ASRock Launches ALiveDual-eSATA2 Motherboard

[Jimmy 2004]

To be able to stand out among the crowd in the PC industry is not easy, but ASRock had successfully made its name in the market by its 3C concepts - Considerate, Creative and Cost-effectiveness. Once again, ASRock is ahead of its peers, the first one to release Socket AM2 motherboard based on NVIDIA M1695 and nForce3 250 chipsets. ALiveDual-eSATA2, is a "Dual" series motherboard that is scalable and full-functional. ALiveDual-eSATA2 is AMD LIVE! ready, designed with both PCI Express x16 and AGP 8X slots, SATA and SATAII connectors, eSATAII port and PCIE Gigabit LAN functions. Most of all, this motherboard supports the coming-soon AMD Phenom X4 / X2 CPU!



The AMD Phenom X4 / X2 CPU, AMD's latest dual and quad-core chips, which features DDR2 SDRAM, HyperTransport , shared L3 cache, and the Socket AM2 and AM2+ interface is one of the most important features here. ALiveDual-eSATA2 provides a full range of CPU selection here from AMD Phenom X4 / X2, Athlon 64FX / 64X2 / X2 / 64 to Sempron processors.

Both PCI Express x16 and AGP 8X slots design have always been one of the favorite designs for end-users, and ASRock realized their needs. With PCI Express x16 and AGP 8X slots both designed, users may utilize whatever graphics cards they got on their hands. This Dual VGA combination of ALiveDual-eSATA2 is interesting because users may test both cards on their systems to find out the optimal configurations for best performance.

For hard disk storage part, ALiveDual-eSATA2 is designed with both SATA and SATAII connectors supporting RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD) and "Hot Plug" functions as well. This creative design is also one of the consideration designs from ASRock. Users may utilize either SATA hard disks or SATAII hard disks depends on what hard disk format they got. For users fond of eSATAII port design, ALiveDual-eSATA2 also makes things easy and convenient for you by providing eSATAII port at the Rear Panel I/O.

ALiveDual-eSATA2 also supports practical features such as Dual Channel DDRII800 memory, 4 x DIMM slots, with maximum capacity up to 8GB, PCIE Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s and Vista Premium. This new hot release is designed with exclusive HDMI_SPDIF header, which provides SPDIF audio output to HDMI VGA card, and allows the system to connect HDMI Digital TV/projector/LCD devices.

Here are ALiveDual-eSATA2 brief specifications:

• Socket AM2 for AMD Phenom X4 / X2, Athlon 64FX / 64X2 / X2 / 64 and Sempron processors
• NVIDIA M1695 Chipset
• NVIDIA nForce3 250 Chipset
• FSB 1000 MHz (2.0 GT/s), Hyper-Transport Technology and AMD Cool 'n' Quiet Technology
• Supports AMD LIVE! Technology
• Supports Dual Channel DDRII800/667/533, 4 x DIMM slots, with max. capacity up to 8GB
• Untied Overclocking : During Overclocking, FSB enjoys better margin due to fixed AGP/PCIE/ PCI Buses
• Hybrid Booster - Safe Overclocking Technology
• ASRock AM2 Boost: ASRock Patented Technology to boost memory performance up to 12.5%
• 1 x PCI Express x16 slot
• 1 x AGP 8X slot
• Supports PCIE Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
• 2 x Serial ATA 1.5 Gb/s connectors by NVIDIA nForce3 250, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD) and "Hot Plug" functions
• 2 x Serial ATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors by JMicron JMB363 (PCIE x1 interface), support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD), NCQ, AHCI and "Hot Plug" functions
• 1 x eSATAII 3.0 Gb/s connector (shared with 1 SATAII port), supports NCQ, AHCI and "Hot Plug" functions
• HDMI_SPDIF header, providing SPDIF audio output to HDMI VGA card, allows the system to connect HDMI Digital TV/projector/LCD devices.
• 1 x WiFi header
• 7.1 CH Windows Vista Premium Level Superior Audio (C-Media CM6501 Audio Codec with UAA architecture)
• Supports all features in Windows Vista Premium
• Supports Windows XP Media Center Edition
• ASRock 8CH_eSATAII I/O Plus: 1 eSATAII port, 4 ready-to-use USB ports

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[cdawall]

lol looks like i found my upgrade mobo

 

[hacker111]

Looks good but is it going to be ready for mass production and ready t be sold to schools becasuse this looks like the right thing for the schools across the nation...(USA)

 

[suraswami]

How come
NVIDIA M1695 Chipset
NVIDIA nForce3 250 Chipset

Both chipsets?

 

[Random Murderer]

How come
NVIDIA M1695 Chipset
NVIDIA nForce3 250 Chipset

Both chipsets?

the m1695 is the southbridge

 

[Jimmy 2004]

the m1695 is the southbridge

The the nForce3 250 is the same chipset I have in my good old ASUS s754 board!

Although it's old, it's a very good chipset.

 

[Random Murderer]

The the nForce3 250 is the same chipset I have in my good old ASUS s754 board!

Although it's old, it's a very good chipset.

right, he was just asking why there's 2 chipsets on this board, and i was stating that the nforce3 250 is the nb and the m1695 is the sb.

 

[suraswami]

right, he was just asking why there's 2 chipsets on this board, and i was stating that the nforce3 250 is the nb and the m1695 is the sb.

I thought NF3 250 was a single chip solution.

 

[Random Murderer]

I thought NF3 250 was a single chip solution.

usually, but this is an unusual board for anyone other than asrock. they design, build, and manufacture boards that use both ddr and ddr2 as well as pci-e and agp. you won't find a single chipset that can do all that without the aid of at least an external controller chip.

 

[Necrofire]

usually, but this is an unusual board for anyone other than asrock. they design, build, and manufacture boards that use both ddr and ddr2 as well as pci-e and agp. you won't find a single chipset that can do all that without the aid of at least an external controller chip.

He's right, ASRock is amazing. I used to have a 939Dual-SATA2, and it supported AGP and PCI-e, as well as socket 939 with DDR and AM2 with DDR2. My new ASRock mobo supports AM2 and AM2+, so it also ASRocks

 

[vanyots]

Just think for a minute!
NF3 250 is there just for the AGP and a couple of SATA1 ports.
It's the M1695 that supports PCI-E, Phenoms and DDR2 RAM!

 

[Necrofire]

Just think for a minute!
NF3 250 is there just for the AGP and a couple of SATA1 ports.
It's the M1695 that supports PCI-E, Phenoms and DDR2 RAM!

This is important to know, for this reason.
Some mobos that have support for things like an AGP port and PCI-e port, actually use a converter from PCI-e to AGP. Some AGP cards won't work in this configuration (such as the AGP versions of ATI's X1K cards) because they themselves convert from PCI-e to AGP. This doesn't work I guess.

And it is nice to just know which bridge does what.

 

[rodneyhchef]

About time this board came out! Perfect upgrade platform for me.

 

[Mad-Matt]

I do think it was an odd decision to go with the nf3 chipset instead of the full uli chipset as used on previous asrock amd boards. The nf3 was never a great performer and id hope the nf3 drivers would have full vista support for this board other wise its agp port is useless. i would think that the uli chipset would have performed much better too even if its drivers never got another update .

 

[Mussels]

I do think it was an odd decision to go with the nf3 chipset instead of the full uli chipset as used on previous asrock amd boards. The nf3 was never a great performer and id hope the nf3 drivers would have full vista support for this board other wise its agp port is useless. i would think that the uli chipset would have performed much better too even if its drivers never got another update .

Nvidia bought ULI and kinda dropped their chipsets.

Looks pretty good tho, the NF3 does AGP and sata-1 while the other chipset does CPU/PCI-E

Like all asrocks it wont OC that great and will probably have some major flaw... but unlike the other models, this ones got a true x16 slot the others were all 4x electrically.

 

[mcsnakes]

Is it possible to run a pci-e 16x 2.0 graphics card on this board?

like the 3870 toxic from sapphire

 

[Mussels]

Is it possible to run a pci-e 16x 2.0 graphics card on this board?

like the 3870 toxic from sapphire

i dont see why not.

 

[mcsnakes]

Thank you i dont know the differents yet about pci-e 16x and pci-e 16x 2.0
so thats way i asked you guys and with this mobo (ALiveDual-eSATA2)
if i have a pci-e card like sapphire ati radeon is it possible to run vista
with it? i have read something about the agp slot thats way i ask

this i have read about it

C. ATi™AGP Card (Windows® Vista™ 32-bit / Vista™ 64-bit):
Under Windows® Vista™ 32-bit / Vista™ 64-bit OS, this motherboard does not support ATi™ AGP card because NVIDIA® does not provide nForce3 250 relevant driver for Windows® Vista™ OS.

Review link:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/note/ALiveDual-eSATA2.html#Phenom

So if i have a pci-e 16x card it is possible to run vista?

 

[Mussels]

PCI-E 1.0 and 2.0 are essentially the same. They both work nicely with each other. if you have a 2.0 card AND motherboard, you get double the bandwidth. No current card need that.

YES you can run a PCI-E card on that motherboard - the problem is only for the AGP slot.

 

[mingqianglee]

Hi guys, i know this is an ancient post, just wonder to know if anyone can hear me.

i have bought this alivedual-esata motherboard, does any one knows if it's working with GTX980Ti ?

 

[Mussels]

Hi guys, i know this is an ancient post, just wonder to know if anyone can hear me.

i have bought this alivedual-esata motherboard, does any one knows if it's working with GTX980Ti ?

Wow this IS an old post.
If it works, it'd be massively CPU limited for any gaming purposes

Unlike AGP, PCI-E never changed voltages during its iterations so its safe to try it if you have the hardware on hand - i'm pretty sure the 980Ti will work, but it really is a gamble if such old hardware even works on its own.

 

[mingqianglee]

Wow this IS an old post.
If it works, it'd be massively CPU limited for any gaming purposes

Unlike AGP, PCI-E never changed voltages during its iterations so its safe to try it if you have the hardware on hand - i'm pretty sure the 980Ti will work, but it really is a gamble if such old hardware even works on its own.

Thanks for the reply.

i did test on my 4coredual-sata2 which has a pcie x4 slot with GTX 980Ti, unfortunately, it cannot be booted at all, no signal on the monitor.

from following link, some one told me the 4coredual-sata2 does not support any PCIE 4.0 card.

Asrock 775Dual VSTA & Core4Dual thread - Page 26 \ VOGONS

www.vogons.org

i am not sure about Alivedual-esata2, because it has PCIEx16 slot.

so i want some who actually did test on this can make a confirmation.

 

[Mussels]

the 980ti is not a 4.0 card, its 3.0

i dont think you're going to find anyone who's tested or owned that board here, as this forum post was an announcement from when it was first released - few people would own one now.

 

[saulaaaa23]

I just register to say that Asrock ALiveDual-eSATA2 is working completely fine with AORUS GTX 1080 Ti, you can find my results on userbenchmark from Serbia. Also, RX 570 in combo with Phenom X4 975 works very very goood! Running 2x4GB DDR2 at 800MHz, might put 8 more. SSD + 2TB HDD + X4 975 + 1080Ti\570.