Pros: Small, silent, low power, 4 cores. I decided to give this CPU/board a try after I used a J1900 motherboard in a PFSense router. I have to say that turned out to be massive overkill (the router). I was more then surprised by this board. It currently runs a Qemu VM server for me and has more then enough power to run multiple XP and Win7 VM's. I've had no incompatibility or stability problems with the board at all. I added 16GB of RAM but it almost never goes above 8GB cause Linux is just better with resource management. The best part is that underload the system uses < 20 watts and barely gets warm to the touch. Most of the time it idles for me around 9 watts (with a VM running). It also works well with a Pico PSU.

Cons: Icky Realtek LAN (Intel PCI-E x1 NIC works perfectly). Could use more SATA ports (what couldn't). It doesn't like to reboot in Linux but it will shutdown without issue.

Other Thoughts: Replacing the Realtek NIC with an Intel one would be nice but other then that I'm loving the board.

Pros: works, built with 120G SSD & win7 NICE runs cool, low noise. loads win7 about 14 seconds from hitting on switch running 8G memory - all from Newegg

Cons: ah, maybe newegg should have a sale on this board

Other Thoughts: getting new router with 1G speed and increasing memory
see if works better. Also have regular HD in machine for storing photos, etc.

Pros: Great Board

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: Its a Great Board... I see some other reviews here of people having problems with them. I have owned 3x of them for approx 6 months now.

The first one is my HTPC and I interact with it on a daily basis.

The other two are NAS boxes.

All 3 boards have been running 24/7 for 6 months with no issues.

Pros: I've purchased 4 of these boards in the last three months and have had excellent results with them.

Cons: None

Pros: Specifications are great on paper.

Cons: Constantly shuts down and restarts at random times after ruling out every single piece of other hardware.

Other Thoughts: I have been burned buying an ASRock product before but decided to give them another go, I will never buy another ASRock product in my life. I suggest buying a different brand.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Please try below to see if its resolved.
Remove PCIE card and USB components except keyboard and mouse.
Load the BIOS default.
Test with single memory on A1 slot.
Test with another known good power supply.

If you have any technical Support inquiry, please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/Support/tsd.asp. We will assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock Support
Tech Support Email: http://www.ASRock.com/Support/tsd.asp

Pros: Had everything I wanted in a small NAS.

Cons: Failed just after the one month return policy from Newegg. I did an RMA through Asrock and the replacement board they sent me failed in 1 week.

Other Thoughts: It took me way to long to actually find the Asrock website where I can apply for an RMA. I had to pay to ship it to them which was annoying. They sent me a new or refurbished (not sure) back that had a different BIOS sticker but didn't tell me what they found wrong with my old board. Now this new board I got is having the exact same problems. Upon pressing power, it just beeps multiple times and then nothing. Can't get into BIOS or anything. Even if the third one works, how can I trust it to keep my NAS data safe?

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Please check if its making 3 beeps, indicates memory related issue.
Trouble shoot the mainboard whether the issue is resolved.
Clear the CMOS.
Test with single memory module on A1 slot, switching another knows good memory to test if problem still persist.

If you have any technical Support inquiry, please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/Support/tsd.asp. We will assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock Support
Tech Support Email: http://www.ASRock.com/Support/tsd.asp

Pros: Comes with a quad core CPU with passive heatsink.

Cons: Realtek Gigabit Ethernet.
SO-DIMM memory.

Other Thoughts: It's a perfect HTPC or low power server board. I use it to run MythTV backend, and IMAP server.

Pros: This seemed like the better of two choices with a J2900 processor.
Plenty of SATA II and III
Runs Linux fine (I'm running Ubuntu 14.04 64bit)
Stable (after a firmware update)
Simple firmware update proceedure. The UEFI BIOS is network aware, so the update is as simple as booting into the BIOS and picking it in the menu.
Embedded video is good enough to watch video on my 1080p TV.

Cons: Froze up a few times a week with some blocky colors on the screen. It looked like an issue with video/RAM to me. It hasn't happened since I updated to the latest firmware, though.

Pros: I've been using this as the core of 4gb HTPC build since september (5 months) and it has been been a rock. 0 issues, using a Intel Premium 7260 IEEE 802.11n Bluetooth 4.0 - Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Combo Adapter for Notebook/Tablet OEM pack for wireless and bluetooth along with a PS3 BluRay remote.

Running XUbuntu and XBMC / Kodi 24/7 with a few Ubuntu hiccups, but so far nothing hardware related.

Cons: None so far

Pros: The board had 4 sata ports, its a Mini ITX and its a quad core.

Cons: 2nd DOA. I did some research and i know the memory is compatible because somebody else did a similar build. I tried 3 different power supplies and still nothing.. No video, no post and no system beeps (I do have the speaker hooked up). I know some power is going to the board because my case fans turn on but nothing happens.. I tried both video ports as well.. So this one will be going back for a refund this time.. Not going to tried for a 3rd...

Other Thoughts: I guess the embedded boards are poorly made these days because I have tried 2 different brands and all of them have been DOA's. Not sure if it is the shipping or board quality but it is frustrating.. So I am giving up on embedded boards for a while.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Since this is second mainboard including other manufacturer having same issue (DOA), please check other components that they are working properly as well.

Please trouble shoot the mainboard whether the issue is resolved.
Remove the mainboard from chassis, place it on mainboard’s box.
Clear the CMOS.
Test with single memory module (memory QVL iink " http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Q2900-ITX/?cat=Memory " ).
Test with onboard VGA.
Plug the 24 pins ATX power.
Connect the chassis power switch to mainboard, and try again.
If you have any technical support inquiry, please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We will assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp