Just a decade ago, under an unknown brand, there was only one product on the market, which, with its price availability and excellent functionality, gained respect both among sellers and buyers. This is a motherboard from the manufacturer Asrock. As it turned out later, the unknown brand is one of the divisions of the giant ASUS. The Chinese brand, without losing its own brand, simply occupied a niche in the budget class, and the user got the opportunity to purchase decent products at a very low price. The focus of this article on computer hardware from Asrock is the motherboard.
Built forever
The micro-ATX form factor is a distinguishing feature of Asrock. The motherboard was initially positioned for offices and home use, but later gained a reputation among fans of multimedia and games. The manufacturer allowed both Intel and AMD fans to purchase their products by releasing the corresponding chipsets. The main feature of the brand, in comparison with competitors, is that all motherboards have full support for existing functions for each generation of processors. In addition, the manufacturer gave the buyer the opportunity to connect obsolete devices, providing his product with all kinds of interfaces. An example is the sales leader in the nomination “office computer” - the Asrock n68c ucc motherboard.
Low cost upgrade
The dream of any owner of a personal computer is the ability to upgrade the device at minimal cost. In most cases, to increase system performance, replacement of the basic components is required. This may apply to any brand, but not Asrock. The motherboard, which is positioned for offices, makes it possible to improve the performance of a PC with minimal cost.
- Support for all processors in the context of each generation, regardless of the process and heat dissipation.
- Support for two types of memory, such as DDR2 and DDR3, without the possibility of simultaneous operation.
- The presence of outdated interfaces: FDD, IDE, RS-232, LPT, PS / 2.
- Integrated video adapter with D-Sub output. Built-in five-channel sound and network adapter.
Interesting equipment
Inexpensive budget devices are usually sold in OEM configuration. This is a common phenomenon and, judging by numerous reviews, does not cause indignation of buyers, because they often buy a computer assembly. But the manufacturer Asrock decided otherwise. In a huge box, you can find, in addition to the board packed in an antistatic package, two Serial ATA cables, drivers for the Asrock motherboard in the form of several CD-ROMs without signatures, a cover for the back panel and two huge instructions. One brochure is intended for the installation of components on the motherboard, and the second book describes the built-in functionality that facilitates the work of the user and speeds up the computer. The instruction is written in several languages, has color pictures, and all the text is written in an understandable language.
Additional functionality
Built-in sensors and all kinds of controllers on the motherboard, controlled by proprietary utilities, are not new for ASUS. But buyers of Asrock products need to be informed about this at least before the purchase. Only thanks to customer reviews in the media can we find out that on the supplied disks, drivers for the Asrock motherboard occupy only a small part. The rest of the disk space is occupied by utilities and software. The budget device has many built-in sensors for determining the temperature of the chipset, processor and case, and it is also possible to control the speed of rotation of the connected coolers. In addition, there is voltage monitoring. Proprietary utilities allow you to change the frequency of system buses directly from the operating system. And on the software disc there is a lot of interesting software, including antivirus, multimedia editors and players. True, most of them are Demo versions.
Advantages and disadvantages
Judging by the numerous reviews of the owners, the Asrock n68c motherboard deserves special attention. In the countries of the post-Soviet space, it was this series that led to the fact that most of its advantages were met by users negatively. The fact is that the manufacturer, having taken the budget class, oriented the motherboard in the office segment - working with office equipment, connecting old information storage devices, creating arrays and connecting other peripherals. However, many sellers used the board to build low-cost gaming platforms, which is why the negative appeared.
- Installing a game video adapter with a cooling system closes all available PCI slots, which makes it impossible to connect other devices, such as a TV tuner. And the long “tail” of the video card covers all SATA connectors, in order to connect a hard drive, the cable must be carefully broken.
- A strange cooling system that does not cool the chipset.
Boost productivity in minutes
Any overlocker, having read the description of the functionality of the motherboard, will understand that a device with a budget class combines only the price. A little refinement will increase the system performance. An example is the office motherboard Asrock n68c, S-series, which does not provide for cooling the south bridge, and the radiator on the north bridge leaves much to be desired.
- Instead of a standard radiator, it is recommended to install a small copper-based cooler with spring-loaded legs. You can buy it in a specialized store for fans to upgrade computers.
- In addition to the standard coolers, two additional 80-120 mm devices must be installed on the system unit. Place one on the front of the body (for blowing), the other on the back (for blowing). The axes of the installed fans must pass at the level of the south bridge.
- Buy cable ties and carefully secure all power cables, opening up the possibility of normal air circulation.
Expensive segment
Judging by the numerous customer reviews, their choice when buying gaming components was influenced by the abundant advertising of gold contacts on the connectors of the Asrock device. The motherboard ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Professional, according to manufacturers, has no analogues in the world in the gaming class. Full support for all existing standards in one device at an affordable price.
- The well-thought-out placement of all components and the excellent cooling system will not allow overheating even at maximum loads.
- Nichicon polymer capacitors installed on the motherboard are marked for manufacturing in Japan.
- All system contacts are gold plated.
- Along with all kinds of interfaces there are outdated connectors for one hundred percent compatibility of any equipment and components.
After reviewing and familiarizing yourself with the functionality of the ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Professional motherboard, many questions arise for expensive brands. Why are Gigabyte and MSI with less functionality cost 2-3 times more expensive?
Unpleasant little things
Apparently, to prevent the device from getting out of the budget class, the manufacturer did not take care of the cooling system, which is the root cause of the failure of components. For example, the Asrock h61m motherboard, which is not inferior in performance to such brands as Foxconn and ECS, supports working with top processor models and can work with gaming graphics cards, is equipped with a poor-quality cooling system. Radiators mounted on the north and south bridge are fictitious. This can be seen empirically, using thermal paste. Having smeared the radiator with paste and installing it on the motherboard, the user will find that there is no zone of contact between the chip and the radiator. This approach of the manufacturer is completely incomprehensible, because most devices are positioned to work in the office, where the dust problem is always relevant.
Finally
A potential buyer will be pleasantly surprised to see the capabilities of motherboards under the Asrock brand. ASUS protege has excellent functionality and affordable price. And the assortment for today is quite impressive - in addition to budget options on the market, you can find inexpensive solutions for desktop gaming systems. Even the cheapest motherboard in the store Asrock n68 series for office work will compete in the performance of well-known brands. This primarily indicates the manufacturer’s focus on the end user, allowing him to purchase absolute quality products at an affordable price.