At CES 2017, ASRock showcased one of the most interesting PCs in attendance - particularly if you think interest is inversely affected by size. The name they gave it was DeskMini, and it ushers in a Micro-STX form factor, measuring only 210 mm x 157.5 mm x 81.9 mm. But mini-PCs are many these days. What makes this one so interesting?

Well, it's the fact that this seems to embody the perfect proportions - and compromise - between a high-powered PC and a puny NUC or Mini-PC. For one, it carries any choice of a Celeron/Pentium/i3/i5/i7 Intel processor on the socket 1151 (up to a i7 7700K); supports up to a max of 32 GB DDR4 at 2400 MHz on 2x SO-DIMM slots; features 2x SATA III ports (with power connectors) and 3x M.2 ports (two of which support Type 2280/2260 M.2 PCIe Gen 3x4 or a SATA SSD, while the other supports only a PCIe Gen3x4-based SSD); and your choice of either an NVIDIA GTX 1060 (on the GTX series) or an AMD RX 460/470/480 on the (aptly named) RX series.

At the 2017 International CES, ASRock showed off some of its first socket AM4 motherboards for AMD Ryzen processors and 7th generation A-Series "Bristol Ridge" APUs. Leading the pack is the X370 Taichi. Built in the ATX form-factor, the board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. It uses a 16-phase CPU VRM with high-capacity Super Alloy chokes. The AM4 socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, and two PCI-Expres 3.0 x16 slot (x8/x8 when both are populated). The third x16 slot is electrical x4 and wired to the chipset. Two other x1 slots make for the rest of its expansion area.

Connectivity on the X370 Taichi include two USB 3.1 ports (one type-A and one type-C), ten USB 3.0 ports, 8-channel PureSound 4 onboard audio solution (of the same grade the company is deploying on its high-end Intel Z270 motherboards), gigabit Ethernet with an Intel-made controller, and 802.11ac WLAN. Storage options include one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot, one 16 Gb/s M.2 slot, and eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Next up, is the X370 Professional Gaming. This board is practically identical to the X370 Taichi. The two boards share a common PCB, and differ only with the red+black color scheme on the X370 Professional Gaming, as opposed to white+black on the X370 Taichi.

At CES 2017, AMD made a statement on their new AM4's platform readiness to market, revealing some of the upcoming AM4 motherboard designs coming to end users for their Ryzen CPUs and Bristol Ridge. All in all, there were sixteen boards being displayed from the major manufacturers, including overclocking and gaming-oriented models. These boards will be the base for system integrator PC designs to come, with at least seventeen SIs coming on board for today's announcement.

The leading global motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, is pleased to announce the launch of its Intel 200 series motherboard range. These new ASRock boards are the first to unleash the extreme performance of the latest 7th generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium and Celeron Socket 1151 processors - by providing all the advanced features necessary to make the most of their raw power. The ASRock range offers something for everyone with the Gaming series, Extreme series, high performance Pro series, and Killer series.

The design of ASRock's flagship Z270 SuperCarrier motherboard evokes the style and power of the world's mightiest warship, the supercarrier, with features that will blast the competition out of the water. The Z270 SuperCarrier's PCI-E Steel Slots provide ultimate graphics with 4-Way SLI and 4-Way CrossFireX, plus full NVIDIA Quadro SLI support. The advanced PCI-E Steel Slots packed with solid cover that prevents any signal interference with graphics cards. It also ensures the heavy graphics cards to be well-installed in the PCI-E slots safely. Two Thunderbolt 3 connectors with a 40Gb/s data rate are able to drive super high resolution displays up to 4K x 2K (4096 x 2304) at 60Hz, plus high speed external storage, and other advanced devices. The highly desirable reversible USB 3.1 Type-C interface delivers the breathtaking 10 Gb/s data transfer speeds and also supports USB PD 2.0 charging up to 12V@3A (36W).

Here are some of the first pictures of ASRock Z270 Extreme4, the company's mid-range socket LGA1151 motherboard based on Intel's upcoming Z270 Express chipset, with out of the box support for 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors, and support for Intel Optane 3D X-point solid-state storage. Built in the ATX form-factor, the Z270 Extreme4 draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and conditions it for the CPU with a 12-phase VRM.

The CPU socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory; and two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (electrical x8/x8 when both are populated). The third PCIe 3.0 x16 slot is electrical x4 and wired to the PCH. Three open-ended PCIe 3.0 x1 slots make for the rest of the expansion area. Storage connectivity includes eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots. Display connectivity includes one each of D-Sub, DVI, and HDMI. You get a total of eight USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel four by headers), and two USB 3.1 ports (one each of type-A and type-C, both on the rear panel). Eight channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of the connectivity.

Remember ASRock's Beebox? The original Mini PC was originally reviewed here on TechPowerUp to a glowing score and wholehearted recommendation, and now, the company has announced an upgrade to its innards that is sure to give a new lease of life to the device's appeal. The upgraded systems are powered by either Intel's Core i5-7100U (2C/4T, 2.5 GHz base and 3.1 GHz Boost clocks) or i3-7200U (2C/4T, 2.4 GHz base clock) CPUs, featuring the Kaby Lake micro-architecture, but are, apart from that, identical to their predecessors. The system can also be equipped with up to 32 GB of DDR4-2133 memory (two SO-DIMM slots), an M.2-2280 NVMe SSD and a 2.5" SSD/HDD depending on your particular demands. Meanwhile, Intel's 802.11ac Wi-Fi + BT 4.0 wireless module is pre-installed.

ASRock updated its Beebox-S line of mini-PC desktops with 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors. These 110 mm x 46 mm x 118.5 mm (WxHxL) desktops come with two new processor options, Core i5-7200U, and Core i3-7100U. Both are dual-core chips, with the i5-7200U offering 2.50-3.10 GHz clock speeds (core/Turbo Boost), 3 MB L3 cache, and Intel HD 620 graphics; while the i3-7100U offers 2.40 GHz clocks (no Turbo Boost), 3 MB L3 cache, and HD 620 graphics.

Other internal features of the Beebox-S include two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2133 memory; one 32 Gb/s M.2-2280 slot with NVMe boot support, and one 9 mm-thick 2.5-inch drive bay with SATA 6 Gb/s interface. Network connectivity includes 802.11ac WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0, Infrared, and gigabit Ethernet. Display outputs include one each of HDMI 2.0 (supports 4K @ 60 Hz), HDMI 1.4, and DisplayPort 1.2a. Other features include two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 3.1 ports (of which one is type-C), and an infrared media remote. ASRock didn't reveal pricing.

Here are some of the first pictures of a production version of an ASRock Z270 Fatal1ty-branded motherboard. While there's no picture of the board in full, Expreview scored pictures of its key sections, including its CPU VRM area, showing us prominent "Z270" badging on a VRM heatsink, a Fatal1ty logo on the PCH heatsink and its print on the PCB; and an Intel Gigabit Ethernet on the rear I/O hood, and Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 3 logo on the audio area hood; all pointing to this being a production version.

The rear I/O picture reveals two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, provision for a WLAN card, four USB 3.1 ports (of which one is type-C), two USB 3.0 ports, 8-channel HD audio with a TOSLINK connector; and display outputs including DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. Storage appears to include eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and at least one M.2 slot (with Intel Optane support out of the box). Not much else is revealed by these pictures. Intel 200-series chipset motherboards are expected to launch alongside 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors, in January 2017.

The globally-praised ASRock DeskMini 110 barebone series and the most compact mainboard H110M-STX are the world's first H110 chipset based products that support Intel next generation processors. Simply update BIOS after P1.40 version, users are able to enjoy the exciting performance of new CPUs.

The highly-recognized DeskMini 110 barebone series and H110M-STX motherboard are the very first models based on the Mini Socket Technology Extended (Mini-STX) form factor that add the flexibility to support Intel LGA 1151 socket-based Intel processors. Besides the comprehensive and valuable configurability options, ASRock Mini-STX series is also well focused on improving every possible computing features. Both two products are the pioneer that are compatible with the popular Samsung 950 Pro NVMe M.2 SSDs and Intel's latest 600p series SSDs with the fastest PCIe Gen3 x4 speed.

ASRock's 100-series motherboards support Next Generation socket 1151 Intel Core Processors. Via a new BIOS update, ASRock Z170, H170, B150 and H110 series motherboards are resurrected. With only a few clicks, users are able to update the BIOS and enjoy the outstanding performance of next generation Intel processors.

Not only to those high-end and mainstream motherboards, ASRock also takes the latest BIOS to those entry level ones. From the Z170, H170, B150 series to the H110 series, users may expect more powerful processing speed yet enhanced capabilities by Intel's new processors. To download the latest BIOS updates, visit the ASRock website.

ASRock introduced a trio of low-cost embedded motherboards for entry-level desktops based on Intel's newest 14 nm "Apollo Lake" Pentium/Celeron SoCs. These include J3455-ITX and J3455M based on the Celeron J3455 quad-core SoC; and the J4205-ITX, based on the Pentium J4205 quad-core SoC. The J3455-ITX and J4205-ITX are based on a common board design, differing only with the SoC, while the J3455M features a narrow, 3-slot micro-ATX design.

The J4205-ITX and J3455-ITX take in power from a 24-pin ATX connector. The SoC is wired to two DDR3L SO-DIMM slots, supporting up to DDR3-1866 MHz spec. Expansion slots include one PCI-Express x1, and an M.2 (PCIe x2 electrical) connector. Besides this M.2, storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s ports. 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and four USB 3.0 ports complete its connectivity. The J3455M features a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x1) besides two other PCIe x1 slots, and features two standard DDR3 DIMM slots instead of SO-DIMM; and features 6-channel HD audio instead of 8-channel. The rest of its connectivity is the same as its ITX siblings.

Ahead of their Q1-2017 launch alongside the 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors, the boxes of two premium ASRock motherboards based on the upcoming Z270 Express chipset smiled for the camera. These are the ASRock Z270 Gaming K6, and the Z270 Pro4, or at least that's the best we could read through the blur. The Z270 Gaming K6 could be a premium offering, while the Z270 Pro4 could be an entry-mainstream one.

Just as Intel launched both the 6-series and 7-series chipset for the LGA1155 socket, and the 8-series and 9-series chipset for the LGA1150 socket; the Z270 could be Intel's second platform for the LGA1151 socket, in being compatible with both the upcoming 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors, and the existing 6th generation Core "Skylake" ones. Existing 100-series chipset motherboards will support "Kaby Lake" chips with BIOS updates.

-- images removed at request of AsRock --

ASRock unveiled the Z170M-PIO2, a micro-ATX socket LGA1151 motherboard with a unique angled PCI-Express gen 3.0 x16 slot that lets you install a graphics card parallel to the plane of the motherboard. It takes away the need for PCIe riser cables in certain PIO form-factor compliant SFF chassis. The PIO form-factor is an emerging standard of compact SFF cases that you mount along the VESA wall-mount bolts of your display. Technically, the board conforms to the uDTX form-factor, but is compatible with micro-ATX and PIO form-factors.

Its star-attraction aside, the Z170-PIO2, as its name suggests, is based on the overclocking-ready Z170 Express chipset. It supports up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory with its two memory slots. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors. Besides the angled PCIe x16, you get an mPCIe slot (for WLAN cards), and one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot. Four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, 6-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of its connectivity.

ASRock rolled out the H110M-DS/Hyper, an entry-level socket LGA1151 motherboard for gaming PC builds on a shoestring budget. The company is positioning this board as a gaming-grade product, with a cooled CPU VRM, and an all-solid-state capacitor design. The board is based on the Intel H110 Express chipset. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, conditioning it for the CPU with a 4+1 phase VRM.

The CPU socket is wired to two DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2133 MHz memory; and one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. The only other expansion slot is a PCI-Express 2.0 x1, wired to the H110 PCH. Connectivity is basic, with four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by headers), 6-channel HD audio, and gigabit Ethernet (Realtek RTL8111GR). The only display output is a dual-link DVI connector. The board is driven by UEFI BIOS. Expect a sub-$60 price.

Someone with access to a Core i7-7700K "Kaby Lake" processor and an ASRock Z270-Extreme4 motherboard put the chip through SiSoft SANDRA 2015 CPU tests. Engineering sample or not, the clock speeds of the chip appear to check out with those of the lineup as we know it. The core ticks at 4.20 GHz, with a maximum Turbo Boost frequency of 4.50 GHz. You also get 8 MB of L3 cache, and HyperThreading. The benchmark confirms that Intel is working on a new platform refresh chipset, with the Z270 chipset succeeding the existing Z170. Existing LGA1151 could support the new chips, with BIOS updates.

At its stock speeds, the i7-7700K churns out a SANDRA 2015 "Processor Arithmetic" score of 151.94 GOPS. Its "Processor Multimedia" score yielded is 379.8 Mpix/s. To put things in perspective, a Core i7-6700K "Skylake" processor running at its stock speed of 4.00 GHz core with 4.20 GHz Turbo Boost typically yields 140.88 GOPS in "Processor Arithmetic" and 353.8 Mpix/s in "Processor Multimedia" tests, according to LegitReviews. Intel is expected to launch the 7th generation Core processor family, alongside the 200 series chipset, later this year. Kaby Lake is Intel's third CPU micro-architecture for the 14 nm process, after "Skylake" and "Broadwell."

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and gaming peripherals, is proud to announce that 12 overclocking records in 8 different benchmarks were broken during Computex week this year, including the world's fastest memory frequency world record at DDR4 5189.2 MHz.

Special thanks to the event sponsors Samsung, Intel, and NVIDIA, as well as the industry's leading performance motherboard vendors, including MSI, ASUS, EVGA, GIGABYTE, and ASRock, the G.SKILL 5th Annual OC World Record Stage brought together the world's most powerful PC hardware in one venue to demonstrate the bleeding edge limits of current technology. Over the course of the 5 days at Computex, multiple benchmarks records were pushed to the new extreme levels, using G.SKILL DDR4 memory built with Samsung ICs, Intel Core i7 processors, the latest NVIDIA GPU, and the newest Z170/X99 motherboards designed for extreme performance.

Intel's upcoming Core i7-6850K six-core processor made its way to the hands of an enthusiast on OCN, who wasted no time in picturing the chip, and putting it through a few handy tests. Built for the LGA2011v3 socket, the i7-6850K is based on the 14 nm "Broadwell-E" silicon, and features six cores, HyperThreading enabling 12 logical CPUs, 15 MB of L3 cache, and a nominal clock speed of 3.60 GHz. To begin with, while the i7-6850K is pin-compatible with existing socket LGA2011v3 motherboards (and logically features an identical pin-map to "Haswell-E,") the package is slightly different. Its fiberglass substrate is slightly thinner (1.12 mm vs. 1.87 mm of "Haswell-E,"). Its thickness is made up for by a chunkier IHS (integrated heatspreader).

The i7-6850K sample was installed on a machine with ASRock X99 Extreme3 motherboard (BIOS: P3.30), 16 GB of quad-channel DDR4-2133 memory, and a single GeForce GTX 980 Ti graphics card. It was compared to a Core i7-5820K processor on the same setup. The i7-6850K based setup was barely (~1%) faster at 3DMark FireStrike Extreme in its final score, however, its CPU-intensive Physics score was 14.9% higher. Moving on to the community favorite Cinebench R15, the i7-6850K yielded a 10% higher score. To test its single-core performance, the chip was put through SuperPi 32M, where the i7-6850K crunched through the test in 8m 27.854s, compared to 8m 38.866s by the i7-5820K.

ASRock introduced the H110M-HDVP entry-level socket LGA1151 motherboard with additional legacy connectivity for office PC builds to cope with old peripherals. The board is built in the slim micro-ATX form-factor, drawing power from a combination of 24-pin and 4-pin ATX power connectors, conditioning it with a basic 3+1 phase VRM. The board features two DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel memory.

Expansion slots on the H110M-HDVP include one each of PCI-Express 3.0 x16, legacy PCI, and two PCIe 2.0 x1. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Display outputs include one each of HDMI, D-Sub, and DVI. Among its legacy connectivity options are two RS-232 serial COM ( one on the rear panel, one via header), parallel LPT (through header), and separate PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports. Four USB 3.0 ports (two via headers, two on the rear panel), 6-channel HD audio, and gigabit Ethernet, make for its modern connectivity. Expect a sub-$80 price.

Aside from appreciating a delicate compact design, most people barely recognize the artisanship and technology breakthrough it takes to shrink gizmos by even merely an inch. That said, it took two great minds, both Intel and ASRock working side by side to build one of the world's smallest mini PCs - ASRock DeskMini.

"We are excited to be working with ASRock as an ecosystem partner on innovative products," said Steve R. Peterson, Client Marketing and Enabling Director at Intel Corp. "The Mini Socket Technology Extended (Mini-STX) form factor adds the flexibility to support Intel LGA 1151 socket-based Intel processors in the mini PC segment. Ultimately, the Mini-STX component stack provides valuable configurability options for the channel, by extending the DT tower building block model into some of the smallest mini PCs available today."

Not in the wake of Poseidon, but the intense quests of DDR4 memory overclocking, G.SKILL has released its Trident Z DDR4 4333MHz memory modules. Apparently, these overpowered memory sticks named after the destructive weapon of Neptune are meant to operate at a brain melting 4333MHz frequency, however they are not destined to be wielded by just any mortal, currently only ASRock's overclocking oriented motherboard - Z170M OC Formula has what it takes to support these legendary memory DIMMs.

Frank, marketing manager from G.SKILL further illustrated, "G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 4333MHz memory kit is specifically designed for extreme overclocking on the latest ASRock Z170M OC Formula motherboard and 6th Gen Intel Core Processors. Using only specially selected performance components, it is the speediest DDR4 memory kit on the market today that pushes the Z170 platform to its extreme limits."

Whether you were aware of it before or not, Intel's new line of 14 nanometer die shrink Broadwell-E processors are arriving shortly this year, and ASRock's engineers have already completed uploading new versions of BIOS for their X99 motherboards to support these Intel Broadwell-E CPUs. Clearly the new chips aren't available in the market yet, but if patience isn't your strong suit, then perhaps you could get a two minute head start by downloading the BIOS and upgrading now.

The most unmissable part of Intel Broadwell-E is the flagship Core i7-6950X, which will be the first deca-core processor for the commercial market. While this new CPU boasts a compelling ten cores and twenty threads architecture, users require a BIOS update for their motherboards to handle it, this update applies to the rest of the Broadwell-E gang, including i7-6900K, i7-6850K and i7-6800K as well. Rest assured that ASRock's former X99 chipset motherboards will all support the new chips. Upgrade now and hold on to your horses until the new CPUs are delivered, just don't hold your breath. Find your update from this page.

ASRock is implementing a novel workaround to Intel's recent base-clock overclocking restrictions for its 6th generation Core "Skylake" processors. The company announced the Fatal1ty H170 Gaming K4 HYPER and Fatal1ty B150 Gaming K4 HYPER motherboards, which are based on a common PCB, but differ with chipset - H170 Express and B150 Express. The two use an external clock-generator chip to give cadence to the CPU, circumventing the on-die clock-generator Intel has been using for the past several generations of Core processor chipsets.

With this contraption, you can increase base clock frequency on non-K Core processors in fine increments of 0.0625 MHz, as well as tweak memory clock. Its star attraction aside, the two "HYPER" series motherboards offer mid-range feature-sets, that are nearly identical to those of the Fatal1ty H170 Gaming K4 and the Fatal1ty B150 Gaming K4 boards.

ASRock introduced the A88M-ITXac socket FM2+ motherboard. As its name suggests, the board is built in the mini-ITX form-factor, and is based on AMD A88X chipset, supporting the latest socket FM2+ APUs and CPUs. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, conditioning it with a 5-phase CPU VRM. The socket is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2400 memory; and the board's lone expansion slot - a PCI-Express 3.0 x16.

Storage connectivity on the A88M-ITXac includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and an M.2 PCIe port (on the reverse side of the PCB). Network connectivity includes 802.11ac WLAN (up to 433 Mbps), Bluetooth 4.0, and gigabit Ethernet. Display outputs include one each of HDMI 1.4a, dual-link DVI, and D-Sub. The board supports AMD Dual-Graphics, which lets you run the APU's onboard graphics in tandem with a select Radeon discrete graphics card, for added performance. Four USB 3.0 ports, and 6-channel HD audio make up the board's modern connectivity. The company didn't announce pricing.

Earlier, Intel confirmed that its Skylake processors were plagued by a bug which causes the system to freeze or act abnormally when executing complex workloads, such as the stress test benchmark Prime95. While the majority of computer users might not use Prime95 at all, or never had the urge to stress their system to the point of discovering this Intel Skylake bug, still ASRock has already released BIOS updates for fixing this flaw on all of their Intel 100 Series motherboards. So, on the bright side, after a quick ASRock BIOS update you will never notice or remember Intel's small hiccup.

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.