From my early work as a sales manager for a PC components retail shop in Greenhills, I can say with rule-of-thumb authority that the majority of Filipino buyers don’t actually know what parts to look for, and thus end up with (usually) the cheapest parts with the least number of features. This is not always a negative development, as many capable boards with low, low price points exist on the market.

                                              The font for the first two letters remind me of a certain manufacturer...

For the minority with some knowledge of motherboard technology, but with the same handicap on their finances, a better understanding of their choices leads them to choose products which are very nearly at the level of the top-tier products, giving the most important features, cutting off the not-so-important extras, and doing so at a very low price point. This leads us to today’s spotlight, the Asrock Penryn 1600SLI-110dB.

                                             Cluttered on the left, somewhat empty on the right...

This motherboard’s roots fit the mainstream buyers’ requirements like a glove. It is derived from the award winning and enthusiast-garnering 680i chipset, with less features and less future-proofing. This is due to the older MCP51 southbridge that partners the 650i chipset that the motherboard is based on – with this southbridge, only four SATA connectors are available, with two IDE connectors at the side. This goes against modern motherboard convention of providing a single IDE and six SATA connectors. On the other hand, most mainstream users will never require more than four SATA connectors, much less six of them.

                                             What's up with the billboard-sized fonts?

Another cut-down feature is the 650i’s default 1066MHz FSB support – although the Asrock 1600 actually lists 1600MHz FSB  support right on the box. This is where the future proofing comes in – newer CPUs will need official 1600MHz FSB support, as this board simply achieves this compatibility through FSB overclocking  without the corresponding memory overclockability. In other words, this Asrock board only supports up to 800MHz DDR2 memory modules which may or may not be able to achieve 1:1 parity with your 1600MHz FSB CPU – your results may vary depending on the overclocking performance of your modules, your CPU, your motherboard, and how much cooling you have.

                                             Rear panel is par for the course for this type of motherboard.
 

Other features that are MIA include two USB slots on the front panel connectors (down to four from the 680i’s six), a Gigabit LAN, and a couple of PCI lanes per PCI-E slot as opposed to the 680i’s full x16 per PCI-E solution in SLI ( the 650i offers two x8 lanes per PCI-E in SLI). None of these MIA features significantly impact performance, not even the smaller number of lanes. Even with dual 8800 GTXs in SLI mode, performance is in no way hampered – another plus point for the mainstream buyer who wants to upgrade in the future. Rear panel connectivity does not lag behind its bigger brother, but some desirable features are missing – such as an e-SATA connector, two USB slots (there’s only four USB connectors at the rear) and the aforementioned second Gigabit LAN connector. Again, for a mainstream user these are hardly deal-breaking omissions, in fact, the money saved for the same raw performance is more than enough incentive for most informed buyers. Besides, some savory extras like the firewire port and solid capacitors all around give this board added value.

                                             Power connector is hard to reach.

I do have a couple of quibbles though – starting with the general layout of the motherboard. The most important feature in the gamer’s eyes immediately fall suspect – as the close spacing of the two PCI-E slots will give a videocard in an SLI setting no breathing room if it uses a dual socket cooler. It should have been obvious that more space = better cooling, especially in a motherboard with “SLI” in its name. The CPU area is pleasantly spacious, which more than emphasizes Asrock’s decision to tuck away the 24 pin power connector between the rear panel and CPU socket – this will make for tricky cable routing and sub-optimal cooling. Other connectors like IDE and SATA are properly placed – right at the edge of the board for easy access to cables. What’s up with the large lettering? The whole motherboard is seemingly covered in squibbles proclaiming “Yorkfield!”, “Wolfdale!”, “Dual Channel DDR2!”, and “FSB 1600!” (thankfully without the exclamation points). While it is normal practice to have motherboard features written down on the PCB, it shouldn’t be in this quantity, and in this large a font. It makes the motherboard look like a billboard ad when viewed through a clear side panel.

                                            Two slot cooler solutions in SLI will heat up right quick when the PCI-E slots are this close.

This is no perfect mainstream board and will not please anybody and everybody with its smaller feature palette. Yet this is a perfect example of concentrating on the essentials of performance, which many budget buyers graduating to the ranks of better-informed mainstream enthusiast will look for. The Asrock Penryn 1600SLI has its fair share of mis-steps, but from a performance and price-efficiency standpoint, this motherboard passes with flying colors and represents a move up from the budget section into the mainstream market. More pictures to follow.

                                              SATA connectors on the lower right corner.

                                             Asrock box lists all of the features you'll want to know about.

                                             The bundle. Four quick release SATA cables are included.