Last month, we reviewed the Penryn1600SLI-110dB based on the nForce 650i chipset. ASRock delivers yet another board based on the NVIDIA Intel series. This time round, it uses the NForce 680i chipset. This new board model Penryn1600SLIX3-WIFI is based on the the NF680i + NF570i chipset. If you remember, most of the 680i were NVIDIA home brewed boards and there weren't able to anticipate support for the 1600FSB Processors at that time. ASRock is able to deliver a new breathe of life for the aging chipset with support for the Intel QX9770 Core 2 Extreme Quad Core processor running 1600FSB. On top of that, it also supports 3 Way SLI.

On top of all these, the board comes with a free Bundle: 802.11g WiFi module. This allows you to transform your board into a AP or run it as a client for wireless internet connection. For movie buffs, the on board ALC890 audio codec with DTS support. The ALC890 audio codec supports signal to noise ratio of 110dB, and the S/N rate means the higher the ratio, the less obtrusive the background noise is. And what’s best is that ASRock Penryn1600SLIX3-WiFi supports DTS, which makes the sound from game or software become a 7.1 channel audio output through the surround speakers, and it also can simulate the 2-channel audio file, (MP3, WMA..) to a 7.1 channel audio output through the surround speakers.

In terms of expansion, the board supports IEEE1394, Gigabit LAN, eSATAII. As for the external devices interface, this motherboard comes with IEEE1394, Gigabit LAN, featuring 6 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, JBOD and RAID 5), NCQ and "Hot Plug" functions, eSATAII port.

Better capacitor is also one of the most important criteria to users. ASRock Penryn1600SLIX3-WiFi is designed with all solid capacitors, which enhances the durability, over-clocking, reliability and safety of it. You can also install the ASRock OC tuner to oc your CPU within Windows.

Wth solid caps and heatpipe design, the board will cool better and last longer.

Specs

 * LGA 775 for Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme / Core™ 2 Quad / Core™ 2 Duo / Pentium® Dual Core / Celeron®, supporting Penryn Quad Core Yorkfield and Dual Core Wolfdale processors
* All Solid Capacitor design
* NVIDIA® nForce 680i SLI Chipset
* Compatible with all FSB1600/1333/1066/800MHz CPUs
* Supports Dual Channel DDR2 800/667/533 x 4 DIMM slots, maximum capacity up to 8GB
* Supports NVIDIA® SLI™ and 3-Way SLI™
* 3 x PCI Express x16 slots (white @ x16 mode, yellow @ x8 mode)
* Supports Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
* Supports 2 x IEEE1394 ports (one port on back panel, one header on board)
* 6 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, JBOD and RAID 5), NCQ and "Hot Plug" functions
* 1 x eSATAII 3.0 Gb/s connector, supports NCQ and "Hot Plug" functions
* 1 x WiFi/E header
* 7.1 CH Windows® Vista™ Premium Level HD Audio with Content Protection, supports DAC with 110dB dynamic range (ALC890 Audio Codec), DTS (Digital Theater Systems)
* Supports ASRock OC Tuner
* Windows® Vista™ Premium 2007 Logo Ready
* Bundle: 1 x ASRock WiFi-802.11g Module 1 x Antenna, 1 x ASRock SLI Bridge and 1 x ASRock 3-Way SLI Bridge
* ASRock WiFi_eSATAII I/O Plus : 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED, 1 x IEEE 1394 port, 1 x eSATAII port

3 way SLI bridge and 2 way SLI bridge are provided. The WIFI/AP card and antenna is also bundled in the package.

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