Pros:
Powerful BIOS
Well labeled components
Cons:
No control over CASE2 and CASE3 fans
CPU power far from bottom mount PSU
I have been running this board for 6 months with no problems.
I bought this looking for a motherboard with 4 RAM slots and ATX size for future expansion. This one had good reviews and looked like a good deal.
If this is your first UEFI board (like it is for me), you may be in for a pleasant surprise. The BIOS is very easy to use. The boot order is layed out on the main settings page, and you can drag the categories to change the
order. You have to go into the Boot settings to change the priority in each category though. Of course there is also an F11 shortcut to choose a boot source. Settings have mostly very helpful messages to explain the different
options.
From my research I wasn't sure how it would handle my existing MBR disks vs. future GPT disks. I have had no issues. The boot categories differentiate between UEFI and legacy boot sources, and it has had no problems detecting my
different boot media (I did have issues after some hardward changes, but I blame them on Grub, not the BIOS).
The "OC" settings are limited since this is not a Z87 board. You can turn the processor Turbo mode on and off, and you can choose a frequency for the processor to run at (up to the Turbo spec). You can also set the power limits
it uses to manage Turbo mode.
The BIOS also controls the CPU1, CPU2, and CASE1 fans. You can manually set the fan speed (in %), or give it a CPU temperature range to regulate. It shows a graph and values of the temperature and fan speeds for these. The controllable case fan plug is located behind the CPU, so it is most useful for either side fans or rear/top fans.
There are sensors for motherboard temperature, each CPU core temperature, and the previously mentioned fans. There is also a voltage monitor for the power supply. There doesn't appear to be any feedback or control of the CASE2
and CASE3 fans.
There is even an "explorer" that shows an image of the motherboard with info on the important parts. I'm not sure how useful this since the computer must work to get to it, but it is interesting.
The only other negative thing is the location of the processor power plugs. If you have a bottom mount PSU case (like most are these days), it is about as far from the PSU as it can possibly be. I was able to run the cable across
the motherboard to get to it, but it was a close fit. This seems fairly standard but is still a slight frustration.
All of the sockets and plugs are well labeled as to what goes where.
I had no problems installing either stock or aftermarket CPU coolers. Keep in mind some of the larger ones may interfere with the closest RAM slot.
Make sure you line up the rear I/O cover correctly, I messed up the first time and had metal tabs blocking some ports.
Note on BIOS: I tried the M-Flash to update the BIOS from a USB stick, but the BIOS just froze. Fortunately a reboot just brought it back with the ond BIOS version. Evidently this is not unusual. I used the DOS update
instructions instead, and that worked fine. It's not too hard if you have Windows available to make the DOS boot disk.
| Processor | pentium |
|---|---|
| RAM | DDR3 |
| Memory Speed | 1333 MHz |
