Introduction and Specifications
Mini ITX motherboards are growing in popularity because of their low power consumption, good performance, and support for high definition video and audio. They are also a good solution for users on a budget because most (if not all) are being outfitted with integrated video and CPUs like the ASRock A330ION we are evaluating today. The A330ION brings together NVidia’s MCP7A-ION platform and Intel’s dual core Atom 330 processor to create a small form factor HTPC solution that’s capable of lower-end gaming and Blu-ray 1080p playback right out of the box.
ASRock’s A330ION brings world’s first ION board with DDR3 support
Courtesy of ASRock
Mini ITX motherboards are growing in popularity because of their low power consumption, good performance, and support for high definition video and audio. They are also a good solution for users on a budget because most (if not all) are being outfitted with integrated video and CPUs like the ASRock A330ION we are evaluating today. The A330ION brings together NVidia’s MCP7A-ION platform and Intel’s dual core Atom processor to create a small form factor HTPC solution that’s capable of lower-end gaming and Blu-ray 1080p playback right out of the box.
Courtesy of ASRock
There are several unique feature that ASRock packed into the A330ION like support for dual channel DDR3 1066 memory (maxes out at 4GB), support for overclocking, and multiple video output sources like VGA, DVI, and HDMI. They also added 7.1 HD audio through a VIA VT2020 chip, Gigabit LAN, and four SATA 3GB/s ports with RAID 0 and 1 functionality.
ASRock A330ION Technical Specifications (from ASRock’s website)
| General | |
| CPU | – Intel® Dual-Core Atom™ Processor 330 (1.6 GHz)
– Supports FSB533 MHz – Supports Hyper-Threading Technology – Supports Untied Overclocking Technology – Supports 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* *Due to the CPU limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® OS.
|
| 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 |
| Audio, Video and Networking | |
| Graphics | – Integrated NVIDIA® GeForce 9 Series
– DX10 VGA, Pixel Shader 4.0 – Max. shared memory 512MB – Multi 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 |
| Expansion / Connectivity | |
| Slots | – 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot |
| Connector | – 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) *Please noted that AHCI/RAID mode is not supported under Windows® XP/XP 64bit OS.
|
| Rear Panel I/O | 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 |
| Other Features / Miscellaneous | |
| Unique Feature | – 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 |
| Support CD | – Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), ASRock Software Suite (CyberLink DVD Suite and Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB) (OEM and Trial Version) |
| 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 Monitor | – 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) |
| OS | – Microsoft® Windows® 7 / 7 64-bit / Vista™ / Vista™ 64-bit / XP / XP 64-bit compliant |
| Certifications | – FCC, CE, WHQL
– EuP Ready (EuP ready power supply is required) |
