ASRock P43R1600Twins-WiFi & P45R2000-WiFi

Motherboard Layout:

Largely the layout of the P45R2000-WiFi is quite similar to the P43R1600Twins-WiFi. While the P43 motherboard has four DDR2 and two DDR3 slots, the P45 motherboard has two DDR2 and four DDR3 slots. The P45 supports up to 8GB of DDR3-1333MHz and 4GB of DDR2-1066MHz memory. Next to the memory slots is still the IDE connector.

The same type of heatsink still covers the Intel ICH10R on this motherboard, but the layout of some of the components near the Southbridge has been rearranged. In this area are six Serial ATA 2.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, front panel header, CMOS battery, and the IEEE-1394 Firewire port. The Firewire connectivity on this motherboard is also provided by the VIA Fire IIM VT6308S.

Two PCI Express x16, two PCI Express x1, and three PCI slots are the expansion slots on the ASRock P45R2000-WiFi. The two PCI Express x16 slots are PCI-E 2.0 compliant and do support ATI CrossFire Technology. However, if both PCI Express x16 slots are being occupied, the two slots will be limited to PCI-E x8 bandwidth. A paddle is used between the two PCI Express x16 slots in order to adjust the bandwidth. This is a bit unfortunate both slots are unable to provide PCI Express x16 bandwidth. This motherboard still uses the Winbond W83627DHG-A and Realtek RTL8111B/RTL8111C ASICs, but there are two of the Gigabit Ethernet Controllers for additional connectivity.

The chipset cooler for the Intel P45 is the same as what we found on the P43 motherboard. Next to the P45 Chipset is the 20/24-pin power connector and behind the CPU socket area is the 4/8-pin connector. The CPUs supported by the Intel P45 Chipset are the same as what's available with the P43. This motherboard though does support a 2000MHz FSB when in an overclocking mode.

Behind the CPU socket area on this motherboard are two Serial ATA connectors and the 4/8-pin power connector. At the I/O panel on the ASRock P45R2000-WiFi are two PS/2, analog and digital S/PDIF, one IEEE-1394 Firewire, two eSATA ports, six USB 2.0, two Gigabit Ethernet, and six audio ports.