MEGA interesting MoBo for UAD

[Agent Cooper]

Just found this mobo :
http://www.asrock.com/product/ConRoe865PE.htm
Conroe support, AGP, normal DDR and, best of all, 5 PCI slots !
The first reports from gamers concerning overall stability look very positive, but I haven't found a single report from audio people yet.
Anybody got experience with UAD and I865 PE ?
Atm my 3rd A8V is dying on me and I'm so sick of this VIA crap ...
Problem is I got 3 UADs and my fabulous RME Digiface PCI, so I'm running out of options - there are no boards with more than 3 PCI slots left as you'll surely know.
Any opinions / experience / alternatives more than welcome, I need a solution quick !
Cheers, Cooper

 

[imdrecordings]

Just found this mobo :
http://www.asrock.com/product/ConRoe865PE.htm
Conroe support, AGP, normal DDR and, best of all, 5 PCI slots !
The first reports from gamers concerning overall stability look very positive, but I haven't found a single report from audio people yet.
Anybody got experience with UAD and I865 PE ?
Atm my 3rd A8V is dying on me and I'm so sick of this VIA crap ...
Problem is I got 3 UADs and my fabulous RME Digiface PCI, so I'm running out of options - there are no boards with more than 3 PCI slots left as you'll surely know.
Any opinions / experience / alternatives more than welcome, I need a solution quick !
Cheers, Cooper

Yeah.. saw those... pretty cool..


I posted this some time ago..

http://www.chrismilne.com/uadforums/vie ... php?t=5714


Scott

 

[Agent Cooper]

Hi Scott,
thanks for your reply.
Sorry, don't know anything about your board, but it doesn't look that promising to me.
First, for a cheap alternative ? You'll need DDR2 RAM, you only get 3 PCIs, you'll need a PCIe VGA - so where's the advantage ? I965 boards by ASUS and Gigabyte are not that much more expensive if you don't go for a super deluxe version.
Second, PCI UADs and most chipsets with PCIe (except perhaps the newest boards with AM2 or the I965/975) means you're asking for trouble.
The advantage of the board I found seems to be it's ultra proven technology only fitted with a 775 socket and a BIOS supporting Conroes. On paper, that is ...
Asrock is a division of ASUS afaik, and I know some people personally who use Asrock boards and haven't had a single problem, in fact, I installed two of those systems without any annoyances. No DAWs, though.
Cheers, Cooper

 

[lordward]

on my now \"studio computer\" I used to have an AsRock Motherboard, it was a nightmare. I tried everything but it was so unstable that I couldn't work. Bought an Asus and since then everything’s been great. My one time experience with ASRock has made me very wary of this company, I don’t think I could even try anything from them again… I’m curious, though, how the performance of this thing is in any case. Let us know if it does the trick, in case you do buy it.

DW.

 

[secretworld]

I know of someone on the nuendo forum who runs the predecessor of this mobo wich could run the intel dualcores (D8** andD9**) and uads with great succes. It´s the same mobo and chipset, but the newer one is electrically adapted for the conroes (and firmware). From what I read about it it is very stable but no great overclocker. And the best chipset ever for uad (865 875). I´m seriously considdering it! Will be a cheap upgrade...€55 mobo and a 6400 or 6600 conroe (€200 -€300)

 

[Agent Cooper]

Hi secretworld,
cool info !
got a link to that thread ?
Just read through the manual, no gotchas so far.

Thanks, Cooper

 

[imdrecordings]

Come to think about it.. that's a reallly great board.. I would just need that and a Core 2 Duo and I'm in on the dual core/ 64bit world.. I could use the stuff I have now.. Cheap... killer! I was looking at building a new machine with a p5b. In order to be able to go to a Quad in the future... hmmm
thanx Coop.

do you think the e6700 is worth the price increase? Compared to the e6600
scott

 

[Agent Cooper]

If you have the time to wait about a week you can decide after hearing my report. :roll:
I'm probably forced to take the risk since it seems I can't even restore my HD image anymore, the IDE controller of my A8V is dying. :evil:
No more VIA for me, never ever !
I'll try that board with a 6700. If it's no go with the UADs I'll have lost another 50 Euros and go for a full blown 965, PCIe, DDR2 system which I can't afford easily atm, so lets hope for the best.
6700 over 6600 for me since I want to see at least some improvement in performance compared to my current 4200 if I have to invest big money at the wrong time. When you're on a single core atm you'll see a dramatic increase in performance anyway with the 6600.
Another reason for the 6700 is I don't believe in upgrading the CPU alone at a later date, those days are long gone.
Ymmv.
Stay tuned for my report,
Cooper

 

[secretworld]

great looking forward to it agent Cooper!

The nuendo thread is the blofeld test thread (10 pages....)

 

[Agent Cooper]

secretworld,
thanks, I'm familiar with that thread, though I didn't look for Intel boards when I read it.
Just placed my order, with a bit of luck I can run some tests on Sunday.
Cheers, Cooper

 

[Agent Cooper]

Ok, system up and running.
Prime Orthos stable for the first 30 mins, I'll keep on checking for at least 4 additional hrs.
Too early to say anything, but it's looking mighty fine so far.
Installation went without the slightest problem, only some minor mechanical annoyances (slightly stupid board layout, position of the connectors less than perfect, minimal clearance around the CPU made the heatsink installation (SI120) harder than necessary, 2 pin connector for the power LED).
But as soon as I switched it on all went perfect. CPU and drives reccognized correctly, XP started ok, installed the hardware correctly (of course I did what a man has to do to prepare for the change ), done.
Some minimal changes in the BIOS, rearranging of the desktop icons, that was all.
No USB and other peripherals connected atm, don't have the time to check SX before Sunday because I fear all that authorization bs with the plugins.
XP didn't need reactivation, strange !
I'll keep you informed about the main potential issue (UAD compatibility) as soon as I know more.
Cheers, Cooper

PS: RAM is @ 177 mHz atm, so there might be some headroom left ! 8)

 

[imdrecordings]

Ok, system up and running.
Prime Orthos stable for the first 30 mins, I'll keep on checking for at least 4 additional hrs.
Too early to say anything, but it's looking mighty fine so far.
Installation went without the slightest problem, only some minor mechanical annoyances (slightly stupid board layout, position of the connectors less than perfect, minimal clearance around the CPU made the heatsink installation (SI120) harder than necessary, 2 pin connector for the power LED).
But as soon as I switched it on all went perfect. CPU and drives reccognized correctly, XP started ok, installed the hardware correctly (of course I did what a man has to do to prepare for the change ), done.
Some minimal changes in the BIOS, rearranging of the desktop icons, that was all.
No USB and other peripherals connected atm, don't have the time to check SX before Sunday because I fear all that authorization bs with the plugins.
XP didn't need reactivation, strange !
I'll keep you informed about the main potential issue (UAD compatibility) as soon as I know more.
Cheers, Cooper

PS: RAM is @ 177 mHz atm, so there might be some headroom left ! 8)

sweet Coop..

Keep us posted...

Scott

 

[Agent Cooper]

Who needs sleep, anyway ? :wink:
Some more preliminary results :
Prime Orthos absolutely stable for 4hrs+, both cores @ 100%.
Much cooler than my X2 4200 with the same heatsink, even without the 2 80mm fans above the VGA.
Sandra results quite spectacular, between 20% (Dhrystone) and 250% (Multimedia Integer) better than the 4200 @ stock speed (no cheating, same older Version of Sandra).
Memory BW ca. 15% worse, but that corresponds roughly to the 177 vs ca.190MHz memclock.
So by no means a bad performer even with this \"compromise\" config.
I'll install a newer Sandra one of these days and doublecheck the results with their database.
But who cares about synthetic benchmarks ?
I have my own version of Thonex2 which I use as burn-in tool for audio drivers and stuff, basically the same as the original with lots of different UAD plugs loaded (ca. 81%CPU/20%MEM of the 3 cards). All's fine so far, knock on wood. Not a single glitch, 25%/39% vs 41%/51% with the stock 4200, both @ 3ms.
All numbers via XP taskmanager, worst readings only, cannot read that pathetic SX meter.
Please note there might be another factor involved, RME drivers 3.0b14 vs. 2.94 with the AMD.
But better than all those numbers is the fact that I haven't experienced a single glitch yet, let alone a crash. My IDE devices are back to normal again, so far so fantastic (knock on wood !).
Still this is by no means a final verdict, we'll see how this system holds up in real life over the next weeks.
Goodnight,
Cooper

__________________________________________-

post edited because of bad typo, latency was 3 ms of course, not 128 ms as I wrote !

 

[bulls hit]

And the best chipset ever for uad (865 875). I´m seriously considdering it!

Why do you say the 865/875 is the best chipset for uad?

 

[cmw9001]

do u get to be able to to load more plugins?

 

[secretworld]

At some point in time it was the adviced chipset by UA and used by Tom. The first chipset by intel after this (915/925) caused audio problems (as far as I know) 965 975 seem to be working fine but is a newer chipset with pcie and integrated sata and only 1 ide and fewer pci slots and newer technology wich needs investments.
So at one point the 865 was an ideal chipset without issues, that´s all I wanted to say. Not being negative about other working solutions, but being positive about this one mobo using agp ddr1 and 865 wich will be nice for people with many uad1´s pci, who like to upgrade their cpu to conroe.

 

[imdrecordings]

Hey Coop,

Make sure you list any PCI sharring, within the MOBO, specs.... and IRQ B.S. too...

sweet..

I'll check in tomorrow.


Scott 8)

 

[Agent Cooper]

UADs in slot 1 to 3, RME in 4
nothing problematic, one UAD sharing IRQ with LAN (Realtek , no Marvell or other BS, only 10/100 though), one with a USB, the 3rd on its own, RME not sharing afair.
I'll try and post the IRQ list l8r today.
No IRQ info in the manual, I'm afraid.
But with good hardware, I've never ever had a problem with UADs sharing IRQs. Certainly not on Intel based boards, not even on the A8Vs.
Ymmv though.
Have a nice Sunday,
Cooper

 

[Agent Cooper]

do u get to be able to to load more plugins?

Sorry, was just about to ignore your question since it's somewhat unclear, but if you want to know if the 81% in my mentioned project are the limit, no by any means, at least not on the A8Vs.
Haven't tried on the Asrock yet but I hope the limit will be in the high 90s as always before.
I'll check that and report back !
Cheers, Cooper

 

[Agent Cooper]

Answers :

- IRQ report :

IRQ 00 Systemzeitgeber
IRQ 01 Logitech PS/2 Keyboard
IRQ 04 Kommunikationsanschluss (COM1)
IRQ 06 Standard-Diskettenlaufwerkcontroller
IRQ 08 System CMOS/Echtzeituhr
IRQ 09 Microsoft ACPI-konformes System
IRQ 10 Intel(R) 82801EB SMBus-Controller - 24D3
IRQ 12 Logitech-compatible Mouse PS/2
IRQ 13 Numerischer Coprozessor
IRQ 14 Primärer IDE-Kanal
IRQ 15 Sekundärer IDE-Kanal
IRQ 16 Intel(R) 82801EB USB universeller Hostcontroller - 24D2
IRQ 16 Intel(R) 82801EB USB universeller Hostcontroller - 24DE
IRQ 16 NVIDIA GeForce 6200
IRQ 18 Intel(R) 82801EB USB universeller Hostcontroller - 24D7
IRQ 18 Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA-Speichercontroller - 24D1
IRQ 19 Intel(R) 82801EB USB universeller Hostcontroller - 24D4
IRQ 20 RME Hammerfall DSP
IRQ 21 Universal Audio UAD-1 DSP card
IRQ 22 Universal Audio UAD-1 DSP card
IRQ 22 Realtek RTL8139-Familie-PCI-Fast Ethernet-NIC
IRQ 23 Universal Audio UAD-1 DSP card
IRQ 23 Intel(R) 82801EB USB2 erweiterter Hostcontroller - 24DD

__________________________________________________________-

- CPU load of my 3 UADs :

up to ca. 90% all is well, above the 90% it's getting erratic, sometimes I can add another 2 Cambridges, sometimes the SX CPU meter suddenly jumps from ca. 45% to full, above 90% reload of the project is hit and miss (\"one or more plugins have been disabled\")
Also the lack of intelligent resource managenent is beginning to show, when having several big plugins at those high loads sometimes reload can be problematic as the UAD driver doesn't seem to load the big ones first and then fill up the rest of the cards with the small plugs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Again, during all of these operations I was able to work with Open Office while that fat project was running, open Everest, Device Manager, use the LAN to copy files and so on without a single audible glitch, let alone SX ever coming close to a crash or feeling sluggish. All @ latency 3 ms.
I have to admit I''m really impressed with that system atm, knock on wood !

Hope that helps,
Cooper