ASRock 939Dual-SATA2: First Retail ULi PCIe/AGP
by Wesley Fink on September 7, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Memory Stress Testing
Our memory stress test measures the ability of the ASRock 939Dual to operate at its officially supported memory frequency (400MHz DDR), at the lowest memory timings that OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 modules will support. All DIMMs used for stress testing were 512MB double-sided (or double-bank) memory. To make sure that memory performed properly in Dual-Channel mode, memory was only tested using either one dual-channel (2 DIMMs) or 2 dual-channels (4 DIMMs).We had established in our initial reviews of the ULi chipset that the best memory performance was achieved at a tRAS setting of 10T with this chipset. Therefore, all testing used the best performing 2-2-2-10 settings.
| Stable DDR400 Timings - One Dual-Channel (2/4 DIMMs populated) |
|
| Clock Speed: | 200MHz |
| CAS Latency: | 2 |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 2T |
| RAS Precharge: | 10T |
| Precharge Delay: | 2T |
| Command Rate: | 1T |
Using two DIMMs in Dual-Channel 128-bit mode, the memory performed in all benchmarks at the fastest 2-2-2-10 timings at default voltage.
| Stable DDR400 Timings – 4 DIMMs (4/4 DIMMs populated) |
|
| Clock Speed: | 200MHz |
| CAS Latency: | 2.0 |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 2T |
| RAS Precharge: | 10T |
| Precharge Delay: | 2T |
| Command Rate: | 2T |
Tests with all four DIMM slots populated on the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 required a 2T Command Rate with 4 DIMMs in two dual channels. This is the pattern seen on every other top-performing Socket 939 board. This performance is completely competitive with the best that we have seen on nForce4 motherboards for Socket 939. It needs to be pointed out, however, that cold boot problems increased significantly when running 4 DIMMs. The cold boot issue may be as simple as a revised BIOS to support Samsung TCCD better on this board. Whatever the solution, solving the cold boot issue is a must for ASRock.
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Marlin1975 - Wednesday, September 7, 2005 - link
Just be careful. Asrock rarely upadtes their BIOS, has no support, etc... So if there is a problem, you better fix it yourself.nemesismk2 - Friday, September 9, 2005 - link
Everything you have said is not true, I have owned a asrock k7s8x, asrock k7s8xe+, asrock k8 upgrade 760 gx and now a asrock 939 dual sata 2. I have found their support to be excellent and they only release bios updates when they are needed which is not often because their motherboards are very reliable. My first asrock motherboard the k7s8x was purchased in 2003 and it is still in use today and running perfectly.Googer - Wednesday, September 7, 2005 - link
Dear Wesley,Can AGP and PCI-express video cards run side by side in the same motherboard at the same time? Could I 2 PCI-express cards and my AGP 9700pro all at the same time for some Triple monotor action?
Thanks.
FriedRiceBob - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link
There are uli 1695 boards that do support that (their reference board, for instance), however this asrock board only has (1) PCIe x16 port.Also, while running a setup with multiple cards, you would probably want only chipsets from one company, to minimize driver troubles (an ATI PCIe card to go with your 9700)
FriedRiceBob - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link
erp.I just glanced back at the reference board review, and the feat was achieved through the use of a riser card out of the x16 slot, covering the AGP slot in the process.
ULi touts a "triple graphics interface" meaning PCIe, AGP8x, and PCI, I am unsure of the compatability with an SLI + AGP setup, but I'm sure some inventful motherboard manufacturer will put it into practice if it's feasible
touchmyichi - Wednesday, September 7, 2005 - link
looks awesome! Perfect timing since my Neo 2 just bit it.