New ASRock Motherboard

axess68 · Sep 25, 2005

Hi. I just joined the forums. I am ordering this motherboard on Friday from Newegg. From everything I read about it so far, it seems to be the best option. I like ASUS and I want to step up to the next level of CPU, from my Athlon XP 2800+, without losing out on my newly purchased nVidia 6600GT AGP. I also wanted the option of being able to get a PCI-Express card eventually. Add to that the fact that I LOVE ASUS, and this board is a perfect fit!

I will be ordering the board this week and the CPU in mid October. I already have DDR400 RAM that I am using on my current ASUS A7N8X. I'm a hardcore gamer, so this is all very advantageous for my coming winter obsession: Elder Scrolls - Oblivion.

HousERaT · Sep 25, 2005

1.45 vcore? this isn't an overclockers board without doing some mods. Any idea how high the "high" value is for the vdimm?

SPQQKY · Sep 25, 2005

Abit will be coming out with their ULi board soon, with results like this on an Asrock, I'm sure the Abit will be a sweet board considering the fact that Abit will not have a BIOS quite as castrated. Although for the price, this looks like a nice board to team up with some value TCCD or TCC5 memory, like PDP.

HousERaT · Sep 25, 2005

karl pell said:
Well, that depends on your approach to things, doesn't it?

I tend to look at overclocking as the acquisition of technical knowledge and skill sufficient to improve the performance of a system comprised of disparate components. In that view, it's one hell of an overclockers board because it has interesting features (939/AGP) and some obvious limitations imposed by the very, very reasonable cost ... someone (probably not me) with a deep, wide knowledge base and skill set will acheive remarkable performance with this board over it's stock configuration.

And I would find that much more satisfying and laudable than just dialing up some brutal Vdimm on a $200 specialist board.

That's a very generous way of looking at it. You should do PR for some of these companies advertising departments.

rseven · Sep 25, 2005

SPQQKY said:
Abit will not have a BIOS quite as castrated.

Ouch! Could you find a more delicate way of saying that. How about limited? Castrated is so....so.....so final, not to mention the imagery in conjures is not that of a bios.

axess68 · Sep 25, 2005

SPQQKY said:
Abit will be coming out with their ULi board soon, with results like this on an Asrock, I'm sure the Abit will be a sweet board considering the fact that Abit will not have a BIOS quite as castrated. Although for the price, this looks like a nice board to team up with some value TCCD or TCC5 memory, like PDP.

Well, Karl did put it quite well. This board DOES have some very distinctly intriguing possibilities. Right now, the board is being pawed over by the tech "elite" and has already been scrutinized by TomsHardware and AnandTech. Both of whom liked the board very much. I would think that they would know a good board from a mediocre one.

It's quite easy to sit with what has been a popular comfort. But, as MSI has proven, no one brand is foolproof.

I like the possibilities this board offers. I also like the freedom it gives me to choose to stick with my AGP card and not have to buy a whole new board when I make the step to PCI-Express later this winter. Plus, there is also that intriguing CPU upgrade slot. For $80 shipped from NewEgg, I am not worried about taking a chance with this board that offers so many possibilities.

Chaos Snake · Sep 26, 2005

Well got mine in and as everyone else has said, droped in and booted smoothly out of the box. When I get a bit more free time i'll push it and see how far it goes.

axess68 · Sep 26, 2005

I hope Newegg doesn`t run out of them before Friday! I really want to get one of these.

axess68 · Sep 26, 2005

I hope someone is still reading this thread.

I was reading the OCWorkbench boards about this motherboard and there seems to be a lot of chatter about backplates, etc.

That has me a little worried.

I am getting a Retail (non OEM) Athlon 64 3000) from newegg for this board. I THINK it comes with a heatsink/fan. Would it be compatible with this board? Or do I have to screw in a different backplate? This is my first 64. So, I'm totally in the dark about it.

LordDarik · Sep 26, 2005

It will be fine, and it does come with a stock HSF.

axess68 · Sep 26, 2005

Well, I plan to do some serious gaming on this new rig. But I don't plan to overclock too far into the red. I am usually very safe about that and only overclock slightly to medium.

Would the stock HS/F that comes with the 3000+ be good enough?

axess68 · Sep 26, 2005

karl pell said:
It's also perfectly fine to change it just because you want to ... at this point, go for a high quality aftermarket thermal material and apply it correctly.

I recently changed the CPU HS/F to a totally copper one on my A7N8X Socket A board. I bought Arctic Silver thermal paste because so many people spoke so highly of it. It definitely brought my CPU temps down by 10-15c. So, I would think that is a good paste.

I was thinking of using this as the heatsink: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835186123

Does it look like that comes with a Backplate? Or would I have to pick one up?

I will go with the STOCK HS/F at first and then upgrade to this one later when I get brave enough to overclock.

Here's what is coming from the board I have now into the new one: nVidia 6600GT AGP video card. 1 Gig of DDR400 Ram in 3 chips (2x256 and 1x512). I want to eventually buy some new ram and make this into a 2 gig machine (4x512). I have a 550watt Antec PSU and will be adding my 3 hard drives (IDE - 40gb, 120gb, 200gb) to it as well as my NEC DVD Burner. I was thinking eventually of maybe adding a SATA drive. But, I may be set with the IDE drives I have now.

Does that all sound do-able with this board? Does that HS/F look good? Would I have to buy a backplate for it? Or is it in those pics of the underside of the HS? (It looks like a black plastic Backplate)

axess68 · Sep 26, 2005

Ahh... Excellent! This has helped me a GREAT DEAL! Many thanks for setting my mind at ease!

I can't wait to get this board this week!

Sure, it won't be running until Mid October, but I will have time to study it. I was thinking of picking up the HS/F at the same time so I can familiarize myself with how it fits into the motherboard, etc.

Does that sound good? Or should I wait on the HS/F and just go with the stock one for now?

LordDarik · Sep 26, 2005

The stock HSF should be fine for you 3000+, and if you want to be safe put some Arctic Silver 5 in between the chip and the HS.

axess68 · Sep 26, 2005

Consider it done! Thanks for your help, Karl and Darrik!

I will stick with the stock HS/F.

Fam Money · Sep 26, 2005

HousERaT said:
1.45 vcore? this isn't an overclockers board without doing some mods. Any idea how high the "high" value is for the vdimm?

There is a vcore mod which will enable my Venice 3000+ to use 1.55v. I haven't been brave enough to try it yet but I will eventually.

NPlack over at Rebels Haven measured the vDIMM with a multimeter and read that normal equals 2.61v and high reads 2.71v. Not alot by any means but there is a vDIMM mod to get more volts. 3.3v I think, great for some BH5.

THE JEW (RaVeN) · Sep 26, 2005

This board is shaping up to be quite the budget overclocker board (well, for those who wish to stay with AGP for a bit longer, anyways).

Definitely a thread to keep watching.

axess68 · Sep 27, 2005

Well, considering I bought my AGP 6600GT last month, I would definitely like to hold onto it for a little longer!

I just got done playing the newly released Call of Duty 2 demo at 1024x768 with 4xAA and Anisotropic Filtering enabled and it ran pretty smooth! That's with my Socket A 2800+. I could only imagine how the 3000+ Athlon 64 Venice will make it sweeter!

SuperCoolDude · Sep 29, 2005

That board looks awesome. I won't have to get rid of my X800XT PE AGP to upgrade.

axess68 · Sep 29, 2005

Am I understanding this correctly? You are overclocking DDR400 memory to be DDR520?

New ASRock Motherboard

Registered

Senior Air Extraordinaire

Member

Senior Air Extraordinaire

Member

Registered

Member

Registered

Registered

Member

Registered

Registered

Registered

Member

Registered

Registered

Member

Registered

Registered

Registered

Similar threads