Phenom II 965, Cinebench R15, I used Wraith cooler from FX-83x0 series.

agent_x007 wrote:

Phenom II 965, Cinebench R15, I used Wraith cooler from FX-83x0 series.

Are you using a PCI to PCI-E adapter for the GT 610?
Can you confirm AGP doesn't work properly in Windows 7/10 so I don't have to waste time installing it?

watson wrote:

agent_x007 wrote:

Phenom II 965, Cinebench R15, I used Wraith cooler from FX-83x0 series.

Are you using a PCI to PCI-E adapter for the GT 610?
Can you confirm AGP doesn't work properly in Windows 7/10 so I don't have to waste time installing it?

Not exactly, I'm simply using Zotac GT 610 PCI 😀
I wasn't testing AGP compatibility at that time.
So, I don't know.

agent_x007 wrote:

Not exactly, I'm simply using Zotac GT 610 PCI 😀

I was fooled by the bus interface listed in CPU-Z and GPU-Z.
It makes sense, these newer PCI cards probably use the same PLX chip as PCI to PCI-E adapters.

Anyway, I decided to install Windows 10 x64 v1511 on a spare HDD. Here it is, the infamous Code 43:

Windows Update was able to find the driver and it install it, only to disable the card afterwards. You are stuck on 1024x768 resolution.

Here's my Cinebench score:

I think we can conclude this problem was indeed never fixed.
Therefore, I cannot recommend this board as an alternative to Asrock 4CoreDual-VSTA/SATA2, Conroe865PE, Asus P5PE-VM or other similar boards.
Considering Steam support for XP will be dropped on January 1st 2019 (and with Firefox support already being dropped), platform longevity is a serious issue.

To sum up:
- you can run the board with any CPU and any GPU without any problems on Windows XP 32-bit until the end of time
- you can run newer versions of Windows with a PCI graphics card (obviously too slow for any kind of gaming)
- it's supposedly possible to run Nvidia AGP cards in PCI mode on newer operating systems, but I didn't test this (once again, too slow)
- you will NOT be able to install drivers for any ATI card on operating systems newer than XP if you're using a multi-core CPU
- if you have a single core CPU, everything should work perfectly on any OS (but it defeats the purpose); I didn't test this because I didn't find an option to disable a core in BIOS
- if you want a modern 64-bit OS, you will have to use a Linux distribution; everything works out of the box, but you are limited to the open source Radeon driver which is slower than Catalyst

Please correct me if I made any mistakes.

watson wrote:

Unfortunately, there was a casualty during testing. After finishing all the benchmarks, I fired up Crysis on the X1950 Pro. I first started the game at 1024x768 to check CPU performance and everything was working fine. A few seconds after switching to 1080p it crapped out.

dead.jpg

I'm not sure if it's a core or memory issue (looks like core because triangles were flying all over the screen, but it might be VRAM because of the familiar pattern). These situations make me seriously reconsider the hobby of collecting old crap that has the potential to die any minute. It was the nice 512 MB Sapphire version too...

Yes, pretty modern hardware is too hot to live long life 😢
Thank you for the interesting topic

Hello Watson,

Sorry to resurrect this topic.
Have you ever managed to install a Catalyst driver for Ubuntu?
I have an HD4670 agp around and want to give this Asrock board another go with Ubuntu (zero experience on Linux distros for me).

Mamba wrote:

Hello Watson, […]
Show full quote

Hello Watson,

Sorry to resurrect this topic.
Have you ever managed to install a Catalyst driver for Ubuntu?
I have an HD4670 agp around and want to give this Asrock board another go with Ubuntu (zero experience on Linux distros for me).

Catalyst? Possibly you could find one that works, but HD4xxx Radeons are supported by the ATI/radeon opensource driver. Under Ubuntu 'it just works'. I don't have an HD4670 myself, but I do have the AM2NF3 with another ATI/radeon driver card (Radeon 9000) running Lubuntu, and didn't have to install any additional drivers to get it running.

Mamba wrote:

Have you ever managed to install a Catalyst driver for Ubuntu?

Unfortunately, proprietary driver support on Linux for a particular driver package breaks with newer distribution releases because of new Xserver versions.
The latest driver for HD4000 series was Catalyst 13.1 and supports Xserver 1.12.
According to this post, the last version of Ubuntu you can use with this driver is 12.04.1: https://askubuntu.com/questions/203232/radeon … legacy-unsuppor

Long story short, I don't think it's worth bothering with Catalyst on Linux.
I think Windows XP is the only realistic option for this board if you want high AGP performance.

watson wrote:

I'm not sure if it's a core or memory issue (looks like core because triangles were flying all over the screen, but it might be VRAM because of the familiar pattern). These situations make me seriously reconsider the hobby of collecting old crap that has the potential to die any minute. It was the nice 512 MB Sapphire version too...

That's it for now. I will probably be trying out Windows 7 SP1 in the future just to confirm the GART driver issue. If that fails, I'll try Windows 8.1, and finally Windows 10 version 1511 (last one with AGP support).

I had artifacts similar to these with a 1900XT 256Mb, only they very purple, but then the game was Company of Heroes mostly. In my case I think it was the vrm section, the pcb all turned crimson and bent inwards.

an81 wrote on 2019-07-14, 14:01:

watson wrote:

I'm not sure if it's a core or memory issue (looks like core because triangles were flying all over the screen, but it might be VRAM because of the familiar pattern). These situations make me seriously reconsider the hobby of collecting old crap that has the potential to die any minute. It was the nice 512 MB Sapphire version too...

That's it for now. I will probably be trying out Windows 7 SP1 in the future just to confirm the GART driver issue. If that fails, I'll try Windows 8.1, and finally Windows 10 version 1511 (last one with AGP support).

I had artifacts similar to these with a 1900XT 256Mb, only they very purple, but then the game was Company of Heroes mostly. In my case I think it was the vrm section, the pcb all turned crimson and bent inwards.

Hi, I bought a new AM2NF3-VSTA a week ago. I updated the BIOS from version P2.10 to P3.30 using an Athlon 64 X2 2.4 GHz and 8GB DDR2 800. I installed Windows 7 Professional 64 bits successfully and works properly. Next I fitted a Phenom II X4 970 3.5GHz. I didn't use any additional driver, I downloaded the default BIOS settings and fitted the recommended ASUS Geforce 7600GS 256MB AGP.

I tried Windows 10 Professional 64 bits version 1511 with AGP support today also I kept the Windows 7 installation. I had an issue at the end of it. I got a black screen and the system didn't respond. I restart the computer and installation finished later. It works perfectly and fast also all devices works perfectly with not crashes on all day as you can see on the photos.

Jose_Luis wrote on 2021-08-22, 19:33:

Hi, I bought a new AM2NR3-VSTA a week ago. I updated the BIOS from version P2.10 to P3.30 using an Athlon 64 X2 2.4 GHz and 8GB DDR2 800. I installed Windows 7 Professional 64 bits successfully and works properly. Next I fitted a Phenom II X4 970 3.5GHz. I didn't use any additional driver, I downloaded the default BIOS settings and fitted the recommended ASUS Geforce 7600GS 256MB AGP.

I tried Windows 10 Professional 64 bits version 1511 with AGP support today also I kept the Windows 7 installation. I had an issue at the end of it. I got a black screen and the system didn't respond. I restart the computer and installation finished later. It works perfectly and fast also all devices works perfectly with not crashes on all day as you can see on the photos.

Try running a 3D benchmark (e.g. 3DMark03) and see what frame rate you get - don't be shocked if you see 1 to 4 FPS.

Then, try installing the official NVIDIA GeForce drivers, and see if you don't get a BSOD.
Since Windows Vista, the basic Windows display driver for any NVIDIA GeForce AGP card on this motherboard, and with a dual core CPU, will "operate" - as in, you can use the Windows GUI. But, that's as far as you'll get without swapping out the GART driver.

janskjaer wrote on 2022-02-22, 22:49:

Try running a 3D benchmark (e.g. 3DMark03) and see what frame rate you get - don't be shocked if you see 1 to 4 FPS. […]
Show full quote

Jose_Luis wrote on 2021-08-22, 19:33:

Hi, I bought a new AM2NR3-VSTA a week ago. I updated the BIOS from version P2.10 to P3.30 using an Athlon 64 X2 2.4 GHz and 8GB DDR2 800. I installed Windows 7 Professional 64 bits successfully and works properly. Next I fitted a Phenom II X4 970 3.5GHz. I didn't use any additional driver, I downloaded the default BIOS settings and fitted the recommended ASUS Geforce 7600GS 256MB AGP.

I tried Windows 10 Professional 64 bits version 1511 with AGP support today also I kept the Windows 7 installation. I had an issue at the end of it. I got a black screen and the system didn't respond. I restart the computer and installation finished later. It works perfectly and fast also all devices works perfectly with not crashes on all day as you can see on the photos.

Try running a 3D benchmark (e.g. 3DMark03) and see what frame rate you get - don't be shocked if you see 1 to 4 FPS.

Then, try installing the official NVIDIA GeForce drivers, and see if you don't get a BSOD.
Since Windows Vista, the basic Windows display driver for any NVIDIA GeForce AGP card on this motherboard, and with a dual core CPU, will "operate" - as in, you can use the Windows GUI. But, that's as far as you'll get without swapping out the GART driver.

Hi janskjaer,
Thanks for comment. Honesty, I don't think I'd get 1 to 4 FPS with 3DMark03 using that configuration since I can watch TV by the Internet as same as I watch in my TV. Anyway I'll try that. I believe it's more interesting to use Windows 7 or 10 on that motherboard as you can use newer programs even you can install an antivirus with last definitions .
Best wishes,

Jose_Luis wrote on 2022-02-23, 18:43:

Thanks for comment. Honesty, I don't think I'd get 1 to 4 FPS with 3DMark03 using that configuration since I can watch TV by the Internet as same as I watch in my TV. Anyway I'll try that. I believe it's more interesting to use Windows 7 or 10 on that motherboard as you can use newer programs even you can install an antivirus with last definitions .
Best wishes,

Video playback doesn't seem to be hugely impacted (I noticed this in PCMark Vantage tests), but 3D hardware acceleration appears to be. Mileage may vary.

I've been doing some testing on a similar setup after resurrecting my 15-year old ASRock ALiveDual-eSATA2.
Both the ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA and the ALiveDual-eSATA2 use the same nForce3 250 chipset. The fortunate thing for me and the ALiveDual-eSATA2 is, it comes with both an AGP and PCI-E slot, so I can avoid this issue entirely, simply by moving to a PCI-E graphics card.

My configuration is:
AMD Athlon X2 5000+ Black Edition (unlocked multiplier)
8GB (was 4GB back in 2007) Corsair DHX XMS2 DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz (4x2GB in dual-channel mode)
XFX NVIDIA GeForce 6200 AGP (was an XFX 7950GT AGP in 2007 then an XFX 9600GT PCI-E in 2008)
Windows Vista Ultimate SP2 64-bit (from MSDN)

Bought from new, this was my STALKER / Crysis gaming rig back in 2007/2008. Having been commissioned as a Debian ZFS data server since 2013, it is now coming out of retirement (pending some upcoming upgrades) to be a semi-retro gaming rig.

Test applications:
PCMark Vantage
3DMark03

With Microsoft's own pre-provided NVIDIA 6200 driver (WDDM), the system is operational and the Windows UI can even produce Aero Glass. So, there is some level of hardware acceleration. But, running the aforementioned benchmarks and other GPU hardware-accelerated applications usually results in a random reboot.

I attempted to install one of the later GeForce drivers that "support" the 6 series. I tried the 309.08 (February 2015) and 280.26 (August 2011) drivers. During the install of both, I received a BSOD with a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION error followed by a reboot. Without uninstalling the driver from within Safe Mode, this will result in a continuous bootloop, as the same BSOD error returns before the Vista logon screen. This is the problem of nForce3 250 + dual core CPU + AGP card + Windows Vista.
I tried an earlier driver version, 175.16 (May 2008), which installed successfully.
I tried an early 2008 driver because I used to use an XFX 7950GT AGP on this same system configuration back in 2007, up until August 2008. I never had any issue with NVIDIA drivers crashing the system, so something in the GeForce drivers for AGP cards has changed some time after 175.16.

Running 3DMark03 on Demo 1 gave me a maximum of 4 FPS, with an average of 1-2 FPS. This is because of Vista's pre-provided GART driver (dated 2009).
Following the ASRock guide, I installed the GART driver v4.36 (dated March 2004) from the nForce v6.25 XP64 package. In 3DMark03 Demo 1, this gave me a maximum of 53 FPS, with an average of around 19 FPS.
Because the GART driver isn't signed, the system will complain on every bootup and I have to Disable Driver Enforcement using the F8 key.

For some reason, the following commands (run as an Administrator) failed to permanently disable driver enforcement:

1bcdedit.exe /set nointegritychecks on
2bcdedit.exe -set loadoptions DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

No matter what I try, I cannot get around having to select this option on every bootup.

I may see what results I get with my 7800GS AGP, but then move on to PCI-E cards to avoid this issue.

janskjaer wrote on 2022-02-23, 18:48:

I've been doing some testing on a similar setup after resurrecting my 15-year old ASRock ALiveDual-eSATA2. Both the ASRock AM2NF […]
Show full quote

I've been doing some testing on a similar setup after resurrecting my 15-year old ASRock ALiveDual-eSATA2.
Both the ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA and the ALiveDual-eSATA2 use the same nForce3 250 chipset. The fortunate thing for me and the ALiveDual-eSATA2 is, it comes with both an AGP and PCI-E slot, so I can avoid this issue entirely, simply by moving to a PCI-E graphics card.

My configuration is:
AMD Athlon X2 5000+ Black Edition (unlocked multiplier)
8GB (was 4GB back in 2007) Corsair DHX XMS2 DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz (4x2GB in dual-channel mode)
XFX NVIDIA GeForce 6200 AGP (was an XFX 7950GT AGP in 2007 then an XFX 9600GT PCI-E in 2008)
Windows Vista Ultimate SP2 64-bit (from MSDN)

Bought from new, this was my STALKER / Crysis gaming rig back in 2007/2008. Having been commissioned as a Debian ZFS data server since 2013, it is now coming out of retirement (pending some upcoming upgrades) to be a semi-retro gaming rig.

Test applications:
PCMark Vantage
3DMark03

With Microsoft's own pre-provided NVIDIA 6200 driver (WDDM), the system is operational and the Windows UI can even produce Aero Glass. So, there is some level of hardware acceleration. But, running the aforementioned benchmarks and other GPU hardware-accelerated applications usually results in a random reboot.

I attempted to install one of the later GeForce drivers that "support" the 6 series. I tried the 309.08 (February 2015) and 280.26 (August 2011) drivers. During the install of both, I received a BSOD with a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION error followed by a reboot. Without uninstalling the driver from within Safe Mode, this will result in a continuous bootloop, as the same BSOD error returns before the Vista logon screen. This is the problem of nForce3 250 + dual core CPU + AGP card + Windows Vista.
I tried an earlier driver version, 175.16 (May 2008), which installed successfully.
I tried an early 2008 driver because I used to use an XFX 7950GT AGP on this same system configuration back in 2007, up until August 2008. I never had any issue with NVIDIA drivers crashing the system, so something in the GeForce drivers for AGP cards has changed some time after 175.16.

Running 3DMark03 on Demo 1 gave me a maximum of 4 FPS, with an average of 1-2 FPS. This is because of Vista's pre-provided GART driver (dated 2009).
Following the ASRock guide, I installed the GART driver v4.36 (dated March 2004) from the nForce v6.25 XP64 package. In 3DMark03 Demo 1, this gave me a maximum of 53 FPS, with an average of around 19 FPS.
Because the GART driver isn't signed, the system will complain on every bootup and I have to Disable Driver Enforcement using the F8 key.

For some reason, the following commands (run as an Administrator) failed to permanently disable driver enforcement:

Copy code to clipboard

1bcdedit.exe /set nointegritychecks on
2bcdedit.exe -set loadoptions DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

No matter what I try, I cannot get around having to select this option on every bootup.

I may see what results I get with my 7800GS AGP, but then move on to PCI-E cards to avoid this issue.

Yes, you're right, I tried 3DMark03 the results weren't as bad as yours but they were very low. You see the first photo. I tried 3DMark03 on an Asrock 4COREDUAL-SATA2 AGP + PCIE, you see the second photo. The results are even 10 times better than your motherboard or mine with GART driver. I think that motherboard is the best dual AGP, PCIE one.

I have this board found on second hand italian ebay.
I had installed with a SATA hard disk (160gb) and Windows Xp SP3.
I simply wanted to have the fastest AGP configuration in the world (or something like that) with this marvellous and strange board.

All went fine, I installed a Phenom II 955 overclocked to 4,0ghz rock solid at 1,48v.
I have 4gb of DDR800 RAM that runs perfectly fine at 1066 with very high voltage tuning from bios.
I don't remember if I have the latest bios, this work was done in 2020.
I powered on today after about six month of system off and all is fine.
I enter on Windows xp and I made a 3dmark05 test at 1024x768 and it gave me more than 20k points.

I wanted to try install in an ssd Windows 7,but what I read here made me save time to do it; probably the Nvidia nf3 250 driver problem wasn't never solved by Nvidia and I find it a big black hole in Nvidia chipset history.

Anyway with the Radeon hd3850 512mb ddr3 passively cooled I can play to all Windows Xp games at 1600x1200 (native resolution of my lcd monitor Samsung 214T) at high detail really smoothly.

I think this is enough for a system like this, I am happy and proud to have built that system and sometimes play on Xp maxing out all.

Hey, someone of you here know how can I install the Windows XP on SSD that I have just bought if this motherboard don't support AHCI mode?

I have only RAID or NON RAID option in the bios.

How can I do now? It's impossibile to have AHCI on this NF3 chipset motherboard?

NF3 doesn't support AHCI (IDE mode only if non-RAID is selected).
Use [RAID] option, and either integrate it's driver to XP install (pre-done ISOs are also fine) or use floppy with "F6" option.

Not sure it is the fastest AGP system, probably a 775 - quad core would be faster and good for Windows 7 64bit too.

If you want “pure” AGP, even if wolfdale cpus would not be an option, there is the legendary Conroe865PE, but good luck in finding one.