AMD Recommended Motherboards for Dual Core

The AMD website has extensive lists of tested and approved motherboards for Athlon 64 processors. A listing on the AMD site is Official support for a CPU as established in AMD testing. AMD's Official list of motherboards supporting x2 processors is pretty short.

AMD Athlon<SUP><FONT SIZE=-1>TM</FONT></SUP> 64 4800+ X2 (Socket 939)

AMD AthlonTM 64 4800+ X2 (Socket 939)

Vendor

Model

Revision

Form Factor

Chipset

Key Features

Asus

A8N-E

2.0

ATX

nVidia nForce4 Ultra

· Cool'n'Quiet

· PCIeTM

· Supports up to processor stepping: E3

· Supports up to processor stepping: E6

A8N-SLI Deluxe

1.02

ATX

nVidia nForce4 SLI

· Cool'n'Quiet

· PCIeTM

· Supports up to processor stepping: E3

· Supports up to processor stepping: E4

· Supports up to processor stepping: E6

A8V

2.0

ATX

VIA K8T800 Pro

· AGP 8X

· Cool'n'Quiet

· Supports up to processor stepping: E3

· Supports up to processor stepping: E6

ECS

KN1

1.0

ATX

nVidia nForce4

· Cool'n'Quiet

· PCIeTM

· Supports up to processor stepping: E3

· Supports up to processor stepping: E4

· Supports up to processor stepping: E6

Gigabyte

GA-K8NXP-9

1.0

ATX

nVidia nForce4

· Cool'n'Quiet

· PCIeTM

· Supports up to processor stepping: E3

· Supports up to processor stepping: E4

· Supports up to processor stepping: E6

GA-K8NXP-SLI

1.0

ATX

nVidia nForce4 SLI

· Cool'n'Quiet

· PCIeTM

· Supports up to processor stepping: E3

· Supports up to processor stepping: E4

· Supports up to processor stepping: E6

MSI

K8N Diamond (MS-7100)

1.0

ATX

nVidia nForce4 SLI

· Cool'n'Quiet

· PCIeTM

· Supports up to processor stepping: E3

· Supports up to processor stepping: E4

· Supports up to processor stepping: E6

K8N Neo4 Platinum (MS-7125)

1.0

ATX

nVidia nForce4

· Cool'n'Quiet

· PCIeTM

· Supports up to processor stepping: E3

· Supports up to processor stepping: E4

· Supports up to processor stepping: E6

RS480M2 (MS-7093M)

1.0

uATX

ATI Radeon Xpress 200

· Cool'n'Quiet

· PCIeTM

· Supports up to processor stepping: E3

· UMA

WinFast

NF4K8MC

1.0

uATX

nVidia nForce4

· Cool'n'Quiet

· PCIeTM

· Supports up to processor stepping: E3

· Supports up to processor stepping: E4

· Supports up to processor stepping: E6

Updating DC BIOS & Revision E Memory Socket 939 Motherboards with Dual-Core BIOS
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  • Anton74 - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link

    Actually the ECS KN1 also seems to have nForce4 Ultra, not nForce4 as listed?

    http://www.ecsusa.com/products/kn1_spec.html
  • Anton74 - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link

    #40 / Wesley,

    I've noticed that out of all the nForce4 equipped boards on the list of supporting motherboards, there's only 1 with the nForce4 Ultra chipset, the Asus A8N-E (which by the way does also support rev. E4 according to the linked AMD page). The vast majority is either nForce4 of nForce4 SLI. Coincidence?

    The ones that do support E3/E4/E6 are all some flavor of nForce4.

    I was looking at an nForce4 Ultra board, with a dual core either now or in the future, so I'm very much looking forward to that roundup before making a decision. Looks like I may have to consider other nForce4 flavors as well. I'm also hoping to figure out if I can at least make the thing run long enough to do a BIOS update if needed, otherwise I might be in trouble, with no other Athlon 64's at hand. It's hard to tell what BIOS version one can expect when buying from an online retailer.

    Why is it by the way that others, such as the EPoX 9NPA* Ultra which I was considering, do claim revision E support with a BIOS update on their web site, but didn't make it onto AMD's list? Do they not fully support the new CPU's as claimed?

    Great article by the way.
  • BPB - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link

    From what I see on MSI's site the RS480M2-IL is in testing for X2 support, they do not say it is supported. Should I chance it?
  • Markfw900 - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link

    I have bios 1.95 on my neo2 with a 4400+ working perfectly. Its a beta, and not on the MSI site. Duvie found it for me.
  • T2k - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link

    On NF3 concerns: my NF3 Pro-based Gigabyte GA-K8NSNXP-939 is fine with X2 after you flashed the latest BIOS, confirmed by Gigabyte.
  • nserra - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link

    I think its a little risky using the 1T rate with 4 banks, even if works "fine", AMD (or the mobo maker) cant afford to lose some stability even if slightly.
  • bupkus - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link

    Link to next article, "A Look at Solaris 10 and Sun's Dual Core Fire V40z", is brokern.
  • Wesley Fink - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link

    Zebo - Actually I'm finishing an nF4 Ultra roundup that should post in the next few days. The Abit Fatal1ty AN8 is one of the boards in the roundup.
  • arswihart - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link

    Zebo - Think again. On AOAforums, the user LBJGH recently had a discussion with the Epox support staff, who said, concerning the new BIOS with X2 support for the 9nda3+, "we should have it ready by next week."

    Read this quote and the whole thread here:
    http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31...
  • Zebo - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link

    Thanks a lot wes, great fact finding mission..

    It looks like I'll finally have to upgrade to PCIe since my epox 9NDA does'nt support dual core. Do you know if ASUS has fixed thier 1T cmd issue at high HTT?? Also would you guys review ABIT AN8 Ultra as it seems to be the only passive chipset design and at xtreme guys seem to be hitting 300+ HTT even so. Only thing I don't like is mem proximity in dual channel which makes cooling difficult..

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