ASRock Launches SLI 650i Motherboard with Yorkfield Support

[Jimmy 2004]

For users craving for SLI configuration, NVIDIA 680i SLI motherboards might be a little bit out of budget, and they are not the first priority SLI MB from the perspective of cost-effectiveness. NVIDIA 650iSLI, instead, becomes the best alternative with affordable price and powerful over clocking capability. ASRock Penryn1600SLI-110dB is unique among other 650i SLI motherboards on the market, because it is the worldwide the only 650i SLI MB that supports Intel Yorkfield CPU. There is a wide range of CPU selection for this motherboard, from the mainstream Core 2 Duo E6550 CPU, Q9300, Q9400 CPU to the high-end QX9770 CPU. ASRock Penryn1600SLI-110dB also comes with high-end ALC890 audio codec, which supports DAC with 110dB dynamic range, consumer level sound quality. And yes, this motherboard is designed with all solid capacitors, which makes it a reliable and durable MB for over clocking fans.



Let me highlight some of its most important features here immediately before getting into the fascinating testing part. For CPU support, ASRock Penryn1600SLI-110dB supports Intel Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo / Pentium Dual Core / Celeron, and even Penryn Quad Core Yorkfield and Dual Core Wolfdale processors. One of its most distinctive features is its support of Intel Yorkfield CPU, which makes it one and only 650i SLI on the market supporting Yorkfield CPU such as QX9770 CPU, which the test results will be shown later.

This motherboard is designed with all solid capacitors, which makes it a solid, reliable motherboard for extreme over clocking. The sound quality of this motherboard is not something you should ignore. It is designed with ALC890 audio codec with 110dB dynamic range, bringing you consumer level sound quality. As for other features, this motherboard comes with 4 DIMM slots of Dual Channel DDR2 800/667/533 with maximum capacity up to 8GB, 3 x PCI Express x16 slots (white @ x16 mode, yellow @ x8 mode) for SLI VGA cards configuration. You may install either one VGA card on the white PCI-E x16 slot or two NVIDIA SLI series VGA cards on the two yellow PCI-E x16 slots. It's all up to your budget.

As for the external devices interface, this motherboard comes with IEEE1394, Gigabit LAN which is very favored by many users. This motherboard adopts 7.1 CH Windows Vista Premium Level HD Audio (ALC890 Audio Codec), featuring 4 SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors supporting RAID (RAID 0, 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5, JBOD) and NCQ functions. For the back panel I/O, it even comes with a Coaxial SPDIF Out Port and an Optical SPDIF Out Port.

Performance Comparison of Penryn1600SLI-110dB with 780i SLI MB (with QX9770 CPU)

Here are Penryn1600SLI-110dB brief specifications:

• LGA 775 for Intel Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo / Pentium Dual Core / Celeron, supporting Penryn Quad Core Yorkfield and Dual Core Wolfdale processors
• All Solid Capacitor design
• NVIDIA 650iSLI + NVIDIA nForce 430 Chipsets
• Compatible with all FSB1600/1333/1066/800MHz CPUs
• Supports Dual Channel DDR2 800/667/533 x 4 DIMM slots, maximum capacity up to 8GB
• Supports NVIDIA SLI
• 3 x PCI Express x16 slots (white @ x16 mode, yellow @ x8 mode)
• Supports Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
• Supports 2 x IEEE1394 ports (one port on back panel, one header on board)
• 4 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, JBOD and RAID 5) and NCQ functions
• 1 x WiFi/E header
• 7.1 CH Windows Vista Premium Level HD Audio with Content Protection, supports DAC with 110dB dynamic range (ALC890 Audio Codec)
• Supports ASRock OC Tuner
• Windows Vista Premium 2007 Logo Ready
• Free Bundle: ASRock SLI Bridge
• ASRock WiFi_SPDIF I/O Plus : 1 x Coaxial SPDIF Out Port, 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port, 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED, 1 x IEEE 1394 Port

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Kursah]

It seems what I read earlier about ASRock getting into the higher-end performance and overclocking realm with their motherboards was true. If they can keep this trend going and in-fact can show that older chipsets can provide great OC-ing abilities and support for newer components they could create a better niche for themselves.

I do hope that this board is successful and that it's support is true and that it can maintain stability with what it promises to provide.

 

[vega22]

this is good news for those of us on tight budgets but i can see that nb getting very warm

 

[Assimilator]

Yeah, that heatsink is verrry tiny - perhaps the latest 650i chips are being manufactured on a smaller process, thus allowing them to run cooler? Or maybe that heatsink is just really really tall...

Anyways, looks like this platform is my next upgrade - SLI on the cheap and Penryn compatibility, without the heat issues that plague the 780i. I'll wait until ASUS and Gigabyte bring out their models though - they'll probably have better features (and coolers ) than this Asrock model.

 

[tkpenalty]

Yeah, that heatsink is verrry tiny - perhaps the latest 650i chips are being manufactured on a smaller process, thus allowing them to run cooler? Or maybe that heatsink is just really really tall...

Anyways, looks like this platform is my next upgrade - SLI on the cheap and Penryn compatibility, without the heat issues that plague the 780i. I'll wait until ASUS and Gigabyte bring out their models though - they'll probably have better features (and coolers ) than this Asrock model.

You mean Wolfdale and Yorkfield

Apart from the heat issue, the 24 pin power positioning seems to be fairly okay. Its not a usual position but it won't really be an issue for cable mangement afaik. Looks like a fairly solid board with all the solid caps and good ferrites.

Looks like a pretty nice future proof board thats damn cheap, these boards will probably be really popular. (Asrock's 24 pin positioning.... is optimal for my case lol... hmm asrock made this board almost BTX like).

EDIT:.... wah another budget sleeper board. First my P31 and now that board