Nviduums' "Ode to AMD64/x86_64/So.939" Build \ VOGONS

Nviduums' "Ode to AMD64/x86_64/So.939" Build

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First post, by Nviduum

Posted on 2023-10-01, 18:49

Nviduum Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: 2023-05-06, 09:09

Hello,

This is going to be an Attempt of a Build Log of Sorts.

As I really like the early AMD64 Implementations, the So. 939 Platform in General and happen to still have my Athlon 64 X2 3800+ E4 CPU,
I decided to build a "Retro" System myself.

My So. 939 System back in the Day was heavily nVidia based featuring the following (IIRC):

Asus A8N32 nFroce 4 X32
Athlon64 X2 3800+ E4
2 or 3 Gbytes of DDR400 RAM
2x Asus Geforce 6800 in SLI
250Gbytes IDE HDD (I think it was a Seagate)
320Gbytes HGST SATA2 HDD
DVD-RW Drive
Floppy Drive

OS-wise it ran Ubuntu 6.xx and Windows XP(64)

My Plan is to build a Platform which features all AMD/ATi Parts, an SSD for Convinience, maybe Crossfire?, 8 GBytes of RAM.
As I started to collect some 939 CPUs, I also intend to use it as a bit of a Testbench.

So, let's get started.

The Case

This case is an Acquisiton I made about... a Decade ago.
It is a Chieftec BX-01 (If I am not mistaken, I'm not a 100% shure on this),
all Grey with Aluminium Inlays and Black Grilles.
This thing weights a TON... well actually 13.5kgs... without the PSU.
Yes, it is used, but I love this Thing.
One of the best, if not THE best Case I ever owned.

Fans are NOS Compuman Fans, 4x 80mm and 2x92mm, some are missing the Fan grilles, but these have gotten pretty expensive....
Also I am still missing a grey 3.5" Drviebay cover/ a 3.5" grey Floppy, again these are either expensive or unobtainium.
The Front I/O Panel features IEE1394, 2x USB and AC97 Audio headers;
(I might design an upgrade Board featuring USB 3.0, HDA and maybe USB-C?... I might... not shure about it though...)

The PSU
Power Supply wise, I went with Enermax.
It is a FMA II-Series , EG465AX-VE(G) Supply, 465W power delivery Capacity.
Not shure if it will stay, although it is a pretty beefy and stable PSU.
I got it used, unfortunately it still has a pretty strong nicotine Smell.

I think this is a solid base for the System so far.

(I will answer below this post).

Last edited by Nviduum on 2023-10-14, 17:14. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 6, by Nviduum

Posted on 2023-10-01, 19:14

Nviduum Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: 2023-05-06, 09:09

Some more Photos

I did some parts hunting for the case to get all the missing parts, like Drivebay Covers, Slot covers, Drive Screws, Fans, etc.
On a side note, this case is the Successor to the venerable and legendary Chieftec CS 601 Midi Tower.
The first Picture is a Comparison of the Chieftec Midi Tower and my Daily/CAD Rig in a Corsair Carbide 540 Air Case...

A question to the hive mind: I want to add a Fan-Controller into this build, not necessarily period correct but rather sleek or even fully hidden and controlable via USB. Does anyone have a recomendation?

Reply 2 of 6, by Nviduum

Posted on 2023-10-03, 21:15

Nviduum Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: 2023-05-06, 09:09

The Motherboard
This is the first time using an ATi Chipset based Board in any of my Builds.

The Board is an ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe. nIt is RD580 based and so far.... I am not convinced of this Choice.
The Board was sold to me with an A64 3200+ (E6) which works fine, until you try to setup anything CPU-related by hand. Either the board doesn't POST at all, hangs while detecting SATA devices, or crashes when loading an OS.
Same thing with all other CPUs so far (Opteron 180, X2 3800+, X2 4800+). BIOS is the latest one (0701).

If the Board is running though, it is pretty stable and fast, tests with Debian 12, W7 x64, XP x64 do yield pretty good results. Debian complains about some ACPI Bug with the ALI 1575, which I couldn't workaround so far, but the system runs fine.

I don't think it is a RAM issue either, because the aforementioned errors are reproducable with different RAMs or RAM-configurations.

Speaking of....

The RAM

I acquired some RAM over the years, including some 550MHz OCZ ones (which will absolutely not work on the Board).
The RAM I chose are 4x Samsung 2Gbytes PC2700R ECC RAMs. These do work pretty reliable up to 450MHz @ 2.7V. The Board does support 8Gbytes of RAM so I will roll with it.
A future upgrade would be some PC3200R ECC Sticks, but we'll see.

Reply 3 of 6, by Nviduum

Posted on 2023-10-07, 17:46

Nviduum Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: 2023-05-06, 09:09

The CPU

As mentioned, the board is pretty picky with the choice of CPU/RAM/Settings. After a lot of Trial and Error (and striking a good deal on one), I went with the top of the line X2 4800+ Rev. E6. (OPN ADA4800DAA6CD)
Well it was the Plan until the CPU decided to cook itself almost to death while idling in the BIOS; no OC or similar. The Board luckily shut off at 95°C.

Turns out, So. 939 CPU do suffer from dryed out Thermalpaste between the Die and the IHS. Deliding the CPU was painless and the "repair" was done in 20 minutes.
Temps went down to 29°C while idling.

(Photos to be uploaded soon, when it is the 3800's turn to be delided. I didn't take any photos of the 4800+)

The cooler is one of my boxed Coolers from an R7 1700X, the Wraith Prism. Not the best choice given the Noiselevel, but I don't wan't to spend money for some half baked "solution"

Reading through some Tests, most people regard the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme as one of, if not THE best cooler for 939 Systems, but given their rarity and the wrong orientation (Cooler would be mounted horizontal) ,I am stuck at this point in time...

Reply 4 of 6, by acl

Posted on 2023-10-15, 19:15

acl Offline

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Posts: 563
Joined: 2021-10-26, 08:16
Location: France

Regarding RAM and stability, I had a long lasting stability problem when using 4 sticks in dual channel on my s939 system.
Any 4xDDR kit I tested reported memtest errors and caused random system freezes (sometimes after 10minutes, sometimes after 1h. Really random)

The long story is here : My first retro build : 2005's finest (almost)

But to summarize, i changed everything without any improvement. Using 2 sticks instead of 4 fixed the issue.

"Hello, my friend. Stay awhile and listen..."
My collection (not up to date)

Reply 5 of 6, by shevalier

Posted on 2023-10-16, 06:18

shevalier Offline

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Posts: 453
Joined: 2023-02-26, 16:35
Location: Kherson, Ukraine

acl wrote on 2023-10-15, 19:15:

Regarding RAM and stability, I had a long lasting stability problem when using 4 sticks in dual channel on my s939 system.

The manual directly states that 2 single-sided sticks - 400 MHz, double + single = 333, two dual = 266.
Or use register memory.

PS. With a particularly successful instance of CPU and memory, it can work at full speed, but this is not guaranteed.

Aopen MX3S, PIII-S Tualatin 1133, Radeon 9800Pro@XT BIOS, Diamond monster sound MX300
JetWay K8T8AS, Athlon DH-E6 3000+, Radeon HD2600Pro AGP, Audigy 2 Value

Reply 6 of 6, by stef80

Posted on 2023-10-16, 07:10

stef80 Offline

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Posts: 343
Joined: 2020-04-04, 16:34
Location: EUSSR

Nviduum wrote on 2023-10-03, 21:15:
The Motherboard This is the first time using an ATi Chipset based Board in any of my Builds. […]
Show full quote

The Motherboard
This is the first time using an ATi Chipset based Board in any of my Builds.

The Board is an ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe. nIt is RD580 based and so far.... I am not convinced of this Choice.
The Board was sold to me with an A64 3200+ (E6) which works fine, until you try to setup anything CPU-related by hand. Either the board doesn't POST at all, hangs while detecting SATA devices, or crashes when loading an OS.
Same thing with all other CPUs so far (Opteron 180, X2 3800+, X2 4800+). BIOS is the latest one (0701).

If the Board is running though, it is pretty stable and fast, tests with Debian 12, W7 x64, XP x64 do yield pretty good results. Debian complains about some ACPI Bug with the ALI 1575, which I couldn't workaround so far, but the system runs fine.

IMG_3150.JPG
IMG_3151r.jpg
IMG_3157.JPG

I don't think it is a RAM issue either, because the aforementioned errors are reproducable with different RAMs or RAM-configurations.

Speaking of....

The RAM

IMG_3152r.jpg

I acquired some RAM over the years, including some 550MHz OCZ ones (which will absolutely not work on the Board).
The RAM I chose are 4x Samsung 2Gbytes PC2700R ECC RAMs. These do work pretty reliable up to 450MHz @ 2.7V. The Board does support 8Gbytes of RAM so I will roll with it.
A future upgrade would be some PC3200R ECC Sticks, but we'll see.

An interesting board and nice find. First ATI 's CF-capable northbridge + ULI southbridge.
ATI was stuck with it's abysmal SBx00 after Nvidia bought ULI. They were pretty crappy southbridges until about SB7xx.

What technique did you use to delid the CPU?
(I guess new delidding tools for AM4 could also be used. )

About RAM issues , it could be many things: CPU mem. controller revision, motherboard/BIOS, RAM itself and voltages.

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