ULi M1695 PCIe/AGP for Athlon 64 – Part 2 with SLI
by Wesley Fink on August 5, 2005 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Final Words
In Part 1 of our ULi M1695 Reference Board review, we concluded that the ULi competes very well against NVIDIA, and is a performance drop-in to the NVIDIA performance levels. The further testing that we have done here in Part 2 only strengthens that conclusion. This is very good news for those shopping for Athlon 64 Socket 939 boards. The ULi chipset is a solid choice featuring excellent performance.The initial ULi review also confirmed the unique AGP capabilities of the M1695/M1567 on a PCI Express motherboard. This ULi chipset is the only one that we have seen on PCIe that provides AGP 8X without compromises. As we found, those of you who want to take your high-end AGP card to a new PCIe board will be ecstatic over the performance of your AGP video card on the ULi board. The conclusion was simple - if you want to use AGP and have PCI Express for the future, the ULi M1695/M1567 is your only real choice.
Reference Board 2 tests provided another new twist for ULi because we also found that the Riser card and dual x8 PCIe options in BIOS do support NVIDIA SLI. Two 6800 Ultra video cards were recognized as SLI and properly initialized. While we did have some issues with 3D performance using the modified 71.24 drivers, this appears to the result of an early Reference Board. We fully expect the driver issue to be resolved before vendors start talking about NVIDIA SLI on the ULi chipset. Dual PCIe video also worked, adding some very unique capabilities to the boards ability to run PCIe, AGP, and PCI graphics all at the same time on the same motherboard.
With our positive opinion reinforced, we will revisit the question of where ULi may be positioned in the market place. While we still don't have solid answers, manufacturers like Abit, Gigabyte, Foxconn, and ECS are said to be readying ULi-chipset motherboards. If this is the case, you will likely be able to find a great rendition of this unique chipset in the market in the near future. We have too often seen decent chipsets left to languish in the bargain bin because no manufacturer will support them - SiS comes to mind. However, the higher level manufacturer support, the partnership with ATI, and the south bridge options for other chipsets all bode well for ULi's future. And so do the unique and top-performing chipsets that ULi is producing. A lot of people tried to do AGP on PCIe, but ULi actually has it working - and working extremely well. ULi is producing flexibility and performance, and both should sell well.
Last, but certainly not least, there is the overclocking potential. What can you say, but "Wow!" to a board that actually can run the Athlon 64 at 400 clock speed - double the normal 200. The sizzle is certainly there, and if ULi can finish the job with working and rational memory voltage overclock ranges, a much enhanced selection of vCore adjustments, and a more extensive selection of BIOS tweaking options, then they could definitely have one of the best Enthusiast chipsets that you can buy for Athlon 64. It's not there yet, but it certainly could be.
There's much to like with the ULi M1695/M1567 Reference Board 2, and the coming south bridge options look to be even better. ULi belongs on your short list for a new Athlon 64 mainboard, alongside ATI Radeon Xpress 200 and NVIDIA nForce4. Isn't competition wonderful?
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
46 Comments
View All Comments
AMDScooter - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
^^^ Same. My OC'd S754/Clawhammer plays all current games fine. Seeing as none of the titles I play currently can take advantage of SMP now anyway I am really in no rush to migrate. That combined with the fact my X800 XTPE on the AGP bus still has plenty of bandwidth to spare. Also, the lack of NV drivers for all games to be able to take advantage of 2 video cards makes me lean more for the ATI chipset soloution anyway. My2c..MarkB - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
How about using the OCZ memory volatage booster card for the overclocking tests.. would be crazy to see performance at 400 FSB and high clocked ram.SpaceRanger - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
I thought the OCZ Memory thing was just a voltage stabilizer, not a booster. Maybe I am getting the 2 modules confused..Lonyo - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Nah, I'm fauirly sure it adds voltage adjustments up to either 3.2 or 3.5v."The OCZ DDR Booster with patent-pending PowerClean technology supplies “cleaner” power to the installed memory modules and allows increasing their voltage above the rated one"
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/oc...">http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/oc...
"in the extreme right position, the memory receives a voltage of 3.9v."
It would be a little unfair since no other tests have been run with the booster, but it would be nice to get a sneak peek at possible performance of very high speed RAM with AMD64 and a high FSB. Some nice OCZ VX in there with the booster and 3.5v or so would be something worth seeing.
nserra - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Wesley Fink there are some questions unanswered, yet.The performance in IDE and SATA is impressive.
Does it have SATA NCQ?
You should also ask about this riser card, because the final version must have 3 PCIe 16X slots, with 2 working has 8X, I doubt that the riser card is a good working solution, because if I put the board in a case how can I connect the monitor cables or even insert the cards on the riser ?
Also how does it have 2 PCIe x4 (or x2) if it has only 20 PCIe lanes, or does this mean only one will work in 4X mode and 2 in 2X mode?
Also ask about when we should expect mobo’s with those chipset start selling?
Example: http://www.asrock.com/product/product_939Dual-SATA...">http://www.asrock.com/product/product_939Dual-SATA...
Wesley Fink - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Yes, ULi tells me this south bridge board does support NCQ - as do the coming M1573 and M1575 south bridges.I do not know the final solution on the riser card. This is a Reference Board for qualification. Manufacturers will decide what they wish to implement. As I stated in the review I do agree the riser is not a likely production feature.
As you can see in the BIOS picture on page 4, the options are 1 x4 or 2 x2 - total 4 lanes added to the 16 equals 20. ATI actually has 22 lanes in their chipset and use the extra 2 lanes for communication between north/south bridge.
joex444 - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Notice that in the BIOS screenshot it says:1x16 1x4
1x16 2x2
2x8 1x4
So, you have a choice of running 1 x4 card or two x2 cards.
Can you run x4 cards in an x4 slot at x2 speed? Heck, where are the x4 cards anyways, can't say I've actually seen an x4 slot on a board before, either.
jpkomm - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
I asked ASrock's US sales division the same thing. They said the "939Dual-SATA2" motherboard will not be available in the US market. Of course, I'm not too sure if that is unshakable or not. They may or many not release it here; however, they may do it but just in a different flavor. Your guess is as good as mine. I love the reviews pumping up this chipset, but I have yet to find anything solid as to US releases. Guess I will just sit patiently and wait.lsman - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
OCworkbench.com review this board as these jumpers are for"FUTURE_CPU_PORT"...Socket M2..
so may be the board to look for..
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2005/asrock/reviews/939...">http://www.ocworkbench.com/2005/asrock/reviews/939...
Xenoterranos - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Anyone know where/when to get one of these. This is exactly what I need, as I and probably thousands of you have an AGP card and don't want to spring for PCIe yet.