Need feedback on AsRock Dual with Uli M-1689

[joe2004]

OK, this is for my third computer in the stable. I have everything I need but the 939 motherboard. Since I have a bunch of AGP cards NForce 4 is a no go and since NVidia discontinued their NF3 chipset forcing all the motherboard makers to discontinue NF3 939 motherboards I have very little choice left. I dread ATI based motherboards. If anybody knows of a decent overclocker with inexpensive AGP ATI board let me know. Or VIA if VIA is still alive. :-)

So I kind of decided to try AsRock. Now what is the overclocking experience? I have a Venice 3000 which goes to 2.8 GHz and I definitely need 300+.

[m3ta1head]

I also am purchasing this board with an Opteron 146. Head over to ocworkbench.com...they seem to be HUGE fans of this board. They even make a beta bios for it which boosts vcore...anyway people have been pulling 3.5-3.6 out of this board with voltmods. And according to various benchmarks the Uli chipset seems to be right up there with the nForce and ATI.

[joe2004]

Well, we both have good intent, now we need some reports.

It is a time to displace the greed of NVidia with some AGP boards worth of this community.

[crodan85]

If you dont mind doing a little volt modding and a bios change I wouldnt hesitate to get this board I have had mine about 1 week now and It has a few quirks but is a very good board overall.

2900Mhz Stable
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4...stabler4jb.jpg

3200Mhz validated
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=54605

Max so 3200Mhz far vcore 1.68 I did try 1.7v+ but the temps got to high.
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/4456/32007in.jpg

[joe2004]

What volt modding have you done?
How far vcore goes with bios change?

[Bar81]

If you dont mind doing a little volt modding and a bios change I wouldnt hesitate to get this board I have had mine about 1 week now and It has a few quirks but is a very good board overall.

2900Mhz Stable
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4...stabler4jb.jpg

3200Mhz validated
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=54605

Max so 3200Mhz far vcore 1.68 I did try 1.7v+ but the temps got to high.
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/4456/32007in.jpg

What quirks?

[persivore]

I found a few problems with the board when I was running it a few months ago. There is a problem running 1t with RAM, there is a problem with booting off the SATA2 connector, and without using a modded BIOS, the max Htt is artificially limited to 274mhz. Vtt also fluctuates quite a lot between load/idle (out of JEDEC spec iirc).

Other than those few problems, its a great board, and it clocks my CPU similarly to my RDX200, however you must be willing to volt mod to get the most out of the board.

[Mr. Tinker]

It's finicky with RAM. If you do get good, compatible ram, you will have fun. It's also about as future-proof as you will ever get with a MB.

[joe2004]

@persivore:
SATA doesn't bother me, not being able to run 1T does bother me.
I see 275 limit is only for the official Bios. Fluctuation of voltage is not attractive.
Any recommendations for the memory?

[persivore]

@persivore:
SATA doesn't bother me, not being able to run 1T does bother me.
I see 275 limit is only for the official Bios. Fluctuation of voltage is not attractive.
Any recommendations for the memory?

I was able to run some OCZ TCCD at 290mhz 2t with the OCWB rev2 beta BIOS. The max that I could run 1t was about 260 memtest stable iirc.
I've run the same RAM on a RDX200 up to 285mhz 1t, so the board doesn't clock RAM the best, but its not too bad IMO. I had the board Vcore, Vdimm, Vtt and Vldt modded, so the results might be different with a stock board.

Due to the board not running RAM well with 1t, I would probably recommend using some BH/CH based RAM with tight timings (with either a Vdimm mod or a DDR booster), but find out from someone who has tried the RAM on the board to see how it performs.

[sinister1st]

The corsair value select 1gb runs 2.5-3-3-8 1t runs perfectly fine (rated speed) with this board I think the 1t issue might be with the beta bios.

[persivore]

The corsair value select 1gb runs 2.5-3-3-8 1t runs perfectly fine (rated speed) with this board I think the 1t issue might be with the beta bios.

I've had problems running 1t with every BIOS I've tried (and I've tried every BIOS except the latest official asrock BIOS and the newest beta). The boards appear to vary with how well they run 1t. Some won't even run 1t at stock speeds, whilst others don't appear to be effected too badly, but that could be due to the BIOS settings or other components in the system.

[LowRun]

Mine went back for rma yesterday, it would bsod doing nothing at windows desktop running stock volts and Mhz. 12v and 5v rails where reported pretty close to DMM readings but 3.3v was way off and bouncing all over the place.

[sinister1st]

Ya I sent mine back for a chaintech nf4 ultra I didnt like its bugs but I have seen alot of people doing well with this board I think its a hit or miss with this one.

The uli chipset is fast but you get what you pay for, Ill probably buy another one in the future for fun . OC workbench has alot of users of this one.

[joe2004]

Well, thanks for all the answers, I decided against it. Now let me try to get rid of some AGP cards, darn.