ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2: ULi Dual x16 SLI

ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2: Features

ASRock designed a very well laid out board with all major connections easily reached. The Asrock layout provides excellent clearance for cards and components and it was easy to install in a mid-size ATX case. Although the board features a 3-phase voltage regulator power design, it provided excellent stability and allowed for a decent level of overclocking.

The DIMM module slots' color coordination is correct for dual channel setup. The memory modules are easy to install with a full size video card placed in the first PCI Express x16 slot.

The ULi IDE port connectors are located to the right of the battery and left of the BIOS chip. The IDE port connectors presented connection issues when utilizing the board in SLI operation. The ability to connect our IDE cables with the SLI setup was severely hampered due to the tight space in between the two 7800GTX video cards. The cables were forced to run vertically in between the video cards and then loop over the first video card. This could present an issue for owners having a full size ATX case with optical drives at the top of the case. We also noticed temperature readings of around 56c in between the video cards where the two cables were installed.

The system fan header is located below the ULi SATA ports. The ULi SATA ports are conveniently located below the M1697 chipset and to the left of the battery. The SATA ports feature the new "clamp and latch" design along with it being color-coded. The ULi M1697 chipset is passively cooled with a high rise heat sink that did not interfere with cards installed into the PCI slots. The TI TSB43AB22 IEEE 1394 chipset is located above the M1697 chipset.

The ULi USB connectors, chassis panel, and IEEE 1394 header are located on the left edge of the board. The clear CMOS jumper block is a traditional jumper design located to the left of the orange SATA port connector. The orange and red ULi SATA port connectors are color-coded to match the eSATA2 ports on the I/O panel. ASRock supplies cables to attach the two ports to their matching ports on the I/O panel in order to utilize the external ports.

The board comes with (2) physical PCI Express x16 connectors, (1) PCI Express x4 connector, and (3) 32-bit PCI 2.2 connectors. The layout of this design offers a very good balance of expansion slots for a mainstream board.

The first physical PCI Express x16 connector is located next to the 12V power connector that must be used if two video cards are installed. The PCI Express x4 and second PCI Express x16 connectors are located next and followed by the (3) PCI slots.

We did not have any issues installing our EVGA 7800GTX 512MB or ATI X1900XTX video cards in the first and second x16 PCI Express slots. These dual slot configuration cards will physically render the PCI Express x4 and first 32-bit PCI slot useless. We did not have any issues utilizing these slots with video cards containing single slot cooling systems.

The floppy drive connector is located to right of the number three PCI slot and is inconveniently located for most case designs. The game port header and front audio panel header are located in front of the floppy drive connector and to the right of the number three PCI slot. The internal CD audio connector is located in front of the number two and three PCI slots along with the Realtek ALC660 audio codec. The Winbond Super I/O chipset is located in front of the number one PCI slot.

The board features a dedicated CPU upgrade slot that will fully support the 940-pin AM2 series of CPUs with the proper daughter card. This daughter card option should be available from ASRock shortly after the launch of the AM2 CPUs. The jumpers to the right of the yellow are required to be changed in order to switch from 939 socket operation to the AM2 CPU.

Returning to the CPU socket area, we find ample room for alternative cooling solutions. We utilized the stock AMD heat sink, but also verified that several aftermarket cooling systems such as the Thermaltake Big Typhoon would fit in this area during our overclocking tests. However, due to the large heat sink covering the M1695 chipset, the installation of larger air or water-cooling solutions could be problematic.

The ULI M1695 chipset is passively cooled with a large heat sink unit that did not interfere with any installed peripherals. However, this unit did not keep the M1695 chipset cooled properly. We typically witnessed temperatures hovering near 59c from this heat sink, although we did not notice any stability issues during load operations. We do believe additional cooling in this area is required.

ASRock places the four-pin 12v auxiliary power connector at the top of the CPU socket area along the edge of the board, but out of the way of most aftermarket cooling solutions. The 20-pin ATX power connector is located above the capacitors and behind the rear I/O panel. This 20-pin connector is located in an unusual position and could hamper airflow with cabling that crosses directly over the CPU heat sink/fan; although, we did not have any issues in our case.

The rear panel contains the standard PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, parallel port, serial port, LAN port, and 4 USB ports. The audio panel consists of 3 ports that can be configured for 2, 4, and 5.1 channel audio connections. Located to the right of the serial and parallel ports are the first two USB 2.0 ports with the IEEE 1394 connector on top. Located next to this series of ports are the next two USB 2.0 ports with the RJ-45 LAN port on top. The eSATA2 ports are located to the right of the USB/LAN ports and to the left of the audio panel.