Introduction

ASRock has been shedding its entry-level clothing over the last couple of years. Originally they were not much more than an extension of ASUS and intended to offer a value based platform. However, the engineers at ASRock were not content with staying there. They have decided to work to change their place in the market and also to provide more than entry-level products.

As we have shown you with their X58 and P55 boards, ASRock has some excellent engineers behind the scenes developing boards that are able to give great performance and overclocking. With the launch of the 32nm Clarkdale Core i5 661, ASRock has come forward with their own H55 based motherboard.

Can ASRock continue their success with this new CPU and platform? After all, Clarkdale puts a GPU directly on the CPU packaging and can complicate the tracing layout of an already complex device like a motherboard. Luckily, we have had an ASRock H55M Pro in house for our initial testing of the Core i5 661 CPU and can give you a good answer. Read on to find out.