Asrock Dual question

[Teikoshen]

Hi guys

Recently i've just aquired a 7800GS AGP. lovely graphics card upgrade from a Radeon 9200.. yeah it's like heaven now..


however.. if i wanna upgrade to a pentium D, i'm looking for options available for my motherboard to support a pentium D + 7800GS AGP,

only option so far i've found is ASROCk motherboards..

i went to their site, and foudn these few options

775Dual-VSTA
775DUAL-880Pro
775Dual-915GL
775DUAL-915GV


Here's something interesting i've noted..
- ASRock A.G.I. Express slot: Compatible with PCI Express x16 VGA card*
- Worldwide patent ASRock A.G.I.8X graphics upgrade slot (AGP8X/4X compatible)*

the compatible list available is a really low end graphics card list.. my graphics card isn't listed in there.. does it mean it won't work?

on the 880Pro it says
- AGP8X/4X slot (1.5V only)

is that enough volt?

is there any other options available?

 

[elpresidente2075]

Don't know. But if you want my opinion, ASRock makes some pretty good hardware. I use a 939Dual SataII motherboard and it is rock solid. However, I don't recommend the AGI solution. Go for one of the ones with one of each like the VSTA and others. The solution that ASRock has come up with for that setup is great and you will pretty much be guaranteed compatibility.

 

[Teikoshen]

thx for the tip.. so the AGI solution doesn't apply to all DUAL boards? i thought it's for all BOARDs..

 

[elpresidente2075]

thx for the tip.. so the AGI solution doesn't apply to all DUAL boards? i thought it's for all BOARDs..

Not in the least. Only in the ones that it specifically mentions AGI. Most of the Dual boards have one AGP and one PCI express. None of those will have any problem with your card. Just make sure your PS is up to it.

 

[gemino]

Don't go for those with 915 chipset, they are AGI as you already know.
AGI = Fake AGP, they are running at PCI speed only. You will notice massive crashes and decrease in performance.

775Dual-880pro or 775Dual-VSTA won't have the above problems tho.

Trust me, I used to sell tons of ASRock board

 

[Dekkard]

I agree with other concerns here but more to the point, why go to pentium D now? If you are happy with gaming performance now on your 7800GS you are probably better off holding back (maybe increase your RAM instead) on a CPU upgrade for another 4-6 months.
I can vouch for ASRock also, I have the 939SLI32 mobo and can't talk highly enough of the features and stability of the board.
I was in the situation where I had recently purchased a 6800GS AGP to run on an athlon XP1700+ and was unsure of when to upgrade and whether to go with the dualSATA2 mobo mentioned above......in the end I went the complete PCI-E route and I recommend the same. Not saying this to be rude but the half-arse approach right now is probably going to leave you only very temporarily satisfied. Let the Core CPUs start hitting the market and see how the prices fair on your targeted mobos. There aren't any new games coming out likely to push your existing CPU any more than it is already with the likes of Oblivion or BF2. Personally, if you aren't there already, get your RAM up to 2GB and leave it at that for 4-6 months. I would not be surprised if a lowly 7600GT surpasses the performance of your 7800GS in a new system btw. Jump from 6800GS in old system to 7600GT on new (A64 3200+ at stock) is maybe 5-10 fold in fps of even the lowest CPU demanding games.
Happy hunting.

 

[Teikoshen]

thx guys.. lots of very good advice indeed..

Here's my current spec actually

Athlon 2600+
Abit NF7-Deluxe
7800GS AGP
1GB ram

i just got my AGP card like 2 weeks ago, very happily enjoying it now actually since i upgraded from Radeon 9200... (strictly Lowest graphics settings in all games and even unplayable to some of the new games, oblivion and Ghost recon Advance warfighter) to now.. i can set almost everything to max.

Now looking at the next step of upgrade, I would prefer if i can use my current card for like 2 years if possible at all.. least 1 and half year.

So the other choices i have right now are..

upgrade CPU + Motherboard
or
upgrade Ram (+ 1GB of ram)

which will be better and improve the performance?

 

[elpresidente2075]

Depends on the amount of time until your next upgrade. If you intend on upgrading to a new AM2 or intel system, you will have to spring for new DDR2 ram. If you wanna just upgrade to 2GB of ram, the performance gain in your games, and your entire system will be felt immediately.

That said, you really should upgrade to a modern cpu such as a socket939 as soon as possible. If you go with 939 you will be able to keep your ram, but it WILL be considerably more expensive. However, you will feel a bit more of a difference, i must say in general performance. I upgraded from a 2600 to an A64 3200 and felt an ENORMUS difference with the rest of my system staying the same.

Couldn't tell for sure on the ram (upgrading from 1 to 2GB of ram), just repeating what others say. I think its very likely, because I have tested 1.5GB in my system, and noticed a marked improvement in responsiveness.

 

[Teikoshen]

good point..

thing is.. if i were to upgrade to a new CPU / MOBO

i would either..

1. Buy an ASROCK DUAL.. so i can keep using my video card..

unfortunately this option isn't easy coz i don't stay in US, i'm from malaysia.. and i don't know anyone carryign this board

2. Brand new system.. thsi will have to wait i guess.. least 1 and half years hopefully

3. Just get another 1 GB of ram.. should be good enough


i'm not exactly complaining about my system now i guess.. i'm pretty content with what i have.. it's a darn big improvement from my old card.

 

[elpresidente2075]

Do what you feel is necessary. Buy what is within your budget and don't worry too much. I'm sure you will be happy with the ASrock if you can find it. If you can't get one, you should be fine with 2gb of ram, I wish I had two GB of ram.

By the way, when I got my new mobo/proc I spent approx. $250US on them. Now, the same parts can be found for about 100 less here in the US. Don't know about malaysia though...

 

[Teikoshen]

thx for the advice man, definately helps alot..

i'll ahve to see hwat's available i guess. 1 USD is about 3.7Ringgit (MYR)

price is not that unreasonable, well within my budget if i can find an ASROCK.. if i can't, i guess i'll just live with what i have or buy 1 more 1gb of ram.

 

[elpresidente2075]

Hey, do what you can, and try not to get too dazzled by the hardcore-ism of many of the people here, it can get pretty bad. Budget systems can do a lot more than what they tend to expect.

 

[Dekkard]

Just go with the extra gig of ram. To fully appreciate the ASRock mobo you'll want better DDR ram anyway. With your mobo you can likely squeeze another 5-10% of performance out with a little overclocking if you are desperate for an increase in CPU performance but with your current setup I would estimate you'll be happy easily through to early summer '07.
I would say that now is not a good time to consider the DDR2 route with AM2 (still needs a lot of optimizing) or Conroe (prices will likely be high for a while yet).