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ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 REVIEW

"Asrock 939 Dual Sata2 motherboard review testing this ULI M1695 Socket 939 motherboard. The Asrock 939 Dual Sata2 has many features including the ability to use the latest Socket AM2 processors from AMD and the ability to use both AGP 8x and PCI Express video cards. These two main features make the Asrock 939 Dual Sata2 very future proof and upgradeable. The Asrock 939 Dual Sata2 is tested against the Gigabyte K8NS Pro which is a Socket 754 motherboard. The software we used for benchmarking was:- 3dmark 2001 SE, 3dmark 2003 and SiSoftware Sandra 2005."

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2

"Featuring ULi's TGi Technology, the ASRock 939 Dual-SATA2 supports 1 AGP 8x, 1 PCIe x16 slot, 1 PCIe x1 and 3 PCI slots that enable users to enjoy the freedom to continue using their AGP graphics cards while giving them enough headroom for future upgrade to PCI Express graphics cards. In addition, ULi's TGi Technology enables users to run applications which require multiple displays."

"Devoted to bring ASRock die-hard users the best benefits, the newly released ASRock 939Dual-SATA2, is believed to draw users' attention with its cost-effective, considerate and longevity features. Matching with ULi M1695/M1567, the life circle of 939Dual-SATA2 is unlimitedly extended. The design of both AGP8X and PCI Express graphics interface, allows users to switch graphics cards depending on their budget and needs, and the Future CPU upgrade port lets users to upgrade future CPU socket when it is mature for the market. As for the scalability of hard disk, the embedded JMicron PCI Express based SATA2 controller further extends 939Dual-SATA's life circle by supporting Serial ATA II interface." said ASRock.

"ASRock 939 Dual-SATA2 supports AMD64 Socket 939 with a FSB of 1GHz of HTT. Providing a future CPU Upgrade Slot, ASRock 939 Dual-SATA2 offers end-users the flexibility for future CPU upgrade to Socket M2. This board offers a SATA II 3.0 Gb/s and 2 SATA 1.5Gb/s ports, RAID 0 (Striping), RAID 1 (Mirroring), and JBOD, which not only enhanced overall disk performance, also provide protection to data contents in hard drives."

ASROCK 939 DUAL-SATA2 SPECIFICATIONS

For Socket 939: AMD Athlon 64FX and Athlon 64 processors
FSB 1 GHz (2.0GT/s), DDR400
HyperTransport Technology, AMD Cool¡¥n'Quiet Technology
Hybrid Booster - ASRock Safe Overclocking Technology
PCI Express x16 slot, PCI Express x1 slot, AGP 8X slot
PCI E SATA2 controller on board, optimizing the support for SATA2 HDD
Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s, RAID 0,1,JBOD
7.1channel Superior Quality Audio, 10/100 Ethernet LAN
ASRock 8CH I/O: 4 USB2.0 ports, 7.1channel audio jack
FSB 1000 MHz (2.0GT/s)
Supports HyperTransport Technology
Supports AMD Cool‘n’Quiet Technology
Southbridge: ULI M1567
CPU Multiplier
ASRock U-COP
Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G)
PCI Express x16 slot
PCI Express x1 slot
3 x PCI slots
Realtek 850 7.1channel AC'97 audio codec
Realtek RTL8201CL 10/100 Ethernet LAN PHY
2 x SerialATA connectors support RAID,0,1,JBOD
1 x SATA2 connector (based on PCI E SATA2 controller JMB360)
2 x ATA 133/100/66 IDE connectors (supports 4 x IDE devices)
1 x Floppy connector
CPU/Chassis FAN connectors
20 pin ATX power connector
4 pin ATX 12V power connector
Power LED connector
CD audio in header
Front panel audio connector
2 x USB 2.0 port pin headers (to support extra 4 USB2.0 ports)
4 x USB2.0 ports
1 x RJ45 LAN port
1 x Serial port (COM1)
1 x PS2 Keyboard connector
1 x PS2 Mouse connectors
1 x Parallel port (LPT1)
2 x Audio ports to support 8 Ch audio ( Line In/Out, Mic In)

"ULi M1695/M1567 is world's first chipset that supports both PCI Express x16 and native AGP 8X graphics interfaces. We are developing not only products with excellent qualities, but we also make sure that our products incorporate innovative features that give us a leading-edge against our competitors." said Alex Kuo, President of ULi. "ASRock's outstanding position in the channel market enable us to penetrate and fulfill market's strong demand for highly innovative and flexible, cost-effective solutions."

"About ULi - ULi Electronics Inc. is a leading fabless IC design company that develops world-class solutions for consumer electronics and professional computing products. ULi's expertise in the PC information industry and solid design capability superbly positioned ULi as a major component supplier dedicated to bringing system manufacturers more highly integrated, performance enhancing and cost effective IC solutions. For more information about ULi, please visit our website at http://www.uli.com.tw."

GENERAL SYSTEM INFORMATION

PROCESSOR AMD ATHLON64 3000
AMD ATHLON64 2800
VIDEO CARD MSI GEFORCE 6600 GT
NVIDIA DRIVER FORCEWARE v81.95
MOTHERBOARD ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA 2
GIGABYTE K8NS PRO
MOTHERBOARD DRIVER ULI INTEGRATED DRIVER v2.10
NVIDIA NFORCE DRIVER v5.11
MEMORY 2 x 512MB OCZ GOLD XTC PC3200 DDR
OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS XP SERVICE PACK 2
DIRECTX VERSION v9.0c

PROCESSOR TYPE TYPE MULTIPLIER CLOCK SPEED L1 CACHE L2 CACHE TECHNOLOGY SOCKET PRICE
ATHLON64 3000 VENICE 9 1.8Ghz 128K 512K 0.09 939 $129
ATHLON64 2800 NEWCASTLE 9 1.8Ghz 128K 512K 0.13 754 $110
PROCESSOR TYPE TYPE MULTIPLIER CLOCK SPEED L1 CACHE L2 CACHE BUS SPEED SOCKET PRICE

OPTIMISING THE ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 FOR SPEED

BENCHMARK TO SHOW GENERAL PERFORMANCE

AUTO SETTINGS21263
DDR400 ENABLED22275 (+5%)
DDR400 + 1T ENABLED23090 (+8%)

BENCHMARK TO SHOW MEMORY PERFORMANCE

AUTO SETTINGS237
DDR400 ENABLED263 (+10%)
DDR400 + 1T ENABLED284 (+17%)

BENCHMARK TO SHOW PROCESSOR PERFORMANCE

AUTO SETTINGS2750
DDR400 ENABLED2833 (+3%)
DDR400 + 1T ENABLED2865 (+5%)

AUTO SETTINGS DDR400 ENABLED DDR400 + 1T ENABLED

COMMENT - "This is an investigation into the performance of the Asrock 939 Dual Sata2 from basic settings to the advanced settings. Auto settings are the default settings you will encounter when you first install your Asrock 939 Dual Sata2. The default settings force the use of DDR333 even if you own DDR400 memory which is for compatibility reasons. Setting DDR400 and 1T will enable the fastest memory settings available for the Asrock 939 Dual Sata2. The default Auto settings are between 3% to 10% slower than using the DDR400 setting and 5% to 17% when using DDR400 and 1T. Not all DDR400 memory will work 100% when 1T has been enabled, it is nice to know that even just using DDR400 will give you a nice boost compared to Auto."

3DMARK BENCHMARKS

3DMARK 2001 SE

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA216649
GIGABYTE K8NS PRO16313

3DMARK 2003

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA27725
GIGABYTE K8NS PRO7634

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 GIGABYTE K8NS PRO

COMMENT - "Using 3dmark 2001 SE the Asrock 939 Dual Sata2 finishes 3% faster than the Gigabyte K8NS Pro and with 3dmark 2005 the Asrock 939 Dual Sata2 is 2% faster. These benchmarks are really for testing the video card so any performance increase is good especially with 3dmark 2003."
BENCHMARK SETTINGS

3DMARK 2001 SE

1024x768 Resolution
32Bit color
D3D Hardware T&L
Antialiasing Disabled
Double Frame Buffer
Compressed Texture Format
24Bit Z-Buffer Depth

3DMARK 2003

1024x768 Resolution
No Pixel Processing
Optimal Texture Filtering
4x Max Anisotropy
Optimal Vertex Shaders
No Repeat Tests
No Fixed Framerate

SISOFTWARE SANDRA 2005

PROCESSOR - ALU DHRYSTONE

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA27599
GIGABYTE K8NS PRO7505

PROCESSOR - FPU WHETSTONE

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA22852
GIGABYTE K8NS PRO2828

PROCESSOR - FPU ISSE2

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA23692
GIGABYTE K8NS PRO3670

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 GIGABYTE K8NS PRO

COMMENT - "Using SiSoftware Sandra 2005 CPU benchmark we are making sure that neither processors has an unfair performance advantage. Even though the Athlon64 2800 uses Socket 754 and the Athlon64 3000 uses Socket 939 both are clocked at 1.8Ghz which is why they deliver almost the same level of performance."

SISOFTWARE SANDRA 2005

MEMORY BANDWIDTH - INTEGER

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 (DUAL CHANNEL)4978
ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 (SINGLE CHANNEL)3043
GIGABYTE K8NS PRO3026

MEMORY BANDWIDTH - FLOATING POINT

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 (DUAL CHANNEL)4927
ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 (SINGLE CHANNEL)3045
GIGABYTE K8NS PRO3027

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 (DUAL) ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 (SINGLE)
GIGABYTE K8NS PRO

COMMENT - "The major difference between the two motherboards becomes clear with this memory bandwidth test, unlike the Gigabyte K8NS Pro the Asrock 939 Dual Sata2 can use "Dual Channel Memory" which can increase performance by 40% as shown above. When the Asrock 939 Dual Sata2 is using Single Channel Memory it's memory bandwidth is the same as the Gigabyte K8NS Pro."

ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 REVIEW INDEX

PAGE 1 - ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 INTRODUCTION
PAGE 2 - ASROCK 939 DUAL SATA2 WITH GAME BENCHMARKS

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