**The ASrock 939dual-SATA2 (ULi M1695) thread**

Well I currently have a Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA2 drive on the single SATA2 port. I've had no problems but I did install drivers for it prior to my upgrade from an IDE drive.

Edit: I suppose even if it was a problem I could shift the drive over to one of the two SATA ports. Wouln't be that much of a performance hit.
 
hp7909 said:
Any brave soul got a 8800GT yet?
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Yup I've just upgraded from a BFG 8800GTS (320) to a BFG 88800GTOC2.

Both work great.

Thinking of upgrading my Opteron 170 to a Quad core system (Q6600) as I could only ever get 2.5ghz out of the Opty with this board ;-( - would any of these newer hacked bioses help me do you think?
 
what do you use your pc for? e.g. games do you play? I would think that only CPU limited games like Supreme Commander, World in Conflict etc would show the quad core boost.
 
I recently put a 250GB Samsung SpinPoint SATA2 HDD into the asrock dual sata2 and am amazed by its performance now compared to an old 40 gig fujitsu IDE it was running that broke...also didnt have to install any SATA drivers when installing XP SP2.

system is only running a 3000+ Venice @ stock and 512MB of RAM is single channel as well and everything is instant.
 
Randell said:
what do you use your pc for? e.g. games do you play? I would think that only CPU limited games like Supreme Commander, World in Conflict etc would show the quad core boost.
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1/2 Way through Crysis and it is struggling!... Probably should have got me a 768mbGTS rather than the new 512mb GT ;-(
 
I'd forget trying to run Crysis at the highest settings for now. Anandtech tested a 3.33 GHz Core2 Quad with Tri SLI 8800GTX 768MB and it still struggled. Mind you, with tri-SLI the game was still scaling with CPU speed at 1920x1200. Basically the hardware is yet to be released that will allow you to max it out.

Shame it doesn't look like we'll be able to upgrade to quad core on this board though.
 
It was only a cheap board (£40) and allowed me to use my old AGP card at the time. So it has lasted very well.

The only problem I have is the cold boot issue (Especially as my pc is buried underground)

Lucky I have a remote Reset button that seems to do the trick, sometimes though I do have to pull the power (also above ground ;-)

http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/skyscraper/byte/30/pcunderground.htm

I do think the 2.5ghz Opty is letting me down a bit as it only scrores 5.1 in Vista and is the lowest , followed by 5.4 HD and then 5.9 for Memory and GPU.
 
I get 35FPS in the Crysis tests (from another thread) (1280x1024 noAA).

Unfortunatly I have a 22" screen that is 1680x1050 and this does not run so well ;-(
 
Shaddow said:
1/2 Way through Crysis and it is struggling!... Probably should have got me a 768mbGTS rather than the new 512mb GT ;-(
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Lower rez and settings, I know I hate to do it on an LCD, but all single cards struggle with Crysis unless you lower settings to medium.

Crysis isn't really a good indicator of how other games will run or whether you need a new CPU. Your Opty and a GT should last a while yet.
 
Ok so if I keep my setup for a while maybe I can improve my HD score.

Currently 5.4 in Vista.

I have a Maxtor Diamondmax 10 300gb Sata pugged into the Sata 2 port.

If I buy another one and use raid 0 I should get a good increase in speed?

What is the process of setting up raid 0 ? Do I need to format both discs? and loose what ever I already have or can it just add the second without trouble?

(I've always been wary of raid arrays)

Thanks for help

Edit: It seems that to do raid 0 It will erase both drives ;-(

Quick question : Are raid arrays movable between motherboards? - I.e If I set up raid 0 on this board will I beable to move it to a Intel board (Abit IP35 Pro for example?)
 
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Still running the rig in my sig, haven't tried Crysis as it doesn't interest me but I can run COD4:MW at 1920x1200 quite happily. Single core eh, how unfashionable. ;)

Thinking about a new system this year though, not sure why though as this one still does everything I want it to do.
 
Managed to aquire an AM2CPU board. I think now might be a good time to part with my X2 4600+ and some of my DDR, judging by 2nd hand prices.

I think an X2 5000+ Black Edition and some DDR2-800 would be the most cost-effective replacement. Could break even if I don't go overboard on the RAM. Any thoughts?
 
Pretty sure I can break even if I get 2GB RAM. Might be worth getting 4GB though (particularly as I'm now running Vista x64).

Heard a couple of rumours about compatibility though and would appreciate comments from anyone with experience. One is that Arctic Cooler Freezer Pro 64 might not fit, or at least might require modifications. The other is that it only handles RAM in the 1.7 to 1.9v range.
 
Well, no complaints from me. Just got the 5000+ black edition and 4GB Geil RAM from OCUK. Upgrade very easy. Just run for 3 hours prime stable at 3GHz, stock volts. Should have fun when I have time to test things properly.

Edit: Had to turn on 'memory hole' in BIOS to get it to recognise the full 4GB in Vista.
 
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does the freezer pro fit? can you run 3dmark so I can get a rough idea how it compares? I still have the asrock mobo, running an X2 4400 in the kids machine, so interesting to know whether the daughter board is a viable upgrade path.
 
The freezer pro fits but I had to unscrew the closing lever and turn it round to face in the opposite direction. (Edit: it was either that or bend pins on the northbridge heatsink). Getting temps of around 45ºC after several hours of running Prime95.

I'm a bit bemused by one thing though. After the upgrade I can't submit my 3DMark06 score. It runs all the tests fine (with or without Prime95 in the background) but then when it comes to submitting the result, I get a message saying 3DMark has stopped responding and has to close. Same in XP and Vista. Put everything back to stock and same result.

Off to work now but unsure where to go from here. Memtest?

Edit: Already tried a reinstall of 3DMark06 in Vista.

Edit: Don't think I have the October 07 hotfix installed. That was supposed to improve hardware compatibility. I'll try it later.

Edit: Hotfix didn't solve it. No memtest errors.
 
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Not allowed to say here.

I should mention I've had another problem. My X-Fi fails to do anything useful (like play sounds) with 4GB RAM. I disabled memory hole in Bios, which means Vista only sees 2927MB. I'd heard rumours of problems like this but I thought Creative had fixed it. I'll have to use the workaround for now. :(
 
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