ASRock 4Core1600P35-WiFi+

Motherboard Layout:

Intel's P35 Chipset is compatible with both DDR2 and DDR3 memory, and ASRock has taken advantage of this by placing four DDR2 and two DDR3 memory DIMM slots on the 4Core1600P35-WiFi+ motherboard. The DDR2 and DDR3 memory slots cannot be occupied simultaneously, but this allows for an easy upgrade process if you are looking to upgrade your memory now but haven't yet made the jump to DDR3 memory. This feature is similar to several past ASRock motherboards such as the 775Dual-880Pro that had boasted socket compatibility with DDR and DDR2 memory. The 4Core1600P35-WiFi+ supports DDR3 memory up to 1333MHz and DDR2 up to 1066MHz (8GB capacity). Positioned between the DDR2/DDR3 memory sockets and the edge of the motherboard's PCB is the ATA-133 IDE connector.

While ASRock has improved the appearance of their packaging and even the feature-set, their northbridge and southbridge heatsinks have remained the same. Covering the Intel ICH9R is a small passive aluminum heatsink that is secured using two pushpins in opposing corners. Surrounding the ICH9R southbridge is the CMOS battery, six Serial ATA 2.0 ports, three USB 2.0 headers, one IEEE-1934a Firewire header, and the front panel header. The SATA RAID support on this motherboard provided by the ICH9R includes RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and boasts Intel Matrix Storage Technology. Providing the Firewire capabilities on this motherboard is the VIA Fire IIM VT6308S ASIC.

The expansion slots on the ASRock 4Core1600P35-WiFi+ include two PCI Express x16 and three PCI slots. The primary PCI-E x16 slot is able to provide its full bandwidth while the secondary slot is limited to PCI-E x4 bandwidth. Intel's P35 Chipset is ATI CrossFire certified, but there is currently no Linux support available. Tucked away on this side of the PCB is a Winbond W83627DHG-A I/O controller, ALC890 audio codec, and Realtek RTL8111B/RTL8111C Gigabit ethernet. At the bottom of the expansion slot area is a single FDD connector.