ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Comment:
I brought in one of these boards to help a customer on a tight budget out who had their motherboard and processor die on an older system. Choosing this was a no brainer as I could use all their old hardware (Radeon 9800 AIW, and DDR RAM), but still let them have access to any new upgrades they would want to do in the future b.c of the PCI Express slot and DDR2 capability.

Comment:
I bought this board because my old AMD Barton XP based board bit the dust. I needed a cheap upgrade. With this ASrock board, I was able to re-use my AGP card (ATI 9700 Pro AIW), my 2 gigs of OCZ PC3200 DDR ram and my 4 IDE & SATA drives. I paired this board with an Intel E4600 CPU. It works well. I'm even able to even overclock it a bit from 2.4 to 2.7 GHz. I didn't even need to reinstall XP. I just changed the drivers, and bingo, it worked! I'd recommend this board to anybody with similar needs as mine.

Comment:
Its good for upgrade and minor Overclocking, my Pentium D 2.66 runs 3200 MZ , 58C on load. Its perfect when its supports Higher DDR and FSB 1333.

Comment:
Very easy install with decent directions. This board has lots of great options for the budget user. I picked it up mainly so I could use my AGP card for another couple of months.

Comment:
Great board,I am running a E6600 with a MSI 8800gt and it is rocking.Runs 4 Hard Drives.Windows Xp loads well.Games well.For the price it is Great.For the boards I have had Asrock makes a very good user freindly Board.

Comment:
I like the motherboard overall. I bought it because it was inexpensive and it allows me to re-use my AGP video card.It supports a large variety of CPUs. I paired it with the Intel E4500.I couldn't get 2 sticks of Crucial Rendition 1GB 1X1GB PC2-5300 DDR2-667 to work with the board. Memory tests on each memory stick reported errors. When I RMA'd the memory I was charged a restocking fee, because the memory was "fine", just incompatible.I bought the Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-5400 DDR2-667 as a replacement, and the memory problems went away.I suspect I'm having a problem with the implementation of AGP on this motherboard (BIOS version 1.90a). I installed an AMD 1650Pro AGP card which came from my old machine, using Catalyst 8.3 drivers.When I try to play Half-Life 2 Episode 2, the machine crashes to a black screen after a minute or two of playing. I have to turn off the power supply to restart the computer. The front panel reset button and power button won't work.Half-life 2 worked fine using the same agp graphics card in another machine with Catalyst 8.3 drivers. The second game I installed, Psychonauts, seems to run fine though.Hopefully a future BIOS update will cure the problem.

Comment:
Was able to throw a good system together with DDR and AGP, then use a PCI-E video card when one came available to me, very well featured board, just wish that the PCI-E was really 16x, then the would be rockin' This review was modfied by poster @ 02-20-08 08:39 PM

Comment:
This was the perfect choice for me to be able to upgrade my system as i saw fit. As of right now im running windows vista 64bit ultimate and its awesome even with 1.5gb of ddr400. I haven't had any stability issues at all. I upgraded from a athlon 2500xp and boy what a difference.Overall a great board for upgrading you're parts if you're stuck with an agp card and ddr ram and cant afford an upgrade. Or just want to be intermittent in you're system. Or even testing old and new parts without swapping boards.

Comment:
Decent board,happy with it in a business computer with a c2d and 2gigs of ram.just one downside was there is no onboard video. The sound is also decent.Does what its supposed to do. Can't complain.

Comment:
I highly recommend this MB, but really take some time to research. Make sure your Hardware can work with this.Mine shipped with the 1.50 BIOS. I put a e4500 and 2 GB of Corsair DDR2 667 Ram with an AIW x800xt (AGP). Booted up flawlessly on first try. I could even overclock a bit.I put a Thermalright Ultima 90 HS on the CPU. It barely fits. Be prepared to file down the side of one of the holding brackets. The onboard sound isn't terrible, but not great either. Make sure you go to the Realtek site and get the latest drivers (the ones on the ASRock site are not the latest.)I'm also using a IDE HDD, SATA HDD and SATA DVD burner.I haven't run into any issues yet.

Comment:
This is a really nice board feature wise to help bridge the gaps between levels of technologies. With both DDR and DDR2, it allows you to use old stuff at first, and upgrade later. Also PCIE and AGP in a single machine, supposedly with support to run both of them at the same time. That's pretty handy.Otherwise, it's an asrock, which are of questionable quality, but you get what you pay for! It works just fine for me so far with some cheap average ram, a cheap dual core, and an older agp video card.

Comment:
Got this motherboard a few days ago and thought it didn't work because I had a q6600 (very new processor) and ddr400 ram (very old) so I ordered some 667mhz ocz gold ram that will be in in a few days.I remeberd that my cousin had 667mhz ddr2 ram so today we tried it with that and still no luck. It still did not work it powers up but displays nothing on the screen and does not beep or anything.So tomorow i'm bringing the mobo back to the pc shop I got it from and hopefully ncix will ship a new one asap. Im giving this a 4 star because if it did work it would have been a very nice mobo.

Comment:
Set up XP with a P4 dual-core 3.2 Gig, SATA II HD, no problems at all. Great MB for a basic system. Easily overclocked to 3.3 Gig - did not want to go higher.

Comment:
As of this writing I have not yet purchased this motherboard, I'm still putting all the pieces together on paper. But what I have sofar, looks like an excellent option to my current situation.My Pentium 4 CPU appears to be on its last dieing breath. I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to finish this posting without my CPU locking up. And finding a new Pentium 4 s478 CPU is turning out to be wishful thinking at best! My 256M AGP graphics card and 3GIG of RAM is less the a year old and the rest of my system is still in very good shape! So buying a entirely new system just isn't going to happen. The 4CoreDual-SATA2 Motherboard is starting to look like my salvation and an excellent way to upgrade to LGA775 Dual or Quad Core CPU with minimal damage to my wallet. The only drawback that I can see sofar is the limit of 2 GIG of RAM, but even that is livable. When I first came across the 4CoreDual motherboard I had, like most people, questions. Below are the answers to those questions and if you paste this link into your browser "http://www.asrock.com/manual/4CoreDual-SATA2.pdf" you too can be the proud owner of a free PDF 4CoreDual motherboard owners manual. By the way, if anyone has a Pentium 4 CPU - 3.40E GHz that fits a 478 socket, thats sitting in a dead motherboard, (and is still in good working order) you can email me (with a price)at "p4orphancatelus.net". I promise I'll give it a good Home. More wishful thinking!* Any text below thats between the ==" "== marks, was copied directly from the "ASROCK 4CoreDual-SATA2 manual"* Installing AGP Graphics cardNote that older AGP cards are 3.3v and newer AGP cards are 1.5v. If your not sure which one you have then you need to check your graphics card manual!!! YOU COULD DAMAGE THIS BOARD INSALLING THE OLDER 3.3V CARD!!==" Please do NOT use a 3.3V AGP card on the AGP slot of this motherboard! It may cause permanent damage! For the voltage information of your AGP card, please check with the AGP card vendors. "==* Installing PCI Express Graphics card==" PCI Express Graphics slot is used to install PCI Express expansion cards. For the information of the compatible PCI Express VGA cards, please refer to the “Supported PCI Express VGA Card List for PCI Express Graphics Slot” on page 10."== Next is a Supported PCI Express Graphics chip set list from the 4CoreDual-SATA2 manual. If you don't know what it means you should try reading the manual(page 10) or call "NCIX" or "who ever" and ask for HELP before you buy this motherboard or a PCI Express Graphics card to plug into this motherboard. If you insall a un-supported Graphics card, you could end-up with a unstable operating system.==" GeForce -6800GT - 7600GT - 7800GTX - 6600GT - 7100GS - 8600GTS - 6500 - 7300GS - 7300LE - 7900GS - PCX5750 - 8600GTS - 8800GTSRadeon -X1900XT - X850XT - X1300Pro - X1600Pro - X1600XT "==* Installing DDR or DDR2 Dual Channel MemoryFor those who didn't know?DDR = Double Data Rate. DDR1 or just DDR is the old "obsolete" 184 pin memory technology - DDR2 or DDRII is a newer 240 pin memory technology. FSB = Front Side Bus Example; DDR 400 in Dual Channel mode is DDR400 or just 400 x 2 = 800Mhz Front Side Bus (assuming that your motherboard supports 800Mhz FSB). =="For dual channel configuration, you always need to install identical (the same brand, speed, size and chip-type)DDR / DDRII DIMM pair in the slots of the same color"==4CoreDual motherboard Supports - DDR2 667 (1333Mhz FSB)/ DDR2 533 (1066Mhz FSB)/ DDR 400 (800Mhz FSB)/ DDR 333 (533Mhz FSB)/ DDR 266 (400Mhz FSB). The Front Side Bus, however, is limited to 1066Mhz. In other words if you install DDR2 667 memory sticks in daul channel mode, the front side bus is limited to 1066Mhz, not 1333Mhz, which is what you would normally get if the motherboard supported it! The 4CoreDual motherboard is limited to 1066Mhz FSB. The general rule for memory (RAM)is, if you have the correct number of pins on the memory sticks and motherboard (e.g. 240 pin) you can install faster memory on a slower motherboard, which is a good thing if you like to overclock, but its always a good idea to check your motherboards owners manual.==" 1. It is not allowed to install a DDR memory module into DDRII slot or a DDRII memory module into DDR slot; otherwise,this motherboard and DIMM may be damaged.2. It is not allowed to install both DDR and DDRII memory modules to this motherboard at the same time; otherwise, this motherboard and DIMM may be damaged. "====" 4CoreDual-SATA2 motherboard provides two 184-pin DDR (Double Data Rate) DIMM slots and two 240-pin DDRII DIMM slots, and supports Dual Channel Memory Technology. For dual channel configuration, you always need to install identical (the same brand, speed, size and chip-type) DDR / DDRII DIMM pair in the slots of the same color. In other words, you have to install identical DDRII DIMM pair in Dual Channel A (DDRII_1 and DDRII_2; Yellow slots; see p.11 No.6) or identical DDR DIMM pair in Dual Channel B (DDR1 and DDR2; Blue slots; see p. 11 No.7), so that Dual Channel Memory Technology can be activated."==I'll repost after I buy & build This review was modfied by poster @ 10-24-07 10:49 AM

Comment:
I order ASRock 4COREDUAL-VSTA, but they run out of stock so they send me this one. I save couple more bucks with this one cause I'm on budget, my old stuff on this mobo are: 2GB Dual Channel OCZ Platinum DDR1, eVGA 6800GS 256 DDR3 AGP etc.. Despite you have many limitation on this board, no firewire no vcore option, for a cheap board it works dam well, I was able to OC my new E4400 to 2.6 STABLE, I could go up to 2.75 after that it wount boot. But CMON PPL this mobo it is good actually very good if you want fresh-up you old rigs with the newer one, like in my case.I'm happy, for 68$ mobo you cant go wrong.Cheers

Comment:
..........i wanted a dual core work station without having to go the whole route of buying a new PCIe graphics card and SATA drives as well - which most of the new boards require. Well, it appears this board is the only option. It will even run with the old ddr ram almost as fast as ddr2. But forget about overclocking. I brought my E2160 up from 1.8 to about 2.2G but much more than that resulted in boot failures. In fairness i can't blame the board since there is no way of telling what each individual cpu is capable of. And, hey, the board was only $70.00. For that price it appears unusually robust and more than complete considering its sets of extra features. I can now make use of an old AGP 9600 card and still run two cores.

Comment:
A great board if you're looking to upgrade only a couple of parts at a time and don't want to splurge on a whole new kit.

Comment:
I put this together with a 2140 and 2 gigs of Crucial DDR667, and carried over an AGP graphics card, 2 IDE HDDs and an IDE DVD burner (it's silver & matches the case perfect, when they make a silver sata burner I'll gladly get one!)from the old system. Booted up fine the first time, no issues so far. Most newer 775 boards don't support more than 2 IDE devices like this one does, so that's something to keep in mind if you are scrounging up old parts to make a system.

Comment:
Make no mistake, this is a cheap board designed to save some bucks to the average consumer who's not interested in overclocking. I went from a Althon XP 1.8Ghz to a Quad Core Q6600 2.4 Ghz and the difference is amazing to a heavy multi-tasker, like myself.I'm using my mis-matched DDR Ram, an aging AGP 6600GT and a pair of IDE Harddrives and I'm positive the CPU cried out "bottleneck!" the first time I booted -- but I don't care. It's running Vista like a dream.This board can get you into the Dual or Quad core era without costing you a lot, just do your research first. This review was modfied by poster @ 09-14-07 10:23 AM

Comment:
I bought this motherboard and E-2160 processor with the hope of using my OCZ EL Platinum DDR-400 (2-3-2-5) and achieving an overclock of 2.7 GHz (300 FSB x 9 multiplier) with a memory divider of 3:2 to keep DDR-400 running at 400 MHz. Installation was easy, booted right up. Has BIOS version 1.3 (with v1.5 available from ASROCK.com) My old ATI RADEON 9600 Pro works like a charm.Overclocking with my expensive DDR-400 didn't go quite as planned. After much screwing around I maxed out at 278 FSB with 3:2 memory ratio (2502 MHz with DDR running at 370 MHz) I give this board 4 stars for achieving what I set out to do; using my old harware. I hold back the 5th star for not being able to overclock the DDR memory. In other reviews guys using DDR2 RAM were able to overclock much higher. But the bottom line is, this is miles above my old Athlon XP 2700. This review was modfied by poster @ 09-18-07 01:32 AM