My First BIOSTAR Motherboard

[Avid6eek]

Over the past couple days I've been working on a Micro-ATX SFF PC to use for LAN gaming. My original motherboard choice was the JetWay A210GDMS-Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153027). While a good motherboard out of the box, it went downhill once I started overclocking. As soon as I pass a 250Mhz HTT bus all network connections stop working...onboard and PCI add-in. The only explanation I could come up with is there is something wrong with PCI bus speed lock. Kinda odd how both the onboard and PCI NICs stop working. With a 250Mhz HTT bus I can only get my Opteron 165 up to 2.25Ghz...totally unacceptable. I will accept nothing short of 2.6Ghz which I know the processor can do. Even in the SFF case I can run it prime stable at over 2.6Ghz...as long as I don't need an internet connection. :rolleyes:

I will have to return this motherboard and my second choice is the BIOSTAR TForce6100 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138264). Out of all Micro ATX skt 939 board this one actually has gotten the best reviews. In addition to being $15 cheaper it supports SATA II and the onboard graphics has a DVI output which I don't not have on the JetWay board. Hopefully BIOSTAR will treat me right....even though I've done nothing but badmouth their hardware since day 1.

[PCgeek]

I hope it blows up and kills all your componets for bad-mouthing it. I've never had a problem with Biostar mobos. They've been in the business for a while and they know what they're doing.

[Avid6eek]

I hope it blows up and kills all your componets for bad-mouthing it. Wow...thanks for the kind words :p

[Ominous Gamer]

So...you ran a Jetway motherboard...out of spec, broke it, complained about it, and now you are going to try and return it?:confused:

If you are actually going to use the onboard graphics (you did mention the onboard DVI after all) get the 6150. ASUS, MSI and Giga-byte each have models; with the ASUS and MSI both having DVI out.

[Avid6eek]

No, the board isn't broken, it just doesn't perform to the standard I require! I will be returning it for that reason. I'm not actually using the IG, so it doesn't matter if it's a 6100 or 6150.

[Ominous Gamer]

No, the board isn't broken, it just doesn't perform to the standard I require!

Which is beyond of the specs the motherboard is sold under...

[Avid6eek]

Which is beyond of the specs the motherboard is sold under...Overclocking features are just that...features. In this case the board features did not live up to the standard I expected them to. For that reason the board is being returned. There is nothing wrong with that.

[Ominous Gamer]

Overclocking features are just that...features. In this case the board features did not live up to the standard I expected them to. For that reason the board is being returned. There is nothing wrong with that.

You should read your warranty then.
Tweaking options are provided as is, with no warranty on their effectiveness or any effect it may have on the system. In fact, running the board outside of its normal operational specs voids said warranty.

Works just all other computer hardware.;)
Just cause people can OC their X800XTPEs to X850XT levels doesn't mean you get to return yours when ATI Overdrive doesn't reach those levels.

[Avid6eek]

I'm not satisfied...
The customer is always right!

REFUND!

:D

[Avid6eek]

I just took a look at the retail box the board came in, and right on the box Overclocking is listed as a feature. If a company is going to use overclocking to sell boards, I most certainly can return a board for overclocking/not overclocking.

[stangz]

So...you ran a Jetway motherboard...out of spec, broke it, complained about it, and now you are going to try and return it?:confused:
What got up your @$$ today? lol :confused:

[Avid6eek]

What got up your @$$ today? lol :confused:Ominous is always starting ************************ :p

[Avid6eek]

w00t! Never been so happy to see a BIOSTAR

http://hardware-geek.com/Pictures/biostar.jpg

[stangz]

w00t! Never been so happy to see a BIOSTAR


Well how does she work?

[Avid6eek]

I don't know...it's still sitting on the anti-static bag. I'm taking apart the system to put this board in. Hopefully I'll have it done tonight.

[1337NuB5!]

that actually looks really nice for a biostar motherboard (I never liked them much either). :D

[chris000001]

it looks alot like a gigabyte motherboard (the color scheme)

[Avid6eek]

The motherboard has been great as far as the system build. I didn't even need the manual to get it up and working great. Everything on the board was labeled perfectly, and I like the layout much better than the JetWay board I tried before. The RAID setup went smooth as I have grown to expect from NVRaid, and so far Windows is installing w/o any problems.

The quality of the hardware was much better than I expected. So far I am extremely pleased, but won't know for sure until I have Windows installed and tested.

[Skorp]

What madness is this? Onboard graphics?! Agh, getitoffme!

Horridness aside, they tend to limit overclocking. You sure you can get 2.6 out of it?

[Avid6eek]

I'm not using the onboard graphics, but a 7800GTX. There are no high end micro ATX boards so it's taking me some time to go through and find one with decent features. I did read about someone getting their Opteron 146 over 2.9Ghz in this same motherboard. The board came with a second manual just for overclocking so I expect that this motherboard should do fine.

[omga14]

well good luck with it all bro'. what case are you using for this project? i've been looking for a dvd/vcr looking case for my wifes comp with good airflow but am still looking.

i'd have to go a different route with the mobo though since she's getting the old s754:D i'd really like to know how this Biostar works out though.

[Ominous Gamer]

i've been looking for a dvd/vcr looking case for my wifes comp with good airflow but am still looking.


Silverstone, end of story.

[Avid6eek]

I'm using a Silverstone (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811163050) case.

[Avid6eek]

I finally got the system up and running this evening. Everything went very smooth through the whole setup. There are even some nice BIOS update / hardware monitoring utilities. The BIOS that came with my board aren't even a month old so I was very happy with that.

Overclocking has gone pretty well too. The only problem I ran into was that the voltages don't scale very well, and that is most likely to the sub-par regulators on the motherboard. An example of this would be that if I set a vCore of 1.35v in the BIOS, it runs at 1.35v. At 1.50v it runs at 1.45v, at 1.6v it runs at 1.5v, and at 1.75v it runs at 1.6v.

Right now I am priming at what I believe are stable speeds:

290 HT Bus
x9 Multipler
2.6Ghz D.C. Opteron 165
G.Skill PC3200 TCCD @ 240Mhz 2-3-3-8 1T
Prime load temps of 43C, idle temps of 28C

I know the processor is good up to 2.7Ghz prime, but I am unable to get a good combination of memory speed / stability at that clock rate. Dropping down allows me to get a stable medium between all the hardware. Right now I am just letting prime run because I know what the memory and processor can do, but I want to see if voltages move around at all on the motherboard. So far everything seems good. Quite a powerful little box.

Given the price, this is an awsome motherboard. The only overclocking setting that isn't there is chipset voltage, but I have found that giving the NF4 more voltage rarely helps. Even w/o the added voltage I can get a FSB up to 320Mhz prime stable.

[AMDnewbie2005]

Well good luck bro, i hope you have a good time with her :( i was going to get that board before i decided to go ATX and get the DFI Lanparty. I did hear it was a good OC'er;) :p

[Stone Fox]

So Far-

SILVERSTONE SST-SG01-B $149
Opteron-165 - $345
7800GTX - $500 ish

Onboard sound? PSU? I'll be really interested to see what the total cost of your SFF is, and how it performs. That's a cunning plan - an SFF to take places for LAN games! So cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a fox.