ASRock A330ION nVidia MCP7A-ION Mini-ITX Motherboard Review

Specifications
Product: ASRock A330ION

CPU: Intel® Dual-Core Atom™ Processor 330 1.6 GHz (Included)
– FSB533 MHz
– Hyper-Threading Technology
– Untied Overclocking Technology
– EM64T

Chipset: – NVIDIA® MCP7A-ION

Memory:
– Dual Channel DDR3 memory technology
– 2 x DDR3 DIMM slots
– Supports DDR3 1066/800 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
– Max. capacity of system memory: 4GB

BIOS: 8Mb AMI Legal BIOS
– Supports “Plug and Play”
– ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events
– Supports jumperfree
– SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support
– VCCM Voltage Multi-adjustment
– Supports Smart BIOS

Graphics:
– Integrated NVIDIA® GeForce 9 Series
– DX10 VGA, Pixel Shader 4.0
– Max. shared memory 512MB
– Three VGA Output options: D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI
– Supports HDMI Technology with max. resolution up to 1920×1200 (1080P)
– Supports Dual-link DVI with max. resolution up to 2560×1600 @ 75Hz
– Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 1920×1440 @ 75Hz
– Supports HDCP function
– Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback

Audio: – 7.1 CH HD Audio (VIA® VT2020 Audio Codec)

LAN:
– Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Giga PHY RTL8211CL
– Supports Wake-On-LAN

PCI Expansion: – 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot

Internal Connectors:
– 4 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0 and RAID 1), NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions
– 1 x IR header
– 1 x COM port header
– 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header
– CPU/Chassis FAN connector
– 24 pin ATX power connector
– Front panel audio connector
– 2 x USB 2.0 headers (support 4 USB 2.0 ports)

I/O Panel:
– 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
– 1 x VGA/D-Sub Port
– 1 x VGA/DVI-D Port
– 1 x HDMI Port
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports
– 2 x Powered eSATAII/USB Connectors
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
– HD Audio Jack: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone

ASRock Unique Features:
– ASRock OC Tuner
– Instant Boot
– ASRock Instant Flash
– ASRock OC DNA
– Hybrid Booster:
– CPU Frequency Stepless Control
– ASRock U-COP
– Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.)
– Good Night LED

Accessories:
– Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
– 1 x Bundled Intel® Dual-Core Atom™ Processor 330
– 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
– Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore

Form Factor: – Mini-ITX Form Factor: 6.7-in x 6.7-in, 17.0 cm x 17.0 cm
– All Solid Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)

Certifications: – FCC, CE, WHQL
– EuP Ready (EuP ready power supply is required)

15 comments
  1. You use up two USB ports with a mouse AND a keyboard dongle? Just get a bluetooth dongle and bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Proprietary wireless dongles for mice and keyboards devices is a waste IMHO.

  2. You use up two USB ports with a mouse AND a keyboard dongle? Just get a bluetooth dongle and bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Proprietary wireless dongles for mice and keyboards devices is a waste IMHO.

  3. 1st the fan you say, isn't on the CPU it's on the chipset, none of the atom mini-itx mobo's i used had a CPU fan..
    2nd the Sata ports on the back aren't just for Sata only.
    2 x Powered eSATAII/USB Connectors (as advertised in their Site)
    they can be used for either Sata or USB, ..
    fact is that with a special cable you can take from that port both Sata connection needed + the power for a laptop drive.. so in one of those ports you can connect a 2,5inch HDD & power it at the same time. So you have 6 usb at the back not 4 as you thought 🙂

  4. 1st the fan you say, isn't on the CPU it's on the chipset, none of the atom mini-itx mobo's i used had a CPU fan..
    2nd the Sata ports on the back aren't just for Sata only.
    2 x Powered eSATAII/USB Connectors (as advertised in their Site)
    they can be used for either Sata or USB, ..
    fact is that with a special cable you can take from that port both Sata connection needed + the power for a laptop drive.. so in one of those ports you can connect a 2,5inch HDD & power it at the same time. So you have 6 usb at the back not 4 as you thought 🙂

  5. ASRock made a big splash around the scene when they announced an upcoming Socket 1155 P67 board, one that was being spearheaded by Johnathan Wendel himself. Being the gamer that Fatal1ty is known for, this new Professional Series P67 motherboard offers …

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