Comment thread for the "Asrock 4CoreDual-VSTA" review

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by reaverclan

hi i just got this in the mail and ill tell u guys how it goes k I'm on budget so i got a AGP x1950 pro anyway at 256 bit 512mb's and I'm putting in a e6420 so yeah ill tell u how it goes by the way I'm in the USA lol

I'd think that you'd be getting full use out of that 1950pro as the AGP slot on this board is a proper 8X slot.

Keep us updated on how it works for you. I'm very interested in seeing how your vid card stacks up.

What do you have to throw on for memory?

(BTW.... the new 7.5 Cats fixed the 1950 overdrive bug.... :) ).

[ArneJoh]

I recommand reading this tree threads about ASRock Dual-VSTA 775 on anandtech where they compare the same graphic cards on both pcie and agp on the board. And ddr vs ddr2. AnandTech: ASRock 775Dual-VSTA: Does DDR2 matter? & AnandTech: ASRock Core 2 Duo: AGP/PCI Express Graphics Performance, Part Tres & AnandTech: Intel Core 2 Duo: Memory Performance Part Deux

[ArneJoh]

Originally Posted by sswilson

Yeah, I've seen a few references to the pin mod, but I'm not willing to muck about with my $300 chip to squeeze a bit more of an OC out of a board that was only intended as a bridge to a higher end board.

I do however intend to pick up an E4400 to slap onto this board once I'm done with it in my main rig (might try the mod then). :)

As far as the memory goes..... I'm getting a bit more performance out of ddrII 800, but if I were going to continue using the board, the performance boost doesn't justify buying ddrII vice the DDR you already own.

Thanks for your input.... I look forward to seeing you around here on the forums.

Yes, i was also using this board as a bridge plattform last summer/autumn because my dfi infinity 975x was delayed. But that dfi board was faulty so i swapped it with asus p5w dh dlx. Pretty odd board and not the best overclocker, but it has every extra function i ever would want ant not want. Hehe, and my card manages about 414fsb without modds so its ok enuff since i have e6600 with 9x multiplier and 266 fsb quadpumped. Did not expect much performance and stability from this Asrock board, but i was positively impressed when price was compared to other boards of that time. And the old hw support is great

For thoose of you that want to max out the board with mods, here is all the vmods. Vmods for ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA help - VR-Zone IT & Lifestyle Forum!

[sswilson]

I'm quite impressed with the board modding community surrounding all asrock boards.

It's an interesting twist to what are already bargain boards. I especially liked the look of the Vcore mod for the 6100 chipset mAtx board I've got, but haven't needed to try it as the board is in a SFF case and wouldn't support extra cooling for higher clocks anywise. :)

As far as DFI goes... I'm playing with the new(er) infinity DARK right now.... :)

[Cedstick]

Wow! I know this is an old post, but I thought I'd resurrect it rather than making a new topic based off an old subject. Not a good way to go with my first post!

Anyway, I like how you covered all the bases with your review and showed the optimist's side of the picture, but my review was slated to the other side--I was looking at this from the perspective of a DDR and AGP gamer looking for a smooth and accessible board to transition to newer technologies, and boy was I let down on that front. Even worse, I was let down as an overclocker, more-so than you seem to have been!

My review, though a bit more bare and compact than yours, sums up a lot of what you've already said. I thought I'd post it simply as a second opinion for some of you people, and as a note that you're going to be capped in a lot of places depending on the hardware you buy.
Cedric Cook's 1UP Blog: Dear ASRock: **** You--the 4CoreDual-VSTA

Let me know if you pick-up any discrepancies in my review, please.

Thanks for the review, and thanks for giving another Canadian hardware enthusiast a home, guys!

[sswilson]

Heh.......

I get the impression that you weren't very happy with the performance. :)

From your experience it's pretty obvious that the 4CoreDual-VSTA doesn't play very nice with the newer varients of C2Ds. I wonder if their newer "frankenstein" boards do a better job?

The motherboard market has changed a hell of a lot since the days when I did this review.... at that time it was hard to find any C2D motherboard for under $250 and DDR2 mem was still fairly expensive.

With today's market of decent P35 OC boards floating just over $100 and being able to find kickass DDR2 for around the $100 mark, a person would probably be better off to bite the bullet and replace their old AGP card to allow them to do a full upgrade.

Thanks a lot for the link. It's always good to see current experience(s) with older kit. The processor market changes so quickly that folks often get bad impressions by read older reviews and assume that they'll get the same results with newer tech.

Welcome to HWC BTW!!!! :)

[Cedstick]

No, thank you, sir :) For the record I always check review dates so I know what to expect, but in some cases--this being one of them--I'll go and grab something on a whim for the sole purpose of diving in to fresh product with no taint or bias from review. I got this board, a 2GB 4-4-4-12 667 kit and a 3Ghz P4 531 for $300 so I decided to just fork over the money since my friend needed it and this was a pretty good-looking deal.

For what it's worth the board isn't all that bad. I mean, once again I'm still kind of pissed about my processor not being fully supported and PCI-Express not a smart upgrade on a board that offers it, but all in all it's given me chance to upgrade my processor and RAM by a large leap. Being a hardware enthusiast, though, I still can't let go of all it's short-comings.

Anyway, for what it's worth I am currently looking to upgrade all-together. I've put my PowerColor Radeon X1950 Pro up for sale--a surprisingly-good card considering my previous experiences with PowerColor--and I'm doing a bit of market research for a decent x38 board here and there, though considering the fact that I probably won't have the funds to do this until February I'm keeping an eye open for newer tech as well.

Thanks!