( ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 )
And in fact, we don’t need to look that far back at all: ASRock engineers manage to surprise us even these days by offering solutions with sockets and technologies that seem to be absolutely incompatible at first glance. Being a CPU and chipset manufacturer, Intel is interested in encouraging the users to buy a new mainboard for a new CPU. If they only could they would design a unique core logic set for every new processor incompatible with other CPUs. ASRock, however, keeps disclaiming all incompatibility statements, proving with their new products that even some of the oldest chipsets may normally support the latest processors.
However, things are not as simple as they may seem at first. One of these days they will definitely offer a solution for AMD processors based around an Intel core logic set, or something nearly as amazing. And right now, while these times haven’t come yet, let’s take a close look at ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 mainboard for Intel processors based on Intel P31 Express chipset.
Intel P31 Express chipset differs from Intel P35 Express by the name: an insignificant different, of course.
Intel P31 Express shouldn’t be used for high-performance machines. “Shouldn’t” doesn’t mean it won’t. Overall, the borderline between Performance PC and Mainstream PC is pretty washed out today, and we will definitely compare the performance of Intel P31 Express chipset against that of Intel P35 Express chipset in the end of our today’s review.
Intel P31 Express doesn’t support Intel Core 2 Extreme processors. However, it officially supports Intel Core 2 Quad. Firstly, this is a much more up-to-date feature than the support of thousand-dollar Core 2 Extreme. And secondly, what is the actual difference between Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Quad? The price and unlocked frequency multiplier apart, there is nothing else, so Intel Core 2 Extreme processors will work in Intel P31 Express based mainboards just fine.
Intel P31 Express doesn’t support 1333MHz processor bus. I am sure that ASRock engineers loved this joke. Just look at the actual name of the mainboards we are talking about today: ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2. If this doesn’t help, look at its technical specifications and try to figure out if it actually supports 1333MHz FSB :)
Intel P31 Express chipset supports maximum 4GB of system memory, while Intel P35 Express officially supports maximum 8GB. If I were a marketing specialist, I would probably claim that Intel P35 Express chipset is twice as good as Intel P31 Express from this prospective. And no one would be able to call me a liar, because it is absolutely correct. It is a different question, that there is no real practical benefit to this feature yet. Until the infrastructure switches completely to 64-bit operating systems and 64-bit applications, it doesn’t make much sense to install even 4GB of RAM, not to mention 8GB. When that happens, we will see completely different mainboards on totally new chipsets taking over the marketplace, so this really significant advantage of the Intel P35 Express will not be of any practical value for a long time. However, it is hard to object to actual numbers like that: support of only 4GB of RAM is indeed a drawback, although only a theoretical one at this time.
Intel P31 Express chipset doesn’t support DDR3 SDRAM. And it doesn’t need this support. DDR3 these days is either slower than DDR2 and noticeably expensive, or a little bit faster and much more expensive. It will take at least 6 months for the prices to level out, and even more for DDR3 to become more efficient than DDR2 performance-wise.
Other differences are determined by the functionality of the chipset South Bridges: ICH9 by Intel P35 Express and ICH7 by Intel P31 Express. And you know, ICH9 is not necessarily better. For example, besides four SATA ports, Intel P31 Express chipset supports one PATA port allowing connection of up to two devices. And taking into account that Intel P35 Express based mainboards all have one PATA port that is implemented with an additional onboard controller, i.e. at our expense, Intel P31 Express turns out to have an advantage over the competitor from this standpoint.
Another indisputable, but not very noticeable difference: 12 USB ports by Intel P35 Express chipset against 8 USB ports by Intel P31 Express. To begin with, there are very few boards out there that have more than 4-6 USB ports laid out initially. The rest of the ports require purchasing additional brackets or connecting the system case USBs. But, assuming that all the USB ports are available to us, what will we use them for? The keyboard and mouse take up two ports; web-cam takes the third one; a flash drive or a card reader – the fourth; another flash drive may be permanently plugged in for the ReadyBoost technology to work in Windows Vista – that’s the fifth one; a USB light may take the sixth port; a USB printer – the seventh; a USB scanner – the eighth; and if we still need more ports we can use a USB hub to connect our USB massager or USB drink heater/cooler. I cannot think of anything else to connect, so, yes, 8 USB ports is indeed a very “serious” drawback.
In conclusion I could remind you that Intel P35 Express has eSATA ports, but the mainboard we are going to talk about today also has them. I could mention Rapid Recover Technology, but this is a not very significant feature, either.
All in all, if we go through the whole list once again, we will see that there are only two important differences: Intel P31 Express allows installing only 4GB of RAM (a not very serious drawback still) and Intel P35 Express doesn’t support PATA ports. Still, everything I have just said doesn’t at all imply that Intel P31 Express is better than Intel P35 Express. I would only like to make the point that Intel P31 Express is at least not any worse than Intel P35 Express.
Closer Look at ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 Mainboard
Package and Accessories:
ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 mainboard comes in a small box. The front side of the package is decorated with numerous logos of the functions and technologies the board supports. The reverse side lists the advantages of eSATA over USB backing them up with tables and charts.
The box is relatively thin because of modest accessories bundle. The package contains a think user’s manual booklet in several languages, ISE and FDD cables, a pair of SATA cables and a Serial ATA port adapter, a CD disk with software and drivers, a rear panel I/O Shield and a thin two-wire cable. I haven’t yet come across cables like that, so I had to consult the manual that stated that it was an HDMI_SPDIF cable getting the sound to the graphics card. One connector should be plugged into the mainboard, another one – to the graphics card (two- or three-pin connector, depending on the graphics card). As a result, the video and sound are transferred along a single HDMI cable.
PCB Design and Features:
At first I was a little confused by the info on the chipset his mainboard uses that I found on the manufacturer’s web-site and on the mainboard package. When I saw that it is base on Intel P31/G31 North Bridge I decided that this mainboard features integrated graphics and like many other mainboards of the kind it should be designed in compact but very inconvenient for proper components placement MicroATX format. In reality, ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 has no integrated graphics, it is designed in standard ATX form-factor, however, despite this fact it cannot boast ideal PCB layout. The power supply connector stands out in the very center of the PCB, the FDD connector is in the very bottom right beneath the PCI slots, and the free room on the PCB that emerged because of not very optimal components placement is covered with mainboard name and model names written in unusually large font.
Unlike many contemporary mainboards, ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 has not a single solid-state capacitor onboard, even in the processor voltage regulator circuitry.
Moreover, despite the constantly stressed quad-core processors support, the board uses a four-pin ATX12V power connector and a 20-pin ATX instead of 8- and 24-pin connectors respectively.If you cast a glance at the reverse side of the ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 PCB, you will see something you would rather not: numerous solder contacts right beneath the LGA775 processor Socket. If you intend to install a CPU cooler with a backplate, you may damage the contacts and thus put the system out of order.
We were a little disappointed to see jumpers on ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 mainboard: two jumpers next to the power supply connector and another one beneath the first PCI Express x16 slot.
I was pretty surprised to find no mention of these jumpers in the electronic version of the mainboard user’s manual or on the company web-site, however, the printed booklet did tell about them. These jumpers turned out to serve for proper DDR2 533 support implementation for processors with different nominal FSB speed. They are placed very inconveniently, you will have to remove the graphics card and disconnect the power cable to switch the jumpers. Moreover, no one uses jumpers in the 21st century anymore: it is inconvenient and most mainboard makers have given them up already.
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