ASRock X48TurboTwins-WiFi

Over the past few months we have looked at a few different Intel X48 motherboards and all of these motherboards bearing Intel's latest chipset have worked quite well with Linux. Among these motherboards have been the ASUS P5E3 Premium, Super Micro C2SBX+, and Gigabyte X48T-DQ6. These X48 motherboards have been expensive, but now some of the budget manufacturers are introducing models at a lower cost. For just under $200 USD, ASRock has introduced the X48TurboTwins-WiFi. The ASRock X48TurboTwins-WiFi pairs Intel's X48 with the ICH9R Southbridge and offers a few extra features such as eSATA, integrated 802.11g WiFi, and IEEE-1394 Firewire.

Features:

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

Chipset
- Northbridge: Intel X48
- Southbridge: Intel ICH9R

Memory
- Dual Channel DDR3/DDR2 memory technology
- 4 x DDR3 DIMM slots
- Supports DDR3 1600/1333/1066/800 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
- Max. capacity of system memory: 8GB
- 2 x DDR2 DIMM slots
- Supports DDR2 1066/800/667 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
- Max. capacity of system memory: 4GB

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, SB,VTT Voltage Multi-adjustment
- Supports I. O. T. (Intelligent Overclocking Technology)

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

LAN
- PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
- Realtek RTL8111C
- Supports Wake-On-LAN

Wireless LAN
- ASRock WiFi-802.11g module
- 54Mbps IEEE 802.11g / 11Mbps IEEE 802.11b
- Supports Software Access Point mode (AP mode) and Station mode

Expansion Slots
- Supports ATI CrossFire
- 2 x PCI Express x16 slots (green @ x16 mode)
- 1 x PCI Express x1 slot
- 3 x PCI slots

Other Features
- ASRock OC Tuner
- Hybrid Booster
- CPU Frequency Stepless Control
- ASRock U-COP
- Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.)

Form Factor
- ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
- All Solid Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)

Contents:

The ASRock X48TurboTwins-WiFi arrived in similar black packaging to the previously reviewed 4Core1600P35-WiFi+. The contents included four Serial ATA data cables, one 4-pin molex to Serial ATA power adapter, one ribbon FDD cable, one ribbon IDE cable, audio header cable, I/O panel, driver CD, user's manual, ASRock WiFi-802.11g module operation guide, 802.11g WiFi module, and an external WiFi antenna. While this assortment of accessories isn't as large as what one can find with an ASUS or Gigabyte motherboard, it is more than what we have had with other ASRock models that include only the bare-bone essentials.