Pros: This is a great board for a budget skylake build. Here's why I chose it:

4 x memory slots (up to 64GB ddr4) great if you want to run a bunch of virtual machines

2x digital video outs hdmi/dvi you can easily have a dual monitor setup without adding a video card.

Plenty Sata connectors if you want set up large storage spaces w/ multiple drives.

Ultra M.2 -- although didn't use this yet, when i upgrade to a really fast pcie hdd, it will be ready.

Intel networking -- nice and reliable for a business user.

Cons: Looks like less fully featured for overclocking, so this really isn't an enthusiasts board.

Other Thoughts: Consider this board for a home or business workstation without breaking the bank with features you don't need. As the basis for a gaming rig its not bad, get a fast processor and drop in a nice video card and you're off to the races for short money.

Special mention: The bios setup screen (in basic mode) rocks. Highly cool. I may never boot into bios again, but it certainly looked great when i did.

Pros: This is my second ASRock motherboard that I have decided to try out. So far I have been very happy with there motherboards. I made sure on this build that I researched what type of memory is recommended by the manufacturer for the motherboards. I have skipped this part before and it cost me. Everything plugged in and posted without a hitch. The UEFI is very nice to work with. I was able to update the firmware very easily.
i5 3.2ghz 6500
Gskill Ram
Nvidia 650W Gold
Asus mini GTX 970
No issues as far as I can tell at this point. Last ASRock motherboard I purchased several years back is still working great too.

Cons: Nothing so far.

Other Thoughts: I haven't tried out any of the overclocking features in the UEFI yet. I wasn't trying to make an overclock build though I might try some out especially when im ready to put in a little extra cooling.

On a side note I was a little hesitant to include this. My first night or two of gaming with this machine I had noticed a very low frequency hum coming from the audio port whenever audio would engage. At first I thought it was some car parked out near the house with its engine running. It took me some time to understand that it was the subwoofer moving through different cycles of this hum that sounded like an idling engine. Our house is susceptible to many hums in general so, but I started to worry about a grounding issue with the audio circuitry. However I recently discovered that the side panel headphone jack in the case is defective. After disconnecting it from the motherboard the hum seams to have gone away. This seems very probable so I am not currently suspecting the motherboard is the issue. But I will certainly update this review to keep people informed if the issue returns for any reason.


Update 03/14/16 - Everything is still working very well with this motherboard. I have used it exclusively for gaming and I never have any persistent crashes or blue screens. I wont say things never crash, but I can only think of 1 time a game has crashed for me with this new setup that wasn't a normal game crash or bug. I mainly wanted to update the situation on the low frequency humming sound mentioned above. I had tried several different things to try and remedy the problem. It was subtle but really starting to get on my nerves. I had tried 3 different external sound cards, two of them having balanced cable outputs, and one of which also had its own source of power independent from usb. It would change with any of these. This is particularly odd so I decided to dive into it a little more. I was finally able to remedy the problem by disabling the onboard audio entirely within the UEFI. However, the fault is not the onboard audio alone, but a combination of circumstances. The GPU (Asus mini GTX970) is the primary source emitting interference, as this is a common problem and the humming sound is only generated when the GPU is in full use like with a high graphic game. The proximity of the top most corner of the GPU is sitting nearly flush or up against the back audio socket bracket connected directly to the MB. I would guess that if I moved the GPU down a socket the noise would go away, but since it is a micro computer build this would constrict airflow. I can't say whether this is an oversight on Asrock's part, or if its isolated to this particular GPU and an unlucky circumstance. But I think its a combination of both and in the fine detail building a computer. Anyone building a computer with any other motherboard, or GPU might want to consider this potential situation.

Pros: Easy Install, Easy Bios, Easy price!

Cons: Cannot find any overclock instructions anywhere!!!

Other Thoughts: Yes

Pros: Nothing!

Cons: Tried different ram placements and on board video and PowerColor HD5670 nothing works. Pc turns on but that's about it. Does not power the key board or mouse. I'll pitch this in the trash buy a different brand.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued ASRock Customer,

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Please trouble shoot the mainboard whether the issue is resolved.
• Unplug the ATX power, remove all components from mainboard.
• Remove the mainboard from chassis, place it on mainboard’s box.
• Clear the CMOS.
• Reseat the CPU and heatsink fan.
• Test with single memory module.
• Test with onboard video.
• Connect the monitor.
• Plug the 24 + 8 or 4 pins ATX power.
• Connect the chassis power switch to mainboard.
• Turn on the power to check if its post.

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

Thank you

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

Pros: It works with Windows 7 SP1 64-bit! You will need an original Windows 7 disc/ISO or the Windows 7 USB patcher tool won't work correctly. I used it in a 16 GB USB 3.0 flash drive. I had to set the "UEFI flashdrive" first then your SSD or HDD then "USB flashdrive" last (If you set this first, it will install the OS without USB 3.0 drivers then you can't type your computer name).

Comes with 2 SATA 3 black cables but one is right angle.

I used the silent fan mode and it my CPU fan is silent.

Cons: Unlucky for me after I had put everything together it didn't post right away. After some tinkering like reseating ram, moving SATA cables around and clearing CMOS, it finally posted!!! I thought it was because I only had a single 8 GB DDR4 ram stick, and I was about to buy another one... Now, my PC works even with a single stick.

I wasn't able to get Windows 7 to update right away... Not sure if this was related to Skylake CPU's, but I installed a KB update file (a specific one that has to do with getting updates to download otherwise it was stuck on checking for updates) and left my PC on overnight to download the 200 updates then it installed them in the morning. My frustration is now official over.

As another reviewer said, the I/O shield edges are sharp. You could cut yourself from trying to push it into your case.

Other Thoughts: Aerocool Xpredator Red & Gold Cube mATX case
2x XIGMATEK XOF-F1254 120mm FCB Volcano Red fans
Intel Core i5 6500 3.2 Ghz with Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO and Artic Silver 5
Intel 330 series 180 GB SSD with Windows 7 SP1 64-bit
Hitachi 1 TB 7200 RPM 2.5" HDD
ASRock H170M Pro4S
1x CORSAIR ValueSelect 8GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133
Rosewill RNX-N250PCe - Wireless N300 Wi-Fi Adapter
Rosewill Valens 600W 80+ Gold PSU

Pros: The board posted right up and the UEFI was updated without a hitch. The GUI for the UEFI is nice enough and has all the functions you might need. My Linux OS installed just fine.

Cons: The edges of the I/O shield are dangerously sharp. Be careful.

Other Thoughts: All things considered, a good product that I can recommend.

Pros: Easy to install. More features than most at this price range. I wanted multiple case fan inputs, and this fit the bill. Paired with an I5-6500.

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: The BIOS update procedure is different than what I'm used to, and I guess it's with UEFI. On older builds, I just downloaded the BIOS update through the OS, clicked on the executable file, and the update happened. I do that on this board, it reboots into the BIOS, I see nothing that I can do to update it, and hit F10 to exit with the BIOS at the same version it was before. I know this is on my end, so no con for it. Always learning...

Pros: I had been waiting to do an upgrade skylake came out and what a deal. This MOBO has a lot of great features some I may never be aware of. Works great right out of the box. Seated the CPU and Ram connected everything else hit the power been great ever since.

Cons: Nothing I have found bad, Make sure you do the bios update first thing.

Other Thoughts: If your not planning on overclocking this is a great board. I got this and paired it with 8GB of Gskill mem and a I5-6400 2.7ghz threw on my HD7950 and all the games I play do well. BF4 no issues.