The AsRock ConRoe1333-eSATA2 & ConRoe1333-D667 Motherboard Reviews
The Intro and Specs
ASRock continues to pump out new motherboard models at what seems like twice the rate of all the other companies. They seem to be constantly revising their boards and releasing boards with newer features, which can only be a good thing for the consumer. ASRock is not new to us here at Legit, so we will not waste a lot of time with introductions. We will say this though: ASRock is not focused on being an enthusiast line. They produce boards that are great performers and are aimed at the budget builder. So what do they bring to us today? Let’s look and see! First off, we have the ConRoe1333-eSATA2 motherboard, whose claim to fame will be two SATA ports on the back I/O port, which we will look at in a bit. First, here are the specs…
| General | ||
| CPU | – LGA 775 for Intel Dual Core Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium D / Pentium Dual Core / Pentium 4 / Celeron / Celeron D
– Compatible with all FSB1333*/1066/800/533MHz CPUs except Quad Core – Supports Hyper-Threading Technology – Supports Untied Overclocking Technology – Supports EM64T CPU
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| Chipset | – Northbridge: Intel 945P/945G
– Southbridge: Intel ICH7R |
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| Memory | – Dual Channel DDRII memory technology
– 4 x DDRII DIMM slots – Supports DDRII667/533 – Max. capacity: 4GB*
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| BIOS | – 4Mb AMI BIOS
– AMI Legal BIOS – Supports “Plug and Play” – ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events – Supports jumperfree – SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support |
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| Audio, Video and Networking | ||
| Graphics | – n/a | |
| Audio | – 7.1 CH Windows Vista Premium Level HD Audio (ALC888 Audio Codec) | |
| LAN | – PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Realtek RTL8111B – Supports Wake-On-LAN |
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| Expansion / Connectivity | ||
| Slots | – Supports ATI CrossFire
– 3 x PCI slots – 1 x PCI Express x16 slot – 1 x AGI Express slot (PCI Express x4) – 1 x PCI Express x1 slot |
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| Connector | – 4 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5 and Intel Matrix Storage), NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions
– 2 x eSATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors (shared with 2 SATAII ports), support “Hot Plug” function – 1 x ATA100 IDE connector (supports 2 x IDE devices) – 1 x Floppy connector – 1 x IR header – 1x Game port header – 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header – 2 x IEEE 1394 headers – CPU/Chassis FAN connector – 20 pin ATX power connector – 4 pin 12V power connector – SLI/XFire power connector – CD in header – Front panel audio connector – 3 x USB 2.0 headers (support 6 USB 2.0 ports) |
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| Rear Panel I/O | ASRock 8CH_eSATAII I/O
– 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port – 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port – 1 x COM Port – 1 x Parallel Port (ECP/EPP Support) – 2 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports – 2 x eSATAII Ports – 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port – HD Audio Jack: Side Speaker / Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone Free Bundle: USB+1394 bracket, providing 2 additional USB 2.0 ports and 1 IEEE 1394 port |
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| Other Features / Miscellaneous | ||
| Hybrid Booster | – CPU Frequency Stepless Control
– ASRock U-COP – Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.) |
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| Support CD | – Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version) | |
| Accessories | – Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
– Floppy/ATA 100 cables – 4 x SATA data cables (optional) – 2 x SATA 1 to 1 power cables (optional) – 1 x HDMI_SPDIF cable (optional) – 1 x USB+1394 bracket |
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| Hardware Monitor | – CPU Temperature Sensing
– Chassis Temperature Sensing – CPU Fan Tachometer – Chassis Fan Tachometer – CPU Quiet Fan – Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore |
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| Form Factor | – ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 8.6-in, 30.5 cm x 21.8 cm | |
| OS | – Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP / XP 64-bit / Vista / Vista 64-bit compliant | |
| Certifications | – FCC, CE, WHQL | |
We also have the ConRoe1333-D667 V2 on the bench today. Thie board is another offering in the mATX line of motherboards that ASRock has to offer, and would be a board to be considered if you are building an HTPC or just a budget box. This board sports the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950. Let’s look at its specs…
| General | ||
| CPU | – LGA 775 for Intel Dual Core Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium D / Pentium Dual Core / Pentium 4 / Celeron / Celeron D
– Compatible with all FSB1333*/1066/800/533MHz CPUs except Quad Core – Supports Hyper-Threading Technology – Supports Untied Overclocking Technology – Supports EM64T CPU
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| Chipset | – Northbridge: Intel 945GC A2
– Southbridge: Intel ICH7 |
|
| Memory | – Dual Channel DDRII memory technology
– 2 x DDRII DIMM slots – Supports DDRII667/533 – Max. capacity: 4GB*
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| BIOS | – 4Mb AMI BIOS
– AMI Legal BIOS – Supports “Plug and Play” – ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events – Supports jumperfree – SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support |
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| Audio, Video and Networking | ||
| Graphics | – Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
– Pixel Shader 2.0, DirectX 9.0 – Max. shared memory 224MB |
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| Audio | – 7.1 CH Windows Vista Premium Level HD Audio (ALC888 Audio Codec) | |
| LAN | – PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Realtek RTL8111B – Supports Wake-On-LAN |
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| Expansion / Connectivity | ||
| Slots | – 1 x PCI Express x16 slot
– 1 x PCI Express x1 slot – 2 x PCI slots – 1 x HDMR slot |
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| Connector | – 4 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors (No support for RAID and “Hot Plug” functions)
– 1 x ATA100 IDE connector (supports 2 x IDE devices) – 1 x Floppy connector – 1 x IR header – 1x COM port header – CPU/Chassis FAN connector – 20 pin ATX power connector – 4 pin 12V power connector – CD in header – Front panel audio connector – 2 x USB 2.0 headers (support 4 USB 2.0 ports) |
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| Rear Panel I/O | HD 8CH I/O
– 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port – 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port – 1 x VGA Port – 1 x Parallel Port (ECP/EPP Support) – 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports – 1 x RJ-45 Port – HD Audio Jack: Side Speaker / Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone |
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| Other Features / Miscellaneous | ||
| Hybrid Booster | – CPU Frequency Stepless Control
– ASRock U-COP – Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.) |
|
| Support CD | – Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version) | |
| Accessories | – Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
– Floppy/ATA 100 cables – 1 x SATA data cable (optional) – 1 x SATA 1 to 1 power cable (optional) – 1 x COM port bracket |
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| Hardware Monitor | – CPU Temperature Sensing
– Chassis Temperature Sensing – CPU Fan Tachometer – Chassis Fan Tachometer – CPU Quiet Fan – Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore |
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| Form Factor | – Micro ATX Form Factor: 9.6-in x 9.6-in, 24.4 cm x 24.4 cm | |
| OS | – Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP / XP 64-bit / Vista / Vista 64-bit compliant | |
| Certifications | – FCC, CE, WHQL | |
Let’s get a closer look at each board!
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