Basic Features: Biostar TForce 6100-939

It is worth mentioning that Biostar is shipping TForce 6100 micro ATX boards in both Socket 754 and Socket 939 versions. The Socket 754 version, called the TForce 6100, is the same chipset combination and features 2 DIMM slots. The board that we are testing is the TForce 6100-939, obviously supporting Socket 939, and featuring four DIMMs in dual-channel mode. Older A64's, Revision E, and x2 are all supported on this Socket 939 board.

 Biostar TForce 6100-939
CPU Interface Socket 939 Athlon 64
Chipset NVIDIA GeForce6100 Northbridge - NVIDIA nForce 4100 Southbridge
Bus Speeds 200 to 300MHz in 1MHz Increments
PCIe Speeds 100 to 125MHz in 1MHz Increments
PCI Fixed at 33
OnBoard GPU Auto, Always Enable
Frame Buffer (UMA) 16M, 32M, 64M, 128M, Disabled (64M Default)
Core Voltage Startup, 0.80V to 1.70V in 0.025V increments
CPU Clock Multiplier Startup, 4x-25x in 1X increments
HyperTransport Frequency 1000MHz (1GHz)
Supports AMD Cool'n'Quiet
HyperTransport Multiplier Auto, 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X
DRAM Voltage 2.66V, 2.72V, 2.82V, 2.93V
Memory Slots Four 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots
Dual-Channel Configuration
Regular Unbuffered Memory to 4GB Total
Expansion Slots 1 PCIe x16
1 PCIe x1
2 PCI Slots
Onboard SATA/RAID 2 SATA II Drives by nForce 410 (RAID 0, 1, JBOD)
Onboard IDE/IDE RAID Two Standard ATA133/100/66 (4 drives)
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 8 USB 2.0 ports supported by nF410
No Firewire (Optional)
Onboard LAN 10/100 Ethernet by Realtek 8201 PNY
Onboard Audio AC '97 2.3 6-Channel by Realtek ALC655
BIOS Phoenix Award

Frankly, Biostar even includes an overclock quick guide in the TForce kit - a real surprise for a Micro ATX board with integrated graphics. What's more, the available options in BIOS are a lot more than what many will expect for a Micro ATX/Integrated Graphics board, and even include an Integrated Flashing option so that you don't have to load DOS or Windows to flash the BIOS.

There is even an auto-overclocking option in BIOS, called ONE (Overclocking Navigator Engine) and a CMOS Reloaded feature to allow saving and quick restore of favorite BIOS setups. The only other place that we have seen CMOS reloaded is DFI.

The layout is clean and the TForce 6100 even supports 24-pin power supplies. 20-pin connectors from older power supplies will also work. An even bigger surprise was momentary power and reset switches on the board - and detailed in the manual.

Index Test Setup
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  • reload1992 - Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - link

    I am building a pc for the first time Is this a good motherboard for gaming?
  • Calin - Monday, October 10, 2005 - link

    I would like to change my mainboard/processor (as they are still in the 600MHz range), and I really would like one of those things. However, not wanting to pay the whole extra $100 for a socket 939 processor, I would like to know the performance of the Socket 754 board (coupled with an Sempron processor).
    In case your plans does not accout for making tests with the dual channel memory board, could you please test it with a single DIMM (in order to simulate a 754 board on the hardware you have)?

    Thank you very much
    Calin
  • varundubey - Tuesday, September 27, 2005 - link

    Hi, in your article here:
    http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2539">http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2539

    you say that NVIDIA 6100/430 and NVIDIA 6100/410 support pure video but Nvidia disagrees here:
    http://www.nvidia.com/page/gpu_mobo.html">http://www.nvidia.com/page/gpu_mobo.html

    should be a tad more careful no?
  • glennpratt - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link

    NVIDIA has corrected the link.
  • Wesley Fink - Thursday, September 29, 2005 - link

    The chart showing Pure Video support for the 6100/410 is cut and pasted from nVidia launch literature for the 6100. If it's wrong or in conflict with other nVidia publications please talk with nVidia for clarification.
  • Phiro - Tuesday, September 27, 2005 - link

    Varun, they've abandoned us to fend for ourselves.
  • LoneWolf15 - Monday, September 26, 2005 - link

    My best use for this would be an nForce 430/GF6150 mATX board for a HTPC setup. I'll be eagerly waiting to see how this does. It'd be great to use an entry-level Sempron or A64 as part of a small, quiet rig for this sort of application, and the onboard HD audio, gig Ethernet (for transferring files from a media server across the intranet), and HD over TV-out are all big plusses.

    I'll be waiting to see this tested when it becomes available, as I'm once-bitten-twice-shy on the nVidia PureVideo thing, but if it can meet or beat the on-paper specs, it looks to be a winner.
  • Phiro - Friday, September 23, 2005 - link

    Question - was the HL2 benchmark run under the DX8 or DX9 codepath?

    I ask because the numbers to me seemed to compare the 6100 to the Geforce 5700. You show the 6100 getting 55fps at 800x600 in HL2 with normal/low settings. The 5900XT gets 104fps with highest settings w/o AA in a similar setup, until I read closely and saw that was with the DX8 codepath. Forcing the 5900XT to use the DX9 codepath knocks it down to ~30fps if I recall.

    If that's true, and the 6100 was run under the DX9 codepath and it got 55fps with lowered settings, that still puts this video card a big chunk above a 5700 IMO.
  • Phiro - Monday, September 26, 2005 - link

    Wesley, you can't quit reading the feedback from an article you write less than 24 hours after you post said article.

    Come on, fess up w/the information!
  • Wesley Fink - Thursday, September 29, 2005 - link

    I'm not the graphics guru, but I thought the DX9/DX8 codepaths were an early HL2 concern long since resolved. At any rate we run HL2 thorugh Steam and update before benching. The system is XP SP2 9.0c. The bench utility is the Guru3D HL2 benchmarking tool running Guru3D Demo5. The HL2 update from the last few days has corrupted all of of HL2 benchmarks - including the Guru3D tool - but that's another story.

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