Introduction
“Out with the old, in with the new”, “All good things must come to an end”, whichever worn out clich, you desire, one thing is definite: with the i7 processor now a reality, the end is near for the LGA 775. It has been a long run, much longer than I would have expected, comprising several generations of processors, from the last P4s, the Pentium D, and all of the C2Ds and Core 2 Quads. It has served us well, and many will mourn its passing.
Don’t expect to see a lot of new stuff for the venerable Socket 775. We’ll see some, but mostly we’ll see falling prices to clean out warehouses. It will be a good time for building budget-priced rigs with a lot of power.
nVidia, for one, has developed a new chipset for the LGA 775, the nForce 740i SLI. They took the bridges c55 + MCP51, used in the nForce 650i chipset, and built around it a platform for an entry-level SLI motherboard, to complement the nF 750i SLI and nF 790i SLI boards. Our friends at ASRock are the first to build a motherboard from the 740i SLI, the N7AD-SLI. They also have launched their new quick-boot system, ASRock Instant Boot, on this motherboard. Read on as we look at this latest offering for the LGA 775 processor.
Packaging
The N7AD-SLI comes in typical ASRock packaging, with some specs and features on the box, and a long list of ASRock’s awards on the back.
Inside, the board is in a static-free sleeve on a slab of foam, separated from the bundle by a cardboard divider.
Specifications
CPU: LGA 775 Intel Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo / Pentium Dual Core / Celeron Dual Core / Celeron
– Supports FSB1600/1333/1066/800/533 MHz
– Supports Hyper-Threading Technology
– Supports Untied Overclocking Technology
– Supports EM64T CPU
Chipset: NVIDIA nForce 740i SLI
Memory: Dual Channel DDR2 memory technology
– 4 x DDR2 DIMM slots
– Supports DDR2 800/667 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
– Max. capacity of system memory: 16GB
BIOS: 8Mb AMI BIOS
– AMI Legal BIOS
– Supports “Plug and Play”
– ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events
– Supports jumperfree
– SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support
– CPU, DRAM, NB, VTT Voltage Multi-adjustment
– Supports Smart BIOS
Audio: 7.1 CH Windows Vista Premium Level HD Audio with Content Protection
– DAC with 110dB dynamic range (ALC890 Audio Codec)
LAN: Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Giga PHY RTL8211CL
– Supports Wake-On-LAN
Expansion Slots: 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (green @ x16 mode, blue @ x8 mode)
– 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots
– 2 x PCI slots
– Supports NVIDIA SLI
Rear Panel I/O:
– 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port
– 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
– 1 x Coaxial SPDIF Out Port
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 6 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports
– 1 x eSATAII Port
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
– 1 x IEEE 1394 Port
– HD Audio Jack: Side Speaker / Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
ASRock Unique Features: – ASRock OC Tuner
– Intelligent Energy Saver
– Instant Boot
– Hybrid Booster:
– CPU Frequency Stepless Control
– ASRock U-COP
– Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.)
Bundle:
– 1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_2S Card
– 1 x ASRock SLI/XFire Switch Card
– Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
– Floppy/ATA 133 Cables
– 2 x SATA Data Cables (optional)
– 1 x SATA 1 to 1 Power Cable (optional)
Hardware Monitoring:
– CPU 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 8.2-in, 30.5 cm x 20.8 cm
– All Solid Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)
Certifications: FCC, CE, WHQL