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We have reviewed many ASrock motherboards in the past and have been impressed with their layout structure and ease of use. We also like their bios updating methodology – you simply copy the bios file to the root directory of a USB drive/key and update from there, taking only a few seconds.
We initially experienced a few issues but ASrock sent us a new bios ‘ION3DHT1.10' which resolved the problems – we had planned to take a photograph of the bios updating procedure, but by the time we had the camera focused it was already over.
The new P1.10 bios installed and ready to rock – this cured some minor issues with our Windows 7 Install and we retested to ensure our results reflected the newest code.
ASRock have fully loaded the bios for the ION3D and we have all of the usual settings, plus a dedicated section for overclocking, including voltages, memory settings and clock speeds. The nVidia graphics can also be overclocked which is a fantastic option to include.
As with their ‘full sized' ATX boards ASRock include pre configured overclocking settings for users who don't want to get their hands dirty with voltage and frequency settings. We simply selected the 2.1ghz setting and rebooted.
Our overclocked settings took hold and we tested for complete stability. At 2.1ghz we can confirm that our sample was 100% stable. We did try to manually increase the clocks higher but we could only get another 50mhz out of the CPU before issues would occur, therefore we left the system at the preconfigured settings. The result of the overclocking means that the memory speeds have increased from 800mhz to 932mhz.
We also tried overclocking the nVidia graphics in the bios and while the 650mhz core setting proved unreliable, the 600mhz setting was stable throughout all our testing, a nice little free speed boost. memory also increased to 830mhz, with the shader clocks rose from 1230mhz to 1550mhz.
System Validiation over here.
All in all we were very happy with the bios and surprised with the variety of options for both inexperienced and skilled tweakers alike.
The supplied 5,400 rpm hard drive was a little bone of contention for us, we found it very slow (as they all are) and decided to try a system reinstall with an Intel X25-V 2.5 inch Solid State Drive – which would be a really worthwhile upgrade at a later date. We know media buffs aren't that bothered about benchmark results but an SSD really helps overall system responsiveness. Even media programs would load in a fraction of the time.
You can buy these from our partner YoyoTech for only £81.59 inc vat.
Finally we can see the effect of the ASRock preconfigured ‘2.1ghz overclock' setting.
| Windows 7 Performance test | 1.8ghz | 2.1ghz |
| Processor | 3.5 | 3.8 |
| Memory (RAM) | 4.8 | 5.3 |
| Graphics | 4.9 | 5.1 |
| Gaming Graphics | 5.7 | 5.8 |
| Hard Drive (new Intel SSD 40GB drive) | 5.7 | 7.3 |
A healthy series of performance increases from simply using a preconfigured ‘2.1ghz overclock' setting in the bios. With the new SSD Drive installed, it felt like a totally new system. By simply purchasing a USB 2.0 2.5 inch external chassis (under £20) you could use the supplied 320gb 5,400RPM drive for file storage, so it wouldn't go to waste.
