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ASRock motherboards OK?
I mainly bought ASUS motherboards over the years and have mostly been happy with
them. Never bought one in their lower priced line, ASRock. But I'm considering upgrading my main system since it's been about 3 years and I found a new ASRock board I really like: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal...ance/index.asp It has all the features I would want except a DisplayPort connection, but I have a graphics card for that (GTX-1050). Of course H270 can't be overclocked, but I never do that anyway. The board supports the 7th generation CPU I'm thinking of without needing a BIOS update. I'd use 16GB of DDR4 2400 RAM in it, which is supported with the 7th generation CPU. Newegg has a good price on it, especially considering all its features: $119.99 plus $7.87 shipping less $10 MIR, so net a bit less than $118. Anybody here have experience with ASRock? Good, bad or indifferent? Larc |
#2
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ASRock motherboards OK?
Larc wrote:
I mainly bought ASUS motherboards over the years and have mostly been happy with them. Never bought one in their lower priced line, ASRock. But I'm considering upgrading my main system since it's been about 3 years and I found a new ASRock board I really like: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal...%20Performance /index.asp It has all the features I would want except a DisplayPort connection, but I have a graphics card for that (GTX-1050). Of course H270 can't be overclocked, but I never do that anyway. The board supports the 7th generation CPU I'm thinking of without needing a BIOS update. I'd use 16GB of DDR4 2400 RAM in it, which is supported with the 7th generation CPU. Newegg has a good price on it, especially considering all its features: $119.99 plus $7.87 shipping less $10 MIR, so net a bit less than $118. Anybody here have experience with ASRock? Good, bad or indifferent? Not much help here, but... I recently shopped for a motherboard. When I saw MSI staff on Newegg giving boilerplate off-topic replies to every bad review, I crossed them off of my list. I was looking at ASRock, but I went with Gigabyte "ultra durable" because I recently lost a motherboard due to what was probably a corrupt BIOS. |
#3
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ASRock motherboards OK?
Larc wrote:
Anybody here have experience with ASRock? Good, bad or indifferent? Larc I would examine product reviews on Amazon. I generally do for any such purchase..and it steers some of my decisions. It may be that some models of ASROCK boards are more reliable than others... |
#4
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ASRock motherboards OK?
Larc wrote:
I mainly bought ASUS motherboards over the years and have mostly been happy with them. Never bought one in their lower priced line, ASRock. But I'm considering upgrading my main system since it's been about 3 years and I found a new ASRock board I really like: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal...ance/index.asp It has all the features I would want except a DisplayPort connection, but I have a graphics card for that (GTX-1050). Of course H270 can't be overclocked, but I never do that anyway. The board supports the 7th generation CPU I'm thinking of without needing a BIOS update. I'd use 16GB of DDR4 2400 RAM in it, which is supported with the 7th generation CPU. Newegg has a good price on it, especially considering all its features: $119.99 plus $7.87 shipping less $10 MIR, so net a bit less than $118. Anybody here have experience with ASRock? Good, bad or indifferent? Larc I only have one of their motherboards. Generally the hardware is decent. The BIOS on mine was a bit lacking, but at the time, there were some legal issues (lawyers) which were causing the company to not fix the BIOS properly. A guy in Germany fixed the BIOS, and I flashed that in and was happy after that. (Working EIST...) Asrock usually has a different mix of connectors than an Asus board, so that's one of the things you might spot when buying one. I think mine had two PS/2 connectors at the time, which is what I was looking for. Mine had a VCore chip suited to overclocking, but was missing the BIOS code to make it viable. I ended up doing my own "volt mod", because I could get the datasheet for the regulator. Since it wasn't stable at +33%, I had to back out and run it stock. At stock, the DDR2 on that board, was one of the most stable boards for memory, that I'd had to date. ******* You should be using the reviews on Newegg in any case, to spot problems before you have to deal with them. Download the manual, and go through the manual before even considering buying it. Look at the Newegg or Amazon reviews, and see what is known about it. I don't know if any forums discuss Asrock. Asus has vip.asus.com forum server, but I don't know if Asrock has any unofficial forum or not. I'd say they're definitely worth considering. I'm happy with my purchase, and got value from it. But like visiting a car lot, there's lots of little research things you can do before you buy. One of my pet peeves today would be "is the Vcore heatsink big enough" ? I see a lot of fairly tiny heatsinks out there. And my last purchased motherboard, that's about the only thing holding it back from being a great motherboard. Is a ****ty Vcore heatsink choice. I never gave it a thought before I bought it, but once it overheated, I could immediately see what a dope I had been. For not reviewing that before purchase. If I'd noticed that, I probably would have rejected that one, and spent another $100 on a better motherboard. Paul |
#5
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ASRock motherboards OK?
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 14:34:12 -0500, Paul wrote:
| Larc wrote: | I mainly bought ASUS motherboards over the years and have mostly been happy with | them. Never bought one in their lower priced line, ASRock. But I'm considering | upgrading my main system since it's been about 3 years and I found a new ASRock board | I really like: | | http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal...ance/index.asp | | It has all the features I would want except a DisplayPort connection, but I have a | graphics card for that (GTX-1050). Of course H270 can't be overclocked, but I never | do that anyway. The board supports the 7th generation CPU I'm thinking of without | needing a BIOS update. I'd use 16GB of DDR4 2400 RAM in it, which is supported with | the 7th generation CPU. | | Newegg has a good price on it, especially considering all its features: $119.99 plus | $7.87 shipping less $10 MIR, so net a bit less than $118. | | Anybody here have experience with ASRock? Good, bad or indifferent? | | Larc | | I only have one of their motherboards. Generally the | hardware is decent. The BIOS on mine was a bit lacking, | but at the time, there were some legal issues (lawyers) | which were causing the company to not fix the BIOS properly. | A guy in Germany fixed the BIOS, and I flashed that in and | was happy after that. (Working EIST...) | | Asrock usually has a different mix of connectors than an | Asus board, so that's one of the things you might spot | when buying one. I think mine had two PS/2 connectors at | the time, which is what I was looking for. | | Mine had a VCore chip suited to overclocking, but was | missing the BIOS code to make it viable. I ended up | doing my own "volt mod", because I could get the | datasheet for the regulator. Since it wasn't stable | at +33%, I had to back out and run it stock. At stock, | the DDR2 on that board, was one of the most stable | boards for memory, that I'd had to date. | | ******* | | You should be using the reviews on Newegg in any case, | to spot problems before you have to deal with them. | Download the manual, and go through the manual before | even considering buying it. Look at the Newegg or Amazon | reviews, and see what is known about it. I don't know | if any forums discuss Asrock. Asus has vip.asus.com | forum server, but I don't know if Asrock has any unofficial | forum or not. | | I'd say they're definitely worth considering. I'm happy | with my purchase, and got value from it. But like visiting | a car lot, there's lots of little research things you | can do before you buy. | | One of my pet peeves today would be "is the Vcore heatsink | big enough" ? I see a lot of fairly tiny heatsinks | out there. And my last purchased motherboard, that's | about the only thing holding it back from being | a great motherboard. Is a ****ty Vcore heatsink choice. | I never gave it a thought before I bought it, but once | it overheated, I could immediately see what a dope | I had been. For not reviewing that before purchase. | If I'd noticed that, I probably would have rejected | that one, and spent another $100 on a better motherboard. Problem is this motherboard is so new that not many have reported on it. Amazon isn't even selling it yet. Newegg has 2 reviews of the micro version, which are both good, but none for the full ATX version I'm looking at. Goldfries gave it 5 stars, for whatever that's worth. https://www.goldfries.com/hardware-r...rmance-review/ Larc |
#6
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ASRock motherboards OK?
Larc wrote:
Problem is this motherboard is so new that not many have reported on it. I usually stick with somewhat-tested configurations--because I am not an expert (like Paul and Flasherly, here). And I STILL have run into some hiccups! : ) I even payed Gigabyte and extra $40 last time around for a ("Black") "burned-in (48-hour)/tested" motherboard. I didn't really care for that "sucker tax"! : ) But the cost of failure, as you may know, can be inconvenient and time-consuming... |
#7
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ASRock motherboards OK?
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 20:07:54 -0500, Bill
wrote: (like Paul and Flasherly, here). I'm more of "seat of the pants" experience. Spouting specifications, applicability and interpretation -- that's hardcore and something I usually have to work at, if at all to come up with something. Any expertise is a byproduct of a related enjoyment computers have impressed ever since I got my hands on one: Unlike math, which I test high for a decent comprehension. Did that stop me from cruising lazily by math courses, in the middle of the bell curve, when I could have done much better...oh, hell no. Heh. What I taken (and lost) out of the stock market in profits -- entirely different story...I've even went so far to freak-out tax accountants. |
#8
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ASRock motherboards OK?
Bill wrote:
Larc wrote: Problem is this motherboard is so new that not many have reported on it. I usually stick with somewhat-tested configurations--because I am not an expert (like Paul and Flasherly, here). And I STILL have run into some hiccups! : ) I even payed Gigabyte and extra $40 last time around for a ("Black") "burned-in (48-hour)/tested" motherboard. I didn't really care for that "sucker tax"! : ) But the cost of failure, as you may know, can be inconvenient and time-consuming... The dropout rate on boards was around 3% at one time. That's the rate where a user finds a functional problem that requires them to return the motherboard at retail. That information was collected by a retailer, and posted on the retailer web site. However, the motherboard makers did not like that, and threatened to cut off the supply of motherboards, so the "rating" had to be removed from the web site :-) That's the only info I know of that was made public. Paul |
#9
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ASRock motherboards OK?
Larc wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 14:34:12 -0500, Paul wrote: | Larc wrote: | I mainly bought ASUS motherboards over the years and have mostly been happy with | them. Never bought one in their lower priced line, ASRock. But I'm considering | upgrading my main system since it's been about 3 years and I found a new ASRock board | I really like: | | http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal...ance/index.asp | | It has all the features I would want except a DisplayPort connection, but I have a | graphics card for that (GTX-1050). Of course H270 can't be overclocked, but I never | do that anyway. The board supports the 7th generation CPU I'm thinking of without | needing a BIOS update. I'd use 16GB of DDR4 2400 RAM in it, which is supported with | the 7th generation CPU. | | Newegg has a good price on it, especially considering all its features: $119.99 plus | $7.87 shipping less $10 MIR, so net a bit less than $118. | | Anybody here have experience with ASRock? Good, bad or indifferent? | | Larc | | I only have one of their motherboards. Generally the | hardware is decent. The BIOS on mine was a bit lacking, | but at the time, there were some legal issues (lawyers) | which were causing the company to not fix the BIOS properly. | A guy in Germany fixed the BIOS, and I flashed that in and | was happy after that. (Working EIST...) | | Asrock usually has a different mix of connectors than an | Asus board, so that's one of the things you might spot | when buying one. I think mine had two PS/2 connectors at | the time, which is what I was looking for. | | Mine had a VCore chip suited to overclocking, but was | missing the BIOS code to make it viable. I ended up | doing my own "volt mod", because I could get the | datasheet for the regulator. Since it wasn't stable | at +33%, I had to back out and run it stock. At stock, | the DDR2 on that board, was one of the most stable | boards for memory, that I'd had to date. | | ******* | | You should be using the reviews on Newegg in any case, | to spot problems before you have to deal with them. | Download the manual, and go through the manual before | even considering buying it. Look at the Newegg or Amazon | reviews, and see what is known about it. I don't know | if any forums discuss Asrock. Asus has vip.asus.com | forum server, but I don't know if Asrock has any unofficial | forum or not. | | I'd say they're definitely worth considering. I'm happy | with my purchase, and got value from it. But like visiting | a car lot, there's lots of little research things you | can do before you buy. | | One of my pet peeves today would be "is the Vcore heatsink | big enough" ? I see a lot of fairly tiny heatsinks | out there. And my last purchased motherboard, that's | about the only thing holding it back from being | a great motherboard. Is a ****ty Vcore heatsink choice. | I never gave it a thought before I bought it, but once | it overheated, I could immediately see what a dope | I had been. For not reviewing that before purchase. | If I'd noticed that, I probably would have rejected | that one, and spent another $100 on a better motherboard. Problem is this motherboard is so new that not many have reported on it. Amazon isn't even selling it yet. Newegg has 2 reviews of the micro version, which are both good, but none for the full ATX version I'm looking at. Goldfries gave it 5 stars, for whatever that's worth. https://www.goldfries.com/hardware-r...rmance-review/ Larc The memory on the system, is probably fast enough to deal with the I/O traffic. The figure is my estimate of DDR4-2400 dual channel times about 60% efficiency. 16 Lane PCI Express (video) --- Kaby_Lake --- Dual-Channel memory (approx 23GB/sec) | | DMI V.3 (4 lane) | 4 Lane slot for video ------- H270_PCH } | | 6- | 4 lane | | 4L | Sata | M.2 | | M.2 | Ports | M.2 (Wifi keyed) The design is over-subscribed on the lower portion, sharing 4GB/sec full duplex on DMI, with the potential PCH sources and sinks. Transfer from one M.2 to the other M.2, is not impeded, due to the full duplex lanes. One goes "Up", the other goes "Down" in that case, of disk to disk transfer. However, if you RAID0 the two M.2 slots, then the DMI is a potential bottleneck. If you installed two Samsung SM951 modules, you would not likely get double the performance via the two M.2 slots. And if you use a video card in the second slot, it can be "cut down" to x2 rate, depending on the other x1 slots. And usage of the x4 video card (gaming), would cause a reduction in the M.2 performance at that instant in time. Even with the Z270 PCH, the situation would be no better, due to the limitations of DMI. These limitations have always been there, as Intel scales the DMI as the I/O bandwidth on the PCH (Southbridge) goes up. But they would always be over-subscribing it. There are "more loads" on the bottom of the diagram, than the middle of the diagram can handle. Intel relies on users "not being too adventurous", for them to not notice. (Your DMI is the 4 lane Rev.3 one, 4GB/sec full duplex...) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Media_Interface The manual is chock full of rules about "plug this in, and this item is switched off". This is due to the flexible I/O on the PCH. The PCH has output pads on it, with more than one function. The motherboard designer has to figure out the "sharing", and this results in usage of one function, having an impact on another. http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/...erformance.pdf The diagram on page 25 here, shows the PCH design with shared I/O. The source of the "rules" in the manual. http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www...heet-vol-1.pdf This motherboard would be a lower tier one, because no attempt is made to add PCI Express switches or muxes, to change the population characteristics. The processor x16 supports x8/x8 bifurcation, with the usage of external mux chips. You would see maybe four small chips between video card slots, allowing x16/x0 or x8/x8 operation, if both video card slots were driven off the processor (for Crossfire or whatever). If that were done (two video card slots, run off CPU interfaces), the PCH would not be used to drive the x4-limited slot (the one that occasionally runs at x2). So basically, this motherboard design exposes the user to all the limitations of the PCH. No attempt is made to add extra chips to "pad" the characteristics to make them "more human". The LAN uses a MAC in the PCH, and a small PHY chip drives the RJ45 on the I/O plate. So "it's an Intel LAN", but usage of GbE on the PCH, chews into that wonderful sharing diagram. By using all that Intel has provided, that brings down the silicon cost for the motherboard. But it also brings with it, those "rules" in the manual. The design still needs a sound chip. Intel hasn't added that to the PCH... yet :-) There's nothing wrong with the board. Just that it "isn't as whizzy as it looks". It will make a fine single video card gaming computer, with a single M.2 and a mix of SATA drives. Then you can use the remaining PCI Express x1 slots for the occasional I/O card. If you were thinking of doing RAID0 across the M.2 slots, then some of the more expensive M.2 drives may have their "headroom clipped'. With one M.2 drive, you probably won't notice. Paul |
#10
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ASRock motherboards OK?
On Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:43:41 -0500, Paul wrote:
| Problem is this motherboard is so new that not many have reported on it. Amazon | isn't even selling it yet. Newegg has 2 reviews of the micro version, which are both | good, but none for the full ATX version I'm looking at. Goldfries gave it 5 stars, | for whatever that's worth. | | https://www.goldfries.com/hardware-r...rmance-review/ | | Larc | | The memory on the system, is probably fast enough to deal with | the I/O traffic. The figure is my estimate of DDR4-2400 dual | channel times about 60% efficiency. | | 16 Lane PCI Express (video) --- Kaby_Lake --- Dual-Channel memory (approx 23GB/sec) | | | | DMI V.3 (4 lane) | | | 4 Lane slot for video ------- H270_PCH | } | | 6- | | 4 lane | | 4L | Sata | | M.2 | | M.2 | Ports | M.2 (Wifi keyed) | | The design is over-subscribed on the lower portion, | sharing 4GB/sec full duplex on DMI, with the potential | PCH sources and sinks. | | Transfer from one M.2 to the other M.2, is not | impeded, due to the full duplex lanes. One goes "Up", | the other goes "Down" in that case, of disk to disk transfer. | | However, if you RAID0 the two M.2 slots, then the DMI | is a potential bottleneck. If you installed two | Samsung SM951 modules, you would not likely get double | the performance via the two M.2 slots. | | And if you use a video card in the second slot, it can | be "cut down" to x2 rate, depending on the other x1 slots. | And usage of the x4 video card (gaming), would cause a | reduction in the M.2 performance at that instant | in time. | | Even with the Z270 PCH, the situation would be no better, | due to the limitations of DMI. | | These limitations have always been there, as Intel | scales the DMI as the I/O bandwidth on the PCH (Southbridge) | goes up. But they would always be over-subscribing it. | There are "more loads" on the bottom of the diagram, | than the middle of the diagram can handle. Intel relies | on users "not being too adventurous", for them to not | notice. | | (Your DMI is the 4 lane Rev.3 one, 4GB/sec full duplex...) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Media_Interface | | The manual is chock full of rules about "plug this in, | and this item is switched off". This is due to the | flexible I/O on the PCH. The PCH has output pads | on it, with more than one function. The motherboard | designer has to figure out the "sharing", and this | results in usage of one function, having an impact on | another. | | http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/...erformance.pdf | | The diagram on page 25 here, shows the PCH design with | shared I/O. The source of the "rules" in the manual. | | http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www...heet-vol-1.pdf | | This motherboard would be a lower tier one, because | no attempt is made to add PCI Express switches or | muxes, to change the population characteristics. The | processor x16 supports x8/x8 bifurcation, with the | usage of external mux chips. You would see maybe | four small chips between video card slots, allowing | x16/x0 or x8/x8 operation, if both video card slots | were driven off the processor (for Crossfire or whatever). | | If that were done (two video card slots, run off CPU | interfaces), the PCH would not be used to drive the | x4-limited slot (the one that occasionally runs at x2). | | So basically, this motherboard design exposes the user | to all the limitations of the PCH. No attempt is made | to add extra chips to "pad" the characteristics to make | them "more human". | | The LAN uses a MAC in the PCH, and a small PHY chip drives | the RJ45 on the I/O plate. So "it's an Intel LAN", but | usage of GbE on the PCH, chews into that wonderful | sharing diagram. | | By using all that Intel has provided, that brings | down the silicon cost for the motherboard. But it | also brings with it, those "rules" in the manual. | | The design still needs a sound chip. Intel hasn't | added that to the PCH... yet :-) | | There's nothing wrong with the board. Just that | it "isn't as whizzy as it looks". It will make | a fine single video card gaming computer, with | a single M.2 and a mix of SATA drives. Then you | can use the remaining PCI Express x1 slots for | the occasional I/O card. If you were thinking of | doing RAID0 across the M.2 slots, then some | of the more expensive M.2 drives may have their | "headroom clipped'. With one M.2 drive, you | probably won't notice. Many thanks for all the great info. Yep, that board does look fancy. But that's not what attracted me to it. Who's going to see that in a closed Antec P100 case anyhow? There are certain features I need, one being an optical output for audio. This is one of few H270 boards I could find that has everything I want and will support the 7th generation CPU I want without needing a BIOS update first. As for the setup, I won't even be using M.2 connectors at the start, if ever. My current Samsung 850 EVO SSD (C and a couple of SATA III HDDs (E: & F work for me. And my gaming doesn't get more adventurous now than mahjong and spider solitaire. Most of my graphics demand involves general use and video, including 4K, and some photo tweaking. My GTX-1050 handles that OK. I've always done a motherboard upgrade about every 3 years, also with a new CPU more often than not. Then I pass parts down the line sequentially to 2 other boxes. The ASUS Z87 board I'm using in my main system now is getting a bit long in the tooth since it wasn't all that current when I bought it (Z97 was already out). In this case, parts would go directly to #3 since #2 already has a more current board (H97) and the same CPU (i3-4150). Larc |
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