ASRock 770iCafe AM3+ AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: none

Cons: I received this mobo even after reading the negative reviews. The computer went together well, but the monitor would not receive a signal with any monitor I hooked up to it. I have tested the video card, monitors and found them all to be working. It is not the CPU, PSU, and the mobo is not turning on. However, there are no beeps. I have reset the bios and still no change. I have run all the suggested trouble shooting techniques. The monitor still says no signal. I can only assume that the mobo arrived with a faulty pci express x16 2.0 slot. There is no onboard video to hook up to in order to check bios to see if it is set up for a vga or not to recognize video cards.

Other Thoughts: I did not think that a lack of an on board video would cause problems. However, troubleshooting is nearly impossible when you are forced to do it blindly.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Please trouble shooting the mainboard for below steps with known good components;
Remove the mainboard from inside computer to outside, place the mainboard on top of the empty mainboard’s box
Clear the CMOS
Reseat the CPU and heatsink fan as well
Test with single memory module (non-ECC, un-buffered), try with another known good memory if its same issue.
Reseat the video card with 6+6 power (if applied)
Power supply with connecting 24 pins + 8 or 4 pins ATX power to the mainboard
Plug the computer case’s power switch to mainboard's front panel power header and try again
If you have any technical questions please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.


Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: Cheap, has a fair amount of pci-e slots, Dr. Debug lcd panel for debugging

Cons: Only 2/3 pci-e slots work. I've bought three of these boards, and two already have problems. On one board, the third pci-e slot won't work out of the box, and on the second board, it went bad within the week. The third board is fine (so far). I probably will not buy more of these.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Sorry to hear the PCIE slot has malfunctioned.
If using PCIE 1 x slot, please install the card firmly to assure fully contact with the slot to avoid detecting the add-on card issue.
Thank you for your purchase and review.
If you have any technical questions or warranty issues please contact our Tech Support at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: I was hoping to find one for under $60 and I was shocked to find one with so many awesome features. I was also looking for 4 DDR3 DIMM slots not 2 DDR2 and 2 DDR3 that can't even work simultaneously like the only other super cheap 4 DIMM board available here on Newegg. This board has it all including the ability to OC everything and software that makes the most out of all of the hardware. This board was bought to replace my R.I.P. MSI 890GXM-G65 and other than 5.1 audio I didn't lose much beside what I didn't use like the on-board GPU, SATA 6, and USB 3.0. Both boards are made for smaller cases like mine but the 770icafe's narrow rectangular shape fits much nicer into my Antec 300 than the MSI's perfect square. I'm actually looking forward to now being able to have a sound card ABOVE my graphics card instead of blocking it or the bottom mounted PSU.

After much consideration I chose this board to go with a 965 BE 3.4 ghz quad core and 4x2gb PC1333 RAM. It recognized my hard drive without any problems and wasn't the cause for the freeze on the first boot after loading windows almost completely.

Cons: I expected a few bugs especially because this was a repair not a new build. It wouldn't recognize my DVD drive until I plugged it into port 4. Because of this I didn't use the drive for the first few days and had to download all of the drivers and software which worked out alright but ASRock's Website SUCKS! Something about foreign businesses and the meanings lost in translation or what we are used to in America and what's other's are used to in different parts of the world I guess. Basically one wrong click and you're nowhere near what you want or you're on some other website trying to sell you something else. I expect that in free message forums but not on a manufacturer's website.

Other Thoughts: I cannot tell if I've gained much in performance but so far the gaming has been smooth and even though my video settings do not appear to have changed I swear that the resolution must be higher or I've gotten a little too used to playing on the PS3. Of course the video has more to do with my Pny GTX 460 but other than replacing the 955 BE with a 965 BE and doubling my RAM the only real upgrade was the motherboard and water cooler for the CPU.

Pros: cheep,AM3+ CPU

Cons: had it for just over 6 months and the USB's are starting to fail, only 1 PCI express

Other Thoughts: do NOT buy if you want to use it for more than a half a year.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. For the issue, please turn the power off, clear the CMOS.
Test with another known good USB devices to eliminate the issue.
If you have any technical questions or warranty issues please contact our Tech Support at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: LED Dr.Debug Display to help with the diagnosis

Cons: I am building 2 computer for some friends, ordered the first one last week it came in DOA, ok as usual NewEgg was absolutely fantastic with their customer support and had me a new one rather quickly. Ordered another board for the 2nd computer which came in today and it is also DOA. so far 2 of 3 boards are DOA. I purchase a lot of boards from AsRock and figured them to be a good supplier, after this mishap I may start to look else where when building other rigs.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Sorry to hear the second mainboard having same issue.
Please trouble shooting the mainboard for below steps with known good components;
Remove the mainboard from inside computer to outside. Place the mainboard on top of the empty mainboard’s box
Clear the CMOS
Reseat the CPU and heatsink fan as well
Test with 1 memory module (non-ECC, un-buffered), try with another known good memory if its same issue.
Video card with 6+6 power (if applied)
Power supply with connecting 24 pins + 8 or 4 pins ATX power to the mainboard
Plug the computer case’s power switch to mainboard's front panel power header and try again
If you have any technical questions please contact us at 909-590-8308 or http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.


Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: Price, Overclocking utilities, quality... I bought this board and paired it with an Athlon 2 X4 and WOW... Sold that pc and built another, better stuff, with a Phenom 2 X4 965 BE at 4ghz! Yeah, the board nativily underclocked the ram, but easy fix.

Cons: No USB 3.0...

Pros: Everything that is plugged in works flawlessly

Cons: CPU slot is raised too high, and I cannot place the stock heatsink that came with my processor nor an aftermarket heatsink on it securely.

Other Thoughts: The motherboard works fine besides the height discrepancy, but the CPU slot not allowing for a CPU cooler to be securely set means my computer is worthless right now.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear AsRock Customer

We sincerely apologize that you having difficulty with CPU socket on mainboard. The CPU socket on the mainboard’s complied with standard AMD specification to meet the market. As always, we appreciate your purchase and constructive reviews are welcome. If you have any technical questions please contact us at http://www.asrock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.

Thank you

AsRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@asrockamerica.com

Pros: Solid performance. good overclocking Well good for AMD. I'm really happy with the board. if your on a budget I highly recommend it.

Cons: None that I can find.

Pros: Cheap for someone that is broke like myself.

Cons: first day of install with this MOBO I came into my first issue. I purchased 16gb or ram in a 4 chip setup, went to install it and computer would not turn on. after troubleshooting I found that one slot was messed up and couldn't use that slot. limited upgrade with only a x16 x4 crossfire setup. If you plan on doing anything spend about 30 extra bucks to get a x16 x16 sli+crossfire chipset.

Other Thoughts: Never, even if i was a broke man will ever buy from this company again.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear AsRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Unfortunately, mainboard 770iCafe does not support Crossfire. However, it comes with 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot. For more information, please visit the mainboard's specification link at "http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/770iCafe/?cat=Specifications". For the memory slot issue, please contact us at http://www.asrock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.

Thank you

AsRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@asrockamerica.com

Pros: -Motherboard allows for great overclock-ability
-AM3+ Socket type is quite versatile
-UEFI BIOS

Cons: -No USB 3.0 support
-No Integrated Graphics (not that it's really needed, but just in case your Graphics Card fails, you have no backup)
-RAM defaults to 1333 (a minor inconvenience, an easy tweak in the BIOS will fix this)
-Motherboard only supports RAM up to 1600, though for a mid range gaming rig, 1600 is enough

Other Thoughts: Computer Specs:
Motherboard: ASRock 770iCafe AM3+ AMD 770
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 270 Regor 3.4GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Graphics Card: EVGA 01G-P3-2632-KR GeForce GT 630 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Power Supply: COUGAR A-Series A560 (CGR B3-560) 560W ATX12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified