AMD Motherboards: Processor Support
by Wesley Fink on June 28, 2005 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Socket 939 Motherboards with Dual-Core BIOS
In addition to the Official X2 Support list from AMD, manufacturers are releasing x2 BIOS updates for their motherboards. Below is a list compiled from the manufacturers that claim x2 compatibility with their BIOS update.In general a board must be Socket 939, and the x2 updates, at least for the present, are mainly limited to the nVidia nForce4 family and a few VIA K8T890/K8T800Pro motherboards. The new ULI 1689 chipset also features x2 support, with AGP 8X on the M1689 and PCIe with the M1695. There are also several older VIA AGP boards in the X2 support list. ATI Crossfire AMD and SiS 756 also support dual-core, so new motherboards using these chipsets will support the new X2 Athlon 64.
"Check Web Site" means we could not find BIOS support for x2 processors at the website, and that you need to check the website or contact the manufacturer for an updated support lisitng.
Dual-Core BIOS Revision is the earliest listed BIOS to support Dual-core. Later BIOS for the same board can reasonably be expected to also support x2 processors.
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AMD Dual-Core BIOS Releases |
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Manufacturer |
Model Number |
Dual-Core BIOS Revision |
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Abit
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Fatal1ty AN8 SLI AN8 SLI AN8 Ultra AN8 AN8-V |
1.5 (6/16/05) |
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AV8 - 3rd Eye AV8 |
2.1 (6/16/05) |
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Albatron |
K8SLI K8NF4U K8NF4X |
1,07a (Beta) (5/30/05) |
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AOpen |
Check Website |
Check Website |
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ASRock |
K8 Combo Z (ULi) K8 Upgrade-VM800 |
2.1 (5/19/05) 1.4 (6/03/05) |
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Asus |
A8N-SLI Premium A8N-SLI Deluxe A8N-SLI A8N-E |
1005 1010 1008 1004 |
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A8V Deluxe A8V |
1013 0205 |
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Biostar |
N4SLI-A9 NF4UL-A9 NF4ST-A9 |
nslia614 nf4ua614 nf4sa614 |
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Chaintech |
VNF4/VNF4 Ultra |
V5.0 (6/03/05) |
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S1689 (ULi) |
0523 Beta (5/23/05) |
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DFI |
LANParty nForce4 SLI LANParty UTnF4 SLI-D LANParty UTnF4 SLI-DR LANParty UTnF4 Ultra-D LANParty UTnF4 Ultra-DR |
NFLD510 Beta (5/10/05) NOTE: 6/23/05 Recommended |
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LANParty UT LP NF3 Ultra-D |
Shipping BIOS |
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ECS |
KN1 Extreme nForce4 A939 |
1.1A (6/02/05) 1.0D (6/02/05) |
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KV2 Extreme KV2 Lite |
1.2C (6/27/05) 1.1B (6/27/05) |
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Epox |
9NPA+ SLI |
Beta 05.05.26 |
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Foxconn |
NF4UK8AC NF4K8AA |
See Website (www.foxconnchannel.com) |
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Gigabyte |
K8N Ultra SLI Check Website for other nF4 |
F3 (6/28/2005) Check Website |
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K8U-939 (ULi-AGP) |
F1 |
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Jetway |
939GT4-SLI 939GT4-Ultra |
Check Website |
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MSI |
K8N SLI Platinum K8N Diamond K8N Neo4 Platinum K8N Neo4-Fi K8N Neo4-F |
3.4 (6/02/05) 1.4 (6/02/05) 1.5 (6/03/05) 1.5 (6/03/05) 1.5 (6/03/05) |
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MSI K8T Neo2-F/FIR |
9.1 (6/08/05) |
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RS480-M2 (ATI) RX480-M2 (ATI) |
3.4 (5/13/05) |
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Soltek |
SL-NF4PRO-939 |
1.1 (6/02/05) |
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SL-K8TPro-939 SL-B9D-FGR SL-K8T-939FL |
W1.5 (5/25/05) G1.3 (5/16/05) F1.1 (5/23/05) |
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Anton74 - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
Actually the ECS KN1 also seems to have nForce4 Ultra, not nForce4 as listed?http://www.ecsusa.com/products/kn1_spec.html
Anton74 - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
#40 / Wesley,I've noticed that out of all the nForce4 equipped boards on the list of supporting motherboards, there's only 1 with the nForce4 Ultra chipset, the Asus A8N-E (which by the way does also support rev. E4 according to the linked AMD page). The vast majority is either nForce4 of nForce4 SLI. Coincidence?
The ones that do support E3/E4/E6 are all some flavor of nForce4.
I was looking at an nForce4 Ultra board, with a dual core either now or in the future, so I'm very much looking forward to that roundup before making a decision. Looks like I may have to consider other nForce4 flavors as well. I'm also hoping to figure out if I can at least make the thing run long enough to do a BIOS update if needed, otherwise I might be in trouble, with no other Athlon 64's at hand. It's hard to tell what BIOS version one can expect when buying from an online retailer.
Why is it by the way that others, such as the EPoX 9NPA* Ultra which I was considering, do claim revision E support with a BIOS update on their web site, but didn't make it onto AMD's list? Do they not fully support the new CPU's as claimed?
Great article by the way.
BPB - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
From what I see on MSI's site the RS480M2-IL is in testing for X2 support, they do not say it is supported. Should I chance it?Markfw900 - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
I have bios 1.95 on my neo2 with a 4400+ working perfectly. Its a beta, and not on the MSI site. Duvie found it for me.T2k - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
On NF3 concerns: my NF3 Pro-based Gigabyte GA-K8NSNXP-939 is fine with X2 after you flashed the latest BIOS, confirmed by Gigabyte.nserra - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
I think its a little risky using the 1T rate with 4 banks, even if works "fine", AMD (or the mobo maker) cant afford to lose some stability even if slightly.bupkus - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
Link to next article, "A Look at Solaris 10 and Sun's Dual Core Fire V40z", is brokern.Wesley Fink - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
Zebo - Actually I'm finishing an nF4 Ultra roundup that should post in the next few days. The Abit Fatal1ty AN8 is one of the boards in the roundup.arswihart - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
Zebo - Think again. On AOAforums, the user LBJGH recently had a discussion with the Epox support staff, who said, concerning the new BIOS with X2 support for the 9nda3+, "we should have it ready by next week."Read this quote and the whole thread here:
http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31...
Zebo - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
Thanks a lot wes, great fact finding mission..It looks like I'll finally have to upgrade to PCIe since my epox 9NDA does'nt support dual core. Do you know if ASUS has fixed thier 1T cmd issue at high HTT?? Also would you guys review ABIT AN8 Ultra as it seems to be the only passive chipset design and at xtreme guys seem to be hitting 300+ HTT even so. Only thing I don't like is mem proximity in dual channel which makes cooling difficult..