ASRock Announces its Intel C232 Chipset Motherboards

[btarunr]

Intel's Xeon E3-1200 series processors were pretty popular since their performance is somewhat close to Core i7 processors, but cost way much less. However, earlier Intel has decided to make these new Xeon E3-1200 v5 processors exclusive to Intel C232 chipset platforms, meaning that it won't work on your average Z170/H170/B150/H110 chipset motherboards. On the bright side, ASRock will release two Intel C232 chipset based motherboards after Christmas to match the CPU with the best value, Intel's E3-1230 v5. The first one will be ASRock Fatal1ty E3V5 Performance Gaming/OC for gamers, and the second one a workstation motherboard ASRock E3V5 WS.

Aside from lacking Intel onboard graphics, which game addicts with fancy graphics cards won't miss a bit, ASRock Fatal1ty E3V5 Performance Gaming/OC makes a wonderful gaming rig. It's fully equipped with Gaming Armor, Super Alloy features, ASRock Hyper BCLK Engine, and the rule breaking DDR4 Non-Z OC that enhances the system's overall performance. Both ordinary DDR4 memory modules and ECC memory DIMMs are supported. And of course, features like Key Master, Fatal1ty mouse port and F-Stream aren't missing either.



Meanwhile ASRock E3V5 WS is a workstation motherboard that is specifically designed for content creators. Akin to its gaming oriented counterpart, it also lacks support for Intel's integrated graphics, but supports both ordinary DDR4 memory modules, ECC memory DIMMs, and also AMD FirePro and NVIDIA Quadro high-end graphics cards instead. Moreover, the onboard Intel I219LM LAN chip provides server grade internet connections, plus it allows this workstation motherboard to support server operating systems.

For more details about these boards, visit this page.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Keullo-e]

Does that OC in the gamer motherboard mean that it supports Xeon overclocking? Than it would be a damn nice, when thinking that those Xeons are cheaper than i7's..

 

[hojnikb]

C'mon asrock, pls make C232M-HDS type deal for less 70€...

 

[Atnevon]

So what would be the true difference in a rig with a GTX 780ti between a board of this with the Xeon and another with a i7-6700?

 

[Luis Ku]

So what would be the true difference in a rig with a GTX 780ti between a board of this with the Xeon and another with a i7-6700?

No difference other than clock frequencies and lack of integrated graphics on the xeon side. If you have a dedicated gpu its worth getting one of these xeons because youll save about 100 bucks and its still a 4 core/8 threaded beast. Xeons are also binned for better stability so you're getting one hell of a deal with these xeons. Im waiting for all the manufacturers motherboards to drop their skylake xeon boards since ill be building my home rig on this platform and not the z170. As long as it has m.2 x4 ill be happy.

 

[El_Mayo]

No difference other than clock frequencies and lack of integrated graphics on the xeon side. If you have a dedicated gpu its worth getting one of these xeons because youll save about 100 bucks and its still a 4 core/8 threaded beast. Xeons are also binned for better stability so you're getting one hell of a deal with these xeons. Im waiting for all the manufacturers motherboards to drop their skylake xeon boards since ill be building my home rig on this platform and not the z170. As long as it has m.2 x4 ill be happy.

So Xeons are as good as an i7 as well as more stable and cheaper? what's the catch???

 

[deemon]

So Xeons are as good as an i7 as well as more stable and cheaper? what's the catch???

they price difference isn't exactly that big. at least according to intel:
http://ark.intel.com/compare/88195,88196,88182,88176,88174

only price wins would be the quite a bit slower models:
Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1230 v5 (8M Cache, 3.40 GHz) 250$ <= probably the best price/performance CPU here.
Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1240 v5 (8M Cache, 3.50 GHz) 272$

But then again if you compare them to i7-6700 and not the i7-6700K, then the price difference is again rather small. 250$ vs 303$ => 53$ and not 100$ as someone here told.

so basically take them as alternate i7s that go into different socket for no reason and support ECC RAM... and have iGPU-less models available ... and Xeon sounds more badass than i7, because it has X in it


Catch might be that you need different motherboard and ... maybe their options and selections aren't as wide as for core processors? Frankly seen right now how little the 2 differ from eachother, I have honestly no clue why Intel is doing this nonsense again making basically the same product with different branding.

 

[ironwolf]

Apart from the Xeon CPU, I would venture that most people are not going to be buying a "tray" i7 CPU unless it's off of fleaBay. So if we go off of boxed processors (using Newegg pricing):

Xeon E3-1230 v5 Skylake (Boxed): $274.99
i7-6700 Skylake (Boxed): $349.99
i7-6700K Skylake (Boxed): $419.99

So a $75 price difference between the Xeon and the i7-6700 and $145 between the Xeon and i7-6700K. Not quite the $50 diff but close.

 

[xvi]

Does that OC in the gamer motherboard mean that it supports Xeon overclocking? Than it would be a damn nice, when thinking that those Xeons are cheaper than i7's..

It's fully equipped with Gaming Armor, Super Alloy features, ASRock Hyper BCLK Engine, and the rule breaking DDR4 Non-Z OC that enhances the system's overall performance.

"Hyper BCLK Engine" should mean the answer is yes.

 

[DarthBaggins]

Might have to snag one of these and see how they Fold

 

[deemon]

Apart from the Xeon CPU, I would venture that most people are not going to be buying a "tray" i7 CPU unless it's off of fleaBay. So if we go off of boxed processors (using Newegg pricing):

Xeon E3-1230 v5 Skylake (Boxed): $274.99
i7-6700 Skylake (Boxed): $349.99
i7-6700K Skylake (Boxed): $419.99

So a $75 price difference between the Xeon and the i7-6700 and $145 between the Xeon and i7-6700K. Not quite the $50 diff but close.

this newegg is just one shop with it's random prices.
around here cheapest I could find (across 30+ shops):
intel i7 6700 (boxed): 325€
intel Xeon E3-1230v5 3,4GHz Boxed CPU: 284€

difference: 41€ => ~44$

 

[DarthBaggins]

Not even showing up at my local MicroCenter's yet

 

[bonehead123]

In simple terms, the main drawbacks of current/recent Xeons:

A) No integrated gpu. if your discrete gpu fails, you're sol....
B) Limited overclocking potential: a few hundred mhz on most chips....

and the advantages:

A) Cheaper than comparable i7's.
B) Most chips run 5-15 degrees cooler than a comparable i7.
C) Can draw 10-20 watts less than a comparable i7, which you can then devote to your gpu(s) or other peripherals.
D) Within the same generation, fits the same sockets and can use the same ram, coolers and mounts as i7's.
E) Most chips will support ECC ram, if this is something you require.

Hopefully this new generation will continue this trend, if the earlier posts are any indications.

 

[Disparia]

In simple terms, the main drawbacks of current/recent Xeons:

A) No integrated gpu. if your discrete gpu fails, you're sol....

Four of the eleven E3 v5 CPUs have integrated graphics. It's only these particular boards that are lacking the interface (which I can understand for the Fatal1ty, but should have been included on the WS model, IMO).

 

[newtekie1]

Xeons are also binned for better stability so you're getting one hell of a deal with these xeons.

I would argue that hasn't been the case for several generations.

At this point, I believe Xeons are actually nothing more than desktop i7s that had defective iGPUs. So they disabled the iGPU and sell them as Xeons. The exception being the few that do have an iGPU still enabled.

 

[R-T-B]

I would argue that hasn't been the case for several generations.

At this point, I believe Xeons are actually nothing more than desktop i7s that had defective iGPUs. So they disabled the iGPU and sell them as Xeons. The exception being the few that do have an iGPU still enabled.

Someone's gotta have cracked the die and done a picture to see if that's the truth or not.

 

[Aquinus]

At this point, I believe Xeons are actually nothing more than desktop i7s that had defective iGPUs. So they disabled the iGPU and sell them as Xeons. The exception being the few that do have an iGPU still enabled.

Forgetting ECC support on Xeons and not i7s? It's not just about the iGPU.