ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2: ULi Dual x16 SLI
by Gary Key on March 2, 2006 12:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Basic Features: ASRock 939SLI-32 eSATA2
The ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2 is a member of the Socket 939 Series product family and is a value-based board targeted towards the enthusiast user. The board ships with an accessory package that includes the standard assortment of IDE/SATA cables and power connectors. ASRock also includes an extensive driver CD along with desktop utilities.
This is the BIOS setup utility screen, which displays the change configuration categories available on the board.
This is the Advanced BIOS category main screen that contains all of the subcategories available for setup.
The CPU configuration section allows you to set individual parameters manually for voltage, multipliers, and chipset frequency settings. Unfortunately, one of the few issues that we had with the board was the limited CPU voltage settings. The system would not allow a setting over 1.4V for our 4000+ or Opteron 170 CPU choices. The Boot Failure Guard option is a BIOS recovery setting that allows the system to recover from errant overclocking settings. The system worked superbly as we never had to use the clear CMOS jumper.
The CPU Configuration screen also contains the section for controlling memory timing adjustments. The BIOS allows for an Auto setting that will set the memory to the SPD settings or you can adjust the memory timings manually. The Flexibility Option will override the manual settings based upon the ability of the system to operate properly at the requested memory settings. We typically found in our testing that the system would adjust the memory clock settings based upon the latency settings utilized.
The Memory Clock settings are fairly limited on the board with the Auto setting providing an adjusted ratio dependent upon the manual memory settings and bus speeds. The other three memory settings will lock the given memory ratio to the CPU clock.
The Chipset Settings configuration screen allows you to adjust the North and South Bridge link speed and width settings. The voltage adjustments for memory and chipset are also available on this screen. The memory voltage was only adjustable up to 2.8V that definitely played a role in our overclocking results along with the limited CPU voltage settings. We also do not like the memory and chipset settings being alpha instead of numerically based.
Specification | ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2 |
CPU Interface | 939-Pin Socket supporting AMD Athlon 64 / 64FX / 64X2 |
Chipset | ULi M1695 - North Bridge ULi M1697 - South Bridge |
Bus Speeds | 150MHz ~ 400MHz in 1MHz increments |
CPU Clock Multiplier | Auto, 4x ~ 25x in 1x increments |
Memory Speeds | Auto, 133MHz, 166MHz, 200MHz |
PCI Bus Speeds | Auto, Sync with PCI-E, 33.33MHz ~ 37.50MHz variable speed |
PCI Express Bus Speeds | Auto, 75MHz ~ 200MHz in various increments |
HT Multipliers | Auto, 200MHz, 400MHZ, 600MHz, 800MHz, 1000MHz |
HT Link Speed | Auto, 8-bit, 16-bit |
Core Voltage | Auto, 0.800V to 1.400V (in 0.025V increments), (max voltage dependent upon CPU) |
DRAM Voltage | Auto, 2.55V, 2.6V, 2.7V, 2.8V (Low, Normal, High, Ultra) |
Chipset Voltage | Auto, 2.10V, 2.20V (Normal, High) |
Memory Slots | (4) x DIMM, max. 4GB, DDR 400/333/266, non-ECC, un-buffered memory, Dual Channel Operation supported. |
Expansion Slots | (2) x PCI-E x16 (each slot operates in 1x16 mode) (1) x PCI-E x4 (operates in x1 or x2 mode) (3) x PCI 2.2 (1) x AM2 CPU port |
Onboard SATA | ULi M1697: (4) x SATA II , (2) eSATA II (shared with SATA II) |
Onboard IDE | ULi M1697: (2) x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33 |
SATA/IDE RAID | ULi M1697: (4) x SATA II RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5, JBOD |
Onboard USB 2.0 | (8) USB2.0 ports (four ports, two headers for four more ports) |
Onboard LAN | Realtek RTL8111B PCI-E 10/100/1000Mb/s LAN - PHY |
Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC-660, 5.1 channel capable HD Audio Codec |
Onboard Firewire | TI TSB43AB22 IEEE 1394 chipset - 1394A capable |
Power Connectors | 20-pin ATX 4-pin ATX 12V 4-pin 12V SLI |
Back Panel I/O Ports | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Parallel (ECP/EPP) 1 x Serial (COM1) 1 x Audio I/O Panel 1 x RJ45 LAN 4 x USB 2.0 2 x eSATA II 1x IEEE 1394 |
Other Features | Hybird Booster - Overclocking Engine Boot Failure Guard - Overclocking Safe Guard United Overclocking Program - Fixed PCI-E and PCI speeds Hardware Monitor - BIOS Based Windows Vista Ready ROHS Compliant |
BIOS | AMI 1.0 (2/06/06) |
The ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2 is a member of the Socket 939 Series product family and is a value-based board targeted towards the enthusiast user. The board ships with an accessory package that includes the standard assortment of IDE/SATA cables and power connectors. ASRock also includes an extensive driver CD along with desktop utilities.
This is the BIOS setup utility screen, which displays the change configuration categories available on the board.
This is the Advanced BIOS category main screen that contains all of the subcategories available for setup.
The CPU configuration section allows you to set individual parameters manually for voltage, multipliers, and chipset frequency settings. Unfortunately, one of the few issues that we had with the board was the limited CPU voltage settings. The system would not allow a setting over 1.4V for our 4000+ or Opteron 170 CPU choices. The Boot Failure Guard option is a BIOS recovery setting that allows the system to recover from errant overclocking settings. The system worked superbly as we never had to use the clear CMOS jumper.
The CPU Configuration screen also contains the section for controlling memory timing adjustments. The BIOS allows for an Auto setting that will set the memory to the SPD settings or you can adjust the memory timings manually. The Flexibility Option will override the manual settings based upon the ability of the system to operate properly at the requested memory settings. We typically found in our testing that the system would adjust the memory clock settings based upon the latency settings utilized.
The Memory Clock settings are fairly limited on the board with the Auto setting providing an adjusted ratio dependent upon the manual memory settings and bus speeds. The other three memory settings will lock the given memory ratio to the CPU clock.
The Chipset Settings configuration screen allows you to adjust the North and South Bridge link speed and width settings. The voltage adjustments for memory and chipset are also available on this screen. The memory voltage was only adjustable up to 2.8V that definitely played a role in our overclocking results along with the limited CPU voltage settings. We also do not like the memory and chipset settings being alpha instead of numerically based.
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Gary Key - Saturday, March 4, 2006 - link
It works very well on this board with an Opteron. ;-)Kiste - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
In the past, Realtek has solved performance issues by reducing the number of buffers and disabling EAX effects without telling anyone. I hope someone will have a really good look at these integrated audio solutions one day, one that isn't just FPS and CPU utilization.
Gary Key - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
To date with the HD Codecs, Realtek has not decreased the buffers nor have we noticed changes in EAX2 output except for the positive. It is a very subjective area to comment on but in BF2 I like the sound quality of the 1.29 drivers better but Serious Sam II seems to have improved a great deal in the 1.30 and 1.31 drivers. While the on-board audio solutions are still lacking in most areas compared to the add-in solutions at least the manufacturers (board/chipset) are trying to improve quality in this area instead of pumping out the same old AC97 codecs. If it were not for the cost I think we would have seen several additional Audigy-SE solutions on the motherboards by now and even possibly an improved offering from Creative. While the A-SE is an older chipset it does offer better performance and audio quality in gaming than the current HD codecs from Realtek, C-Media, ADI, and SigmaTel. I really thought the VIA Envy24 series would have had greater market penetration on the motherboards but one can only speculate as to why this never happened. ;->
tjpark1111 - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
is it just me, or does this thing have a 20-pin power connector. ?!?!?!??!???kelim - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
Yes, the board does in fact use a 20-pin power connection. If you have a 24-pin PSU, this shouldn't be a problem, since most are 20+4-pin, meaning you can detach the extra 4 pins and only use the ones you need. Either that, or the uneeded pins will hang off the side.Gary Key - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
You are correct, it is a 20-pin ATC connector as stated in the article. I was surprised also and did a double take after removing it from the box. :)dab - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
It says that this motherboard supports ddr2,"(4) x DIMM, max. 4GB, DDR2 400/333/266, non-ECC, un-buffered memory..."
Is this a joke? There's no 240pin slots on that board, only on the riser (which is not included). s939's IMC doesn't support this either..
Am I mistaken?
Gary Key - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
I was just changing that to DDR, sorry about the mistake. The AM2 daughter card will have slots for DDR2 memory.
Puddleglum - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
The figure is noteworthy, but it's actually the only Firewire 800 test result I can find in AT's reviews.Gary Key - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
I know we only have it in a recent review and probably should drop it. I keep hoping Firewire 800 will be implemented on the higher end boards or those designed for HTPC life. :) However, it appears to be a dead-end option at this point and the technology itself seems to be going away without a fight.