ASRock 939S56-M AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 PCIe motherboard Review

Manufacturer ASRock
Name 939S56-M
Type / Chipset Socket 939 / SiS 756 Chipset (SiS 965L south bridge)
Dimensions +++ 18 mm (40 mm radius) around the socket to the next capacitor or other parts of the mainboard – for further information see Fit for Fan. The overall size is 244 x 224mm.
Slots + 2x pci, 1x PCI Express 1×16/1×1, 4x DDR PC2100 – PC3200 (max. 4GB RAM)
Connectors

+++ 1x Floppy, 2x UDMA133, 2x SATA, 1x serial (and 1x IrDA), 1x parallel, 2x PS/2, onBoard 10/100 Mbps base-T Ethernet (Realtek RTL8201), 8x USB 2.0/1.1 (4x internal/optional), 1x Gameport (mounting bracket isn’t delivered with the mainboard), 8-Channel AC’97 RealTek ALC850 onboard sound 6x connectors (1x int. Aux, 1x ext. S/PDIF, ext. Line in, ext. Mic, ext. Front out, ext. Side out, ext. Rear out, ext. Center/Subwoofer) and 2x fan connectors.

Vcore +++ BIOS between 0.80 Volt and 1.45 Volt in steps of 0.025 Volt
Multiplier ++++ BIOS between 8x and 25x (1x to 5x HT)
Host Frequency ++++ BIOS between 140 and 300 MHz
VIO/VDD + VCCM (VDIMM) adjustable between Low, Normal and High
Performance**** ++++ Benchmark ratings with AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice Processor. 1x Gigabyte GV-NX66T128VP Nvidia 6600 GT PCIe graphic card: 7550 points with 3DMark 2003
Manual and Labeling

++ Complete motherboard inscription (the possible in view of a MicroATX board size) and except the often mentioned missing BIOS section it’s a detailed manual with all pin allocations in different languages e.g. German, English, etc. Small devaluation of the manual, because the BIOS is explained only in the manual on the CDROM, where it doesn’t helps if one is in the BIOS! Positive is the additionally enclosed S-ATA quick reference guide.