Great for those who don't like to waste working components. (Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0)

Member Name: C-J-C

Product:	Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0
Date:	08/03/09 (473 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very backwards compatable . Supports the latest processors, plus AGP and DDR .

Disadvantages: Not easy to get hold of . Not the cheapest .

I'm one of those people who could be called a "Casual" Gamer. I don't have time for computer games, and I don't really have much interest, but I do like to find time for the occasional RPG or Strategy Game, and I also like enjoy Flight Simulators. Because of this, I find myself needing to have a computer that if above the average for normal use, but can't justify (and can't afford anyway) anything like the sort of high performance gaming systems that are out there. This usually means a compromise on eye candy and performance, but this usually doesn't bother me, after all I'm only using a 17in CRT monitor anyway. Of course, from time to time I find that a must have new game is stretching my system a little too far. The latest of these was "The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion", leading to me to purchase a new nVidia 7600GS graphics card. This fitted nicely in my old Pentium 4 system which only supported AGP, and worked pretty well. My latest upgrade though was totally unplanned an unexpected.

I've been using computers for over 15 years now, going back to my first Amiga 600 (which I still have), then onto steadily faster PCs (200MHz, 500MHz, 800MHz, then finally 2.8GHz), and not once had a serious failure (if we forget laptops, of which I've had two hard drive failures, both Toshiba surprisingly), but before Christmas my faithful 2.8GHz Pentium 4 system decided it had had enough and failed. There I was, browsing the Internet or something, and it froze up, and resetting just resulted in a black screen. I used all of my abilities (which consisted of removing all secondary components and swapping out all possible main ones) to narrow it down to the Motherboard or Processor, neither of which I had suitable replacements for. I quickly learned it wouldn't make much difference anyway, as getting a processor to fit the motherboard or a motherboard to fit the processor wouldn't be easy anyway, thanks to Intel having changed from Socket 478 to the cryptically named "LGA 775" (stay reading if you want to discover what that actually means). I then had another problem. I could get myself a nice new motherboard and processor, but what about everything else. My old computer used DDR Memory, new motherboards only accepted DDR2. Worse, my fairly new and not cheap graphics card is AGP, whereas PCI-Express is now the standard. Even my case was looking iffy, as most boards seemed to be "Micro ATX" a smaller version of ATX which I had, although I did find it would fit, just with a gap, but would lack having plenty of expansion slots, so either my Video Capture or additional USB card would have to go. Having a limited budget, about £200, was I to have to replace everything, I would have to scrape the barrel on specification. Whilst I might end up with something better than what I had had before, since it was an unplanned and unwanted expense I really wanted to get a significant gain out of it. I then came across the perfect solution, ASRock Motherboards.

What makes ASRock stand out from other motherboard suppliers is the amazing backwards compatibility of their products. I finally had the ability to buy a modern LGA 775 processor, but still use my old AGP graphics card and DDR Memory. It was ATX as well, so would properly fit my case. The one that really caught my eye was the 4 Core Dual-SATA 2 Motherboard. This name speaks for itself (if you understand computer jargon), in that it is designed to work with 4 Core processors, and has SATA2 (very fast connection for hard drives). Getting hold of one wasn't easy, but eventually I found one, and got a nice Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz to go with it.

I'll just list the specification, from the manual, then go into a little more detail of what they mean for you.
ATX form factor, 12in x 9.6in - 30.5cm x 24.4cm
LGA 775 for Intel Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium XE, Pentium D, Pentium Dual Core, Pentium 4, Celeron and Celeron D.
Supports Hyperthreading
Supports EM64T CPU (think that means 64bit)
VIA PT880 Pro Northbridge Chipset
VIA VT8237S Southbridge Chipset
Dual Channel DDR/DDR2 Memory Technology
2x DDR2 DIMM Slots, supports DDR2 667/533 up to 2GB
2x DDR DIMM Slots, supports DDR400/333/266 up to 2GB
CPU Frequency Stepless Control
ASRock U-COP
Boot Failure Guard
1x PCI-Express Graphics Slot
1x AGP 8x Graphics Slot
4x PCI slots
5.1 CH Premium Level HD Audio
VIA 10/100 Ethernet - supports Wake on LAN

As I've said before, this board has a connector for an LGA 775 processor. This is the latest connector from Intel, and replaces the previous Socket 478 design. It is a significant change from previous connectors in that the (easily bent) pins are now on the (cheap) Motherboard, not the (expensive) processor. This naturally means that if they are damaged, instead of a dead processor, you have a dead motherboard, but a motherboard is much cheaper to repair than a processor, Intel saves on having to repair fault processors, yet it's not too hard on the Motherboard manufacturers. Also, Socket 478 has 478 pins, and I'll leave you to guess how many pins LGA 775 has. Supposedly though, more is good, so it's all good. Incidently, LGA stands for Land Grid Array (I said I'd tell you). Having never fitted a processor before, I can't comment on the relative ease. From what I've heard though, it's easier if you're careful, and the locking mechanism means it's more precise, but at the same time with a lack of care it can easily go very wrong. I'll let you research and decide for yourself if you think you are up to it. If you have to call out a technical every time you need to plug in a new USB peripheral though, I'd say it's not a good idea. Anyway, processors using LGA 775 are later Pentium 4s, Core 2 Duos and Core 2 Quads, and later Celerons, plus some other types that I'm sure most people have never heard of and aren't bothered with (it can't be just me). Basically, if it's reasonably modern and it's from Intel, it should fit. Next onto the memory. The board has what is known as "Dual Channel Memory". Basically this means you can use either old DDR, or new DDR 2 memory, although not both together. It has two slots for each, the yellow and blue things in the picture. Obviously, it will perform better with DDR2, but I'm using DDR and have no problems, other than the obvious speed bottleneck. Like I've said, where the board really comes in useful is that is has both AGP and PCI-Express Graphics. Even better, these can be used together, so since most cards support dual monitors, it is possible to connect 4 monitors to the one computer. Why most people would want to do that I'm not sure, but you can. Maybe if I had the room. We're then onto the more normal features. As well that amazing survivor the Floppy Drive, there are also 2 IDE connectors, and 2 SATA/2 connectors. Being the larger ATX style, it has 4 PCI slots. Then again, you probably won't need them, since it has most of the things you'll need on-board. There are 4 USB ports on the back, plus 4 internal connectors for additional ports on the case, or for things like internal card readers, 100/10Mbps Network, 5.1 channel Sound Card, plus the near obsolete Parallel and surprisingly not obsolete Serial Ports, and the getting obsolete PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse ports. Again though, backwards compatibility.

Inside the box, you get the board itself, which was nicely packaged in an anti-static bag and was sitting on a layer of foam and a piece of cardboard. You also get a nice manual (200 pages, but luckily only 28 in English), the driver's disk, a face plate for fitting to the case with holes for all the back connectors, and a nice selection of cables for Floppy, IDE and SATA, plus a SATA power adapter. SATA cable was most appreciated, since the SATA drive I'd bought didn't come with cables, although I was finally able to use the SATA power connectors from my power supply, so didn't need the adapter. The one thing you don't get is any screws. Anyone who has built or upgraded computers will know that screws are a big problem, you never seem to have enough, and what you do have are easy to loose, so a set would have been nice. I did though have the set that had held my old motherboard in, although naturally I managed to loose one (and I have no idea where, I can't hear it moving in the case, I haven't found it on the floor, and it's not been hoovered up since when I last hoovered the room I'd done it I used the one with a metal pipe and didn't hear anything, so it's probably gone to the same place as odd socks go).

I won't talk about ease of installation, since it's the first time I've done it, so can't compare, and it's got to be pretty much the same for all boards, in fact it's the case and the like that are more of an issue. That said, everything slotted in smoothly, almost anyway. Having installed everything I went to start up for the first time and initially got nothing, so went to bed (it was getting late by now) and next day realised that the fact that the switch on the power supply was off might not be helping (this being an American style switch where up is on, I'd switched it off when I thought I was switching it on, since I thought it was off to start with). I then managed to get it to start, before it began beeping, 3 beeps, then pause, then 3 beeps etc. etc. Getting worried, I checked the internet, and it turns out this means a memory problem. I'd made the same mistake I've made many times before when upgrading memory, and not got the memory module right in the slot. A removal and refit and this time it worked. The AMI BIOS is nice and simple to use, most stuff it automatic, the only thing I had to change was the drive numbering to put my SATA drive first, and the boot sequence to boot off the CD first, as initially it tried to boot off the IDE drive with the old Windows XP install on, and of course didn't get far. It is possible to upgrade the Bios, but it's no recommended unless you need to (the only real reason to seems to be if you need to add compatibility for your PCI-E graphics card). Once running, the driver CD is easy to use, and will install proper drivers in place of the generic ones Windows installs. The manual that comes with the board is helpful and clear for those who would be attempting to fit a motherboard. It has good illustrations and diagrams to help show you what to do, particularly installing the processor, and the layout of the various on-board connectors (useful when working out which way some of the connections to the case lights and USB go).

Obviously having only had it a short time, I can't say anything about reliability, but I've not heard anything bad. On the other hand, I have since found out that I'm far from the only one who's had an ASUS motherboard die in similar circumstances to my old one. It has been running a lot since I had it though, actually a quick check shows it's been running for nearly 2 whole days none stop, and there are absolutely no problems. I've had a few crashes, but the particular piece of software I was using crashed all the time on my old computer too, in fact I think it crashed more.

Overall, I would very much recommend this board, if you can get hold of one, to anyone who wants the ability to do a step by step upgrade of an early 2000s (or whatever we call this decade) computer to a late 2000s. It's also a good buy for anyone who wants plenty of PCI slots, and has an ATX case to take it. How well it works in a proper modern computer compared to other similar boards that lack the backwards compatibility I can't say, but I would be surprised if it's not decent. Hopefully in the reasonably near future I'll be at least able to upgrade the memory (a few more ciao reviews should do it), and eventually the graphics card, and maybe one day a 4 core processor. I'm confident that baring another failure, or another load of changes to computer standards, I should get around 5 years from this board, by which time I'll be an out of work graduate, so it will be dragged on for another few years. Price wise, they vary widely. I paid £60 for mine, including P&P, but I've seen them as cheap as £25, although do be wary of companies offering them cheap when they don't have and can't get them. The extra price was worth it though as it was a company I'd delt with before, and they are brilliant with delivery (I ordered on Monday night, and got it Wednesday), and had previously had no problems replacing a dead hard drive (I had the replacement within a week of ordering the original), but that's for another review. It definitely saved me from having to spend more than I wanted to (or could afford) or having to make do with an inferior system.

Summary: Allows you to combine a up to date Pentium Dual or Quad Core with APG Graphics and DDR Memory

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