Joined on 11/08/08
Good features for the price
Pros: This motherboard is set apart from other items in the same price range due to having a very substantial 8-phase power setup to the CPU. At this price it also shares in features that every other manufacturer would include in a modern higher end motherboard. This would include a good audio chip, number of ports, bios options with monitoring software, and a good Ethernet solution. The layout of the motherboard itself seems exceptionally nice; I especially liked the number and locations of the fan headers on this board. Even in a not over-board system, it is nice to have a convenient place to plug things in. And if you do want a bit of craziness there are two CPU fan headers.
Cons: With windows 8.1 drivers are required to have functional networking (the ones that came on the CD were up to date though). 8-phase power delivery is somewhat unnecessary due to Haswell's efficiency. While it is very robust, for most people (including myself) it only maybe gives the motherboard VRMs a lower operating temperature. Display port would be nicer to have. Not important if you are using a discrete card, but I would definitely want a display port option if I were not planning to use a dedicated GPU.
Overall Review: This board has run very well for my system, although I cannot say it is being pushed (beyond XMP memory speeds). The software that comes with the motherboard is actually really nice, and on a feature basis it really does seem better than many other options. I think ASROCK is trying to make up for being a slightly less famous brand by offering a better price on a higher end feature set. This has been the most pleasant board I have ever built with (the user manual memory section is better than most DDR3 datasheets even).
A good price compromise
Pros: This monitor is a bit unique in having a solid VESA 100x100 pattern mount on the back. Beyond that it seems well constructed, and achieves decent colors for a WLED backlight based panel (which also shows up in the relatively low power consumption). Performance is very similar to other TN panels.
Cons: Limitations in color and backlight are expected in the price range of this product. TN + WLED will dictate the performance of any product in this range.
Overall Review: For the pricing, the panel makes for a good gaming/web browsing/ document writing / etc display. Its not for graphic design, and it would not all that good of a TV, but its performance is very good for the class. Going CCFL would probably gain slightly better color at the cost of size/reliability/power however, and should perhaps be kept in mind at this price point.
Works in Ubuntu 10.10
Pros: This part immediately works in Ubuntu 10.10. Performance is indistinguishable from wired.
Cons: None - As long as it continues to work, the device meets all of its stated performance specs.