ASRock N7AD-SLI

Years ago when we started reviewing ASRock motherboards, most of them were fairly basic with very few features compared to what could be found on the ASUS or Gigabyte motherboards. With time though ASRock has begun ramping up their motherboards with more features, new innovative designs, and other improvements that cater towards the desires of enthusiasts and gamers. These days there are ASRock motherboards that can compete with those from major OEMs both in terms of features and in terms of performance, while delivering a better price. One example of a modern, feature-rich ASRock motherboard is the N7AD-SLI. The ASRock N7AD-SLI has NVIDIA SLI support, Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394 Firewire, S/PDIF output, OC Tuner, solid capacitors, and an instant boot technology. This motherboard is centered around NVIDIA's nForce 740i SLI Chipset.

Features:

Processor
- LGA 775 for Intel Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo / Pentium Dual Core / Celeron Dual Core / Celeron
- Supports Penryn Quad Core Yorkfield and Dual Core Wolfdale processors
- Supports FSB1600/1333/1066/800/533 MHz
- Supports Hyper-Threading Technology
- Supports Untied Overclocking Technology
- Supports EM64T CPU

Chipset
- NVIDIA nForce 740i SLI

Memory
- Dual Channel DDR2 memory technology
- 4 x DDR2 DIMM slots
- Supports DDR2 800/667 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
- Maximum capacity of system memory: 16GB

BIOS
- 8Mb AMI BIOS
- AMI Legal BIOS
- Supports "Plug and Play"
- ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events
- Supports jumperfree
- SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support
- CPU, DRAM, NB, VTT Voltage Multi-adjustment
- Supports Smart BIOS

Audio
- 7.1 CH Windows Vista Premium Level HD Audio with Content Protection
- DAC with 110dB dynamic range (ALC890 Audio Codec)

LAN
- Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
- Giga PHY RTL8211CL
- Supports Wake-On-LAN

Unique Features
- ASRock OC Tuner
- Intelligent Energy Saver
- Instant Boot
- Hybrid Booster:
- CPU Frequency Stepless Control
- ASRock U-COP
- Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.)

Form Factor
- ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 8.2-in, 30.5 cm x 20.8 cm
- All Solid Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)

Contents:

While ASRock's motherboards have improved over the past few years, their packaging remains largely the same. A simple cardboard divider separates the ATX motherboard from the accessories. One of the ways ASRock keeps the cost of their motherboards low is through including a limited number of accessories -- unlike the ASUS, Gigabyte, or MSI motherboards that may include say six Serial ATA cables, ASRock will just include two. Included with the N7AD-SLI was the user's manual, I/O panel, Windows driver CD, two Serial ATA data cables, one SLI bridge, one ribbon IDE cable, one ribbon FDD cable, and one 4-pin molex to SATA power adapter.