ASRock Mobos - How good/bad are they?

[theonlyBuster]

I'm planning on upgrading/replacing my mobo and CPU in the near future - likely towards the end of the year, reason being it has a 1155 socket which is basically discontinued.  But in the mean time my curiosity is killing me (as usual).

 

I'm currently sporting an ASRock mobo, and before I hear it ( MOBO HERE ).  But generally speaking, I just wanted to know how ASRock boards stack up in comparison to other budget motherboards.  I see most people recommend MSI boards

 

 

And while we're here, are there any motherboards you'd recommend that are roughly in the same price range (~$50).  My case can handle up to a Standard ATX

I'm not a gamer, so it definitely doesn't need to be anything extreme, but reliability is definitely nice.

[Mo5]

I currently run a 890GX Extreme3 and a N68C-S UCC both without any problems. They're not the best mobo maker but they're sure better then Biostar

[harrynowl]

Everyone has some crap boards and everyone has some good boards. The H61 boards are entry level so they're not going to be great.

 

ASRock offer some good boards on Z97 at very attractive price points and lots of people seem happy with them so that's a positive.

 

Could we have your current specs and what you plan to upgrade to?

[xXButchXx]

Biostar<ASRock<MSI=Gigabyte=Asus

[Fuzzy112]

To be honest their top of the line motherboards are quite amazing.

[Jade]

I use an ASRock Fatal1ty Killer z87 board. Extremely happy with it, as even from the beginning, I've had no problems with it. tl;dr, I'm happy with it and would still recommend them.

[Jobbe03]

I use an ASRock Fatal1ty Killer z87 board. Extremely happy with it, as even from the beginning, I've had no problems with it. tl;dr, I'm happy with it and would still recommend them.

Not really that good looking though...

[Jade]

Not really that good looking though...

Could be worse. I don't have a job and built it purely off money I came across without doing really any work.

[harrynowl]

Not really that good looking though...

But looks are an opinion

[Jobbe03]

But looks are an opinion

Oh absolutely, it is a popular opinion though

[Jobbe03]

Could be worse. I don't have a job and built it purely off money I came across without doing really any work.

Oh sure, price to performance wise it's really good.

[theonlyBuster]

Could we have your current specs and what you plan to upgrade to?

 

Well seeing as I'll basically need to toss the Processor, I'll likely start from scratch.  I have a few PCI video cards that are PCI 2.0 x16 compatible, so really that's the only thing I'm really basing the future build on.  Aside from that, I'm wide open in regards to nearly everything else. 

I don't have any spare RAM so that's going to be purchased after the mobo has been decided.  My drives are mostly SATA and I'd like to stick to SATA, though I have a few IDE drives as well. 

 

So in short, my only requirements are to support the video cards I currently have. 

 

 

 

I'm away from home, but from the top of my head I'm sporting a Core i5-2320 processor, 4GB of budget RAM.  It's all air cooled.  No need to over-clock or push the computer as it's speeds are more than suffice for my current needs. 

My goal is to basically catch up with the times and have a machine that can be upgraded at any end with little hassle.

[harrynowl]

Oh absolutely, it is a popular opinion though

Fair enough. I don't like the big black/red thing going on at all

Well seeing as I'll basically need to toss the Processor, I'll likely start from scratch. I have a few PCI video cards that are PCI 2.0 x16 compatible, so really that's the only thing I'm really basing the future build on. Aside from that, I'm wide open in regards to nearly everything else.

I don't have any spare RAM so that's going to be purchased after the mobo has been decided. My drives are mostly SATA and I'd like to stick to SATA, though I have a few IDE drives as well.

So in short, my only requirements are to support the video cards I currently have.

I'm away from home, but from the top of my head I'm sporting a Core i5-2320 processor, 4GB of budget RAM. It's all air cooled. No need to over-clock or push the computer as it's speeds are more than suffice for my current needs.

My goal is to basically catch up with the times and have a machine that can be upgraded at any end with little hassle.

Hmm to be completely honest you won't actually benefit from a new CPU or a new chipset.

All the improvements that spark your curiosity are on Z97 and the expensive boards. A $50 board will offer nothing over what you have

[theonlyBuster]

Hmm to be completely honest you won't actually benefit from a new CPU or a new chipset.

 

All the improvements that spark your curiosity are on Z97 and the expensive boards. A $50 board will offer nothing over what you have

Alright that's good to know.  Sounds best to keep my current set up and tweak it as needed when needed.

 

I just wanted to make sure the board was a decent board to continue on.  No sense building on something that's not trusting or a strong brand.

[harrynowl]

Alright that's good to know.  Sounds best to keep my current set up and tweak it as needed when needed.

 

I just wanted to make sure the board was a decent board to continue on.  No sense building on something that's not trusting or a strong brand.

Nope

 

Your current rig is fine and from what it sounds like will be fine for a few more years to come. Most of my family still use Core2 duos with 4Gb of RAM and have no complaints.

[papeles]

ASRock is a really good motherboard builder. If you compare quality/performance with similar motherboards from other brands, they are about the same, usually cheaper.

 

To be fair, they don't lack features (i should even say that ASRock was kinda an innovator brand, as asus) or quality. Their extreme and oc lines are really really good.

 

As for my personnal oppinion, based off personnal experience since an h61 motherboard (witch still rolls with an i3) to the 80's boards, ASRock, MSI and Asus are the only brands i trust. (biostar/gigabyte hater)

[BiG StroOnZ]

Bought my ASRock board on a whim almost 3 years ago. Had no knowledge of the company, who they were or their quality at all. Was completely blown away by how nice the board was. Took it home from Microcenter and that night had my 2500k sitting at 4.8GHz stable. Never seen a UEFI that was so easy to navigate and understand. I was able to pretty much teach myself how to overclock in about an hour with how self-explanatory all the settings were in the Bios. 

 

I'll never buy another motherboard manufacturer's motherboards for as long as I'm building computers. They offer the best price to performance, their quality is just as good as all the other guys, and the features they offer on their boards for the money is incomparable. 

 

Problem is people overlook ASRock all the time. Their top tier boards cost usually a hundred dollars or more less than their competitors while offering the same features as their competitors and more features that aren't found on the competitors boards. 

 

ASRock currently holds the world record for highest CPU frequency score on their  Z97 OC Formula board with a 4790k: 

 

http://hwbot.org/submission/2563537_nickshih_cpu_frequency_core_i7_4790k_7003.38_mhz

 

Their quality is unbeatable for the price. When you go with other brands you are simply paying extra for the name when you can go with a comparable ASRock board for much less money that offers the same performance.