Choosing A Motherboard

[seekermeister]

Another idea occurred to me. My HAF 922 has an extra expansion slot independent of the motherboard, which sits vertically on the opposite side from the other slots. If I decide to mount the panel in the rear, using this it would be easier to see and reach...I'll have to think about it.

 

[essenbe]

That would work, and would avoid the usual tangle of wires in the rear.

 

[seekermeister]

Argg! This board has an 8 prone connector for The CPU, instead of 6 prone, like on my test power supply. The PS installed in my desktop does have an 8 prone connector, but I don't want to tear it apart just to bench test this board, but I guess there's no way around it...is there?

 

[essenbe]

If you are talking about the CPU power connector, I guess I can't help. I've never heard of a 6 pin connector. Every board I have ever had was either 4 or 8. Don't most PSU's have a 4+4 ATX power cable? Wish we lived closer, I have 2 PSU's in my closet. But that's no help. I don't know if it is true, but I have been told that with an 8pin connection, the computer will boot with only a 4 pin connection. But that is up to you. I'm not sure what it would hurt to have not enough power. Seems it would either boot or not boot.

 

[seekermeister]

Your right, I was confusing a 6 prone plug for the graphics card with the CPU plug. It is a 4 prone cable, but I'm very reluctant to experiment with using it, so I guess that I'm going to have to start tearing the PC apart, and without a bench test.

 

[essenbe]

Probably a good decision. I don't think experimenting with a new board is a good idea. If you did and the board had problems, you would always wonder if that was what caused it.

 

[essenbe]

Before you break it down, make sure you don't have 2 4 prong cables on the PSU.

 

[seekermeister]

I found instructions in the user's manual that specifically states that it is okay to use a 4 pin CPU connector, instead of the eight pin, so I will bench test after all.

 

[seekermeister]

Before you break it down, make sure you don't have 2 4 prong cables on the PSU.

With the space between 2 and 4, I'm not sure if you actually mean 2 4 prong cables, or if it is a typo, however, if the latter, the user's manual also states that it can use either 20 or 24 pin ATX connector. I'll be using the 24 pin connector.

 

[essenbe]

I found instructions in the user's manual that specifically states that it is okay to use a 4 pin CPU connector, instead of the eight pin, so I will bench test after all.

Good job. Some people have all the luck. Good luck hope it goes well for you. Let me know.

 

[seekermeister]

Hurray! It posts! Now to start building.

 

[essenbe]

Congratulations! Good Job. I'm happy for you.

 

[seekermeister]

One thing that I'm wondering about, is that this comes with a fan that is optionally to be used on the 4-way heat sink. The instructions recommends it for over-clocking, which I doubt that I will do, so I have to decide whether to use it or not. Cooler is better, but with such a small fan, I'm certain that it is also very noisy.

EDIT: Kind of makes me want to install a power switch on the fan, so that I can have it either way.

 

[essenbe]

You are right that cooler is better. Heat kills components. I know the P67 Asus Sabertooth made all the hype about their thermal armor, then left a place for a 50mm fan to be installed to cool beneath the armor. That makes no sense to me. But they didn't include the fan. I'm saying this to say my opinion is that if they thought it necessary enough to include the fan, it just may be necessary. I'd use it. If later you find it not nesessary or too noisy, just unplug it. That's my 2 cents. But I'm happy you have it working and hope you are happy with it. I love seeing a good plan come together.

 

[seekermeister]

Yes, but this fan is only 1.5" square, so I know that it must turn at a really high speed. Since the heat-sink is in front of the rear exhaust fan, it should get some circulation from it. If not, I may plug in the side panel fan and see what happens, because it is far quieter, since it is 200mm.

 

[A Guy]

That board reviews well:

ASRock has come to the party with a bottle of champagne. The ASRock 890GX Extreme4 reflects the dedication of the company to bring a superior product to the table. From the packaging to the sleek look this motherboard packs a powerful punch for a mid priced motherboard.

It was difficult to find anything wrong with the 890GX Extreme4. The sata ports, in our opinion, were not positioned where most would prefer but hey, we review motherboards and do not engineer them. The board was laid out with plenty of room to install hardware and the 4 x 3.0 USB and 5 x sata3 ports are plentiful. The additional front 2.5 tray with 2 x 3.0 USB is great for quick USB accessibility on the front of your case. The onboard AMD Radeon HD 4290 DirectX 10.1 Onboard Graphics is excellent for users that do not need high end graphics capabilities. The only downfall is no DX11 support.

The performance of the ASRock 890GX Extreme4 proves the board can overclock like a champ reaching 4.4GHz stable which is just shy of its big brother the 890FX Deluxe5 at 4.5GHz. Coming in at around $150 US makes it a great hardware choice and a tremendous value. The board's performance will be essentially the same clock for clock as its big brother with a few exceptions, and It would be a wise choice for the majority of users.

Source

A Guy