Asrock 775Dual-VSTA

P

PornoSatan

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 3, 2004
Messages
3,493
I originally posted this in the general hardware forums, but would like opinions here as well...

Hehe, limited budget, what would you do?
Budget: ~350$
Basically I'm torn between going 939 and getting a halfway decent video card that could be used immediately, or going AM2 and having to use a Voodoo 3 until I could gather some more money for a decent card. My current monitor also is dying on me, so I kind of also need to get a LCD.

---Current system---
MOBO Asus A7N8X
CPU Athlon XP 3000+ (Socket A)
RAM 1.5GB DDR400
VIDEO CARD AGP Geforce 6800 Vanilla
PSU Thermaltake Silent Purepower Xaser 480w (single 12v at 18a)
MONITOR A faulty 19" CRT (1024x768 @ 100hz, dont ask)
------------------------------

---Upgrade Option 1 (939)---
MOBO Foxconn NF4SK8AA-8KRS - $74.99 Link
CPU Athlon 64 3400+ OEM + Cheap HSF - $65.98 Link
RAM 1.5GB DDR400 - FREE (from current setup)
VIDEO CARD Evga 7900GS - $159.99 Link
PSU Apevia 500W (dual 12v1-16a 12v2-18a) - $39.99Link

Total: $340.95
------------------------------

--Upgrade Option 2 (AM2)---
MOBO Biostar Tforce 550 - $78.99 Link
CPU Athlon 64 X2 3800+ - $109.00 Link
RAM OCZ Gold 1GB DDR2 800 - $89.99 Link
VIDEO CARD VOODOO 3 - FREE (temporary, only thing I have and could use within this budget)
PSU Xclio Goodpower 500W (dual 12v1-16a 12v2-17a) - $51.99 Link

Total: $329.97
------------------------------

Pretty much boils down to: Go 939 bundled with a decent video card, or go AM2 and wait on the card. As far as the monitor goes, I havent entirely decided which one I would want. But I'm still up for suggestions. I also havent researched many Intel options either, so if you have a recommendation feel free to post it.


COMMENTS WELCOME.
Click to expand...


I've since checked out some Intel routes and this ASRock 775Dual-VSTA Link motherboard hit me, It looks like a match made in heaven... I was thinkin about getting it and a C2D E6400 for around $279 and then using my current video card and ram to hold me over until better.

What do you guys think? Any comments/tips ?
 
I heard mixed feedbacks regarding this mobo. Not really for OCer. Otherwise, it's okay, I guess. Personally I don't own it so I can't offer any Yes or No.
 
Onl problem is that pcie video slot is only x4 i believe, otherwise its a fine board..It o/clocks some but not dfi like o/clocks..The video is the thing that cooled me off about it...
 
Yes, there is currently no DX10 capable card on the market that will work with this board. Other than that, fairly stable IME.
 
Good idea. It should work with your agp 6800 card, and no problem with a 7900GS either.

Reviews of this card with a 7900GT OC showed very very little difference (1-2fps) when compared to a full 16 lane pci-e slot. Figure max OC is about 300 - 315 FSB though.

It's cheap and it gets you into the game.
 
i have one of these i got of the egg open box for $26 shipped . it's a decent mb. it can over clock a little but runs out of steam around 300fsb with a core 2. it is a little tweeky if over clocking . it is the ideal mb if your going to run ddr-400 with a agp card . it is also OK with "most" pci-e cards. it will run ddr-2 -667 and a pci-e videocard as well--but if you have all that --your better off with a 965p. it's a good all around mb with some overclocking and good flexability to carry people over running ddr-1 and or a agp card .:eek: :cool:
 
Great little board if you don't care about overclocking. I have one and it ran my E6700 just fine with DDR1 memory. I used an ATI Radeon 8500 AGP videocard with it. Nowadays using a BAD Axe2 motherboard, but for only $44 on eBay I always liked the Asrock...
 
I just setup an E6300 on this board, I knew going in that it wasnt much of an OC'er but was very disapointed when i realized I couldnt even change Vcore, my board/chip wont go over 285fsb, kind of a bummer, cuz Vcore is only 1.24 right now.
 
Ditto on the AsrockDUAL-VSTA being any kind of OC'ing board :rolleyes: I just wanted to get a C2D cpu, use some of my other high price componets, and not worry too much about OC'ing until I got another mobo. I got the Asrock, a E6300 and with no vcore adjustment managed to get it up to a whole 2.1 GHz :eek: . I know that's no biggie, but at least it was folding stable. As far as I'm concerned, for < $60 bucks, this is one fine board, it does exactly what it was advertised to do and has several BIOS updates. It has a AGP slot, a PCIe slot (I read where it's a 4x, but not being a gamer I can't see any difference), two DDR1 slots and two DDR2 slots. (from my experience the board likes DDR1 best) Hope this helps :D
 
me and my bro have this board for over 3 months now he's running a e6400 and im running a e6600 he can hit 320fsb with his me i can run 304fsb with a pci express 6800gt with ddr 400. i can tell u if u dont have alot of cash or are looking to use alot of older tech it dont get much better as this board lets u upgrade in stages without a heavy performance hit. plus add in that vista went in with 0 problems and u got a winner however as said if u going dx10 soon forget it this board hates the 8800 series so as such it will be gettin replaced in the next few days from me. but as i said it let me go upwards with power without bustin my bank and if it supported dx10 i would not be changing
 
I don't think that Voodoo 3 would work with the newer board anyway. The AGP specs are probably a lot different and it would require a different voltage than current AGP 4X/8X specs.

Anyway, another option is the Biostar 6100 AM2 combo from newegg. It's maybe $10 cheaper than the TForce 550, but it has onboard graphics which you could use while you're saving for a new video card.

Right now the best bang for the buck is the X2 3600+ Brisbane combo from newegg. Board and dual core CPU for less than the price of a C2D chip. If you can afford the C2D/965 board, get that, but the AM2 combo is a good deal and OC's decently. A 2.6Ghz AM2 setup would beat a C2D running around 2.0-2.1Ghz which is all you might get with a E6300 and a 775Dual-VSTA board.
 
I have one of those boards, and my buddy has two of them.

He popped in an e4300. Got it running at 2.4ghz with ease (that's up from 1.8), and it keeps everything in spec, 2.7 is doable (300fsb) as well.

I think for a cheap(er) pair, the 775-vsta (or the new name Asrock 4CoreDual-VSTA) and a e4300 is an awesome buy for those of us with agp and ddr1 items that are still good. And it will be the killer combo when the e4300's drop to $120

just my 2 pennys
spuds
 
As long as they are in the same ballpark pricewise, I might pick one up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top