ASRock Vision 3D NetTop

It's been nearly a decade since ASRock was spun off by ASUS as a new OEM vendor and over this time they have transformed themselves from being solely a manufacturer of low-cost, value-oriented motherboards and other products to offering more high-end and enthusiast-friendly products (such as the X58 SuperComputer and 880G Extreme 3). ASRock has also adapted to the market and has begun offering other products like low-power nettop computers. Last year we reviewed ASRock's ION 330 NetTop, which was their first, followed by the ION 330HT-BD, another Atom-based PC earlier this year. In August we then reviewed the ASRock Core 100HT, which was a nettop based upon a more powerful Core i3 processor, but with Intel integrated graphics. The latest nettop though to have been introduced by this Taiwan-based vendor is the Vision 3D NetTop, which incorporates a higher-end Intel Core processor while bringing NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M graphics for making a relatively high-end PC in a very small form factor.

The ASRock Vision 3D NetTop series packs in an ASRock HM55-based motherboard, an Intel Core i3 370M mobile processor, 4GB of DDR3-1066MHz system memory, a 500GB 7200RPM Serial ATA hard drive, Blu-ray disc combo drive, 7.1 channel HD audio with THX TruStudio Pro, USB 3.0 support, NVIDIA GeForce GT425M graphics, HDMI 1.4a support, Gigabit Ethernet, and integrated 802.11n WiFi support. As implied by the product's name, this PC and its GeForce GT 425M graphics are compatible with NVIDIA's 3D Vision technology assuming you connect the CD to a capable display, are running appropriate software, and have the appropriate 3D glasses.

Shipping with the ASRock Vision 3D was the 90W/19V external power supply, an extra Serial ATA cable, an MCE remote control, HDMI adapter, product documentation, and a support CD. We received the Vision 3D PC as a review sample from ASRock's headquarters and it was an early model so our support CD was actually a custom-created CD, but it is loaded with Microsoft Windows software anyways so it is of little use to us.

The MCE remote control ASRock includes with the Vision 3D is decent and can be configured to work under Linux with LIRC.