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