ASRock 775DUAL-VSTA - motherboard - ATX - PT880 Ultra

ASROCK 775Dual-VSTA Motherboard

- Introduction -
A motherboard is an integral part to any computer. It connects all of your hardware together and performs a multitude of tasks therefore it is vital that when you come to build or upgrade your computer you choose a motherboard that is appropriate for your needs and existing hardware.

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I have written a review on ciao for a compatible processor, the Pentium ...
...from the product name, the ASROCK 775Dual-VSTA motherboard is an Intel Socket 775 motherboard. There is a huge number of CPUs that the motherboard supports, ranging from the low-end Celeron D 325J to the high-end X6800 Core Duo Extreme, all Socket 775. Pentium D, Pentium 4, Pentium Extreme and Core 2 Duo are also supported, with almost all of them compatible out of the box. In the case of a certain few processors, some will require an updated BIOS ... more

ASROCK 775Dual-VSTA Motherboard

- Introduction -
A motherboard is an integral part to any computer. It connects all of your hardware together and performs a multitude of tasks therefore it is vital that when you come to build or upgrade your computer you choose a motherboard that is appropriate for your needs and existing hardware.

**
I have written a review on ciao for a compatible processor, the Pentium D 950 which works nicely with this motherboard and covers further details such as the installation of CPUs.
**

- Supported CPUs -
As you could probably guess from the product name, the ASROCK 775Dual-VSTA motherboard is an Intel Socket 775 motherboard. There is a huge number of CPUs that the motherboard supports, ranging from the low-end Celeron D 325J to the high-end X6800 Core Duo Extreme, all Socket 775. Pentium D, Pentium 4, Pentium Extreme and Core 2 Duo are also supported, with almost all of them compatible out of the box. In the case of a certain few processors, some will require an updated BIOS before being able to be utilized. You can find full details on the ASROCK website as to which processors these are (www.asrock.com). Performance Enhancing CPU technologies such as Hyper-Threading and Untied Overclocking and EM64T are also supported.

- Supported Memory -
One of the main things that attracted me to this motherboard was that it supported both DDR and DDR II memory. Whilst these cannot be installed both at the same time, it allows for upgrades to be done in stages. For example, if you wanted to upgrade your CPU and Motherboard whilst keeping the same RAM for the time being, you could install your old DDR Ram in the new motherboard. This was excellent seeing as though I didn't want to upgrade my memory right away. Up to DDR 400 and DDR II 667 is supported in Dual-Channel, meaning that two modules of the same ram can be installed at the same time. For instance, you could have 2 x 512mb DDR 400, or 2 x 1gb DDR II 667.

- AGP + PCI + PCI-E -
Another nifty feature of this motherboard is the amount of interfaces it supports. As with the memory, the addition of both AGP and PCI-E means that you will not have to upgrade your graphics card just yet. You can use your old AGP graphics card until you feel that you need to install a PCI-E one. You can of course use both an AGP and PCI-E graphics card simultaneously if you wanted a four monitor setup for example. The motherboard has one PCI-E slot, one AGP slot and four

- Supported PCI-E Cards -
Whilst you do not necessarily need to use the PCI-E slot for a graphics card, should you choose to however, you should check that your graphics card works with the motherboard. ASROCK have on their website (www.asrock.com) a chart that lists all the compatible ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards.

- SATA RAID + ATA133-
When it comes to hard drive interfaces, the motherboard supports both ATA133 hard drives and SATA 150 hard drives. The motherboard does NOT support SATA 300 (more commonly known as SATA II) however if you have one of these drives, you will usually find that the drive automatically changes to SATA 150 (sometimes requiring the use of a jumper) when used with a SATA 150 motherboard. In addition to this, you can also set up an SATA RAID, a RAID being the technology that allows you to combine two or more drives for increased performance or to secure your data by writing it simultaneously onto a second drive. If you aren't going to use an SATA drive, ATA 133 is available offering the capability of 4 drives over the SATA controller's 2 drive capacity however it is slower.

- HDMI -
The ASROCK 775Dual-VSTA claims to be the 'World Wide First HDMI Interface Ready' motherboard. For those who don't know (or aren't stinking rich and able to afford a HDMI compatible card and output device), HDMI is an interface - much like DVI - that transfers High Definition audio and video. With the help of a little cable from the motherboard to the card, you can make full use of HDMI with outstanding results - excellent visual and audio quality.

- Front Panel -
The motherboard has a 9 pin Front Panel Audio Header that allows for a connection to audio ports at the front of the case for convenience. With the addition of Windows software, automatic jack detection is available which allows you to automatically switch from stereo/surround sound and microphone from the back of the computer to headphones and microphone on the front of the computer - a very handy feature!
A USB connection is also available for Front Panel USB. Obviously, all the standard Front Panel functions such as Power LED, Power Switch, HDD LED and Reset Switch are accessible.

- USB 2.0 -
The motherboard has two USB 2.0 Headers; now assuming that one of those is used for the Front Panel, it leaves one remaining. The motherboard has 4 USB 2.0 ports at the back, so this remaining header can be used for additional ports or similar devices. Each Header supports 2 further USB Ports.

- Hardware Temperature Monitoring -
While ASROCK do not bundle any software for this job, the motherboard supports Hardware Temperature Monitoring. This allows you to keep an eye on the temperature of your computer, alerting you to high or dangerous temperatures that could result in problems with your system. The BIOS has temperature related options, you can for example let the computer automatically adjust the CPU fan speed based on the temperature reducing the temperature emitted from the fan.
If you wish to monitor your hardware from within Windows, I use a piece of Freeware called SpeedFan which does the job perfectly - a Google search will bring this up.

- BIOS Upgrading -
Flashing the BIOS is remarkably easy. As I mentioned previously, one of the reasons you may want to do this is so that your CPU is supported. You can only flash the bios through Windows, which is a shame if you are using an alternative operating system such as Linux. The downloads are small and frequently available from the ASROCK website. As this process could damage your hardware if conducted incorrectly, you should carefully read the instructions on how to do so, and follow any advice from ASROCK.

- 8 Channel Audio -
A remarkable feature of this motherboard is the ability to use 8 Channel surround sound (7.1). It's really simple, just plug the jacks in the coloured ports and switch to 8 Channel surround in the Realtek audio application (available on the bundled CD). Of course, you can use stereo, headphones, 4 Channel surround or 6 Channel surround instead of 8 Channel surround. The audio quality is amazing and you don't even need to install an expansion card to get it!

- Additional Interfaces -
As well as all the previously mentioned onboard interfaces, the motherboard has an Infrared Module Header, an Internal Audio Connector and a Game Connector. The Internal Audio connector is used to connect to certain CD drives and multimedia devices such as TV Cards. The Game Connector can be used with a Game Port to allow the connection of Midi devices and Game Controllers.

- At the Back -
At the back of the motherboard, you can find:
A parallel port,
An RJ-45 port (Network),
6 Audio ports (Side Speaker, Rear Speaker, Central /Bass, Line In, Front Speaker, Microphone),
4 USB 2.0 Ports
A Serial Port: COM1,
A PS/2 Keyboard Port,
A PS/2 Mouse Port.

- Vista Ready-
The ASROCK 775Dual-VSTA is compatible with Vista right out of the box. You can be assured that this motherboard will be sufficient for the next version of Windows. It also supports previous versions of Windows, including XP and XP 64-Bit (x64 edition).

- 64-Bit Support -
If you have a 64-bit processor installed in the Intel Socket 775, you can make use of x64 instruction sets available with a 64-bit operating system such as Windows XP x64 edition. It's unfortunate that many applications have not yet managed to embrace the full potential for this technology, but you can be assured that this motherboard will be able to handle it when that time comes.

- RoHS -
RoHS stands for the Restriction of Hazardous Substances and is a policy that ASROCK employ when manufacturing their motherboards in order to protect human health and the environment. So if having a fantastic motherboard for a cheap price isn't enough, you're saving the world in the process!

- Bundled Software -
Bundled on the CD are:
Drivers
DirectX 9.0c
Adobe Acrobat Reader 5
McAfee Virus Scan
Information on Surround Display, Installation of a Socket 775 CPU & More.
User Manual

- Conclusion -
I'm amazed that I can write such a long review about a £40 product. I hope that can be some guide to how brilliant this product is. I couldn't recommend it enough, apart from a few setbacks; this should be a perfect upgrade for many people.
 

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