Overclocking: ASRock 939Dual-Sata2

Front Side Bus Overclocking Testbed
Processor: Athlon 64 4000+
(2.4GHz, 1MB Cache)
CPU Voltage: 1.55V (default 1.50V)
Cooling: Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 Heat sink/Fan
Power Supply: OCZ Power Stream 520W
Memory: OCZ PC3200 EL Platinum Rev. 2
(Samsung TCCD Memory Chips)
Hard Drive: Seagate 120GB 7200RPM SATA 8MB Cache
Maximum OC:
(Standard Ratio)
242x12 (4x HT, 2.5-3-3-7, "High" voltage)
2904MHz (+21%)
Maximum FSB:
(Lower Ratio)
304 x 9 (2736MHz) (3x HT)
(2 DIMMs in DC mode)
(+52% Bus Overclock)

We certainly didn't expect much with just "Normal" and "High" choices for memory voltage, but the ULi chipset has surprised us once again. We easily reached 242 at stock 12x multiplier - one of the highest overclocks that we have seen with this CPU.

As we saw on the ULi Reference board 2, we could reach all the way to 400 Clock Speed with reduced multipliers and lowered memory ratios. Using our standard OCZ TCCD at rated speed, we still managed to reach above 300, making the ASRock one of the few AMD motherboards that can reach beyond 300 with this memory.

Basic Features: ASRock 939Dual-Sata2 Memory Stress Testing
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  • touchmyichi - Friday, September 9, 2005 - link

    think i'll have any luck w/ an XP-120?
  • frodin - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    Wesley: Did you try checking/ replacing the BIOS backup battery? I have started experiencing coldboot/BIOS issues myself (and actually only when my flat is really cold(!)), and I am running everything @ stock with 2x 512mb Crucial Ballistix ram. Everest reads the battery voltage as 0.3v /this could of course be wrong), I'll try and replace the battery with another one that I know works in another board. I am running the 1.10 (stock) BIOS.
    Just a thought.
  • mindless1 - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link

    Everest's report is unquestionably wrong, you'd lose all your bios settings long before the battery dropped so far as 0.3V
  • ceefka - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    Now if ULi can include SATA II, NCQ and Gb LAN and someone makes a board with that chipset including 1394b (on a TI controller), I'd buy it.
  • JustAnAverageGuy - Wednesday, September 7, 2005 - link

    Would have liked to see some Battlefield 2 benchmarks, but I agree with the poster above saying that having 5 or 6 boards with the same chipset (and same results) is a bit redundant.

    - JaAG
  • Nighteye2 - Wednesday, September 7, 2005 - link

    Considering the cold boot issues increase with 4 DIMMs, could they be specific to the RAM? Could the board be more compatible with other brands of RAM?
  • Wesley Fink - Wednesday, September 7, 2005 - link

    The RAM used for testing is always specifed on our test setup page, and I also mentioned it several times in the article. It is our standard test memory, OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2, based on Samsung TCCD memory chips. Samsung TCCD is also available from many other Enthusiast memory companies like Corsair, Mushkin, G. Skill, Patriot, Geil, and many others.
  • Nighteye2 - Wednesday, September 7, 2005 - link

    I know and read that. It's just that I've had an experience with RAM incompatibility myself. The RAM worked fine on other boards, without errors, yet gave several errors on the board I was using. Switching the RAM to another brand made the board work perfectly.

    It's been a while ago, so that's why I can't mention specifics, but not all boards are fully compatible with all sticks of RAM. Does ASRock recommend using RAM from several vendors, and if so, is the OCZ RAM on that list?
  • OvErHeAtInG - Thursday, September 8, 2005 - link

    That's what I thought, it probably just doesn't like TCCD.
  • WeaselBlade - Wednesday, September 7, 2005 - link

    Anyone have any idea whether it will be possible to run an agp/pcie crossfire setup, using a PCIE master card and AGP slave?

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