ASRock
ASRock was one of the earliest vendors to cater to the small-form factor (SFF) PC market with a host of custom-sized motherboards based on notebook platforms. Despite missing the NUC bus for the most part, they have been quite committed to the 5x5 mini-STX form-factor introduced in 2015. ASRock's DeskMini lineup is based on mSTX boards and has both Intel and AMD options for the end-user. While allowing for installation of socketed processors, the form-factor could not support a discrete GPU slot. Around 2018, Intel started making a push towards equipping some of their NUC models with user-replaceable discrete GPUs. In order to gain some market share in that segment, ASRock introduced their DeskMeet product line early last year with support for socketed processors...
The ASRock Z590 OC Formula Motherboard: By and For Overclockers
ASRock and its in-house extreme overclocker Nich Shih have created the latest in its series of high-end enthusiast-grade motherboards. The OC Formula brand returns, famed for its good extreme...
20 by Gavin Bonshor on 4/1/2021The Intel B560 Motherboard Overview: 30+ Budget Models Starting from $75
Intel is set to launch its latest generation of processors, known as Rocket Lake 11th Gen, on the 30th March 2021. We know Rocket Lake brings with it PCIe...
59 by Gavin Bonshor on 3/29/2021The Intel Z590 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Detailed
At the start of 2021, Intel has unveiled its latest desktop platform, designed primarily for its Rocket Lake 11th generation processors. Intel is officially moving to PCIe 4.0, with...
89 by Gavin Bonshor on 1/19/2021ASRock DeskMini H470 Review: A No-Frills LGA 1200 mini-PC Platform
The mini-STX form-factor was introduced by Intel in 2015 to provide additional options in the burgeoning small form-factor (SFF) PC space. Since then, vendors such as ASRock, ECS, and...
26 by Ganesh T S on 12/29/2020Hands On: ASRock 4X4 BOX-4800U Out-of-Band Management using Realtek DASH
Many computing use-cases require out-of-band management. For example, rack-mounted servers have dedicated LAN ports that connect to a baseboard management controller (BMC) chip for this purpose. PCs used in...
9 by Ganesh T S on 12/16/2020ASRock x Razer: New Razer Taichi Edition X570 and B550 AMD Motherboards
ASRock and Razer have today announced a product collaboration. Two of ASRock's premium models for AM4 are being updated with Razer styling and Razer Chroma connectivity: the X570 and...
31 by Gavin Bonshor on 11/30/2020ASRock Brings Zen 2 NUC : 4X4 BOX-4800U Renoir Mini-PC Reviewed
AMD-based ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) systems are slowly gaining market acceptance, with the Zen architecture slowly catching up with Intel on both the performance as well as power consumption front...
53 by Ganesh T S on 11/25/2020ASRock First For B450 Ryzen 5000 Support: Beta BIOSes Now Available
One of the big unknowns for the newest AMD Ryzen 5000 processors is whether or not there will be support on all 400 series chipset-based motherboards. After initially saying...
25 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 11/19/2020The NZXT N7 Z490 Motherboard Review: From A Different Direction
It's been nearly two years to the day since NZXT last released a motherboard, which was the Z370 N7. NZXT initially used ECS as its motherboard OEM, but has...
46 by Gavin Bonshor on 10/7/2020ASRock Z490 Aqua Motherboard Review: The $1100 LC Monoblock Flagship
It is no secret that Intel's 10th generation processors are power-hungry. Intel has been squeezing every last drop of MHz out of the 14 nm process with its fastest...
51 by Gavin Bonshor on 10/2/2020The ASRock Z490 PG Velocita Motherboard Review: It Means SPEED
For the foreseeable future, or at least until Intel's Rocket Lake is likely to be unveiled, Intel's main platform for consumers is currently the Z490 chipset for Comet Lake...
16 by Gavin Bonshor on 9/21/2020ASRock Industrial's 4x4-BOX UCFF PC Series Goes Premium with Ryzen 4000U Renoir APUs
ASRock Industrial has been at the forefront of AMD-based UCFF PCs, being one of the first to bring out systems based on the Ryzen Embedded APUs in mid-2019. In...
36 by Ganesh T S on 9/8/2020ASRock B550 Taichi Review: The $300 B550 Motherboard with Chutzpah
Outside of its Aqua series of motherboards, which come with exquisitely crafted monoblocks, ASRock's Taichi brand has been a critical part of the company's offerings in the land of...
63 by Gavin Bonshor on 8/21/2020AMD Releases the A520 Chipset: For Ryzen on a Budget
AMD has officially lifted the lid on its latest entry-level chipset designed for its Zen 2-based Ryzen 3000 and 4000 processors, the A520 chipset. Following AMD's mid-tier B550 chipset...
41 by Gavin Bonshor on 8/18/2020The Intel W480 Motherboard Overview: LGA1200 For Xeon W-1200
During Intel's unveiling of the Z490 chipset and Intel Core 10th generation Comet Lake processors, Intel also announced its series of Xeon W-1200 processors. To accompany this announcement, without...
38 by Gavin Bonshor on 6/24/2020The AMD B550 Motherboard Overview: ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, ASRock, and Others
AMD’s budget motherboard range is often at times more successful than the bigger, full fat versions. Users have in the past got almost all of the same chipset features...
102 by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on 6/16/2020ASRock Rack Offers Rome mATX Motherboard with only 6 Memory Channels
One of the items that makes a motherboard immediately standout is the amount of memory slots it has. For mainstream platforms, having two or four memory slots, for dual...
28 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 6/8/2020The ASRock Z490 Taichi Motherboard Review: Punching LGA1200 Into Life
In our first Intel Z490 motherboard review, the ASRock Z490 Taichi takes center stage. With its recognizable Taichi clockwork inspired design, a 12+2 power delivery, three PCIe 3.0 x4...
63 by Gavin Bonshor on 5/27/2020AMD's B550 Motherboards Start Appearing Online
Today is the next stage of the AMD AM4 B550 motherboard rollout: numerous vendors have started listing its models in place of an expected launch on June 16th. One...
51 by Gavin Bonshor on 5/21/2020Intel Z490 Motherboards Available For Pre-Order: From $150 to $1299
In preparation for the launch of Intel's Z490 chipset and Intel's 10th generation Comet Lake desktop processors, Z490 motherboards are now available to pre-order from various retailers. For entry-level...
32 by Gavin Bonshor on 5/6/2020