Categories




Review Contents:

ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 R5.0 Motherboard Review

by AkG     |     January 22, 2008




ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 R5.0 Motherboard Review





Manufacturer Product Page: ASRock Motherboard - Product - 4Core1333-eSATA2 - Overview
Product Number: 4Core1333-eSATA2 R5.0
Availability: Now
Price: Approx. $105CAD
Warranty Length: 1 year



ASRock Inc started in 2002 as a subsidiary of ASU has long been known for producing reliable entry level motherboards, at competitive prices but lately they have been branching off into a bit higher-end products. Let's face it, not everyone is willing to spend two hundred or more dollars on a motherboard that is dual-GPU compatible and can overclock a processsor like no tomorrow. In fact most people are more than willing to spend a lot less and get a motherboard that does what they need as long as it is completely stable, and if they need an extra bell or whistle they just buy a few aftermarket parts. Being successful in this market means a manufacturer has to know exactly what a particular market niche needs, wants, desires and most importantly can deliver it at a reasonable price. In the past ASRock has shown an uncanny ability to read the market place months in advance and deliver exactly what their customer wants at exactly the right time and sell it at the right price.

Just a few short months ago ASRock was spun off from Asus, went public and became its own company. While the ownership may have changed, their philosophy of producing stable, value-oriented motherboards based on older chipsets certainly has not and this holds true for the motherboard we see here today. The subject of this review is ASRocks new Core 2 Duo (LGA 775) ready motherboard called the 4Core1333-eSATA2 R5.0. This motherboard is based on a heavily tweaked Intel P31 & ICH7R chipset architecture, and has been modified so it can support just about any C2D processor from the older 800MHz FSB to the newer 1333MHz FSB CPUs. Interestingly enough it is also purported to be Wolfdale ready though we have yet to test that claim.

The naming conventions ASRock uses for their motherboards is very straightforward and in this case 4Core1333-eSATA2 basically means that this product is compatible with all 1333Mhz FSB (and below) processors which includes Quad Cores (Kentsfield) and it comes with a built-in eSATA port. That being said, with a price of about $105CAD it is set up to compete directly against some very popular budget motherboards like the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L even though this ASRock has quite a few more features.

Will this board meet the needs of its intended audience, and more importantly is a $100 board still a value oriented board or does it cross over into the enthusiast level?


 
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Bookmark to Slashdot!Stumble this Post!Reddit! Bookmark to Newsvine!
 

Latest Reviews in Motherboards
January 25, 2010
With the dawn of the USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s age, motherboard manufacturers have been quick to adopt both of these new technologies. Gigabyte in particular has been at the forefront of technology and ...
December 28, 2009
What is black and red and full of sexy all over? Well we can't tell you because it is Classified. That's right, this is another installment of the EVGA Classified show. Our guest star is of the P55 va...
December 20, 2009
Gigabyte has a long-standing tradition of manufacturing some of the most reliable motherboards on the market but reliability is just one of many necessities when competing in the P55 market. Their n...
LinkBacks (?)
LinkBack to this Thread: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/4123-asrock-4core1333-esata2-r5-0-motherboard-review.html
Posted By Date
i.com - ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 R5.0 ̃N`R~f November 5, 2009 09:47 PM
݂Ȃ̃wAPAp` KnoppixUSBu[g̎d October 18, 2009 11:10 AM
āIیs KnoppixUSBu[g̎d October 17, 2009 01:23 AM
PC Perspective - News Archive October 15, 2009 06:42 PM
Daily Reviews Summary 01/23/08 October 15, 2009 06:01 PM
āIZiddy KnoppixUSBu[g̎d September 18, 2009 09:52 PM
PC - BOOT.lv June 30, 2009 02:10 PM
techPowerUp! :: Review Database June 20, 2009 07:49 AM
ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 R5.0 Motherboard Review April 23, 2009 04:39 PM