Best Performing Motherboard for an AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 S939 CPU

[Israar]

Hey guys, lots of questions in a sense from me hehe!

I'm kinda turning to dislike my current motherboard, and a mate of mine who lives about 5hours drive away from me (MS Certified Technician) said from the way my system sounds and from the reocurring hardlocks when I'm trying to run 3D online applications such as WoW, Eve Online and Planetside, he is thinking is more motherboard based than that of my GPU/CPU, and other components as when it hardlocks it makes a looping high-pitched sound from my speakers.

The current board I am using is an MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum which is based on nVidia's nForce 3 Ultra chipset.

I was wondering which new motherboard on upgrading too... I have had the following three companies in my mind; Abit, ASUS and Gigabyte. I am unsure on what to choose from and was wondering who would have some good background information on those companies and certain motherboards, whether they run great or not, whether they are a good choice for upgrading my current board or not... Things just running through my head that I need some answers to hehe!

I was told to consider EPoX, the board I was chosen to consider is this one; EPoX EP-9NDA3+ (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1516630&sku=E452-2600), you can find out the details of that board by clicking on the link =)

Either way, I am hoping that with this question answered I can upgrade my current motherboard to a better board for my system which is built for gaming, with that, I can then purchase a new HSF and a new GPU cooler which I have my eyes on thanks to Solaris17! He's been a huge help to my thus far, and hopefully with my questions being answered I can make my system better than what it is!

--Lee

[Polaris573]

I don't know whether or not it's a good motherboard but it's about 40 USD cheaper here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123222).

[wtf8269]

The board you have now is a lot better than that Epox I believe. I was going to suggest a DFI board, but they do not make any NF3 LanParty boards that I know of. I would try returning your current MSI for a replacement if I were you. However if you decide not to keep it and would still like to get a board from another company I would suggest the Gigabyte K8ns-Ultra 939 or GK8ns-XP.

[djbbenn]

They do have one... look at my sig. Very nice board. DFI LanParty NF3 Ultra-D. :rockout:

-Dan

[wtf8269]

Haha I was just going to say that once I read your sig again in my thread, but you beat me to it.:cool:

[djbbenn]

It's a fairly new board out, also sexy lol :roll:

Been hearing some issues with the chipset fan burning out, no problems here though. Very pleased with it, and recommend it.

-Dan

[Israar]

It's a fairly new board out, also sexy lol :roll:

Been hearing some issues with the chipset fan burning out, no problems here though. Very pleased with it, and recommend it.

-Dan

Ok, I have heard a lot of good reports about these DFI boards... So I think I will give one a try, here is the link to one... What would you say about it in your personal opinion? DFI LanParty UT nForce 3 Ultra-D (http://us.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=3160&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP&SITE=UK).

Hopefully it will be a good 'en! It looks quite nice and I like the spec sheet!

If this is the board I will go for, then I'm going to purchase the XP-90 CPU heatsink and buy the Arctic Silencer 5 (Rev.2) also so then I can fit all three in at once and make sure it is all sorted in one go!

Thanks for the help and reference's everyone, and I'll check out those Gigabyte boards too wtf8269 :)

--Lee

[djbbenn]

It's a good board... the bioses are a little buggy at the moment for overclocking, but I think theres a new one out that fixes a lot (haven't had the time to look, but will take a peak). The Artic Silencers... I think its tight but they do fit, I think some people even shaved a bit of hte plastic off.. nothing major, XP-90s work fine on this board too. I'm pleased with it so far, haven't overclocked yet, but will do some when I get the time and the patience (more of patience I think :p ).

-Dan

[Israar]

Cheers mate, as for OCing, I've never done it and wont do it until I am certain I can do it, don't really wanna mess anything up yet :D

Also, for Dual Channel DDR, I was told you can't run the Dual-Channel stuff while running an AMD CPU yesterday and was wondering if you could clarify that for me... If you can, and have the memory modules set in the DIMM slots which work as Dual-Channel will that instantly run the modules as Dual-Channel or would I have to set that manually?

If manually how would I go about that?

--Lee

[Solaris17]

well i have an amd cpu and im running duel channel i just put in the slots it said to put it in too run it.. i think they told u that cause i heard u cant do it with alot of ram sticks...manually is eaisy...u just put it in the right slots...depending on the mobo mine has 3 i need to put them like this

-------(here)(S1)
-------(S2)

-------(here)(S3)...i can put one ram stick in either 1 or 2 but not both sticks in 1&2 i need 1 in 3

and it runs it duel automatically :)

[Israar]

well i have an amd cpu and im running duel channel i just put in the slots it said to put it in too run it.. i think they told u that cause i heard u cant do it with alot of ram sticks...manually is eaisy...u just put it in the right slots...depending on the mobo mine has 3 i need to put them like this

-------(here)(S1)
-------(S2)

-------(here)(S3)...i can put one ram stick in either 1 or 2 but not both sticks in 1&2 i need 1 in 3

and it runs it duel automatically :)

Yea, DIMM1 and DIMM3 are channel A and DIMM2 and DIMM4 are channel B for Duel Channel, though personally I don't think they are working... How can you check if they are running in Duel Channel or not?

My two OCZ High Performance Duel Channel sticks (1Gb CAS2-3-2-5) are in channel A (DIMM1 and DIMM3), but I don't really know whether its working or not...

--Lee

[Solaris17]

get cpu-z.......its a prog but u dont need to install just a little .exe...from Here (http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-131.zip) it will tell u alot go to the memory tab and it will tell u how many channels ex below...


i think the ram slots circalled are the duel chan ones?

[Israar]

get cpu-z.......its a prog but u dont need to install just a little .exe...from Here (http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-131.zip) it will tell u alot go to the memory tab and it will tell u how many channels ex below...


i think the ram slots circalled are the duel chan ones?

Well that is really wierd, look at these, a few shots of the CPU-Z sections from me :P

Link is here; CPU-Z Results (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lee.whittaker25/CPU-Z.jpg)

--Lee

[Solaris17]

hmmm single is no good did u try it the way i posted just for kickes...i got that...educated guess after reading that mobos manual




i just noticed like everyone uses fire fox......go them

[djbbenn]

You must have two identical modules of ram with same timings, speed rating and preferably same make of ram. They must be set into the same channel to run dual, in other words, channel A with A and B with B. They are usually the same colour.

The Socket 754 Athlons are the ones that can't run dual channel memory, all 939's can. On the DFI LP NF3 Ultra-D, the one you got circled Solaris are one of them, you use orange with orange, or yellow with yellow, or if you have 4 stick you use all 4. Most of the time, you will have the slots seperate, like a orange with a yellow, but this board is a littel different from most.

-Dan

[Israar]

You must have two identical modules of ram with same timings, speed rating and preferably same make of ram. They must be set into the same channel to run dual, in other words, channel A with A and B with B. They are usually the same colour.

The Socket 754 Athlons are the ones that can't run dual channel memory, all 939's can. On the DFI LP NF3 Ultra-D, the one you got circled Solaris are one of them, you use orange with orange, or yellow with yellow, or if you have 4 stick you use all 4. Most of the time, you will have the slots seperate, like a orange with a yellow, but this board is a littel different from most.

-Dan

Thanks for clearing this up mate, as for the motherboard Solaris showed, thats not the board I have, the board I have is an MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum, the channel a slots are green and the channel b slots are purple, both modules are identical, same brand and even stated as duel channel DDR, and both are in the same matching colour DIMM slots too.

The sticks I have are as follows; OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Dual Channel Platinum (http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_el_ddr_pc_3200_dual_channel_platinum) -- They are 2x1Gb sticks. If you also take notice, to prove that is the right stick, they have a part number on that page: 2GB Dual Channel Kit PN - OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K.

Open up the image of my CPU-Z Results and you can match that part number with that of my memory in the SPD section =)

--Lee

[djbbenn]

Why don't you have your memory 1:1 with your cpu? It's not running at its rated speed, only 163MHz, or did you have problems?

-Dan

[Israar]

Why don't you have your memory 1:1 with your cpu? It's not running at its rated speed, only 163MHz, or did you have problems?

-Dan

That's what I was wondering about, first of all; I have no clue on where to resolve that matter. I know it's supposed to be in the bios, but where abouts?

That's if you happen to know :)

Mind you, if I do manage to get them on a 1:1 it might help my system out alot more than what it's running at the moment and it may even resolve my issues...

--Lee

[djbbenn]

It's in the memory diivders, you need to set you divider to 1:1 or 400MHz, however it is shown in your bios.

-Dan

[Solaris17]

wow i feel like an idiot...wrong mobo and then ram wrongs...o'well *shrugs* sorry if i caused any confusion my board is diff and when i was reading the manual my perception was a little scewed...

[Israar]

wow i feel like an idiot...wrong mobo and then ram wrongs...o'well *shrugs* sorry if i caused any confusion my board is diff and when i was reading the manual my perception was a little scewed...

Hehe, no problem mate!

Also djbbenn; Couldn't find that part what you was on about for the 1:1 memory timings, but I set a few different options and changed a few things in my CoreCell which my MSI board has and by the looks of it I have successfully over clocked my GeForce 6800 Ultra without an faults so far(was 410/1100 [yes underclocked to try to help my system which showed no improvement] now 453/1172), and my memory is still the same though, only problem is I just slowed the timings down with the CoreCell setting one setting to Optimised which was; High Performanced Mode.

In the CoreCell I have the following settings to choose from;

[MAIN CoreCell Page]
Current CPU Clock: 2613
Current DDR Clock: 333

DRAM Configuration->
->Timing Mode: Auto
X Memclock Index Value (Mhz): 200Mhz
X CAS# Latency (Tcl): 2.5
X Min RAS# active time (Tras): Auto
X RAS# to CAS# delay (Trcd): Auto
X Row Precharge Time (Trp): Auto
Bottom of 32-Bit [31:24] IO: E0
1T/2T Memory time: 2T
S/W Memory Hole Remapping: Disabled

High Performance Mode: Optimised
Aggressive Timing: Enabled
Dynamic Overclocking: Sergeant (3%)
Clock Spread Spectrum: Disabled
HT Frequency: 5x
Cool 'n' Quiet: Auto
Adjust CPU Ratio: StartUp (StartUp, x4, x5, all the way up to x25 in increments of 1)
Adjust CPU FSB Frequency: 200 (Goes all the way upto 450)
Adjust AGP Frequency: 66 (Goes all the way upto 100)
Adjust CPU VID: StartUp
CPU Voltage: By CPU VID
Memory Voltage: Auto
AGP Voltage: 1.50 V

Hope that helps mate... Personally I'm not really all there with the BIOS haha!

--Lee

[djbbenn]

Its not memory timings, its speed of the memory. Sorry if I confused you. It might be called DRAM frequency. It's different with every board.

-Dan

[Israar]

Its not memory timings, its speed of the memory. Sorry if I confused you. It might be called DRAM frequency. It's different with every board.

-Dan

The memory is now functioning at the 200Mhz speed now, rather than the silly 163 lol! One minor problem though, it is still seeing my memory as single channel, which is wierd, I try to boot my computer up on Channel B and it wont boot up, run in Channel A it boots up but only reports single channel memory, I will soon try two other solutions in a moment with memory positioning but it seems it wont boot up unless one module is running in DIMM1.

:(

--Lee

[Solaris17]

do tell us how it goes...i would help but i dont run 4 channels so im afraid im totally useless w/ this

[Israar]

do tell us how it goes...i would help but i dont run 4 channels so im afraid im totally useless w/ this

Neither do I, I have two channels on my motherboard, Channel A (DIMM1 & DIMM3) and Channel B (DIMM2 & DIMM4).

Channel B wont let me boot up my system, turns on but monitor reads; No Signal. (Due to it not initiating the memory modules in Channel B.

I can run the following thoughl;

Module 1 in DIMM1 and Module 2 in either DIMM2, DIMM3 or DIMM4. I will test running Module 2 in DIMM2 and DIMM4 because apparently running Dual Channel I need to run one stick in DIMM1 and other stick in DIMM3, though as you can see by my CPU-Z results, it isn't running in Dual Channel mode.

So I shall try running the second module in DIMM2 and also in DIMM4 and report back to you on whether or not I can get Dual Channel from using one of those two DIMM sockets combined with DIMM1, if it does this then the MSI people have messed up in their documentation and colour-coded the DIMM sockets incorrectly to running Dual Channel mode.

I'll get back to you shortly! ;)

--Lee

[EDIT]

MSI to me are now a bunch of stupid little... I'll stop there but you know the score lol! Stupid gits.

Get this, DIMM1 paired with DIMM2 = Dual Channel /// DIMM3 + DIMM4 = Dual Channel -- According to the manual, these are "Single" channel modules.

DIMM1 + DIMM3 = Single Channel /// DIMM2 + DIMM4 = Single Channel

Not only do they mess up their manual, but they also mess up their motherboard. I'll take some digital pictures tomorrow and upload them for you all to laugh so hard at you will cry for pitty upon MSI.

Here's a shot from CPU-Z now, V1.31. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lee.whittaker25/CPU-Z-DIMM1_2.jpg

[Solaris17]

^ dual congrats!!!:rockout:

[Israar]

^ dual congrats!!!:rockout:

Cheers matey, got it in the end, but it's all due to the fact that MSI suck and can't even remember their own motherboard settings... How stupid would you feel if you was the MSI board creator or in the team that makes them to find out you set it all up right but made the mistake of making the single and dual channel memory sections backwards lol!

I'd feel pretty damn gutted for one...

It's rather annoying though because I thought it was me at first, good job I'm quite inquisitive when it comes to it haha!

--Lee

[djbbenn]

You should see a noticable performance increase, where its has more speed in the frequency and dual channel.

-Dan

[Israar]

You should see a noticable performance increase, where its has more speed in the frequency and dual channel.

-Dan

Indefinitely! I can tell you now off hand now, can't prove it because I don't have my results from the last memory read and write benchmark I did, but they have more than doubled that's for sure.

I'm gonna get some Benchmarks done soon enough too and post them in the Benchmarks post =)

--Lee

[Israar]

Here are some shots from my girlfriends digital camera from inside of my system now.

Hope you like 'em ;)

<-- Dual Channel Motherboard Sheet -->
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lee.whittaker25/DCmbSheet.JPG

As you can see from the above picture, it shows you the Dual Channel Motherboard sheet spec telling you what I told you all before about DIMMs 1+3 (Channel A) and 2+4 (Channel B) initially being the Dual Channels, though they are wrong.

<-- Dual Channel Running (With the memory modules in place) -->
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lee.whittaker25/DCrunning.JPG

As you can see from above, the channel slots go in colour coded, DIMM1 (Green) starting at the bottomw of the image, then ascending going from DIMM2 (Purple), DIMM3 (Green) and DIMM4 (Purple).

You can now see the two memory modules close to one another in DIMMs 1+2, by rights of the Dual Channel spec sheet above, I should only be running in Single Channel mode, though I'm not, I'm running in Dual Channel -- MSI... I pity you fools ;)

Now for three shots from the inside of my system, while I was taking those shots, I uncuppled all connections and removed my cables, etc... While I was in there I thought nows the time to make everything tidy and have a better air flow around my system, so here's what I did to make the most of the air flow.

Bear in mind I used 100mm clear cable ties.

<-- Shot One -->
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lee.whittaker25/tidyup1.JPG

<-- Shot Two -->
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lee.whittaker25/tidyup2.JPG

<-- Shot Three -->
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lee.whittaker25/tidyup3.JPG

Hope you like it all and thanks for the help everyone, all was much appreciated =)

--Lee

[djbbenn]

Looks nice and neat... it's odd that you use two different colors for dual channel. At least it is working now. :)

-Dan

[Solaris17]

cant wait(personally) until u get those upgrades and heat sinks..etc :D

nice placement u got in their:)

[Israar]

Looks nice and neat... it's odd that you use two different colors for dual channel. At least it is working now. :)

-Dan

Cheers Dan!

Though that personally wasn't my fault, more so MSI's, they documented within the manual and on the motherboard are you can see that the Dual Channels should match up with their respecting colours, as which I tried at first and we all found out it was running in Single mode, so after seeing that, I thought it would be worth while trying them next to one another and hey presto! It works lol!

Indeed I'm amazed it's working well now, I'm going to buy myself two new coolers soon, one for my CPU and one for my GPU, fit them and overclock them hopefully :)

Before that though, I just purchased the pro edition bundle pack from Futuremark for about £25 cheaper than buying those benchmarking tools seperately! So I can then properly verify my scores and have them put up and test even deeper into my system :)

cant wait(personally) until u get those upgrades and heat sinks..etc :D

nice placement u got in their:)

Nor can I mate hehe! Those should be coming soon too, I shall buy them within a week or so, and thanks for the comment :)

Nothing you can't do with a computer so long as you think first before acting ;)

Nothing better than to have the airflow running well ;) -- Also, this is a question to anyone; Playing NFS Most Wanted demo often gave me graphical errors, like the images messing up and botching a little, is that something to do with heating maybe? As my temps went up to about 62C-68C.

--Lee

[bldegle2]

running with an Opteron 148 OEM CAYBE and Asrock 939 dual and kept the expense down by bringing over my 9800pro until later on.

presently @11x270 2.97g, 1 gig of PC4800 Gskill FF stuffs, 1/1 on the ram, likes low volts and high clocks, with Big Typhoon on the CPU.

temps @ idle this am are 26/27*c.

MB is a little gem for $70.

whoopee, my first postage...................

baldy

[AMDCam]

I haven't read anyone's posts yet other than yours, but AGP 939's are hard to come by. You could get a PCI network card, maybe that's the problem with the internet stuff. Also, I just bought the Neo2, and hear it's one of the best there is for AGP 939. ASRock I was thinking of, but I decided that my brother has an Asus A8n-SLI Deluxe that he doesn't need (or even know he has because he isn't interested in computer hardware), so that settles the upgrade. If you have a situation like that (no need to buy another mobo for PCIe), then Epox makes a good Nforce 3 Ultra board, and there are plenty of great boards without Nforce 3, like Abit makes good ones. But if you like the software Nvidia's got and the all-in-one hardware (RAID controller, Ntune, or just like having everything Nvidia like graphics and mobo), then I'd keep your board and get a PCI network card.

[bldegle2]

http://home.comcast.net/~bldegle2/onair.JPG

on air,

tested stable so far with loops of back to back 01, 03, and 05.

last tweak of setting tras to 10, seems the uli chipset likes that setting, the vcore mod was a snap with a conductive pen. nice tccd stuffs.............

this was really kind of a spur of the moment purchase cause i read they may be getting scarce, the Opterons, that is.

with the AsRock 939 Dual

Gskill PC4800 FF 1gig (2x512). tested to 300FSB on an NF4 board 2.7 vdimm. the Asrock will do up to 2.85 or so on the high setting, so that is covered easy.

and my first foray into the 939............

woohoo!

baldy:eek:

[Solaris17]

wo wo wo wait are the opterons getting scarce? :confused:

[AMDCam]

Yeah they are, I can't find one for a good price. No main sites have one.