Question 1

Is it possible to run windows 10 on this board?

Accepted Answer

Yes, I have installed Windows 10 on several of these and it runs just fine.  This is actually a decent board for the price.  Hope that helps and best of luck!

Question 2

Will I be able to run Windows 7 on this?

Accepted Answer

Doubtful. Intel has not developed drivers for this architecture. Installing winderz 7 is difficult on the previous architecture because the installer had to be hacked because USB was lost during the install. Even if you can locate third-party drivers for the board (unlikely) you should expect a very complicated install process and it hardly seems worth. I used for Linux, and I needed a very recent (at the time) kernel (> 4.6, if I remember).

Question 3

built in wifi or bluetooth?

Accepted Answer

Hello there, This motherboard under the manufacturer specs is listed to only have LAN communication and no Wifi or bluetooth available on the motherboard. An option you have since the slot is available is for a pcie adapter however. http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/J3455M/ Hope this helps -𝘙𝘙

Question 4

I've bought a 1050 ti for this motherboard, is that okay?

Accepted Answer

I am using the integrated graphics from the motherboard and I cannot be 100% sure that the Asus GeForce GTX 1050 is the best option you have.    Windows 10 and Linux drivers supported the integrated graphics from the motherboard and the installation was a breeze. Your 1050TI seems to support Windows 7 and Windows 10, and it could provide a way to still use Windows 7 on the motherboard, although it is not supported by Intel and the installation is tricky.

Question 5

how do you hook up the power switch? what post is it?

Accepted Answer

On each mainboard there is usually a 'Manual' in the box with the mainboard (unless you purchase 'Open Box' where the manual my be missing) no problem, if you do not have the manual go to the manufacturer site and download one. That will have a diagram describing all the connections on the mainboard including power, hdd led, reset, power led, etc)

Question 6

Will it run with DDR3 1066?

Accepted Answer

No slowest memory it could run is 1333. 
Navigate through neweggs product page and click on the link to the manufacturer product page. Then select supported memory list.

Question 7

Do I need cpu fan?

Accepted Answer

I have been running this 24/7 for the past week. I am having no heat problems.  A good case fan will work.

Question 8

Can I use this Board on pfsense 2.5 and above?

Accepted Answer

I've never tried pfsense but I did buy this board for a FreeNAS 11 build and managed it successfully. Since both are based on FreeBSD I would assume that pfsense should run on this board as well. The only problem I had was with a hpet error that prevented successful boot. I had to modify my boot parameters slightly and haven't had an issue since.

Question 9

Can I use an 8GB DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) SDRAM module on this board?

Accepted Answer

yes, by default it will probably run at 1600 (maybe 1333.) You can specify in the bios to run at 1866 personally i get a lot of BSOD if above 1600. If you intend to run at the higher speeds it would be best to check the asrock product page for their Memory Support List.

Good luck

Question 10

is this good for running on Linux MATE distro? or XFCE?

Accepted Answer

You need a very recent kernel (about 4.6 or later if I remember correctly). Installation media has to have compatible kernel to install and very few distribution have such recent install kernels. I used ArchBang, which has OpenBox. I also got Manjaro running on it (which comes with multiple WM/DM's) I think including at least one of these, but I had to install on similar system (3050), upgrade kernel, and swap drive to this. Haven't gotten sleep to work, but haven't really tried either, since I don't need it right now. Situation RE kernels may be better now, but many distributions use pretty old kernels, so check first. Specific kernel compatibility issue is Apollo Lake architecture, and affects all MB's with this processor.

Questions & Answers