Mini can still be mighty!
This is a really good board from ASRock that has a surprisingly high level of quality in terms of components and build. The board itself is a dark brown and it has grey, silver and black components which look nicer than that garish blue found on other motherboards. The I/O comes with a full set of ports to rival many m-ATX boards and includes USB 3.0.
The GPU slot is fully compatible with PCI-E 3.0 which basically means you can strap a nuclear powerhouse to the thing and get maximum capability if you wanted. What I really liked are the energy conservative features and the robust BIOS features. Paired with a Core i3 and HD 7770 my little budget machine runs cool and rock solid while positively sipping energy which means no nasty electrical bills coming mum's way after someone was on their new computer 24/7.
BIOS is cool, fully graphical and operable by mouse. Actually it seems needlessly over the top considering this is not the board of choice for anyone looking to overclock. THX audio is a nice little thing for anyone building a suitable home-theater and planning their own HTPC build.
I put it in a Fractal Design Node 304 case with the previously mentioned components, added 4GB of RAM, 500GB HDD and the XFX 450W PSU for a sub-£400 computer that can handle almost any game out just now without bumping up electric costs. The computer booted with zero issue and I'm very pleased with the quality of the motherboard.
| Brand | ASRock |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 17.02 x 4.32 x 17.02 cm; 600 Grams |
| Item model number | B75M-ITX |
| Manufacturer | AsRock |
| Form Factor | Mini ITX |
| Processor Socket | LGA 1155 |
| Memory Technology | DDR3 |
| Computer Memory Type | DDR3 SDRAM |
| Graphics Card Interface | PCI-E |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 4 |
| Number of VGA Ports | 1 |
| Voltage | 1.5 Volts |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Item Weight | 600 g |
