Asrock h67m-itx... go for it?

[subtraction]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-238-_-Product

I am currently without a proper PC at home and have resorted to using the smartphone while I waited for an itx 1155 board to come out. And here it has arrived should I take the plunge I am only hesitant due to a complete lack of reviews which basically I'm saying I hate being the guiena pig. I also have no previous experience with Asrock... thoughts and input?

This will be used as an htpc and very light gaming on the HDTV. Will probably socket an i3 in it along with the stock hsf tuen drop in 4gigs of ram and call it done.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The ASRock P67 board got a good review from AnandTech.

Also FYI, SilentPCReview just reviewed the i3-2100 and gave it a strong recommendation for HTPC use -- lower power and better performance than comparable intel and AMD parts.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/i3-2100-x2-565

 

[subtraction]

The ASRock P67 board got a good review from AnandTech.

Also FYI, SilentPCReview just reviewed the i3-2100 and gave it a strong recommendation for HTPC use -- lower power and better performance than comparable intel and AMD parts.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/i3-2100-x2-565

Thanks for the link! I'd actually considered going with one of the MC AMD combos but for a few dollars more figured it would be well worth going with SB instead. I had read reviews of other Asrock 1155 boards but not this particular model. There seems to be no real informationon it much less a full blown professional like review.

 

[irev210]

I would recommend you go with the DH67CF from Intel.

If you are going to use it for a HTPC, the Intel board has a standard CIR header port, which is a nice bonus.

The main difference is the power consumption of the DH67CF.

http://www.missingremote.com/review/intel-core-i3-2100t-and-bh67cf-mini-itx-motherboard

14.1 watts at idle is pretty hard to beat.

 

[Taft12]

The ASRock board looks fine to me. All solid caps, same features of the other MITX boards we've seen (if not been released) so far.

They've been a reputable brand for a few years now unless I've missed some terrible product(s) of theirs... Hard to imagine going wrong here, especially since OC is now no longer in the conversation.

 

[paperwastage]

I would recommend you go with the DH67CF from Intel.

If you are going to use it for a HTPC, the Intel board has a standard CIR header port, which is a nice bonus.

The main difference is the power consumption of the DH67CF.

http://www.missingremote.com/review/intel-core-i3-2100t-and-bh67cf-mini-itx-motherboard

14.1 watts at idle is pretty hard to beat.

though you'll probably go for an i3/i5, the Intel mitx only supports 65W TDP processors, while the Asrock says everything including 95W

http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=H67M-ITX

 

[subtraction]

though you'll probably go for an i3/i5, the Intel mitx only supports 65W TDP processors, while the Asrock says everything including 95W

http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=H67M-ITX

My understanding is that whole 65w only is just Intel being conservative apparently people are running the entire SB lineup in it. But I still think I am going with the Asrock just have to decide upon which memory to get while the egg still has the 15% off promo going...

 

[richough3]

I ordered the slightly upgraded version yesterday that includes WiFi and remote and receiver. It should be in by Friday, so I'll post back after I have it in. I plan on putting my Core i5 2500 processor in it and will have the setup in my mid tower until I can find the right mini itx case and heat sink for it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-239-_-Product

 

[subtraction]

I ordered the slightly upgraded version yesterday that includes WiFi and remote and receiver. It should be in by Friday, so I'll post back after I have it in. I plan on putting my Core i5 2500 processor in it and will have the setup in my mid tower until I can find the right mini itx case and heat sink for it.o

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-239-_-Product

Ohh do tell once you have it in hand. I am about to place my order...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157238
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231396
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371033


And I am making a trip to B&M MC this weekend to buy an i3 2100 @ $119.99, two spinpoint f3 500gb drives, and a cheap case so all said and done ill be out about $400 for a pretty decent htpc setup. Might put something like a 5750 or possibly 550ti in at a later point?

 

[richough3]

Well the H67M-ITX/HT board came in today and it's up and all is well. The layout is the same as the H67M-ITX but it also has Wifi built in and comes with a Media Center remote. It's as fast as the ASUS P8H67-M LE board I had with the previous stepping. Since Newegg didn't have the Asus board in stock at the time, they refunded my money, so I decided to go for the H67M-ITX/HT. Installation was pretty easy, but the layout of all the case connections (power, reset, LED connections, etc) are on the left side of the board, so that was a bit annoying considering I put this board in a Coolermaster Centurion 5 mid tower case. Luckily, all the cables are pretty long, so they are clear of the CPU. The included SATA 3/6.0 GBPs cable was also long enough to go from the front middle of the case all the way back to the SATA 3 port on the motherboard.

According to the ASRock monitoring utility, at idle, my Core i5 -2500 is at 104 degrees Farenheit (40 degrees Celsius) and the motherboard is at 96 degrees Farenheit (35 degrees Celsius). The processor went up to 131 degrees Farenheit (55 degrees Celsius) and the motherboard hit 102 degrees Farenheit(39 degrees Celsius) while at 49% CPU utilization during some video transcoding. I only used the stock cooler, but I did add some Arctic Silver to it before installing everything.

Overall, the board works well i just wish they had done the layout more like their AMD Zacate E350M1 mini itx board but if I was putting it in the IN WIN BQ656.AD80TBL mini itx case that I do have, the layout on the H67M-ITX/HT is better. Also, since there's no fan on the chipset, the loudest thing in the case is my Radeon 4770 and it fits without any problems into the full 16x PCI Express slot.


One last thing to remember to do is to install each driver manually. If you select to install all drivers, it also installs Norton Security Suite and another game app thing.

 

[richough3]

And here are a couple of benchmarks

Fritz Chess Benchmark
Relative Speed - 21.13
Kilo nodes per second - 10144

For comparison
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=318872&page=7

Cinebench 10
Single Thread - 5925
Multi Thread - 20361

For comparison
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/17

 

[ITXGamer]

Here are a few more benchmarks and some thoughts about the H67-ITX. It seems to be a solid board and there are comparisons to the DH67CF. While both are similar, there are a few differences that you might want to consider.

ASRock H67-ITX Reviewed

Intel's 65w claim is indeed them just being conservative. An Intel rep I email informed me that the full line of SB CPU's will work in the DH67CF. They made no response to my question as to whether or not using a 95w CPU would void the warranty.

Intel DH67CF and 95w CPUs

 

[designlab]

Hi, I was looking in the web somebody who has an H67M/ITX board. I need to Know if that MB can boot from USB. In ASUS site I downloaded the manual but say nothing about, and Asus support didn´t answer that qwestion.
I want to know that before buy here in SPAIN.
Thanks in advance.
Jorge