I never forgiven AsRock & Intel removing overclocking from my "budget overclockers" H97M-ITX/ac with a BIOS update after the fact. A BIOS update required in order to upgrade to windows 10 or install patches.
Nothing like having your product segmented after the purchase. -grumble grumble-
Don't think ASRock had much choice about that one - IIRC they were bypassing Intel's official guidance, and Intel have historically been quite brutal with companies that don't step back into line when asked.
ASRock are still king when it comes to SFF systems, from bonkers ITX boards (X299? Yup. LGA-3647? Sure, we can cram one on there. Hell, we'll throw in quad-channel too! ITX NAS board hosting 12 drives without an add-in card? Why the heck not!) to just dreaming up new form-factors to fill a niche (e.g. Micro STX, a socketable 5x5 board with an MXM slot). With the vanishingly small difference between boards within a form-factor (PCB colour and flavour of RGB aside, basically any two ATX boards will do exactly the same thing within a margin of error) it's much appreciated having something out of the ordinary to offer.
Yeah, part of the reason I ended up with a Z590 Aorus Elite AX ($220). The most well-rounded offering in this $200-250 range, in my opinion. ALC1200 audio, same Wifi6 module as this board, 4 more USB ports, neutral color scheme, decent bios for overclocking.
I don't usually comment on how a motherboard looks, as looks add nothing to performance or compatibility--but I'll make an exception in this case. That's the ugliest motherboard I've ever seen and I have seen a lot of motherboards...;)
Also, cannot figure why with its latest chipset Intel still cannot deliver a system-wide PCIe4.x bus! Just one indicator of how far behind Intel still is. I mean, why buy a $230 Z590 motherboard when you can buy any number of x570 motherboards for that or less, with system-wide PCIe4 bus support? Doesn't seem rational, actually. (No need to mention the big differences between the latest Intel CPUs and AMD's, either.)
there is probably a bigger problem with the audio codec ALC897 that Asrock uses in its motherboards. When you install the audio driver from Asrock's site (ver:9079.1_UAD_WHQL), it creates instability in windows and makes shutdown and start up times too long! Also, this audio codec doesn't exist in realtek's site and you can't find any other drivers on the internet for this codec except from Asrock's site.
The biggest problem this and other boards for Rocket Lake have is that they are essentially EOLd already. RL was intended and released as a stop-gap, and that gap is supposed to be closed later this year. Unless you really want or need an Intel-based system really badly right now, I'd wait and see how Alder Lake performs. And, if one believes Intel, the sockets for AL will also work with the following generation.
Friend I have a problem with my card, when I connect a graphics card it does not give me video, the graphics is good because I have another computer and it works perfectly. They told me that I had to change something in the bios so that it would recognize it but I don't know what I should change. It would help me?
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Leeea - Friday, August 6, 2021 - link
I never forgiven AsRock & Intel removing overclocking from my "budget overclockers" H97M-ITX/ac with a BIOS update after the fact. A BIOS update required in order to upgrade to windows 10 or install patches.Nothing like having your product segmented after the purchase. -grumble grumble-
Spunjji - Friday, August 6, 2021 - link
Don't think ASRock had much choice about that one - IIRC they were bypassing Intel's official guidance, and Intel have historically been quite brutal with companies that don't step back into line when asked.Leeea - Friday, August 6, 2021 - link
"IIRC they were bypassing Intel's official guidance" - So it was a hack job. How does that make AsRock any less scummy here?Shlong - Friday, August 6, 2021 - link
I like Asrock. They released bios updates (which angered AMD) to allow my X370 Taichi to work with Zen 3 5900X.Lord of the Bored - Friday, August 6, 2021 - link
It isn't that it was a hack job, it is that they weren't going to be able to buy anything from Intel ever again if they didn't change it.They were really between a rock and a hard place.
YB1064 - Friday, August 6, 2021 - link
ASRock seem to be steadily sliding backwards. I think their last "good" offering was the z270 SuperCarrier.edzieba - Friday, August 6, 2021 - link
ASRock are still king when it comes to SFF systems, from bonkers ITX boards (X299? Yup. LGA-3647? Sure, we can cram one on there. Hell, we'll throw in quad-channel too! ITX NAS board hosting 12 drives without an add-in card? Why the heck not!) to just dreaming up new form-factors to fill a niche (e.g. Micro STX, a socketable 5x5 board with an MXM slot). With the vanishingly small difference between boards within a form-factor (PCB colour and flavour of RGB aside, basically any two ATX boards will do exactly the same thing within a margin of error) it's much appreciated having something out of the ordinary to offer.HideOut - Friday, August 6, 2021 - link
I just dont get th e 5 year old+ audio codec. Its like $2 for the 1200 series...Destoya - Saturday, August 7, 2021 - link
Yeah, part of the reason I ended up with a Z590 Aorus Elite AX ($220). The most well-rounded offering in this $200-250 range, in my opinion. ALC1200 audio, same Wifi6 module as this board, 4 more USB ports, neutral color scheme, decent bios for overclocking.WaltC - Saturday, August 7, 2021 - link
I don't usually comment on how a motherboard looks, as looks add nothing to performance or compatibility--but I'll make an exception in this case. That's the ugliest motherboard I've ever seen and I have seen a lot of motherboards...;)Also, cannot figure why with its latest chipset Intel still cannot deliver a system-wide PCIe4.x bus! Just one indicator of how far behind Intel still is. I mean, why buy a $230 Z590 motherboard when you can buy any number of x570 motherboards for that or less, with system-wide PCIe4 bus support? Doesn't seem rational, actually. (No need to mention the big differences between the latest Intel CPUs and AMD's, either.)
poeticjustic - Saturday, August 7, 2021 - link
there is probably a bigger problem with the audio codec ALC897 that Asrock uses in its motherboards. When you install the audio driver from Asrock's site (ver:9079.1_UAD_WHQL), it creates instability in windows and makes shutdown and start up times too long!Also, this audio codec doesn't exist in realtek's site and you can't find any other drivers on the internet for this codec except from Asrock's site.
eastcoast_pete - Sunday, August 8, 2021 - link
The biggest problem this and other boards for Rocket Lake have is that they are essentially EOLd already. RL was intended and released as a stop-gap, and that gap is supposed to be closed later this year. Unless you really want or need an Intel-based system really badly right now, I'd wait and see how Alder Lake performs. And, if one believes Intel, the sockets for AL will also work with the following generation.Samus - Monday, August 9, 2021 - link
It tickles me they still put PS2 on a modern motherboard. Not complaining, quite awesome actually.MickDaDick - Friday, August 27, 2021 - link
I have an Asrock Z590 Steel Legend wifi 6e. I am having a hard time figuring out how to change my ram speed. Anyone know how?Thanks
Jerson - Sunday, December 12, 2021 - link
Friend I have a problem with my card, when I connect a graphics card it does not give me video, the graphics is good because I have another computer and it works perfectly. They told me that I had to change something in the bios so that it would recognize it but I don't know what I should change. It would help me?