AsRock Motherboards

[Jonj1611]

Just wondering what are peoples opinions of ASRock motherboards these days? After looking for a Z790 for a new build and yes I know the 14th gen Intel are just around the corner no doubt with another chipset I see there are only really 4 people left in the motherboard market.

Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and ASRock

ASRock seem to be the budget option but do seem more feature packed. I remember back in the early days of PC Chips motherboards so always wary of the cheap board.

So anyone have any of their newer boards and are they any good?

[cptwhite_uk]

From what I've gathered over the last few generations it's generally a roller coaster as to whether any particular brand of board is decent. They've all had duff boards. MSI seem to be generally reviewing better in the budget sector. ASUS do good higher end options (the Nvidia of motherboards). ASrock offer the best connectivity and features at a given point, and Gigabyte tend to fall mid-pack.

It's too hard to generalise or put them in order of preferance as they've all been so variable.

Typically there's nothing wrong with ASrock boards, but the budget end options have come in for some flak in the last couple of generations I remember. Maybe around 10/11 gen era Intel / 5th era AMD. Not sure on the newer ones.

[Saracen999]

i haven't built a machine in, oh, 10+ years so "recent" experience = none.

My prevailing opinion of AsRock, based on previous direct experience and more recent anecdotal experience from friends etc is that while cheap and a bit nasty might have been true in the very early days, these days the reputation is far more of "value" than "cheap".

i wouldn't expect to get all the fancy bells and whistles of the premium end of premium brands, but if not paying premium prices, who'd expect that?

My overall impression, for what it's worth, is that there are parallels between motherboards (and a lot of tech gear for that matter) and watches. No really, bear with me. Watch brands fall, for me, into several categories .... one of which is pure fashion brand, but I'll ignore that one as outside the analogy. Beyond that are, for instance, dirt-cheap at one end and top quality at the other. For the latter, I'd go for Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin etc - i.e. very high end, usually hand-crafted and mostly Swiss movements. Yes, you'll pay and arm and a leg for them, but at least you get top quality. There are also dirt-cheap, which will usually be a brand best described as "who??", and while it'll probably do a decent job of telling the time (as a $1.00 or less chip can do that), how long it'll last is another issue. And there's a large range in-between, where as price goes up, quality does to some degree but there'll also be a fair chunk of the price determined more by reputation, slick marketing and sheer supply/demand. My personal view is that Rolex fall into that category, so while I might (given the funding ability) by anything from Seiko to Patek Philippe (for different reasons), I wouldnn't pesonally buy Rolex because it sends the wrong message.

Where that analagy obvious fails is the difference between a utilitarian and hidden item like a mobo, and a visible and often conspicuous piece of fashion statement like a high-end watch. Where it doesn't fail, IMHO (and getting back to the point) is that AsRock are, at least to me, at the "solid performers, lacking glitz and glamour", but also lacking the premium atteched for "fashionable" brands.

To be clear, "top" brands cover a range of spec's (like watches) and, yes, top quality and top spec boards are available BUT embedded in the price is likely to be a significant chunk of premium for the brand, or for (IMHO) utterly useless mobo fripperies like pretty designs.

Unless you're an expert, or do a LOT of research, it's hard to tell the marketing bull from real quality specs, with motherboards. An example (for me) is supposedly high-end sound chips. Sorry, manufacturers, but the first thing I do if sound quality matters to me (and it often does) is get a digital sound signal, the one's and zero's of it, off the PC entirely, and on to external sound hardware (like DACs) that aren't housed in a horribly noisy (electronically) environment like a PC case. So, fancy on-board sound offers me zero benefit .... but it might to those wanting better than cheap-as-chips sound components without the hassle or, yes, cost of external sound hardware. On the other hand, the right spec in PCIe or USB levels, numbers of ports, etc, let alone voltage regulators, is something I would look at.

Personally, I wouldn't expect top-spec any-of-that from AsRock BUT, if buying a utilitarian machine or doing it on a tight budget, it is certainly the case that "brand premium" is not something I'd want to pay for either.

So in summary, if your needs are very high end, personally, I wouldn't be looking at AsRock if I had a choice. If your hobby is hard-core overclocking, well sorry but I doubt they're for you. But it's far more likely that you're after a solid, reliable and decent spec board at a very competiive price, and that's right in AsRock's wheel-house.

i.e. they're "value" rather than cheap, and probably one of the best options for bang-per-buck on a strict and/or fixed total budget. Money no object? Not my first pick. But if saving a few quid on the mobo means a few quid more to spend on some other system component (better CPU, more memory, faster SSD, better PSU, or whatever) then they're a very attractive place to look.

[Jonj1611]

I know Asus had a few issues recently - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbGfc-JBxlY . And my own experience of them has been sub par. Gigabyte support seems to have fallen off the perch so was looking at MSI and ASRock but its not exactly a cheap build but sometimes going for the big three motherboard manufacturers isn't a guarantee of quality lately either :/

[Saracen999]

From what I've gathered over the last few generations it's generally a roller coaster as to whether any particular brand of board is decent. They've all had duff boards. MSI seem to be generally reviewing better in the budget sector. ASUS do good higher end options (the Nvidia of motherboards). ASrock offer the best connectivity and features at a given point, and Gigabyte tend to fall mid-pack.

It's too hard to generalise or put them in order of preferance as they've all been so variable.

Typically there's nothing wrong with ASrock boards, but the budget end options have come in for some flak in the last couple of generations I remember. Maybe around 10/11 gen era Intel / 5th era AMD. Not sure on the newer ones.

MSi and, probably, EVGA. Many of the rest have, I'd 100% agree, had rocky times. I've yet to forgive Gigabyte over the "exploding PSU" saga - not for the issue itself but for the corporate reaction and response. It's going to be a while before they get off my personal "no way in hell" list.

Asus have had issues too, though the laptop I'm typing on is Asus and, except for internal speakers (that I dont use anyway) I'm very impressed.

One reason I rate EVGA is they (so far) seem to have a very consumer-focussed attitude to customer service, and IF you ever have product issues, that can make a huge difference to the experience. Hence, my private Gigabyte ban.

[Saracen999]

.... and ASRock but its not exactly a cheap build but sometimes going for the big three motherboard manufacturers isn't a guarantee of quality lately either :/

Sadly, true about the big three.

I was trying to stress "value" as different to "cheap", though.

Really, what I meant was that if overall budget is more or less fixed, then saving on component A means more for something else. What I'd describe as "cheap" is where it'ss barely adequate to do what you want/need, without serious compromise. A "value" buy, IMHO, could still be quite an expensive system. If I had to choose between MSI and AsRock but it was a £150 price difference, and if that £150 didn't matter, I'd up the budget and go MSI. If doing so meant taking £150 off the other components, I'd go AsRock unless there was something very specific the other board offered, that I wanted/needed, and the AsRok didn't.

Maybe I'm still falling for the "brand" thing a bit in preferring MSI, but I wouldn't expect any major issues going AsRock. I see them as good value, not "cheap".

That said, I have no idea about Asrock customer service and one thing I will guarantee .... offering top customer service is expensive to provide, and we cannot but expect that to be included in product pricing. It's a bit like buying a TV, or kitchen gear or whatever, from John Lewis or from a budget box-shifter .... one difference (at least in the past) is customer service. If you want it, expect to pay for it somewhere in the process.

[cptwhite_uk]

As a general rule

MSI "Mortar" (mATX) "Tomahawk" (ATX) are good mid-range options. Gaming Edge, Gaming Pro Carbon, Gaming Plus are typically just above / below. They've had some decent "A-Pro" ATX options, or even VDH options, but these are lower end. These models tend to translate over the various chipsets.

Gigabyte tends to have Aorus Pro as their mid-high end offering, Aorus Elite is below that, then DS3H (?), then DS2 / S2H (avoid for all but the lowest CPUs)

ASUS has various sub-brands, but I typically rate them from high to low "ROG STRIX", "TUF", then "PRIME", then boards which aren't given any of these sub-brands.

ASRock boards - you'll typically be good with Steel Legend and Pro variants.

[Jonj1611]

Have discounted Asus due to the issues I have had with them and Gigabyte due to having never ending problems with their B760 board

So as the budget is fairly low and I can't believe I am saying this but around the £220 mark. Anyone remember when motherboards were reasonably priced? I am currently looking at these two but recommendations welcome. Must have DDR5, be able to run a i7-13700k or kf

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/nda-...sb-32-gen2-atx

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asro...sb-32-gen2-atx

[Percy1983]

I haven't had an ASRock board for a while, I did have a Z77 Pro4 for a rather long time (3570k until the 3700x) and I can't fault it, the value, connectivity and performance were spot on. When it came to X470 boards a gigabyte Aorus Pro was the pick but I didn't discount ASrock (funnily it was number of sata ports which tipped at as I needed 6).

My current Vega56 is also an ARRock with no problems.

Personally I wouldn't hesitate to get an ASRock board right now if one fitted my neededs and wouldn't pay for for the same spec on a different brand.

[Saracen999]

... and I can't believe I am saying this but around the £220 mark. Anyone remember when motherboards were reasonably priced? ...

Oh, indeed. CPU's currently (as opposed to a few noths ago, or the last few years, seem to be dropping modestly. DDR5 seems like a bargain compared to a year ago and on par, or cheaper, than DDR4.

Motherboards though .... wow! Jayz did an opinion piece a month or so back about motherboard pricing, and I can't help but agree. Manufacturers got used to pandemic-level pricing and scarcity, and heven't yet noticed (or at least, conceded) that times have changed (again).

TBH, I'm very lucky to be in the fortunate posr-retirement position of mortgage paid off, and while not wealthy, having reigned in normal monthly spending such that income > outgoings. Health isses prevent expensive foreign travel is on one level, a right PITA but on another, gives me a bit of a pot of "fun fund" to play with. The mobo spec I want is (currently) more like £400, and it's not like I can't afford that. It's that it is comparatively so expensive that paying that for a mobo which, yeah, is fairly high end but certainly isn't top-tier (not that I need or want top tier) just grates on my nerves. I feel like I'm being ripped off. So I'm very reluctant to pay it because I regard it as just seriously over-priced. The main thing currently holding me back from a new system, is that I resent paying that.

So yeah. mobo prcing sucks majorly, IMHO.

[[GSV]Trig]

I havent used an ASRock board since my Steel Legend, which, was in fact a decent board...

[Jonj1611]

Went with the ASRock, all reviews I have read have been favourable. Sound is using an older codec but doubt I would even notice, I use wireless headphones that have their own sound output device in the transmitter

[Saracen999]

.... Sound is using an older codec but doubt I would even notice, I use wireless headphones that have their own sound output device in the transmitter

Me too. One setup here is output to an audio interface with very good (*) DAC, and the output to either speakers or a BT5 transmitter to wireless headphones. Or use the headphone monitor on the audio interface for wired headphones. That's certainly an option, espeially the headphone monitor, if I'm recording and have the i/face on loopback to go back into the PC to record.

Or, output not via the audio interface but to a separate hifi DAC/headphone amp, and then on to any of several options, like Sonos speakers, or wired headphones.

Or, output from phone or iPad to that DAC/headphone amp, and to wired or wireless headphones/IED for a portable solution.

It's a nicely versatile setup that can be used in any number of ways depending on what the source device is and what I want the output device to be, with little compromise on audio quality .... at my price point. Obviously, spend more on gear, speakers, headphones, DACs etc and quality goes up, providing the source signals are good enough. But that's a potentially VERY expensive rabbit hole.

All of which makes mobo on-board sound irrelevant as I go out of my way to bypass it.




(*) IMHO.

[Jonj1611]

That's what I thought really in the end that the on board audio wouldn't make much difference and I think if I was ever going to need the PC for anything audio related I would likely have a dedicated sound card

[AGTDenton]

I've built a couple of ASRock boards over time and can't complain. I look to MSI & ASRock before ASUS & Gigabyte these days.

Sadly motherboard choice is a bit thin on the ground lately. None of them really do anything out of the ordinary any more. I doubt we'll see the likes of VIA, Abit or DFI pushing the boundaries again.
They're all under the thumb of the chip manufacturers now. As highlighted by EVGA.

[Jonj1611]

I think that is what made it harder than it was. Everything is the same, there is no real variation between any model anymore. Apart from different colours and styling thats about it.