ASRock ALiveNF5-eSATA2+ ATX Motherboard

Introduction:

    ASRock has been gaining recognition in the motherboard market with quality budget boards that are very stable. A few months back, I reviewed the ASRock ALiveNF6G-DVI which had some decent overclocking ability to it. This time around, I'm going to be reviewing the AliveNF5-eSATA2+ which uses the nForce520 chipset. The motherboard supports the AM2 line of AMD processors from FX, X2, 64, and Sempron, and supports overclocking. Printed right on the motherboard are Dual Core CPU and Dual Channel DDR2-800. Some of the other features will be gone over in the review, so sit back and enjoy the ride.

About the Company:

    ASRock Inc., established in 2002, is an energetic company with the combination of technology and humanity. Devoting efforts to bring customers the innovative and reliable motherboards with the design concept of 3C, "Creative, Considerate, Cost-effective", ASRock has successfully established a well-known leading brand of the best price-performance motherboard in the industry.

    Facing the constantly changing technologies of motherboard, ASRock will always keep the vision of the future and develop future-proof products upon our 3C design concept to our customers.

Specifications:

General CPU - Socket AM2 for AMD Athlon™ 64FX / 64X2 / 64 and Sempron processors - AMD LIVE!™ Ready - Supports AMD's Cool 'n' Quiet Technology - FSB 1000 MHz (2.0 GT/s) - Supports Untied Overclocking Technology - Supports Hyper-Transport Technology Chipset - NVIDIA® nForce 520 Memory - Dual Channel DDRII memory technology - 4 x DDRII DIMM slots - Supports DDRII800/667/533 - Max. capacity: 16GB* *Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® XP and Windows® Vista™. For Windows® XP 64-bit and Windows® Vista™ 64-bit with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation. BIOS - 4Mb AMI BIOS - AMI Legal BIOS - Supports "Plug and Play" - ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events - Supports jumperfree - SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support  Audio, Video and Networking Graphics - n/a Audio - 7.1 CH Windows® Vista™ Premium Level HD Audio (ALC888 Audio Codec) LAN - PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s - Realtek RTL8111B - Supports Wake-On-LAN  Expansion / Connectivity Slots - 3 x PCI slots - 1 x PCI Express x16 slot - 2 x PCI Express x1 slots Connector - 4 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5 and JBOD), NCQ, AHCI and "Hot Plug" functions - 2 x eSATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors (shared with 2 SATAII ports), support NCQ, AHCI and "Hot Plug" functions - 1 x ATA133 IDE connector (supports 2 x IDE devices) - 1 x Floppy connector - 1 x IR header - 1 x Game header - 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header - 2 x IEEE 1394 headers - CPU/Chassis FAN connector - 20 pin ATX power connector - 4 pin 12V power connector - CD in header - Front panel audio connector - 4 x USB 2.0 headers (support 8 USB 2.0 ports) Rear Panel I/O ASRock 8CH_eSATAII I/O - 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port - 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port - 1 x Serial Port: COM1 - 1 x Parallel Port (ECP/EPP Support) - 2 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports - 2 x eSATAII Ports - 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port - HD Audio Jack: Side Speaker / Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone Free Bundle: USB+1394 bracket, providing 2 additional USB 2.0 ports and 1 IEEE 1394 port  Other Features / Miscellaneous Hybrid Booster - CPU Frequency Stepless Control - ASRock U-COP - Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.) - ASRock AM2 Boost: ASRock Patented Technology to boost memory performance up to 12.5% Support CD - Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version) Accessories - Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield - Floppy/ATA 133 cables - 4 x SATA data cable (optional) - 2 x SATA 1 to 1 power cable (optional) - 1 x HDMI_SPDIF cable (optional) - 1 x USB+1394 bracket Hardware Monitor - CPU Internal Temperature Sensing - CPU Ambient Temperature Sensing - Chassis Temperature Sensing - CPU Fan Tachometer - Chassis Fan Tachometer - CPU Quiet Fan - Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, Vcore Form Factor - ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 8.0-in, 30.5 cm x 20.3 cm OS - Microsoft® Windows® 2000 / XP / XP Media Center / XP 64-bit / Vista™ / Vista™ 64-bit compliant Certifications - FCC, CE, WHQL WARNING Please realize that there is a certain risk involved with overclocking, including adjusting the setting in the BIOS or using the third-party overclocking tools. Overclocking may affect your system stability, or even cause damage to the components and devices of your system. It should be done at your own risk and expense. We are not responsible for possible damage caused by overclocking.

1. Socket AM2 for AMD Athlon™ 64FX / 64X2 / 64 and Sempron processors

2. NVIDIA^® nForce 520 Chipset

• FSB 1000 MHz (2.0 GT/s) processor

• AMD LIVE!™ Ready

• Untied Overclocking : During Overclocking, FSB enjoys better margin due to fixed PCIE/ PCI Buses

• Supports Dual Channel DDRII800/667/533 , 4 x DIMM slots, with max. capacity up to 16GB

• ASRock AM2 Boost: ASRock Patented Technology to boost memory performance up to 12.5%

• Hybrid Booster - ASRock Safe Overclocking Technology

• 1 x PCI Express x16 slot

• Supports PCIE Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s

• 4 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5 and JBOD) , NCQ, AHCI and "Hot Plug" functions

• 2 x eSATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors (shared with 2 SATAII ports), NCQ, AHCI and "Hot Plug" functions

• 2 x IEEE 1394 headers

• HDMI_SPDIF header, providing SPDIF audio output to HDMI VGA card, allows the system to connect HDMI Digital TV/projector/LCD devices.

• 7.1 CH Windows^® Vista™ Premium Level HD Audio (ALC888 Audio Codec)

• Windows^® Vista™ Premium Logo Ready

• Supports Windows^® XP Media Center Edition

• Free Bundle: 1 x USB+1394 bracket, providing 2 additional USB 2.0 ports and 1 IEEE 1394 port

• ASRock 8CH_eSATAII I/O: 2 eSATAII ports, 2 ready-to-use USB ports

Got News? Send 'em in!