upgrading a motherboard to a socket 939 and need some opinions!

[karolpl2004]

hey guys,
im getting a a64 3700+ socket 939 cpu and was looking for a motherboard. since i just got my Ati aiw 9800 pro back from RMA service, i would like to keep ot, so that means i need a AGP type of a motherboard. but overtime i am going to upgrade to a pci-e. when i dothat, i dont want to have to buy a whole new motherboard. i was looking into ASRock 939 Dual-SATA2/A/ASR with ULi 1695 chipset. some people have told me this motherboard is not good due to the agp slot not being a "true agp speed" slot. well i erad that the ULI chipset has improved that. is that true? will i really be OK with this motherboard. i found this one on ebay <http://cgi.ebay.com/ASRock-939-Dual-SATA2-A-ASR_W0QQitemZ6866867410QQcategoryZ99239QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem>. i
is thereany other montherboard that have AGP+PCIe slots and they are "true speed" slots?
thanks

 

[KennyT772]

the dual sata is one of the few that has full speed pci-e and agp. go for the board.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Agree with Kenny, I have one for precisely the same reason you are looking although now I have gone PCI-E. It is a well priced reasonably specced board with some decent overclocking options, I am very pleased with it.
Cheers

 

[Nobleatreides]

I recently upgraded my antiquated XP2500+ to the DC Opteron 165 w/Asrock

It is rock stable as a rock, hence the name 'asrock'

I'm Oclocking 30-35% with no volt mods whatsoever, the onboard sound breathes new life into my desktop speakers, the SATA2 works, and I just went from AGP X800XL to a PCI-e X1800XL. Everything works. AGP 8X works as long as you install the AGP ULi driver BEFORE the catalyst ones. Just reinstall windows to be safe. A natural way to go about it anyway with a new mobo. good times. System is sooo fast and responsive to my multitasking needs. I can alttab out of a 3Dgame and fireup Ulead DVD studio and burn a DVD and no mouse hourglasses ever.

Best bang for my computer bucks since the ole days of 486DX4 & celery 550.

I don't recommend you buy it second hand, as you risk getting someone's hand me down dang it didn't post after my crazy overclock. Also, if you do get one, make sure it has a recent Bios such as 1.50 on chip. For $99CDN, what more could I have asked for? It doesn't support SLI, but I don't have money to burn anyway. Next year , two maybe, there will be single card solutions that will blow it out of the water anyway.

 

[markkleb]

I have a better idea check out the Biostar

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138270

The reason I said this is cause they have the easiest OC in bios, just push 1 button and my 3700+ OCd to 2750mhz.(the bios automaticly adjusts everything for you)

I now use a DFI LanParty and its cool but hard for me(noob) to OC.

 

[karolpl2004]

Xtreme Graphics Port is Biostar's unique engineering solution of adding limited AGP graphics card support to the nForce4 chipset. The XGP slot is not compatible with all AGP cards.

well, there is the problem

 

[karolpl2004]

so in my case (needing a pcie and agp), asrock motherboard is probably the best way to go?

 

[markkleb]

Acording to my info its compatable with your video card

 

[Tatty_Two]

so in my case (needing a pcie and agp), asrock motherboard is probably the best way to go?

IMO Asrock IS the way to go, but I would say that! I am a fairly noobish OCer and I can get 2700 outta my 2000Mhz Venice 3200 so it aint that hard with the Asrock. I keep mine comfy at 2500 but for benchmarking ramp it up to the 2700 (although the 3D Mark 05 score is at 2500), I just dont keep it there cause its just about on its limit for air cooling and TBH I have nothing that will make sensible use of the extra 200Mhz.

 

[_33]

I used to be running with XP1800+, old MSI mobo and a AGP 4X mobo. If you start changing the mobo and keep the graphics card, you'll eventually get in a sad position, where, all the new graphics card will be PCI-e 16X and you won't be able to use them in your system. My advice is to sell your graphics card while it's still worth something, and get a Abit AN8 or DFI Lanparty or Infinity board, and but the newer graphics card that aren't really that expensive and 1 generation more recent that 9800Pro.

 

[nocrapman]

ASrock - thumbs up.

I was in the same boat a month ago - this dilemma. I went with the ASrock board - and I have had no problems at all. Started out with a Radeon 9800 pro AGP and eventually have changed it to a X1900XTX PCIe card. Am using SATA I and SATA II on the board with no hassles. As log as you follow the few instal guidelines in the correct order - u'll be fine. BOL.