see how I do !

Thanks again - [SSR]Wessy

Darg · 13 Apr 2007 at 01:16

What card do you have, what core and memory speeds is it running at, are you using the stock cooler, if so have you ever removed it to for any reason, if it's a third party cooler did you use thermal paste, if so what kind, if not then panic!

lol, lots of questions but they'll all help lead to an answer.

[SSR]Wessy · 13 Apr 2007 at 11:42

Darg said:
What card do you have, what core and memory speeds is it running at, are you using the stock cooler, if so have you ever removed it to for any reason, if it's a third party cooler did you use thermal paste, if so what kind, if not then panic!

lol, lots of questions but they'll all help lead to an answer.

Hi Darg, the sytem didn't falter at all last night, I hit 67c with the GPU.
The card is a Sapphire X1950 Pro 512 mb AGP
It's fitted with the stock cooler which has never been removed.
The core is running at 580.50 and the memory is at 1404.00, I've never overclocked it.
The card is only about 3 weeks old, from OCUK as my other kit too.
This is the PSU fitted : Akasa 460 watt ( PaxPower AK - P460 FG BK )
Do you think the PSU could just be marginal for power Darg ?

Regards - [SSR]Wessy

Darg · 13 Apr 2007 at 12:50

That depends on how many harddrives, fans, and PCI cards you're running.

Normally a 460 watt PSU would be plenty for that graphics card though I'm not sure how good Akasa PSUs are.

I recently had trouble when installing a 7900GS. I found out that was a power issue even though I had a 550W Truepower 2 which is quite a decent PSU. That was because of a dodgy fan resistor job I did it would seem. Since I removed the resistor from the circuit it's been working perfectly.

If you feel up to it I would disconnect everything bar your graphics card and boot harddrive and then see if you still have the same problems. It worked for me and let me isolate the item responsible.

[SSR]Wessy · 16 Apr 2007 at 21:37

Hi Darg, thanks for the last post.
I thought I'd cracked it and waited a couple of days before I replied.
I removed the original drivers for the X1950 and installed " Omega " drivers.
All was well for one evening but then today after a few minutes the artifacts came back !
The PC didn't freeze so I was able to reset ok and things returned to normal.
I haven't a great deal of stuff in the PC which consumes a lot of power other than the X1950.
A CD - DVD writer, a DVD reader, one IDE hard drive, a floppy drive and the X1950.
The only USB device is my Red Momo wheel which has a seperate PSU.
I read on the X1950 box that Sapphire recommend a PSU of 450 watts with 30 amps on the 12V rail.
The Akasa I have just falls short of this supplying 14 amps on one and 15 amps on the other.

Max power output (manufacturers rating)
3.3V 30A
5V 30A
12V 14A + 15A
Total power 460W

Later I will fit my original Nvidia 6800 card back in the PC and see if that works ok,
if that's ok then my motherboard - processor - memory can be assumed to be ok.

Any more thoughts or comments Darg ?

Thanks again for your help - [SSR]Wessy

Master Skooter · 18 Apr 2007 at 13:16

It's my birthday tomorrow, hopefully getting a few squid to upgrade my current machine. Not getting a huge amount of dosh, but probably around £200 or so.

Current specs:

Abit NF7-S v2.0 (L12 mod etc)
XP 2500-M @ 2.4odd
Thermalright SP-97
XT800XT-PE 256Mb (AGP)
2Gb (2x1Gb) Corsair XMS PC3200

Was thinking of getting an ASRock 775Dual-VSTA & either a E4400 or E6420, then upgrading to PCI-E & DDR2 when funds allow.

Is this my best option?

Cheers
Scott

Munky1080 · 18 Apr 2007 at 17:07

That's my plan...I alread have the board, but am waiting till the end of the month to get the cpu...a few people in this thread have done the same thing as well with good results...i'm waiting until I have all the good quality components that I want then, will take the plunge to ddr2 and get a new motherboard. the e4400s look to be the muts nuts, with a 10x multiplier, and this board evidently does 285Mhz fsb with ddr2 and 300 fsb with ddr ram so you're looking at about a 3Ghz clock, basically 50% overclock...sounds good to me!

Darg · 18 Apr 2007 at 17:13

The higher multipliers are good for this board but when you get a decent board down the line you'll be losing out as the 6300 would clock higher and perform better then the 4300. Of course if you want the extra boost now then by all means go for it.

This board worked out great for me and let me upgrade nice and slow over time.

@Wessy: How did the 6800 go?

dagwoood · 18 Apr 2007 at 21:35

Quick question for those of you running X1950Pro's on this board; are you all using SATA drives only because the length of the X1950 would take it over the IDE slots?

Put another way, can you use the IDE slots with a X1950Pro installed?

TIA, dagwoood

Master Skooter · 19 Apr 2007 at 14:27

Has this board been discontinued? :confused:

[EDIT: Replaced by the 4CoreDual-VSTA?

artaxerxes · 19 Apr 2007 at 14:32

Master Skooter said:
It's my birthday tomorrow, hopefully getting a few squid to upgrade my current machine. Not getting a huge amount of dosh, but probably around £200 or so.

[SNIP]

Was thinking of getting an ASRock 775Dual-VSTA & either a E4400 or E6420, then upgrading to PCI-E & DDR2 when funds allow.

Is this my best option?

Cheers
Scott

Its the best bang for buck. The E4400 or E4300 are excellent clockers.

I have just gone for the 4CORE VSTA (£32) and an E4300 for under the price of the E4400 from the Member's Market (£75). Also 2 Gigs of Kingston DDR2 667 for £50 (with a little use of google checkouts *£10 off £30* orders on each stick and the mobo.)

Smokingly cheap. Total price ~£160.

Master Skooter · 19 Apr 2007 at 14:42

Don't you have to pay three lots of shipping? (Board, RAM, RAM).

One final question, bearing in mind the RAM/G.card i'll be using for the near future, E4300 or E4400?

Slide · 19 Apr 2007 at 14:59

The new E2XX series of chips are due for imminent realease driving the cost of Core 2 Duo ownership even lower. Looking at roughly £100 to purchase both mb+chip, it's incredible!

Master Skooter · 19 Apr 2007 at 15:07

Do these clock to E4400 standard speeds (2Gig) or clocked speeds?

I will be trying to clock it as much as poss (on air).

khimbar · 19 Apr 2007 at 15:49

dagwoood said:
Quick question for those of you running X1950Pro's on this board; are you all using SATA drives only because the length of the X1950 would take it over the IDE slots?

Put another way, can you use the IDE slots with a X1950Pro installed?

TIA, dagwoood

I have 2 EIDE drives in mine with the X1950Pro and it's fine. Don't even remember it being a hassle to plug them in either. HTH.

artaxerxes · 19 Apr 2007 at 16:09

Master Skooter said:
Don't you have to pay three lots of shipping? (Board, RAM, RAM).

One final question, bearing in mind the RAM/G.card i'll be using for the near future, E4300 or E4400?

3 lots of shipping, but at a tenner off each purchase and shipping 2.49, and 1.50 on each stick of ram... it comes out ~25 saved.

Munky1080 · 19 Apr 2007 at 18:59

Master Skooter said:
Don't you have to pay three lots of shipping? (Board, RAM, RAM).

One final question, bearing in mind the RAM/G.card i'll be using for the near future, E4300 or E4400?

I'd go for the e4400 cuz of the 10x multiplier...evidently, from what i've read on here, people seem to get a bit higher FSB with ddr1 ram than ddr2, so you should get to 300Mhz, and get the chip up to 3Ghz. At least thats what i'm hoping, as i will have about the same setup as you, except for the gpu.
let us know what you decide and how it works out.

artaxerxes · 19 Apr 2007 at 19:10

I will have mine by the end of the week - i have DDR and DDRII - will give both a whirl.

There are already reports that benchmarks do not really differ between DDR and DDR II on this board. So if you can get a higher FSB on your DDR that is the way forward.