Hi guys, following the death of my small form-factor motherboard, I'm still weighing up my replacement options. Any thoughts on the above model? Cheers.
Generally, Asrock boards are good value, with plenty of features and perform well. I've had a Z77 ITX and still own a Z170 mATX - they're the first manufacturer I look at now, barring the Fatal1ty branded ones. The only reason I bought an Asus Z170i was availability of Asrock boards at the time - the only ITX model at the time had a vertical m.2 slot iirc. BTW, did that gasket arrive ok?
Thanks both. I couldn't find many reviews and having never owned a ASRock board before, I thought it'd be wise to ask. (No sign of the gasket yet, Dave.)
Asrock were a spin off of Asus dude. Because Asus boards used to be top of the pile and very expensive they spun off to compete with companies like PC chips, Foxconn etc. So they started out as cheap Asus boards with crappy fets etc. Since then though they have grown, and for the past five years or so have been competitive at the high end. I've had a few, and I have only ever had one partial failure and that was my fault. I overclocked an original quad core Phenom and afterwards it whined really badly. I didn't realise that it was not up to it on the power phases and that's where I started learning about that. These days though? just the same as any other board really. You need to check what phases it has before ordering. Asrock for me are the best board manu there is when it comes to support. Have a look at their boards, they have all been tried and tested to run with any Xeon that will fit in the socket and Asrock actively promote it.
Cheers Vault. Yes, I remember when they first appeared on the scene and I think it was their early reputation that prompted my query. Things have obviously moved on since then. With regards to power phases it seems up to the job. That's the first thing I checked.
They've done some super awesome things over the years though. Like DDR2/3 on the same board, PCIE and AGP etc. They just stunk for overclocking, but at that end of the price spectrum no one cares tbh. I had one of their weird boards running a Celeron D and it ran on and on. I've liaised with their tech support a few times and they were awesome. I actually got them to add support for the X6 CPUs to a board I was using at the time that I paid £25 for brand new lol. I also got private bioses etc so yeah, a very nice company to deal with too
I've done the deed, pulled the trigger and buyed the shiney. My little pooter should be pooting again come the weekend. Huzzah! @Spreadie the circle is finally complete - the gasket has arrived! Cheers mate, do I owe you anything?
Cheers mate. Having the proper gasket will do the cooler far more justice than my home-made effort. Great stuff.
