Thoughts & Conclusion:

4Core1333-Viiv:

It would have seemed to me that ASRock targeted the traditional PC DIY and OEM market, recently with the success of VSTA that brought the attention to many PC enthusiasts who happen to be budget minded. AGP, DDR and C2D seemed to be the right product at the right time. The Pin-Mods came from these enthusiasts where ASRock BIOS lacked.

ASRock continues its success from this event. However, if the 4Core1333-Viiv is priced over $100, this situation may change unless ASRock would provide BIOS that allows tweaking others are offering. With recent P965 and P35 main-boards priced at around and below $100, the market is getting very competitive. Granted most of these sub $100 main-boards do not offer eSATA, Firewire, Raid 0, 1,5 & 10, HDMI, and bundled Express Card, they are favored by most entry level hardcore users for their overclocking features.

The Express Card is far less popular than media memory card reader if a choice is given. I’d go for media memory card reader. A BIOS upgrade to include Vcore adjustment, unlock Multi (set according to Intel provision), Ram and chipset voltage tweaking etc, would make it a good contender at the price range. I would hope this is the case, as the following screen shot from ASRock website indicating a BIOS update may change some of the thinking.



Personally, I would like to do away with Crossfire and Express Card bundle and keep the price level down to below $100. With improved BIOS, ASRock has got a hot product. Lastly, give me 24-pin main, even the budget minded are replacing power supply to meet current standard. As it stands at $110, it is a matter of $15 and better BIOS from sending ASRock 4Core1333-Viiv our value award.

Bottom line, reaching 363 FSB will bring Q6600 over 3.2GHz at stock voltage or all C2D with 9 multiplier using stock cooling and value ram except the newer 1333 series. Matching the right processor with the ability of this board becomes obvious. The E4400 is a good example. On the other hand, MCE users who don't overclock and look for a full feature main-board should pay more attention to this Vista ready 4Core1333-Viiv.

Pros:

Moderate overclocking

Raid 0, 1, 5 & 10

Quad Core & MCE ready

HD 8-channel audio

HDMI SPDIF audio header for HDMI ready graphic card

CrossFire, eSATA, 2x Firewire provision with parallel and COM port

ExpressCard bundle

Cons:

Weak BIOS (as to overclocking)

A bit pricey

Main connector location

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Intel E4400:

The E4000 series get to keep the C2D name while the E2000 series with only half the cache is now called Pentium Dual Core. E4000 series may not put you into the elite group neither. Owner of the E63xx and E64xx series demonstrate the ability to absorb high FSB in both of their RAM and main-board selections. Q6600 owners will show not only the high FSB gear but also the cooling gear at the same time. While E2000 and E4000 owners show more cash left in their wallets. No pun intended, I merely want to make E2xxx and E4xxx owners feel a bit better.;)

The review sample runs at 2.66GHz at default voltage, a 33% jump simply by raising the FSB from 200 to 266 allowing the use of value PC4200 memory. 3.26GHz (326FSB) requires a good voltage boost of 1.55v, however CPU temp read from Speedfan tops at ~54°C with 28°C ambient on open bench using similar stock cooler performance is certainly acceptable. Again, value ram PC5300 applies nicely.

The high overclocking headroom C2D has created a phenomenon similar to price war; enthusiasts and consumers are happy only for a short moment afterward they demand for more. High overclocking headroom and low price become givens, the show of disappointment follow with anything less. A lesson I remember well from Econ class. :)

Pros:

Good overclocking

10x multi allows the use of low price memory

Price

Cons:

Lack virtualization

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ASRock 4Core1333-Viiv and Intel E4400 OEM from Geeks Computer Parts represent an excellent package for the price for DIYs looking for performance and low value memory. Get a high-end graphic card, gamers should not have much to complain. If you are not gamers, the rich feature 4Core1333-Viiv will certainly satisfy most of your computing needs with firewire, eSATA, good old parallel and COM ports.