Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 Vmods

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02-13-2006, 12:55 PM
persivore

Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 Vmods

These are some of the existing mods for the board:
Vcore 1
Vcore 2
Vdimm

These a few new mods which I've found, which should release some better clocks from the board:

Vdroop - remove the circled resistor, and replace it with a 10k variable resistor set to 1k. Adjust until there is no droop.
Vsb - Southbridge voltage supply
Vtt - The board can produce a very unstable Vtt supply under some conditions. It should be 50% of Vdimm. Offsetting it slightly high or low can help to correct for the unstable voltage, and could improve RAM clocks slightly.
Vldt - Htt voltage supply - should help with Htt and possibly CPU overclocking.
Vdd - Northbridge voltage supply - Increasing Vdd should help with Htt overclocks.
Vagp - Might help increase the speed that the AGP bus can run at and might increase the Htt overclock, as on some intel based boards. I don't think that it will have much effect on this board tho personally.
Vpci-e - Same as Vagp :p:

Vdroop
Vsb, Vtt and Vsb read point
Vldt, Vdd and Vagp mods
Vldt and Vdd read points
Vagp read point
Vpci-e and Vtt read point
Vcore read point

These are a couple of mods which I haven't fully tested yet, and should be done with caution until I have chance to fully test them. I think that the one in yellow is probably Vcca (PLL supply voltage for the CPU). I have no idea what the other mod controls, and doesn't seem to effect the overclock in any way.

Note: XS owners and members will not be liable for any damage caused to you or your hardware, neither can be liable for any breach of the warranty.
02-13-2006, 06:32 PM
crodan85

Thanks persivore I will be trying the Vdroop mod tomorrow. Need to go too maplins :)

Just out of curiosity do you think changing the capacitors out for better quality ones would show any improvement
02-14-2006, 02:40 AM
persivore

Quote:

Originally Posted by crodan85

Thanks persivore I will be trying the Vdroop mod tomorrow. Need to go too maplins :)

Just out of curiosity do you think changing the capacitors out for better quality ones would show any improvement

I think the capacitors used on the board are already reasonably good quality. They're the same as the ones used on other Asus boards AFAIK.
02-17-2006, 01:40 AM
pancake

nice work persivore, think ill try the vdroop , vldt and vdd mods

is the vtt mod needed with a ocz ddr booster?
02-17-2006, 06:16 AM
persivore

Quote:

Originally Posted by pancake

nice work persivore, think ill try the vdroop , vldt and vdd mods

is the vtt mod needed with a ocz ddr booster?

Vtt tracks Vdimm fine on the board, but can sometimes be very unstable. Offsetting Vtt slightly might gain a few Mhz from the RAM.
02-23-2006, 07:03 PM
jonspd

Any other mod's found or working with>?

how are the one's you tried coming along?
02-24-2006, 03:43 AM
persivore

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonspd

Any other mod's found or working with>?

how are the one's you tried coming along?

I've got some different Vcore and Vdimm mods for the board, but they are based on some of the existing mods. I'm also thinking of doing something to try to fix the Vtt fluctuations on the board.

I've managed to get this board up to 374mhz Htt with the mods. I'm not sure how much they have helped tho, because I wasn't running very high voltages at the time. The board feels like it is more limited by software/BIOS than voltage :confused:
02-25-2006, 09:57 PM
kyosen

2 Attachment(s)

for 939SLI32-eSATA2

I uploaded my recent work for ASRock 939SLI23-eSATA2.

This board has similar Vcore circuit as 939Dual-SATA2,
but the method linked as "Vcore 1" by persivore doesn't work:confused:

I also tried Vdimm&Vhtt(Vldt) mod, but can't run over 260MHz memory clock:(
So I quited playing with this board...
02-27-2006, 12:59 PM
thegeek

Wow, nice work persivore:)
I've already done vcore1 and I'm thinking about doing vldt and vdd to see if I can get some higher clocks from my opteron 165. I do agree that the board is probably limited by bad code. It is however an ok board considering the price;)
02-27-2006, 01:42 PM
Marvin_The_Martian

Great work persivore.. this thread is subscribed!
02-28-2006, 04:17 AM
Marvin_The_Martian

Persivore... damn that bios you linked me works like a charm :)

Guess my chip is a dud though can't get is stable at 2.7ghz, hard locks on spi32m on loop 2 all the time. Now running it @ 2.67ghz no problems yet!

Bios does have issues with booting after changing settings, have to turn off the pc and wait a while before I can boot it up. Also love the extra ram options!

Also I notice that my vcore is going up and down allot, from 1.57 to 1.60 up and down. That's bad aint it? Been doing this since the ocwbeta vcore mod but I installed a new psu at the same time so idk could be psu overvolting right? Anyone else any thoughts on this?

Edit: Also notice that cpu load during pi run sometimes drops back to 80%, mostly between loops ( eg when a loop has just finished ) does this mean it's throttling? Load temps are 32c so don't think so but seems odd:confused:
02-28-2006, 06:21 AM
Johnny Bravo

Fantastic Persivore, and just in time as I've just purchased one of these. Would it be giving too much away if I was to ask you what you've set a few of the values to for instance, Vsb, Vldt and Vdd. Cheers mate, I look forward to experiemntating with this board and the OCWB beta bioses for it :D
02-28-2006, 08:50 AM
jonspd

The german bios are better then OCWB bios.

found here http://www.pc-treiber.net/download-file-255.html

is you dont get it right you may get a file mismatch or wrong size error is so I have uploaded them and will post a link if wanted.

my link http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/c/dcracer/FAH/04XX.BIN

Just make sure the file size is 262,144 where ever you get it form and you should be ok.
03-01-2006, 06:03 AM
Johnny Bravo

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonspd

The german bios are better then OCWB bios.

found here http://www.pc-treiber.net/download-file-255.html

is you dont get it right you may get a file mismatch or wrong size error is so I have uploaded them and will post a link if wanted.

my link http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/c/dcracer/FAH/04XX.BIN

Just make sure the file size is 262,144 where ever you get it form and you should be ok.

What advantages does this bios bring to the table Jonspd?
03-01-2006, 09:05 AM
jonspd

Cant really say much other then no cold boot issue for me from 274 to 300fsb unlike the OCW bios that dont boot sometimes after new setting's.

This was the 5th or 6th bios I tried and I have to say it was the keeper out of them all. If you havn't tried them I really cant tell you much other then they are awesome.

only result's I can say people posted about them
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=443563
03-01-2006, 09:24 AM
Johnny Bravo

Cheers mate :up:
03-01-2006, 09:31 AM
persivore

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Bravo

Fantastic Persivore, and just in time as I've just purchased one of these. Would it be giving too much away if I was to ask you what you've set a few of the values to for instance, Vsb, Vldt and Vdd. Cheers mate, I look forward to experiemntating with this board and the OCWB beta bioses for it :D

I'm running 1.9v Vsb, 1.4v Vldt and 2.15v Vdd. I've managed to get the board up to 379 Htt with those voltages, using the 04XX bios. It seems stable at 350 Htt with a Htt multiplier of 3 :)
03-01-2006, 10:43 AM
jonspd

Nice I havn't gone above 2.08 vdd and still yet to do vcore mod :D
03-01-2006, 12:18 PM
Johnny Bravo

Quote:

Originally Posted by persivore

I'm running 1.9v Vsb, 1.4v Vldt and 2.15v Vdd. I've managed to get the board up to 379 Htt with those voltages, using the 04XX bios. It seems stable at 350 Htt with a Htt multiplier of 3 :)

Cheers persivore, board arrived this moring and I've an Opty 146 in the post, although reading around on the Rebels Haven it seems Venice cores are the cpus of choice for this board, should be interesting tho for the time being. I'll get some details up as soon as the processor arrives.
03-02-2006, 08:16 PM
littleowl

Ok I guess I am not smart enough to get this!! why do it and what would I get out of doing all that work!?
03-02-2006, 08:17 PM
littleowl

Great work and nice info, only If I understood why to do it though!
03-03-2006, 01:19 AM
Johnny Bravo

ummm to improve maximum overclocks...simple as that
03-03-2006, 02:44 AM
thegeek

Would be nice if someone could post the default volts for all the mods.
03-03-2006, 03:40 AM
Marvin_The_Martian

Think you can measure those before modding ;)
03-03-2006, 06:12 AM
persivore

Quote:

Originally Posted by thegeek

Would be nice if someone could post the default volts for all the mods.

Defaults:
Vdd (northbridge) - 2.0v
Vsb - 1.8v
Vldt - 1.2v
Vagp - 1.5v
Vpci-e - 1.8v
Vcca - 2.5v
03-05-2006, 07:24 AM
jonspd

anyway to get what ohm res your using for the vdrop persivore?
03-08-2006, 12:09 PM
persivore

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonspd

anyway to get what ohm res your using for the vdrop persivore?

My Vdroop resistor is set to 1.097k atm, which gives no droop at 1.45v with a 3700 at 2.8ghz. Its possible that you might need a different value to that, depending on how you have done the Vcore mod.
03-10-2006, 11:32 AM
Marvin_The_Martian

Persivore you're the man :)

Done the vcore mod two times now, three times when including the ocwbeta mod I did before, and they work like a charm. First time I had a wire coming off in two hours off running. I was like wtf...
Just a black screen, and when I treid to reboot I kept just that black screen, didn't beep either nothing. Looked at my booster and it was showing vdim @ 1.4v. I thought I killed something, checked the wires and one was loose so I removed the other one. Still didn't boot, vdim still so darn low. Took the ram out, rebooted fine with my backup ram. Afraid I freid my ram, put them back one at a time and they were both fine. Vdim back to normal to. I still don't know what the hell went wrong there but I'm glad it's all good now anyway :D

Anyway, might need to adjust the vr a bit still, it's giving me .2v above bios and might be a bit to much. Still thinking about vdroop mod and maybe vdd mod. And still waiting for you to come up with another vcore readpoints because those three you pointed out in post #1 are emailed and won't be solderd on ( my experience then ). But might have holded if I used some hotglue like I did the last time for the vcore mod.

:banana: Persivore :banana:

You deserve a :toast:

Edited in some pics, hotglue appleid already so there's not much to see ( details of the soldering job )
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/3...08558hb.th.jpg

This pic is really bad but shows where I put the vr so I thought what the heck
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/831...08526or.th.jpg
03-10-2006, 12:00 PM
persivore

I've added a Vcore read point to the first post :)
03-16-2006, 04:43 AM
jonspd

Persivore. Is there a way to do the VLDT mod via smd grabber on the chip you do the VAGP and VDD mod's on?

I really do hate soldering any help to increase my VLDT without soldering would be great.

Jonspd
03-19-2006, 03:57 PM
Asio

Quote:

Also 99% of the mothernoards I see have places where caps used to be but were not placed due to engineering finding out they didnt need to be there for stable operation at normal clocks. i've seen the best improvements from simply adding the missing caps on my boards. adding the missing caps near the cpu sockets always have improved stability.

I plan to voltmod my mobo,
also noticed a tread where Stevil added caps in parrallel to his radeon for him to squeeze out the very last MHZ.

I got 2 dead mobo's with decent caps all waiting for an purpuse.

I plan to go ahead and cap mod my radeon
and have a good mind to give the dual sata2 the same treatment.

Having a quicklook
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/.../asrock939.jpg

I noticed a few spaces marked for a capacitor. Does anyone have thought about the result adding and filling in capacitors will help overall stability?

Maybe even cap mod my antec tp 380W/w modded voltrails?
03-19-2006, 04:25 PM
jonspd

Not sure about the cap mod's but would like to know.

I just got done with a few mod's from scratch also added a old molex header for vdd, vcore, vldt, and vddim reading. I forgot to do the vdroop and vsb but then again I didnt want to solder to much and not get a post.

Jonspd
03-20-2006, 01:10 AM
persivore

The capacitors used on the board are already good quality (they're the same as those used on some Asus boards). I've seen cap mods harm performance on some boards. Adding some small value (100nf) capacitors very close to the CPU's Vcore pins would probably be of more benefit than adding lots of bulk capacitance.
03-20-2006, 01:32 PM
wiltz

does anyone else besides me have problems with random bluescreens on this board? i've actually almost figured out the reason for these BSOD's, but i'm nowhere near the solution:D i get a BSOD (machine_check_exception) almost every time i switch on/off a desk lamp which is plugged in the socket next to the computer on the wall, its the same with almost any electric device. from time to time i also get a totally random BSOD, but i figure these are also coming from some kind of fluctations in the electric network.
i suppose it's a sensitivity bug with the board...seems that it's somehow just too darn sensitive to any kind of fluctation, and it can be really annoying!:confused:
any ideas how to fix somethin like that? or what can it be related to, bad PSU quality? (it's a 420w chieftec)

btw, it's my first post here, though i've been reading for over a year now...so hi everybody:toast:
03-20-2006, 02:08 PM
Asio

Maybe your voltage rails are to low, your psu not powerfull enough...
Would be interesting to increase the quality of my 5v rail (/w cap mod?)

After Vdrop mod I doubt I'le have problems with a stable vcore nor a heat problem but I want every last MHZ out of my memory. Perhaps adding caps around the memory banks aswell?
03-20-2006, 10:15 PM
RimRam

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiltz

does anyone else besides me have problems with random bluescreens on this board? i've actually almost figured out the reason for these BSOD's, but i'm nowhere near the solution:D i get a BSOD (machine_check_exception) almost every time i switch on/off a desk lamp which is plugged in the socket next to the computer on the wall, its the same with almost any electric device. from time to time i also get a totally random BSOD, but i figure these are also coming from some kind of fluctations in the electric network.
i suppose it's a sensitivity bug with the board...seems that it's somehow just too darn sensitive to any kind of fluctation, and it can be really annoying!:confused:
any ideas how to fix somethin like that? or what can it be related to, bad PSU quality? (it's a 420w chieftec)

btw, it's my first post here, though i've been reading for over a year now...so hi everybody:toast:

It could be grounding problem.
look inside the switch and see if the ground wire is attatched to the outlet.
also use a power surge unit, exclusivley used for PC, monitor, speakers, etc.
03-20-2006, 10:35 PM
RimRam

Persivore, I did vdd, vldt and works great. thank you.
Is there a way to mod the windbond to be able to see vdimm, vldt, vdd, vsb, and agp/pcie?
a program for it or connecting the read points of those chips to the windbond pins where it's used for -12, -5, v-aux, v-standby.
am i making sense? is it windbomd doing the v reads for those. If so, even a wire from vcore read point to vcore read pin of windbond would be great and and would show correct reading
can you do those mods. hope not asking too much or being stupid.:)
03-21-2006, 02:31 AM
persivore

Quote:

Originally Posted by RimRam

Persivore, I did vdd, vldt and works great. thank you.
Is there a way to mod the windbond to be able to see vdimm, vldt, vdd, vsb, and agp/pcie?
a program for it or connecting the read points of those chips to the windbond pins where it's used for -12, -5, v-aux, v-standby.
am i making sense? is it windbomd doing the v reads for those. If so, even a wire from vcore read point to vcore read pin of windbond would be great and and would show correct reading
can you do those mods. hope not asking too much or being stupid.:)

I've thought about adding fan speed control to the board by modding the winbond chip, but I've not had time to do anything yet. It should be possible to do mod the chip to read other voltages, but it will involve lifting some of the pins on the chip and connecting the voltage supplies to them.
I'll look into it when I get some free time :)
03-21-2006, 01:22 PM
Asio

I ran into trouble.

After booting with Vcore Vdroop and Vdimm mod I coudnt acces bios nor could I flash the bios (flash.exe error)

Im afraid I used a to high Vdimm (3.4) and to low Vcore (default 1.4 and using the mod 10k VR, 1.55)

Im even considering a leg of the Vr came loose (bit of a blanc there)

I removed the Vcore and Vdroop mod to resolder them.
Doing so I accidently damaged the resitor (vertical R on the left) next to the Vdroop mod.
Can someone tell me its value?

Any change to revive it?
A Vdroop off 10k or even worse short cirquited results in?
03-21-2006, 01:28 PM
THE JEW (RaVeN)

Wow.

All these excellent mods are making me want to buy back the ASRock I sold.
03-21-2006, 01:33 PM
persivore

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asio

I ran into trouble.

After booting with Vcore Vdroop and Vdimm mod I coudnt acces bios nor could I flash the bios (flash.exe error)

Im afraid I used a to high Vdimm (3.4) and to low Vcore (default 1.4 and using the mod 10k VR, 1.55)

Im even considering a leg of the Vr came loose (bit of a blanc there)

I removed the Vcore and Vdroop mod to resolder them.
Doing so I accidently damaged the resitor (vertical R on the left) next to the Vdroop mod.
Can someone tell me its value?

Any change to revive it?
A Vdroop off 10k or even worse short cirquited results in?

Can you mark the damaged resistor on a picture of the board?

If the Vdroop resistor was shorted, it should just give a lower (and probably unstable) Vcore. If the Vdroop resistor was set to 10k, the board would have given a very high Vcore. The board would probably have shut down through OVP before it could cause too much damage tho.
03-21-2006, 02:10 PM
Asio

The res richt to the left of the circle, infact the circle just touches the resistor.

Using the Vdroop pic

Quote:

If the Vdroop resistor was shorted, it should just give a lower (and probably unstable) Vcore. If the Vdroop resistor was set to 10k, the board would have given a very high Vcore. The board would probably have shut down through OVP before it could cause too much damage tho.

I used the Vcore 1 mod to reach 1.7Vcore and was under the impression Vdroop only makes Vcore more stable not increases it.

I did have the board running with only the Vdimm and Vdroop mod without a hitch. Can I cut out the Vcore1 mod and still use 1.55+ vcore?

Edit: I have to confess, I accidently solder the Vcore1 mod to the leg of the chip above it (arrow above just touches the chip named A2
Vr set at 8.5K and may verywell be the reason of my strange bios behavior. I experienced the same problem after flashing the bios early this weak so I took little notice of it, just sharing with you.

ps. Would this mobo be able to reflash my infinity B bios chip? (4mbit I think)
03-21-2006, 06:45 PM
RimRam

I am sorry to say that A2 is 11.2v and most probably surged thru the brown cap next to it, the mod res, the vref cap, and ended up in the regulator to the left, and cpu vcore to the right of it :( . Just do not turn on the power, and immediately unsolder. the first pic that you linked (w/ yellow circle marking) is actually a cap(brown color). It shouldn’t have caused no post (but maybe unstable). persivore, can he solder a cap (taken out of an old board) where he damaged the brown cap? Most probably it would work if same size and same shade of brown.
The A2 (11v-12v) is the concern here. Always check the soldering w/ magnifier and light. use wick to remove excess solder.
03-21-2006, 07:09 PM
RimRam

Quote:

Originally Posted by persivore

I've thought about adding fan speed control to the board by modding the winbond chip, but I've not had time to do anything yet. It should be possible to do mod the chip to read other voltages, but it will involve lifting some of the pins on the chip and connecting the voltage supplies to them.
I'll look into it when I get some free time :)

Persivore, I read a a few pages of winbond chip about the monitoring pins and how are input/output. External resistors and caps are involved and checked the board, compared the values given by winbond and the board's resistors matched. The pins are located in the long side facing edge of the board and bottom corner(toward AGP). I am thinking, if external resistorsand caps are used for this monitoring system, then might find soldering points for the mods thru. these smd's without lifting or touching winbond pins.
The PDF files also has a guide how to software program these monitoring I/O in binary. maybe you can right a program for this board (similar to speedfan, etc) and sell it to us ;) just kidding, but seriously, can program it to existing software(shareware). But for know soldering Iron is our friend.
Here is The board 's winbond PDF. file.
http://www.winbond.com/c-winbondhtm/....asp?Pname=182
03-22-2006, 07:23 AM
Asio

More severe then I thought!

I added a red arrow to the mistaken solderpoint and highlighted a few other components for clarity.

components

It is alread powered up in the past and unsoldered...
03-22-2006, 03:30 PM
wiltz

tnx for the suggestions everybody, for the instability problem...but my board died yesterday, so i'll never know what was the problem with these BSOD screens, and i'll propably never know what was the cause of death:(

anyway, what was the real objective of the vdroop mod? first i thought it was to decrease the vcore fluctations, but as i measured vcore and changed the VR value over 1k and under 1k, i never really noticed any changes, other than the changing vcore value itself! at idle vcore was always a little lower than at full load...but it didnt change durind full load (at least my cheap multimeter didnt track that)
04-18-2006, 11:34 PM
RimRam

Anyone is interested in vdimm mod poor man's way and no soldering involved,
check jonspd's thread over @ ocforum.
It's by "ochungry" called "easy vdimm mod". has to do w/ graphite and nail polish. check it out very intersting and apparanty works and very easy.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=440021
04-25-2006, 09:43 AM
jonspd

Anyone get a clock speed gain by doing the vdroop mod?
05-06-2006, 01:04 PM
Flib

did the vsb, vldt, vdimm, vcore and vdd mod

the vdd mod isn't working.
When I decrease resistance it does nothing... At one point vdd will drop from 2v to 0,8V.

Any ideas? I took a screw from the motherboard as a grounding point.
The motheboard is in the case, so this point should be grounded....
05-07-2006, 12:53 AM
persivore

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flib

did the vsb, vldt, vdimm, vcore and vdd mod

the vdd mod isn't working.
When I decrease resistance it does nothing... At one point vdd will drop from 2v to 0,8V.

Any ideas? I took a screw from the motherboard as a grounding point.
The motheboard is in the case, so this point should be grounded....

Are you sure you have used the correct point for the mod? Can you get a picture of your mod?
05-07-2006, 05:45 AM
Flib

Difficult to get a picture, there's so much hotglue...
I will try to do the mod tomorrow again, if the HTT will limit my overclock.

vldt and vsb seems to do nothing. Like on the dfi boards. The default voltage is enough.
09-10-2006, 03:52 AM
saddevil

hi
my english is not good enough to explain...

but i think the manuals for the Vdd MOds are wrong

the Vdd voltage read point is not on the little Fet near the SATA II connector
these point is the Vsb Voltage

the Vdd regulator is near the Vcore
the chip is an RT9202

http://mitglied.lycos.de/saddevil/Foto(077).jpg
http://mitglied.lycos.de/saddevil/Foto(076).jpg
11-21-2006, 07:25 AM
Special_K

Quote:

Originally Posted by persivore

I've thought about adding fan speed control to the board by modding the winbond chip, but I've not had time to do anything yet. It should be possible to do mod the chip to read other voltages, but it will involve lifting some of the pins on the chip and connecting the voltage supplies to them.
I'll look into it when I get some free time :)

hey persivore - did you ever get any kind of fanspeed control working on this board?
12-12-2006, 05:20 PM
tr4l1975

Hi, this my first post here, I successfully did the vcore mod on my asrock 939dual-vsta, and would like to do the vdimm. I want the variable one as my ram requires 2.85-2.95v for a stable overclock. what kind of 500 ohm resistor exactly am I looking for? I started looking online and got confused by the extra specs(power,tolerance..etc.). please be specific and post links if you can. thanks for the help.
02-03-2007, 01:52 AM
Pavlos

hi guys.

i just bought a dual-sata2 and an opteron 175. SO far i dont like that mobo much ( something is wrong with my x800gto ), and about o/c i cant see a lot of Mhz. My opteron is not a good stepping and i need more voltage. I want to do the Vcore mod but i am thinking of bios.
The mobo has 2.2 bios. Is this going to work with the mod ?
Right now i have the opty at 240Mhzx11 with a divider 5/6.

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