Asrock 775Dual-VSTA mother board and an AMD 3000+ processor

[arkane]

Hey folks, taking the plunge by being more active on this site this year.

I bought an Asrock 775Dual-VSTA mother board and an AMD 3000+ processor yesterday to upgrade from my failing 462, Im going to start putting it together when I get home, I was wondering what you guys think of this mother board. and what issues if any I should look out for with this board and processor match.

P.S. It wasnt the board i was originally going to buy.

thanks

[flanzig1]

Well, the 775Dual-VSTA is an Intel and you have an AMD CPU. So no worky.

[Powertrip]

Dispite the fact that you need to swap your AMD CPU in for an Intel S775, if coming up from a Socket 462 (Socket A) System, the Dual board has some definate advantages/disadvantages.

Advantages: Supports Dual Channel DDRII667 (DDRII x 2 DIMMs) and DDR400 (DDR x 2 DIMMs) So you perhaps can use your DDR400/333 in 2 of the memory slots until you can afford to jump to the DDR533/666.

And it's other Dual Function is both AGP and PCIx video card options. I have been told that it's not a great idea to have both of these on the same board (Who else other than Asrock does it?) But if there is an initial problem you'll probably see it early on, especially if you have a card of each variety to try (one at a time).

You've still got lots of options arkane, let us know if we can help in any way

[glc]

I think I'd keep the processor and get a different motherboard - one not made by Asrock. Those "duals" are full of compromises and Asrock is not a top quality manufacturer to begin with.

Which exact processor did you get, and do you need specific support - such as for DDR and AGP?

[arkane]

I got a AMD Sepron 3000+ processor.

I am heading back to the company tomorrow, I will carry both board and processor and see what we can work out. (Im strongly leaning to changing the motherboard).

I want to use back (2) 256 DDR sticks from my old mother board.

I have a Gforce fx 5200 256 AGP video card. as well as a sound card and a modem.

[glc]

Which socket is that Sempron - a 462, 754, or 939? What speed is that DDR?

[The_YongGrand]

The Asrock 775Dual-VSTA is for Socket 775 processors.

The board is quite okay, but I'm wondering that they can put old and new technologies there as well. Maybe stability could be compromised. Haven't tested this out - maybe I'll try it out one day. They have some positive reviews in the tech/hardware sites though.

[Mike101]

From the replies so far I feer you are confused as what to do. I have this board and am happy with the performance. I can play any game out there right now on high with the exception of the new games with shadier 3. I needed a board that I could use my DDR ram and AGP card to tie me over until the new parts out there drop in price and this one is perfict. I would advise you to get a 775 proccessor and stick with this board.

My System Intel Pentium D925 3.0 GHz / ASRock 775Dual-Vista / ATI Radeon X850XT AGP 256 MB Artic Silencer / Kingston 2X512 MB PC3200 RAM kit / LG 52x32x52x CD-RW / Sony 16x DVD-ROM / 600 - Watt Antec ATX / View sonic 21” monitor / Windows XP w/ Service Pack 2 / Mid tower case 120 fan and 2 80 mm fan exhaust.

[The_YongGrand]

I heard that many reviews told that Asrock boards are not really good at all, but since this is the only board that they use it to mix old and new technologies, people might choose this too.

As the price of this board is so tempting, I might buy it for my experimental PC. But not for my main PC.

[Powertrip]

Motherboards are a little like pulling straws, sometimes you get a winner sometimes you don't. GLC just suggest that ASROCK is not as good as say an ASUS P4P800 with AGP only, or a P5LD2 S775 thats PCIx only, and that something somewhere has to give to have both slot types on one board. Is it quality or performance or both? I have one client with that board and no complaints so far, but I always say unless you can sell 10 of the same board and wait a few years you may never know if it's worth what you paid for it.

[arkane]

Hey,

Just wanted to say thanks for the advice, Its been many years since I did that pc repair course so there were somethings I was really surprised had changed, (clip for the heat sink for example)

Anyway, I ended up changing the board, I have a K8MM3 motherboard now, everything works fine.

glc the DIMMS are (2) pc256/DDR333. Socket 754 mother board.

Thanks again.

[Professor]

wrong mobo, the one for AMD CPU is called ASRock 939Dual-VSTA.
It is a discontinued product. A lot of problems with that 939Dual-VSTA but it was a very unique product. Good for high tech collectors.

You have many mobo based on the same chipset as the 775Dual-VSTA.
ECS, Biostar, Asus have similar product with many variant but this one is by far the most popular and updated. Asus backup all the marketing so... The objective of Asus(ASRock) is to get the market of ECS and so. (low budget mobo)
It's a dam good start.

[glc]

Professor, welcome to PC Mech. However, the issue has already been solved with a different motherboard.

Anyway, I ended up changing the board, I have a K8MM3 motherboard now, everything works fine.