ASRock 775Dual-VSTA Motherboard Review

Test Systems

Intel Test System:

Intel Test Platform
Component	Brand/Model	Live Pricing
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E6600	Click Here
Motherboard	Intel D975XBX v304	Click Here
Video Card	XFX 7900GTX XXX	Click Here
Memory	2GB SuperTalent DRR2-800	Click Here
Hard Drive	Western Digital Raptor 74GB	Click Here
Cooling	Thermaltake Big Typhoon	Click Here
Power Supply	OCZ PowerStream 600W	Click Here
Operating System	Windows XP Professional	Click Here

ASRock Test System:

ASRock DDR2 Test Platform
Component	Brand/Model	Live Pricing
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E6600	Click Here
Motherboard	Asrock 775Dual-VSTA	Click Here
Video Card	XFX 7900GTX XXX	Click Here
Memory	2GB SuperTalent DRR2-800	Click Here
Hard Drive	Western Digital Raptor 74GB	Click Here
Cooling	Thermaltake Big Typhoon	Click Here
Power Supply	OCZ PowerStream 600W	Click Here
Operating System	Windows XP Professional	Click Here

ASRock Test System:

ASRock DDR1 Test Platform
Component	Brand/Model	Live Pricing
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E6600	Click Here
Motherboard	Asrock 775Dual-VSTA	Click Here
Video Card	XFX 7900GTX XXX	Click Here
Memory	2GB Crucial PC-4000	Click Here
Hard Drive	Western Digital Raptor 74GB	Click Here
Cooling	Thermaltake Big Typhoon	Click Here
Power Supply	OCZ PowerStream 600W	Click Here
Operating System	Windows XP Professional	Click Here

Since there are several different RAM dividers on the ASRock board we decided to test DDR1-400MHz, DDR2-533, and DDR2-667. For DDR 400MHz we used timings of 3-3-3-8 which the motherboard automatically set for our Ballistix memory. For DDR2 testing we used 4-4-4-12 as this is a specification that most DDR-533 and DDR-667 kits can handle.

Our use of a 7900GTX may seem strange at first but will show exactly what performance differences there are between the 4x PCI-E slot of the ASRock board and the 16x of the Intel Bad Axe. I believe this gives you the reader a better indication of future performance, rather than using a lower end video card that may not be able to take advantage of the full speed PCI-E slot.