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ASRock ConRoe 1333-DVI/H & Intel E2140 Budget System Review

Motherboards/Intel S775 by SidneyWong @ 2007-08-17

Today, we take a look at ASRock´s latest ConRoe-1333-DVI/H micro ATX board aimed at the budget minded and put in the lowest priced Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2140 for a test drive. Hopefully, we can get some free performance by overclocking!

Performance

Performance:

Test setup:

E2140 from Geeks Computer Parts
Intel Retail Pack stock heatsink/fan
ASRock ConRoe 1333 DVI/H R-2.0
OCZ 420 watts Powerstream power supply
1 x 2GB G.Skill PC6400 F2-6400LC5D-2GBBNQ
Seagate 500GB 7200.0 SATAII HDD from Geeks Computer Parts
Chaintech 7600GT
Windows XP Pro SP2 with latest updates
NEC DVD optical drive
On open bench

Testing this mainboard seems like a roller-coaster ride; my high expectation dives and then rises at the end, while the E2140 kept me feel positive every step of the way.

ASRock does not endorse overclocking; besides this mainboard does not offer much in this area. However, facing the incredible overclocking headroom of the C2D and the fact that the mainboard supports 1333 FSB, it is simply irresistible not to.

I was disappointed at the beginning because the board did not seem to boot after posting as I raised the FSB to over 220. I totally forgot the need to raise PCIe bus speed. I use “CPU, PCIe Sync” to keep PCIe increase automatically. At 258 FSB, the PCIe bus speed is set to 115 MHz; 263 FSB at 120 MHz. I had problem with the 7600GT card at 120MHz bus speed as 3DMark05 kept freezing while it did okay with onboard graphic. I redid the bench-mark using only 258 FSB.

Madshrimps (c)

The audio was running nicely with no signs of issues.
Madshrimps (c)

Overclocking continues next ->

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/08/19

I have no question that this E2140 will hit 400FSB or 3.2Ghz. 355 is the max as PCIe bus speed is now at 122, vcore fefault. At 123, the SATA HDD is lost.

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/08/20

Did not quite like the S-bridge passive heatsink getting as high as >54°C, the N-bridge is okay at ~45-48°C. I added my own specially wired 2x 40x10mm ~5,000 rpm to a single 4-pin molex on them.

Comment from jmke @ 2007/08/20

Same 40mm that comes with Chill Vent?

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/08/20

Yes

Comment from jmke @ 2007/08/20

silent then

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/08/20

Read ION HTPC case review on sound test

Comment from smilingcrow @ 2007/08/26

I was interested to read about the method of pin modding the E2140; any chance of loading a photo to the forums? There are loads of photos of people using a conductive pen but this mod is unusual. Cheers.

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/08/26

Sure thing, will post them on upcoming E4400 review in a few days.

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/08/27

Here we go

sorry for one of them is out of focus slightly.

1066 FSB mod

Alum foil folded back to HS

1.4 Volt mod with two pieces of alum foil

Comment from smilingcrow @ 2007/08/27

Thanks for the pics. Is there any danger of damaging the CPU or board if you make a short-circuit? The volt mod looks dangerously close to shorting something!

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/08/27

Yes, so does driving Indy Car at 230 MPH close to hitting the wall in every turn

Comment from jmke @ 2007/08/27

nice comparo

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/08/29

Been running Speedstep enable for a few days; min vcore 1.15 and multi 6x. Total system power consumption drops about 10% to 12%. I have not seen overclockers report on C2D the use of Speedstep during ocing.

Comment from jmke @ 2007/08/29

OC and power saving, don't go well hand in hand

Comment from nuuk25 @ 2007/09/24

Hi there
- has anyone tried the E2180 on this MB ? Or any other newer MB from Asrock ? - details are welcome !! ;o)

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/09/24

Quote:

Originally Posted by nuuk25

Hi there
- has anyone tried the E2180 on this MB ? Or any other newer MB from Asrock ? - details are welcome !! ;o)

Check our recent reviews, two more new ASRock boards are listed.

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/09/24

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmke

OC and power saving, don't go well hand in hand

No difference than using fan controller, with Notebook Hardware Control +SpeedStep enble in BIOS, switching between "Dynamic", "Max Performance", "Max Battery" (Auto, Max, Min) within Windows is one click away. If you leave your PC on 24/7 and play game for one hour, there is a lot of savings not to mention less noise.

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/11/06

The best this E2140 could do is 390FSB ...... 95% overclocked

Comment from jort @ 2007/11/06

Quote:

This is all aluminum heatsink; the low thermal characteristic of this CPU prompted Intel to do way with the copper core.

Don't understand that sentence... is it correctly ?

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/11/06

s/b

to do away with the copper core

Are you picking on me two months later?

Comment from jort @ 2007/11/06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sidney

s/b

to do away with the copper core

Are you picking on me two months later?

I dunnow i read the article only today.
I spot the smallest details moastly

Comment from Ibrihim @ 2013/05/05

Just read this article and it's good. Amazed jort took two months to comment.

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