ASRock H61M-DGS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Awesome board and great features from Asrock. Asrock customer service is the best.

Cons: -Poor BIOS updates.

Other Thoughts: keep in note that I used this board for a low end gaming build. I used a Pentium G630 with this and it worked well for months, it wasn't until I wanted to update my CPU that I ran into a problem. I had ordered a i5 3570k only to find out that I had to update BIOS in order for the chip to actually function. So attempted to update BIOS, and I do know i had the right BIOS update, but when i did nothing happened and my board immedietly died. Thankfully to Asrock Customer service I was able to get replaced with a new board, but i had already ordered a brand new Asus Z77 Board along with my i5. This isn't a bad board, but the BIOS update did take a chunk off of that 5 star rating.

Pros: Have used for about 4 months and haven't had any real issues

Cons: the English in the instruction booklet isn't very well translated

Also there is some confusion as to weather this board supports pci-e 3.0 or not. apparently it only supports it on ivy bridge but it's not clearly stated any where

Other Thoughts: it under-clocked my ram by default, however this was easily fixed in the bios by manually setting the correct speed and voltage

Pros: Cheap, works fine. It's one of the smaller Micro ATX form factors, and I like the layout of the board. It comes with 2 SATA cables, which is awesome.

Cons: None. It doesn't have tons of features, but I'm fine with that since it means a lower price.

Other Thoughts: The two PCI slots correspond to the first and third slots on my case.

Pros: *Affordable product
*Good for budget gaming PC

Cons: *Unusual number of pins for LEDs
*Product malfunctioned after 13 months; manufacturer's warranty is 1 year

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Sorry to hear the mainboard has malfunctioned after 13 months which due to nature of electronic, it can happen.
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.
Using onboard Video (CPU with iGPU supported or test with VGA card)
Power supply with connecting 24 pins + 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: Runs my Ivy Bridge processor impeccably. Included utilities are of great use (specifically the Instant Boot feature, which SIGNIFICANTLY increased wake-up time). BIOS is beautifully set up and has plenty of options. It's truly plug and play. PLENTY of USB ports.

Cons: Well, this may have been an error on my part for not noticing prior to purchase, but this board lacks an ATA connection which has rendered my Optical useless, for now. BIOS lacks control option for Case Fan speed. It is constantly at 2,000+ RPM (it should be mentioned that the CPU Fan controls work perfectly). Only 1 PCI slot.

Other Thoughts: For the price, this motherboard goes BEYOND my expectations. It has transformed my 7 year old secondary machine into a fast and "up-to-par" system.

Pros: none at this time

Cons: It locks up after 1 or 2 minutes.

Other Thoughts: Tried everything under the sun. Doesn't matter. Dimm 1, dimm 2 or dimm 3000, you name it I tried it. This thing is carp. And I ask you who has time for this? Got a customer expecting a comp today, that's not going to happen.

Don't really care anymore, rma this board and drive on. Not saying I don't like asrock boards in fact I have a nice z68 in my rig. This one can burn in you know where.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. For the lock up issue, please set the UEFI BIOS default, check the CPU and system are not overheating ( enter BIOS, H/W monitor, CPU temperature which should not be exceed than 70 Celsius). Re-apply the thermal compound to CPU for better contact and spread the heat between CPU and heatsink. 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: A good motherboard for basic office needs. I would not really consider this motherboard for gaming.

Cons: No USB 3.0. No Sata III. Limited expandibility.

These might be a pain for others, I knew these going in.

Pros: Would have been a nice MoBo....

Cons: I recently received my motherboard and it was dead on arrival. Now, I'm not gonna say "Oh stay away from this product, screw Asrock yaddayadda yadda" But, I am a bit disappointed about it arriving to my house dead, wasted my time and money. I just hope my RMA is accepted and goes well.

Other Thoughts: None I can think of other than it's a pretty tiny MoBo, have all the ports you need for basic stuff.

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
Check the mainboard’s CPU socket pins should not be bent
Reseat the CPU with heatsink fan as well if socket pins are normal
Test with 1 memory module (non-ECC, un-buffered), try with another known good memory if its same issue.
Using onboard Video (CPU with iGPU supported or test with VGA card)
Power supply with connecting 24 pins + 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: It says what it does and does what it says. super cheap. Runs great. Even has some overclocking features.

Cons: No USB 3.0. Since I lack the ability to care about USB 3.0, it isn't really a con for me, but it might be for some so I mentioned it. It's not very expandable, only 2 slots, one obviously for video. Again, I lack the ability to care about that, but some might. It's a uATX board. A REALLY uATX board. If you care about these things, you shouldn't be looking at this board anyway.

Other Thoughts: If you just want a cheap, reliable board, this is it. Buy one. Used my olde 2TB WD drive. Whole computer, with 1155 i3 CPU was under $300. Cannot possibly complain about that. I'll drop in an i5 K-series when I get a few more bucks.

Pros: Always enjoy buying ASRock boards at the low-midrange, their BIOS, features, quality are all great for the price. At this price point it doesn't really get much better.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: Core of my new HTPC.