ASRock G43Twins-FullHD

Motherboard Layout:

Like many other ASRock motherboards that cater towards budget users and are designed to be easily upgradeable over time, the G43Twins-FullHD incorporates two DDR2 and two DDR3 memory slots. Not all four memory slots can be occupied simultaneously, but this provides a cost-effective upgrade path for those wishing to upgrade their motherboard now and have DDR2 memory already or wishes to use DDR2 memory due to its cheaper price tag, but in the future would like to upgrade to DDR3. The two DDR2 slots support DDR2-1066/800/667 memory, but the 1066MHz frequency is when operating in an overclock mode. On the DDR3 side, 1066MHz and 800MHz memory is natively supported. Next to the system memory slots are the 24-pin ATX power connector and the single IDE connector.

Covering the Intel ICH10 Southbridge is a simple aluminum heatsink. Right next to the ICH10 are six Serial ATA 2.0 ports and two USB 2.0 headers. The expansion slots on this micro ATX motherboard include one PCI Express x1, one PCI Express x16, and two PCI slots. Below the bottom-most expansion slot is the FDD connector.

Atop the Intel G43 Northbridge is an aluminum heatsink without a fan, which is fine considering the low heat output of this chipset. This G43 motherboard supports all LGA-775 processors including the Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium, and Celeron processors -- including 45nm processors and those with a 1333MHz FSB. Next to the LGA-775 CPU socket is the 4-pin ATX 12V power connector.

The ports at the I/O panel area include two PS/2, one D-Sub VGA, six USB 2.0, one Gigabit Ethernet, and six audio jacks. Some of the ASICs on this motherboard include the Realtek ALC888, Realtek RTL8111B/RTL8111C LAN, and Winbond 83627 Super I/O.