µATX Part 1: ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 Performance Review
by Gary Key on August 28, 2007 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
ASRock 4Core1333-FullHD: Feature Set
The BIOS is feature rich and gives the impression that it is geared more towards the enthusiast with a significant amount of memory timing options for a uATX board. However, we feel like ASRock made two mistakes with the BIOS. The inability to change CPU multipliers and the lack of CPU voltage options hinder the board's overclocking capability.
The new 1.30C BIOS did not allow us to overclock the board but did provide compatibility with our new Pioneer Blu-ray drive. It also improved disk access and memory performance. ASRock is still looking into this issue and we hope to have an answer shortly.
Our problem with the options list centers on the lack of additional fan headers and an optical or coaxial out port for the audio system. We would have liked to see ASRock drop the HDMR slot and add an additional PCI Express x1 slot in its place. The ability to control and monitor the fan headers with a software application would have earned bonus points since abit has shown this is possible.
| ASRock 4Core1333-FullHD | |
| Market Segment | Entry Level HTPC - $114.99 (not available in US yet) |
| CPU Interface | Socket T (Socket 775) |
| CPU Support | LGA775-based Pentium 4, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Support for 1333 CPUs require 333FSB overclocking |
| Chipset | ATI Radeon Express 1250 (RS600) Northbridge and SB600 Southbridge |
| Bus Speeds | Auto, Sync, Async, 100 ~ 650 in 1MHz increments |
| Memory SpeedDDR2 | Sync with CPU, 400/533/667/800/1066 Async operation |
| PCIe Speeds | 80MHz - 160MHz |
| PCI Speeds | 33.33MHz ~ 37.50MHz |
| Core Voltage | Auto - no adjustments allowed |
| CPU Clock Multiplier | Auto, 6x-12x in 1X increments if CPU is unlocked, downwards unlocked, Core 2 Duo |
| DRAM VoltageDDR2 | Auto, 1.75V ~ 2.50V in .05V or .10V increments |
| DRAM Timing Control | Auto, Manual - 15 DRAM Timing Options (tCL, tRCD, tRP, tRAS, tRFC + 10 sub-timings) |
| DRAM Command Rate | Auto, 1T, 2T |
| NB Voltage | Auto, 1.25V ~ 1.40V in .05V increments |
| On-board Video | 1080p support with 7.8 drivers (recommend E6420 or above), 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, and 1080i support, HDCP 1.1 support on data stream with on-chip key storage, integrated DVI or HDMI 1.2 interface single-link support only for HDMI, 30-bit dual-link support for DVI, 1650 Mbps/channel with 165 MHz pixel clock rate per link, DX9.0 VS/PS 2.0, max 2048x1536 resolution, MPEG-2 hardware decode, MPEG-4 simple profile support, WMV9 Hardware Acceleration, MPEG-2 hardware decode acceleration. |
| GFX Memory Buffer | Auto, 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB |
| GFX link Width | Auto |
| Memory Slots | Four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM Slots Dual-Channel Configuration Regular Unbuffered Memory to 8GB Total |
| Expansion Slots | 1 - PCIe X16 1 - PCIe x1 1 - HDMR 2 - PCI Slot 2.2 |
| Onboard SATA/RAID | 4 SATA 3Gbps Ports - SB600 (RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 10) |
| Onboard IDE | 1 ATA133/100/66 Port (2 drives) - SB600 |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 10 USB 2.0 Ports - 4 I/O Panel - 6 via Headers Firewire 400 not supported |
| Onboard LAN | Realtek RTL8111B - PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC888 - 8-channel HD audio codec, X1250 embedded HDMI |
| Power Connectors | ATX 20-pin, 4-pin ATX 12V |
| I/O Panel | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x DVI-D, 1 x D-Sub (HDMI to DVI connector included) 1 x Parallel 1 x IEEE 1394 1 x Audio Panel 1 x RJ45 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 |
| Fan Headers | 2 - CPU/SYS |
| Fan Control | CPU Fan Control via BIOS CPU - Target Temp 45C~65C, Fan Speed - Fast, Slow, Minimum |
| BIOS Revision | v1.30C |
| Board Revision | v1.00 |
The BIOS is feature rich and gives the impression that it is geared more towards the enthusiast with a significant amount of memory timing options for a uATX board. However, we feel like ASRock made two mistakes with the BIOS. The inability to change CPU multipliers and the lack of CPU voltage options hinder the board's overclocking capability.
The new 1.30C BIOS did not allow us to overclock the board but did provide compatibility with our new Pioneer Blu-ray drive. It also improved disk access and memory performance. ASRock is still looking into this issue and we hope to have an answer shortly.
Our problem with the options list centers on the lack of additional fan headers and an optical or coaxial out port for the audio system. We would have liked to see ASRock drop the HDMR slot and add an additional PCI Express x1 slot in its place. The ability to control and monitor the fan headers with a software application would have earned bonus points since abit has shown this is possible.
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Brick88 - Thursday, August 30, 2007 - link
doesn't anyone feel that AMD is cutting itself short? Yes Intel is their primary competitor but by not producing an igp chipset for intel based processors, they are cutting themselves out of a big market. Intel ships the majority of processors and AMD will need every single stream of revenue to compete with Intel.bunga28 - Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - link
Charles Dickens would roll over his grave if he saw you comparing these 2 boards by paraphrasing his work.Myrandex - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
I don't knwo why they would ever put that name on the board. the fact that it is getting beat by a ASRock motherboard in gaming performance is pathetic, since that name is supposed to be all about gaming (no offense to the ASRockers out there, as they aren't bad boards I have more experience with them then fatal1ty's anyways).Etern205 - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
On the "abit Fatality F-I90HD: Feature Set" page,that Abit EQ software interface of a car looks
familar one of those real models.
Like this one
<img>http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/8490/toyotafjhh...">http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/8490/toyotafjhh...
source:
http://www.automobilemag.com/new_car_previews/2006...">http://www.automobilemag.com/new_car_previews/2006...
strikeback03 - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
I was thinking Hummer, either way...Etern205 - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
Not really because the face of a Hummer is differentthan the one from Toyota. The face of a Hummer has
vertical grill bars, while the Toyota does not.
strikeback03 - Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - link
However the Hummer has the full-width chrome fascia, the Toyota has a part-width sorta satin chrome thing.I highly doubt they licensed an image of either, so it can't look exactly like any vehicle. I remember a lawsuit between Jeep and Hummer over the 7 vertical slots in eachother's grilles several years ago.
eBauer - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
Why are the Xpress 1250 systems running tighter timings (4-4-4-12) where the G33 system is running looser timings (5-5-5-12)?strikeback03 - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
Top of page 8
Mazen - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
I have a 6000+ (gift) and I am just wondering whether I should go with a 690G or wait for nvidia's upcoming MCP 78. Can't wait for the 690G review... thoughts anyone?