I have Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro. It's a great cooler for benchmarking as it can cool many CPUs comfortably and fits s754 as well as AM3+. I also have that stock heatpipe AMD cooler but I don't use it. I would recommend to get either, they are super cheap these days and fit many boards.

My s754 build uses Thermaltake Max Orb, full copper version. Fan runs at 1300 rpm. https://www.techpowerup.com/review/thermaltak … -max-orb/3.html

Nice that you have identical cards. I do have both pci-e and AGP 1950pro too, but pci-e one is 256MB while AGP one is 512MB and from my testing on s939 the difference between them is quite significant, making comparison pointless...

Regarding h264 - software is the issue. Even on HD2000 cards. Yes, hardware support is there, but it is limited in certain ways which make it not usable with modern players while old, period correct, players often did not have hardware decoding support at all.

Similar issues with GF7 - partial decoding acceleration is there, but actually using it is nearly impossible.

6. Storage devices: as much as I would liked to use SSD half of the boards refused outright to run with a SSD connected! In fact only 2 out of 4 accepted a SSD. On VIA K8T800 PRO with the VT8237 there is a known problem when only SATA 150 drives are accepted or SATA 300 that can be jumpered to SATA 1.5 speed. On nforce3 despite trying multiple brands no SSD worked. Unfortunately I do not have a Sand force based SSD so I could not trick the boards into accepting flash based storage!

For that reason and because I wanted to see if a classic hard drive runs OK and with max speed I choose the WD raptor 150gb ADFD version as the standard drive for benchmarks on all systems. It is the fastest SATA 150 drive manufactured and the capacity is more than OK for the software that I installed.
The 2 boards that accepted SSD’s got as secondary drives WD raptors and all storage tests have been performed on that drive!

7. Optical drive: I put in whatever DVD-RW I had laying around. The only mention is the K8T00 chipset where I had to use an IDE drive because no SATA DVD is accepted by the infamous VT8327.

8. Power supply: socket 754 has an enormous advantage: the ability to use modern power supplies. You are no longer bound to some old/specific PSU with good 5V rail; you can safely use your modern PSU with it. All the boards have the auxiliary power connector and some even have the 24 pin connector.

9. Case: I used the cooler master force 500 case because it allows mounting the PSU on top and has both 5.25 and 3.5 inch bays! It is a no frills black case just the way I like it - no RGB, pure black - but still provides options for 2 120 mm fans – 1 installed in the back from the factory and 1 by me on the side panel! Ventilation is excellent despite the low end nature of the case.

10. Floppy drive: GOTEK all the way.

Archer57 wrote on 2025-10-06, 07:14:

Nice that you have identical cards. I do have both pci-e and AGP 1950pro too, but pci-e one is 256MB while AGP one is 512MB and from my testing on s939 the difference between them is quite significant, making comparison pointless...

Regarding h264 - software is the issue. Even on HD2000 cards. Yes, hardware support is there, but it is limited in certain ways which make it not usable with modern players while old, period correct, players often did not have hardware decoding support at all.

Similar issues with GF7 - partial decoding acceleration is there, but actually using it is nearly impossible.

I use GF7600 h264 acceleration and i am sure i can use x1950 acceleration as well, i have one screenshot. Wait, i look for it.

it was some random h264@720p and Media Player Classic Home Cinema+PowerDVD7 codec under its skin (DXVA working)
Here it is, look here: Re: ATi Radeon 9550/9600/9600 PRO RV351 Die Shrink - 110nm chips

Direct screenshot link: download/file.php?id=203298&mode=view

As all the boards used are from Abit so you will see again a “few” of them – all from my collection.
First is the one based on nforce3! Abit NF8 series encompass several models; all with the same basic chipset: nforce3 250. Coming after a resounding victory in the socket 462 comparative, nforce3 has the first chance to win the performance crown!
Several basic variations with the same PCB are available:
1. NF8-V2 with the basic nforce3 250 and 100 MB onboard LAN
2. NF8-V with the nforce3 250GB chipset; gigabit LAN frees up precious CPU resources.
3. NF8 with nforce3 250GB and fire wire controller that nobody is interested in!
4. NF8-V PRO with nforce3 250GB and optical inputs and outputs that nobody uses!
5. NF8 PRO with nforce3 250GB and everything of the above!

Left to right:
NF8 PRO - the full version with all the bells and whistles; NF8-V PRO - with S/PDIF that I never seen used; NV8-V - all you ever need from a nforce3 board!

Notice the 24 pin ATX connector - useful if you have some low end power supply that will not let you detach 4 pin from the main ATX connector! You can clearly see the Winbond controller used for monitoring temperatures and voltages.

Typical for all nforce3 boards, the SATA connectors are in the middle of the board frustrating any attempt of cable management! The chipset found under the blue heatsink gets pretty toasty even after thermal paste replacement so good case cooling is necessary!

Memory compatibility, NVidia style: each of the 3 boards accepts only specific kits from certain manufacturers, in this case Kingston. Corsair also works but anything else is a no go! The cooler is more than adequate for any socket 754 CPU!

BIOS: minimum voltages for minimum temperatures; AGP aperture size is 256 MB on all the systems!

Memory timings are all on AUTO, that means 3-3-3-8 with CR 1T - yes, the board automatically sets command rate to 1T using AUTO settings with ALL CPU's!

BIOS has been set for maximum performance: anything not needed is disabled such as floppy controller, serial and parallel ports, IDE ports, cool and quiet and so on. Temperatures are pretty good even after long benchmarking sessions!

As you guessed from the photos above the processor installed is Athlon 64 3400 Clawhammer; it will be the first to go through the benchmarks suite. SATA DVD works without a hitch, but no SSD.
CPU-Z legacy shows most of the details:

..but misses a crucial one:

nd22 wrote on Yesterday, 05:51:

Memory compatibility, NVidia style: each of the 3 boards accepts only specific kits from certain manufacturers, in this case Kingston. Corsair also works but anything else is a no go!

In this case nvidia has nothing to do with memory though, memory controller is in the CPU and is made by AMD. And yes, from my experience with s939 it can be even worse than nforce2 memory controller. At least with unbuffered memory - i've had much better success with registered memory.