ASRock Innovates Socket 939 Motherboard with AMD 785G Chipset

[Disparia]

Well, I do have an Athlon X2 3800+ just sitting here... probably don't have more than 1GB of DDR though.

 

[Shyska]

This is great news and just in time to replace my A8n-e
AND I'll get to test my theory of poor overclocking of the old Asus board. And even better - I'll do that by saving (not spending)!

I love it

 

[eidairaman1]

Ya i was really thinking about a FX57/60 and Or an Opteron, Get 2 More Gigs PC 4000 Mushkin Redline, and a AGP 939 Mobo, as an upgrade to the Current machine, after the new one is built.

Upgrades aren't the only reason people buy computer parts. Replacement of failed parts is a huge market, and this fits in the market perfectly.

Socket 939 rigs were great, and still offer very acceptable performance today, especially for most home users that don't play games. The problem is that the parts tend to fail after so long, motherboards being a notorious failure point that is usually difficult to find a replacement for on EOL hardware, and even harder to find a cheap and good replacement.

The fact that s939 was the short period where AMD actually performed better than Intel, and many system integrators started switching to using AMD. There was a relative flood of s939 Pre-builts hitting the market. Pre-builts with weak motherboards, that tend to blow caps after 3-4 years of use... I still see one of two of these in my shop a week...

So this gives people the option to replace just the failed motherboard, and keep the good processor and RAM, instead of replacing the whole machine. People don't like replacing the entire machine if they don't have to, especially when the current machine still fills the need.



I don't know, I skipped 754 and went straight from Socket A to 939. Man, I still miss that 939 machine...Operon 148, 2GB DDR-500, x800GTO2...the glory days!!! Probably still my favorite build.

 

[hat]

...
Now if only there was some form of availability for s939 processors

 

[ucanmandaa]

Might change my A8V-E with one of these... wonder if it will clock my old 4200+ x2 higher than A8V-E (2.75ghz)

 

[tonyd223]

939 processors are available - ebay! and also in the old machine in the attic / under the bed / in the wardrobe / in a cupboard at work...

(amazing how much old tech is just lying around at work not being used...)

 

[Jstn7477]

hopefully they have a way to enable ACC and make sempron single core to a dual-core proc or increase the cache to full size etc lol.

ACC was introduced with Phenom I/II, two socket revisions after 939. Also, AMD didn't make single core processors out of bad dual core processors back then.

 

[WarEagleAU]

Sweet, seeing as the mobo in my old computer (was my sisters computer but I got it back now) is trashed that the 3800+ is still good as well as the ram, I think I have me a budget HTPC!!!! which will be just fine as I wont game with it. SWEET!

 

[Wile E]

This is an absolutely great idea for those that have some 939 stuff laying around unused.

 

[HELLSPAWNPR]

Awsome i have a 939 4800+ X2 and 2X 1GB of OCZ platinum ddr500,

 

[Polarman]

Well, I do have an Athlon X2 3800+ just sitting here... probably don't have more than 1GB of DDR though.

My wife could use that! She's still on a 939 with a crummy single core cpu. PM me if you're willing to part with it.

 

[LittleLizard]

typical from asrock. weird solutions that no other manufacturers make to common problems

 

[InnocentCriminal]

If I didn't have 2 ATX & one Shuttle 939 motherboard, this would be an awesome board for to build a media PC in.

 

[Melvis]

and the S939 lives on

 

[D4S4]

couple of good ddr sticks and socket 939 would still pwn in memory latency tests, and the memory bandwidth would be well over 90% of theoretical value... i miss my s939 abit kn8 ultra... R.I.P.

 

[pentastar111]

Hey there are still many 939 Users out there, so get over it.

I'm still using a 939 socket 4200X2. It's not as fast as the gaming rigs I have built, but it is like a trusty old truck...Always fires up and runs.

 

[Wile E]

couple of good ddr sticks and socket 939 would still pwn in memory latency tests, and the memory bandwidth would be well over 90% of theoretical value... i miss my s939 abit kn8 ultra... R.I.P.

Not really. That was true early in DDR2 and DDR3 development, but now they both outperform DDR1 in both latency and bandwidth.

 

[cdawall]

Man, I know -- did a lot of people go straight from s754 to AM2? Because I never bought anything that was s939, but I've got several s754 chips.

that what i did s754 was an ugly beast but it helds it own back in the day

 

[DaJMasta]

Upgrades aren't the only reason people buy computer parts. Replacement of failed parts is a huge market, and this fits in the market perfectly.

Socket 939 rigs were great, and still offer very acceptable performance today, especially for most home users that don't play games. The problem is that the parts tend to fail after so long, motherboards being a notorious failure point that is usually difficult to find a replacement for on EOL hardware, and even harder to find a cheap and good replacement.

The fact that s939 was the short period where AMD actually performed better than Intel, and many system integrators started switching to using AMD. There was a relative flood of s939 Pre-builts hitting the market. Pre-builts with weak motherboards, that tend to blow caps after 3-4 years of use... I still see one of two of these in my shop a week...

So this gives people the option to replace just the failed motherboard, and keep the good processor and RAM, instead of replacing the whole machine. People don't like replacing the entire machine if they don't have to, especially when the current machine still fills the need.



I don't know, I skipped 754 and went straight from Socket A to 939. Man, I still miss that 939 machine...Operon 148, 2GB DDR-500, x800GTO2...the glory days!!! Probably still my favorite build.

I think it will all come down to price point, because right now you can get these two
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.245404
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159019

For $108 (with 20 in rebates) and get a 2GB, 2.7GHz Phenom II based chip, and a motherboard (albeit a really cheap one. It doesn't have the options that this board has, but at $88 you get a machine that will beat any single core 939 board - so unless you've got a dual core (and it would only be worth it with a 4200 or better for most apps) - this package would actually be faster. Now there's a chance that this board will come in under $88, but it is a specialty part in a niche market, and considering the lowest priced 785G board on newegg is only $18 less than that combo, they don't have much margin for a competitive price.

Now if you have 4GB of DDR2 and an X2 and are absolutely strapped for cash when your motherboard fails, this is an option.... but I don't see it being that spectacular of an option when you can get a similar setup for maybe $30 more with more in terms of features, performance, and lower power consumption, while for $60 more than the cost of the board you can get at least one more core and all the tech benefits.

It is always interesting to see what ASRock brings to the table though, they offer a lot in terms of broad processor support.

 

[indybird]

Why couldn't have put DDR2 or 3 in it!? My friend has a great 939 X2, but a somewhat broken and outdated motherboard. He also doesn't to spend much money at all cause hes stopped caring about computers :shadedshu

Oh well...

-Indybird

 

[eidairaman1]

Depends on the motherboard, because 1, 939 has a DDR Memory controller, 2 AM2 uses DDR2, 3 AM3 uses DDR2 and 3

 

[Wile E]

Why couldn't have put DDR2 or 3 in it!? My friend has a great 939 X2, but a somewhat broken and outdated motherboard. He also doesn't to spend much money at all cause hes stopped caring about computers :shadedshu

Oh well...

-Indybird

Because the cpu has the memory controller, not the chipset. It is not possible to run DDR2 or 3 on a 939 cpu. The cpu can only run DDR1.

 

[szulmizan]

I still have the FX-60 with Asus A8N32-SLI + OCZ Platinum 2GB.. its worked great.. b4 built my Ci7.. still thinking do i have to sell it or keep it for my media system.. really love this PC.. it served me for 3 years b4 building new system..

The new motherboard will keep the S939 alive.. ASRock Rocks...

 

[Melvis]

I still have the FX-60 with Asus A8N32-SLI + OCZ Platinum 2GB.. its worked great.. b4 built my Ci7.. still thinking do i have to sell it or keep it for my media system.. really love this PC.. it served me for 3 years b4 building new system..

The new motherboard will keep the S939 alive.. ASRock Rocks...

Love ya system you got there, i have a soft spot for 939's / FX's

If you ever want to sell that ummm FX-60 ehem

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

My 939 Opty was 100 MHz faster clock for clock than first gen AM2 procs... and my value select ddr1 scored 5.9 in vista. When I switched from that system to a 3.5 GHz core 2 there was no performance increase noticeable in games, particularly in gpu dependent games like crysis. So for people with the right processor oc'd far enough 939 should still provide relevant performance.