skt 939 upgrade to AM2 on same board

[Pete]

Hi

Asrock make some motherboards which are upgradable to AM2 via a daughter
board

Links here:

http://www.asrock.com/product/939SLI32-eSATA2.htm

http://www.asrock.com/product/AM2CPU Board.htm


I have a AMD 3500+ cpu I got very cheap and I want to build a system based
on it with max upgradability.

Reasons:

1. Cost - on a tight budget and will be in the future I expect.

2. From what I've seen of low spec AM2 cpus (the only sort I could afford).
They are crippled by the memory latency of DDR2 so why not stick with 939
and DDR

3. Already have some 512MB DDR333 memory I can use till I can upgrade that
to 1-2GB DDR400 dual channel

4. I've heard that changing a motherboard can stop an oem copy of xp
working. I'm hoping that, that will not happen if I upgrade to an AM2 cpu
with this daughter board. I'm about to buy my 3rd copy of XP home in 5 years
and I'm sick of it, MS really take the piss.

What I really want to know is, are there any other boards out there that can
be upgraded like this?

Is the asrock board I'm going to use any good?

Any other comments on the great plan welcome?


Thanks

Pete

 

[JohnS]

What I really want to know is, are there any other boards out there that can
be upgraded like this?

Is the asrock board I'm going to use any good?

Any other comments on the great plan welcome?


Thanks

Pete

Dont know where you are so that might have a big impact and make this
viable. However in general weird addon things like this and MBs with
weird capabilities just havent been worth it. Id rather get a cheap
mainstream nforce4 etc type or even VIA chipset. Like my Chaintech was
going for as low as $69 at one time and Ive seen some nforce4s for as
low as 49 in the past. By the time you want to upgrade there will
probably be cheap AM2 chips and motherboards if you live in the US.

I think Ive seen some as low as $39 recently abit after some rebate
probably cause they are clearing them out like the socket As.

Im alread surprised at how low the Am2s and conroes are from the start
because of the aggressive price war Intel is pushing to stop the mkt
share erosion.

 

[Rod Speed]

Hi

Asrock make some motherboards which are upgradable to AM2 via a
daughter board

Links here:

http://www.asrock.com/product/939SLI32-eSATA2.htm

http://www.asrock.com/product/AM2CPU Board.htm


I have a AMD 3500+ cpu I got very cheap and I want to build a system
based on it with max upgradability.

Reasons:

1. Cost - on a tight budget and will be in the future I expect.

2. From what I've seen of low spec AM2 cpus (the only sort I could
afford). They are crippled by the memory latency of DDR2 so why not
stick with 939 and DDR

3. Already have some 512MB DDR333 memory I can use till I can upgrade
that to 1-2GB DDR400 dual channel

4. I've heard that changing a motherboard can stop an oem copy of xp working.

Yes it can, but you can activate it again. And it isnt just an oem copy either.

I'm hoping that, that will not happen if I upgrade to an AM2 cpu with this daughter
board. I'm about to buy my 3rd copy of XP home in 5 years

There's no need to buy a new copy, just activate it again.

and I'm sick of it, MS really take the piss.

Nope, they're happy to activate it again after a motherboard swap.

 

[Paul]

Hi

Asrock make some motherboards which are upgradable to AM2 via a daughter
board

Links here:

http://www.asrock.com/product/939SLI32-eSATA2.htm

http://www.asrock.com/product/AM2CPU Board.htm


I have a AMD 3500+ cpu I got very cheap and I want to build a system based
on it with max upgradability.

Reasons:

1. Cost - on a tight budget and will be in the future I expect.

2. From what I've seen of low spec AM2 cpus (the only sort I could afford).
They are crippled by the memory latency of DDR2 so why not stick with 939
and DDR

3. Already have some 512MB DDR333 memory I can use till I can upgrade that
to 1-2GB DDR400 dual channel

4. I've heard that changing a motherboard can stop an oem copy of xp
working. I'm hoping that, that will not happen if I upgrade to an AM2 cpu
with this daughter board. I'm about to buy my 3rd copy of XP home in 5 years
and I'm sick of it, MS really take the piss.

What I really want to know is, are there any other boards out there that can
be upgraded like this?

Is the asrock board I'm going to use any good?

Any other comments on the great plan welcome?


Thanks

Pete

Asrock has the upgrade slot option, and this is not too common
as an approach in the industry.

One guy managed to pull a SATA connector off an Asrock
motherboard, so their SATA connectors don't seem to be
the best.

This is the pair of products I would buy. The motherboard
can take a real AGP video card, or a real PCI Express
video card. The adapter board means you are covered
for S939 and AM2. Basically, this allows an incremental
upgrade path, as your budget allows.

ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 Socket 939 ULi M1695 ATX $67
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157081

ASRock Model AM2CPU Bridge Card CPU Upgrade $32.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813998603

If you already have DDR memory, an AGP video card, all
you would need is a cheap S939. Then, as time passes,
you can upgrade to a PCI Express video card. Or if the
AM2 socket suddenly offers a performance improved version,
you can slap in the adapter and pick up some DDR2 memory.

I would buy the AM2 adapter from day one, as my suspicion
would be that the adapter will not be offered for sale
forever. The adapter might even have a resale value, if
you wanted to sell it in a year's time.

You could always buy an AM2 motherboard in the future
of course, if the adapter approach looks too
speculative to be worthwhile.

I don't see the benefit in buying the 939SLI32 version,
as it offers two PCI Express slots, and SLI is a "rich
guy's" hardware option. You aren't likely to be populating
the second video card slot, especially as finding a
matching video card at some point in the future could
be hard. You are much better off saving up your pennies
for a good single PCI Express card, as an upgrade path
for the 939Dual, while continuing to use your AGP card
at the current time. And if the prices drop, you can
always pick up a 7950 GX2 (dual GPU on the same hardware
card, for SLI with a single PCI Express slot), as a
solution for the 939Dual.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Hachiroku]

Hi

Asrock make some motherboards which are upgradable to AM2 via a daughter
board

Links here:

http://www.asrock.com/product/939SLI32-eSATA2.htm

http://www.asrock.com/product/AM2CPU Board.htm


I have a AMD 3500+ cpu I got very cheap and I want to build a system based
on it with max upgradability.

I'll let you know. I should be geting mine tomorrow, and plan on doing the
swap over the weekend.

I have an AGP card I just bought, and two 256M Kingston HyperX PC3500
DIMMS. On my SOYO DRAGON, I can clock the memory to 217 and the CPU (AMD
Athlon XP 2200+) to 1.99 GHz.

I'm getting the ASRock board and an AMD 64 4000+ San Diego 1M Cache.
I chose the ASRock board because I can slap in a Dual Core in a couple
years, add a PCI Express board, and get the AM2 socket card with DDR2
slots for later. Like the other person said, I will be buying the AM2
card, even if it just hangs around for a few years.

I'll let you know what I run into. Bear in mind, I am currently running
SuSE Linux 9.3, so one of the things I plan on doing is upgrading to the
64 Bit version!

 

[Hachiroku]

Hi

Asrock make some motherboards which are upgradable to AM2 via a daughter
board

Links here:

http://www.asrock.com/product/939SLI32-eSATA2.htm

http://www.asrock.com/product/AM2CPU Board.htm


I have a AMD 3500+ cpu I got very cheap and I want to build a system
based on it with max upgradability.

Reasons:

1. Cost - on a tight budget and will be in the future I expect.

2. From what I've seen of low spec AM2 cpus (the only sort I could
afford). They are crippled by the memory latency of DDR2 so why not stick
with 939 and DDR

3. Already have some 512MB DDR333 memory I can use till I can upgrade that
to 1-2GB DDR400 dual channel

4. I've heard that changing a motherboard can stop an oem copy of xp
working. I'm hoping that, that will not happen if I upgrade to an AM2 cpu
with this daughter board. I'm about to buy my 3rd copy of XP home in 5
years and I'm sick of it, MS really take the piss.

What I really want to know is, are there any other boards out there that
can be upgraded like this?

Is the asrock board I'm going to use any good?

Any other comments on the great plan welcome?


Thanks

Pete

Early 'experiments' have NOT gone well! I got everything installed, and went
to start up, and the system would not start!
I disconnected the USB connectors, but when I pulled the Ethernet connection
from my DSL router, the system started to boot.
I went into the BIOS to look at the settings, and *gently* tweaked a couple
and then to Reboot. Nada, Nothing, Zippo, Zilch!
I pulled the CMOS jumper, cleared it, and went at it again.

Again, it gave me a BITCH of a time booting! I switched the jumper AGAIN,
reset the BIOS settings to S-L-O-W, and rebooted.
I knew my Linux installation wouldn't boot (it tried, I should have let it
go!) but I figured Windows would be easier. BZZZZT!
First, it would start to boot off the XP Install disk, and hang. Switch the
jumper, clear the CMOS, try again.

A little further...swicth the jumper, try again. AHA! The install Screen! I
would get to 59% and then tell me Can't Copy This,
Can't Copy That. Finally got everything to copy, reboot...the Install
Screen! It starts to set up Windows and then gets a
I can't find a device, so click here to reboot...

Blue screen...Reboot....

Little further....Blue Screen...Reboot...

Little further...Blue Screen...

By this time it's Midnight, so I chuck the whole thing! Today I have
downloaded ALL the BIOS updates and will try installing them one-by-one, to
see if one of them is the Magic Bullet. ASRock's homepage says that AMD
Athlon XP 64 4000+ support was there from the first BIOS revision, but BIOS
Rev 1.30 says "Added Support for AMD Athlon 64 4000+..." I guess we'll try
that one first!

But...it wouldn't boot any of my 'rescue' disks, either. It would get sooooo
far and just hang on
SuSE Linux 9.2 Live CD
SuSE Linux 9.3 Live CD
SuSE Linux 10.1 Live DVD
Gnoppix Ubuntu Live CD

And the Swiss Army Knife of ALL Live CDs, Knoppix! If Knoppix don't boot,
you've got TROUBLE!!!
I have one more boot disk to try from work. I am suspecting my Radeon 9550
based Diamond card is holding up the works.

I will let you know if I make any progress. If you see another post later
from me, you'll know SOMETHING worked!!!

 

[Pete]

Early 'experiments' have NOT gone well! I got everything installed,
and went to start up, and the system would not start!
I disconnected the USB connectors, but when I pulled the Ethernet
connection from my DSL router, the system started to boot.
I went into the BIOS to look at the settings, and *gently* tweaked a
couple and then to Reboot. Nada, Nothing, Zippo, Zilch!
I pulled the CMOS jumper, cleared it, and went at it again.

Again, it gave me a BITCH of a time booting! I switched the jumper
AGAIN, reset the BIOS settings to S-L-O-W, and rebooted.
I knew my Linux installation wouldn't boot (it tried, I should have
let it go!) but I figured Windows would be easier. BZZZZT!
First, it would start to boot off the XP Install disk, and hang.
Switch the jumper, clear the CMOS, try again.

A little further...swicth the jumper, try again. AHA! The install
Screen! I would get to 59% and then tell me Can't Copy This,
Can't Copy That. Finally got everything to copy, reboot...the Install
Screen! It starts to set up Windows and then gets a
I can't find a device, so click here to reboot...

Blue screen...Reboot....

Little further....Blue Screen...Reboot...

Little further...Blue Screen...

By this time it's Midnight, so I chuck the whole thing! Today I have
downloaded ALL the BIOS updates and will try installing them
one-by-one, to see if one of them is the Magic Bullet. ASRock's
homepage says that AMD Athlon XP 64 4000+ support was there from the
first BIOS revision, but BIOS Rev 1.30 says "Added Support for AMD
Athlon 64 4000+..." I guess we'll try that one first!

But...it wouldn't boot any of my 'rescue' disks, either. It would get
sooooo far and just hang on
SuSE Linux 9.2 Live CD
SuSE Linux 9.3 Live CD
SuSE Linux 10.1 Live DVD
Gnoppix Ubuntu Live CD

And the Swiss Army Knife of ALL Live CDs, Knoppix! If Knoppix don't
boot, you've got TROUBLE!!!
I have one more boot disk to try from work. I am suspecting my Radeon
9550 based Diamond card is holding up the works.

I will let you know if I make any progress. If you see another post
later from me, you'll know SOMETHING worked!!!

Good luck Hachiroku

 

[Hachiroku]

Good luck Hachiroku

LOL! Well, here we are!

Man, what an ordeal!

First, I had to ditch my 2 year old Power Supply and go up another 100
Watts! I'm running 500 watts now, and that solved the boot up problems.
I also had to disconnect my (t)rusty old Hitachi CD-ROM drive; this drive
would read just about ANY cd you putinto it, but it was too much of a
drain on the system. I also disconnected my old ZIP 250 ATAPI drive; I
used it to boot DOS for old games and software, but the DualSATA doesn't
have a ZIP BOOT option like the SOYO did, so it's gone.

The second piece of advice for anyone buying one of these boards (and I
saw this in a LOT of 'forums' concerning this MoBo..."I try reinstalling
Windows and the installation gets almost to the end and hangs, what do I
do????): uninstall ALL the drivers you installed for you old MOBO, Video
Card, Sound board, EVERYTHING!!! before reinstalling Windows!!! What's
hanging is one of the old drivers, probably for the AGP-PCI bridge.


Again, UNINSTALL *ALL* the drivers!!!

I didn't and did a whole fresh reinstallation, but of course, I DIDN'T
remove the files from my old directory, and now they are inaccessible!

Also, if you have any familiarity with Linux, download a copy of a
'Swiss Army Disk' like Knoppix or Unbutu. I will be able to get into the
locked directories with a Knoppix disk and burn off my files to DVD.

Once I got past the installation process, I went back into the BIOS and
boosted it to 2.8GHz. It's been running well, but for some reason refuses
to install Netscape properly. I also had to reinstall a lot of my software
all over again.

Try this and tell me what happens.

Happily computing at Warp Speed!

 

[Pete]

LOL! Well, here we are!

Man, what an ordeal!

First, I had to ditch my 2 year old Power Supply and go up another 100
Watts! I'm running 500 watts now, and that solved the boot up
problems.
I also had to disconnect my (t)rusty old Hitachi CD-ROM drive; this
drive would read just about ANY cd you putinto it, but it was too
much of a drain on the system. I also disconnected my old ZIP 250
ATAPI drive; I used it to boot DOS for old games and software, but
the DualSATA doesn't have a ZIP BOOT option like the SOYO did, so
it's gone.

The second piece of advice for anyone buying one of these boards (and
I saw this in a LOT of 'forums' concerning this MoBo..."I try
reinstalling Windows and the installation gets almost to the end and
hangs, what do I do????): uninstall ALL the drivers you installed for
you old MOBO, Video Card, Sound board, EVERYTHING!!! before
reinstalling Windows!!! What's hanging is one of the old drivers,
probably for the AGP-PCI bridge.


Again, UNINSTALL *ALL* the drivers!!!

I didn't and did a whole fresh reinstallation, but of course, I DIDN'T
remove the files from my old directory, and now they are inaccessible!

Also, if you have any familiarity with Linux, download a copy of a
'Swiss Army Disk' like Knoppix or Unbutu. I will be able to get into
the locked directories with a Knoppix disk and burn off my files to
DVD.

Once I got past the installation process, I went back into the BIOS
and boosted it to 2.8GHz. It's been running well, but for some reason
refuses to install Netscape properly. I also had to reinstall a lot
of my software all over again.

Try this and tell me what happens.

Happily computing at Warp Speed!

Thanks for the update Hachiroku

I expect I'll need to upgrade my PSU too when I start to use the AM2CPU
board.

Any chance you could list all your hardware, don't worry if too much hastle.

Regards

Pete

 

[Hachiroku]

Thanks for the update Hachiroku

I expect I'll need to upgrade my PSU too when I start to use the AM2CPU
board.

Any chance you could list all your hardware, don't worry if too much hastle.

Regards

Pete

Pretty much off the rack stuff. The two things I spent money on was 2x256
Kinston Hyper X PC3500 RAM. I'll be upgrading this soon. I was going to
buy some PNY or KByte from STaples ($39 for 512M) but the performance of
the HyperX is worth the extra $$$. I noticed a BIG difference when I
installed the first 256M 3 years ago.

Diamond S120 (ATi Radeon 9550) AGP 8X Video. I had a Radeon 7000 but
wanted to upgrade but was going to keep the Soyo MoBo until the next big
jum in CPUs, but it had different ideas. This is why I opted for the
ASRock 939DS, since I just bought the card about 6 weeks ago!

A few Maxtor HDD's, 200M for HDD 0 and 200M for HDD 1.

A generic case that had room for 6 IDE drives, 2 3.5" 'floppies' (one
Floppy and one ZIP 250) and an Antec 500W PS. A LightScribe DVD writer and
a Hitachi DVD Writer. With a Quantex (remember them?) 19" CRT that is SO
mode unfriendly that when I install any OS the longest bit is trying to
configure the monitor for the most room at the best resolution. At work I
have an older NEC LCD that I really like, but it only goes to 1280x1024,
and I like to run 1600x1200 minimum, or even 1900x1200 when I can.


The monitor was a freebie when we cleaned out old systems from a college
that was getting rid of old stuff.

 

[Hachiroku]

Thanks for the update Hachiroku

I expect I'll need to upgrade my PSU too when I start to use the AM2CPU
board.

Any chance you could list all your hardware, don't worry if too much hastle.

Regards

Pete

And on to 2.8GHz!