About to buy an Opteron 146+Asrock 939Dual

[m3ta1head]

Hey guys, what's shakin'

I've been browsing here for a while, and I know the dude named SDX on here. He reccomended this site to me and you guys obviously know your stuff

Anyway, I'm about to order the following:

edit: removed the link (changed my mind), but it's an Opteron 146 s939

And the following from the Egg:

Zalman 7000b cu led
ASROCK 939dual SATA2

Along with some fans and stuff. I wanted to get one of the DFI LANPARTY boards from Newegg, but there are a couple of problems:

I currently own an AGP BFG 6800nu (unlocked 16,6 375/840) which I can't seem to get rid of. Also, I have a 20pin generic 450w power supply, which I obviously can't use with the DFI.

How will my overclocking experience be with the Asrock? I've heard very good things about it w/ the OCworkbench beta bios. Anything else in general? I'm very short on cash atm so I can't afford much anything over $300.

[GoThr3k]

buy a Thermaltake Big Typhoon imho
if you want a good OC board for s939 with agp => MSI neo2

[m3ta1head]

I'm going to be getting one of the next gen cards when they come out (r580/g80), so an AGP board would be stupid...not enough space in my case for a 120mm heatsink either.

[m3ta1head]

For a forum with 100+ people browsing this section alone...there's not a lot of responses.

[sinister1st]

I built with one of these and I sent it back for a chaintech nf4 ultra. I think its either a Hit or miss with this board. It was zippy but it had alot of bugs with agp and IDE drives. Alot of people like this board give it a shot but dont expect to much for an oc on air with this one. Good luck

[m3ta1head]

Do you think 2.6ghz is aiming too high with this board? I forgot to say I have crappy RAM so I'll probably have to run a divider...I've never worked with a divider before (last cpu was an unlocked Barton 2500)...

maybe 2.2-2.4ghz is more realistic in my case?

[sinister1st]

Well metalhead it looks like you dont have much of a choice from what I have read you want ot keep that agp card and get a pcie card later and your low on funds, so I would go for it. If its a POS just sent it back and either get a agp board neo 2 like Gortherk said or ebay the card and upgrade.

I think the next budget build I do I will buy another one just for the hell of it and put a sata drive in it. I would save up a little and then way out your options if not then go for it.

[m3ta1head]

Alright thanks bro. Maybe next summer I'll get a nice DFI board and overclock the Opteron properly.

One more thing...I've heard lots of stories about people rma'ing their 6800ocs to BFG and getting 6800GTs in return...now theres nothing wrong with my card, but I called bfgtech anyway and got a rma number...

Now if I send in the card working (I told the guy that the card was majorly artifacting), will they just send the same card back? If so, what's an effective way to "break" the video card?

[LowRun]

Alright thanks bro. Maybe next summer I'll get a nice DFI board and overclock the Opteron properly.

One more thing...I've heard lots of stories about people rma'ing their 6800ocs to BFG and getting 6800GTs in return...now theres nothing wrong with my card, but I called bfgtech anyway and got a rma number...

Now if I send in the card working (I told the guy that the card was majorly artifacting), will they just send the same card back? If so, what's an effective way to "break" the video card?

SDX should have told you that you won't get no answers to that kind of questions on this board

[dogsx2]

Alright thanks bro. Maybe next summer I'll get a nice DFI board and overclock the Opteron properly.

One more thing...I've heard lots of stories about people rma'ing their 6800ocs to BFG and getting 6800GTs in return...now theres nothing wrong with my card, but I called bfgtech anyway and got a rma number...

Now if I send in the card working (I told the guy that the card was majorly artifacting), will they just send the same card back? If so, what's an effective way to "break" the video card?

You need to go to this other forum for that info. Here's the address:

iamacrook@ripthemoff.com

I'm sure there are guys like you that can help you.

[m3ta1head]

Alright sorry sorry...




I was, uhhh, joking

I'm just not satisfied with the performance of this 6800.

[fullup3]

If your only looking for 2.4ghz you should be fine the the asrock. I think the vcore is very limited and can only go to about 1.45. This should be enought to get you to 2.4 on most 146's though.

[m3ta1head]

Thanks for the feedback.

One more thing...I've heard the divider options on the asrock are severely limited...am I gonna have problems with my POS noname pc3200?

[crodan85]

I would go with the asrock there are a few problems but after a bios change, ddr booster and a voltmod Im very happy with the board.

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

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

For 50 uk pounds its a very good board it just depends on what you are looking for.

[m3ta1head]

I would go with the asrock there are a few problems but after a bios change, ddr booster and a voltmod Im very happy with the board.

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

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

For 50 uk pounds its a very good board it just depends on what you are looking for.

VERY impressive! Would the OCZ DDR booster help me? Where can I purchase one?

[crodan85]

If you are using no name ram I dont think it would help you but if you ever get any BH5 or CH5 then you might need it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813998301

In case you interested there are 2 vcore mods

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/...g/voltmods/130

This gets you upto 1.50 vcore

http://www.rhcf.com/sis-bin/ultimate...0;t=000029;p=0
Im currently using this one and I can go upto 1.75ish vcore but I dont like the temps.

[n91htmare]

Some people think just because its a $60 board, it must suck or must not be as good as other boards. Not true with this board. I'm currently running it with my opteron 146 and couldnt be happier. I'm fully stable at 2.8 at 1.45V. I have dont the 1.55V mod but didn't really need to use the voltage yet. It was the easiest mod i've ever done.

Also, the Vdimm doesnt look that hard, atleast you know you can mod it to run BH5 ram.

Vcore mod, Vdimm Mod, OCWB1 bios and you're set and can do 350HTT without a problem. I got mine up to 348 but my ram couldnt take it.

A very fine board in my opinion, very fine board.

[cirthix]

ive recommended it a couple of times. they havent come back complaining, so i guess its ok

[2fink]

sry for little bit of offtopic, but this thread: http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi/u...0;t=005271;p=0 will help you very much, when you want to overclock with the asrock-board!

[crodan85]

Some people think just because its a $60 board, it must suck or must not be as good as other boards. Not true with this board. I'm currently running it with my opteron 146 and couldnt be happier. I'm fully stable at 2.8 at 1.45V. I have dont the 1.55V mod but didn't really need to use the voltage yet. It was the easiest mod i've ever done.

Also, the Vdimm doesnt look that hard, atleast you know you can mod it to run BH5 ram.

Vcore mod, Vdimm Mod, OCWB1 bios and you're set and can do 350HTT without a problem. I got mine up to 348 but my ram couldnt take it.

A very fine board in my opinion, very fine board.

Exactly people see the words asrock and Instantly brand it crap the only reason this dualsata939 is considered is because of AGP/PCIE with no performance hit. I will admit the board has not got the best caps and mosfets but the caps on mine are going to get changed (I just don't like the look of them). It is a shame dfi don't consider using ULI chipsets as they seem to be very good performance wise. I just read the review for the ULI M1697 and as when/if asrock bring a M1697 board out I will be giving it a go.

PS sorry for ranting on

[m3ta1head]

Well, I've been convinced...I bought the board. Lets hope all goes smoothly...I'll come here when it's all together!

Btw guys, I've been modding the crap out of my broadway case...I recently painted it, what do you think?

http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/8...wfun0013ss.jpg
http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/2...wfun0036kz.jpg
http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/8...wfun0043jq.jpg
http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/3...wfun0054zc.jpg

Also, see that silver bezel? I can either paint that orange as well, or scrap it...only thing is that it's plastic...I'm worried it won't apply well. Should I lap it down with some sandpaper? Will that do anything at all?

If not...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...6889&CatId=928

That's designed for mid towers, correct? Could I purchase that and just replace the bezel completely?

[crodan85]

Not bad a Job at all. I dont think the chieftec front pannel will go on your case with out some moddin, but If you painting plastic vinyl die is the way to go but you might have problem getting the colours to match.
When you get the board make sure you post your results with it.

[Mats]

Abit UL8 Pro is on it's way with the 1697 chip (single chip), I'm guessing low price like the UL8 (not a good overclocker AFAIK) but I don't think it got any AGP.

[m3ta1head]

Not bad a Job at all. I dont think the chieftec front pannel will go on your case with out some moddin, but If you painting plastic vinyl die is the way to go but you might have problem getting the colours to match.
When you get the board make sure you post your results with it.

I don't mind modding :p

[smartasien]

i have the same mobo and processor. Excellent combination. running 2.8 1.425vcore stable. and i just bought ocz ddr booster, should come in within the week. Can u guys give some pointers on how to use it? I don't want to blow up my ram. i read somewhere that u gotta reset the setting everytime u turn off the psu. true?