Hi,
I'm looking for a motherboard for a new PC, I won't go in to the other details but I've decided to settle on a high end FM2 full ATX mobo and basically the two options here are the Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 and Asrock FM2A85X Extreme6. The AsRock actually ends up being slightly more expensive then the GB here and the GB will have better warranty support since the AsRock is being imported directly by a retailer. (The Asus F2A85-V PRO isn't available here in fact no ASUS full ATX, nor are the higher end Sapphire, BioStar or MSI and to be honest I don't really trust BioStar nor ECS. It's basically this or the Extreme4/D3H if I want a decent full ATX.)
In terms of feature set, the GB actually seems better except for the possibly weaker power design as it'll be more useful to have the extra PCI express 1x then the PCI (even with the limitations) and the better Realtek codec on the Asrock is likely to be unused since I'll be using HDMI audio I suspect. Plus dual BIOS is always nice even with the modern attempts to increase the chance of recovery from a BIOS flashing problem. (I don't think I'm like to use the IR or CIR on the AsRock board or the TPM on the GB board.) GB also has a more robust and efficient power regulation design
But from reviews and a look at their BIOS updates, it seems to me that on the whole Asrock have the better BIOS support particularly when it comes to OCing and high speed (IMC OC) memory support even if the official support list for GB seems to list more options then the AsRock for high speed memory. At least AsRock seems to have a fair amount more BIOS updates relating to that whereas GB have been fairly quiet (unless they're just very bad at release notes). Although AsRock seem to have had some dumb limitations in their BIOS like the lack of IOMMU and >512MB shared memory support, I don't think it's just AsRock making up for lost ground. In particular, I've read reports of people finding it's easier to get the Asrock working with high speed memory and also extreme overclocking and preferring (from experience) the Asrock's power control. I may do some minor overclocking but I'm particularly interested in the high speed memory support.
Any opinions?
Cheers
I'm looking for a motherboard for a new PC, I won't go in to the other details but I've decided to settle on a high end FM2 full ATX mobo and basically the two options here are the Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 and Asrock FM2A85X Extreme6. The AsRock actually ends up being slightly more expensive then the GB here and the GB will have better warranty support since the AsRock is being imported directly by a retailer. (The Asus F2A85-V PRO isn't available here in fact no ASUS full ATX, nor are the higher end Sapphire, BioStar or MSI and to be honest I don't really trust BioStar nor ECS. It's basically this or the Extreme4/D3H if I want a decent full ATX.)
In terms of feature set, the GB actually seems better except for the possibly weaker power design as it'll be more useful to have the extra PCI express 1x then the PCI (even with the limitations) and the better Realtek codec on the Asrock is likely to be unused since I'll be using HDMI audio I suspect. Plus dual BIOS is always nice even with the modern attempts to increase the chance of recovery from a BIOS flashing problem. (I don't think I'm like to use the IR or CIR on the AsRock board or the TPM on the GB board.) GB also has a more robust and efficient power regulation design
But from reviews and a look at their BIOS updates, it seems to me that on the whole Asrock have the better BIOS support particularly when it comes to OCing and high speed (IMC OC) memory support even if the official support list for GB seems to list more options then the AsRock for high speed memory. At least AsRock seems to have a fair amount more BIOS updates relating to that whereas GB have been fairly quiet (unless they're just very bad at release notes). Although AsRock seem to have had some dumb limitations in their BIOS like the lack of IOMMU and >512MB shared memory support, I don't think it's just AsRock making up for lost ground. In particular, I've read reports of people finding it's easier to get the Asrock working with high speed memory and also extreme overclocking and preferring (from experience) the Asrock's power control. I may do some minor overclocking but I'm particularly interested in the high speed memory support.
Any opinions?
Cheers
