Introduction

Intel's H77 chipset isn't really one that we've followed too closely. So much so that I had to actually bring myself to search TweakTown to see if I had actually reviewed a board that uses the chipset. A quick search discovers that we haven't which makes this review become even more important as we take our first look at the H77 chipset.

For the most part there's not too much that separates the H77 and Z77 chipset. The major difference is the inability to split off the PCIe x16 slot. The other main difference is that "CPU Overclocking" is disabled. We don't know too much about this and we'll cover it more in the overclocking side of things in a couple of pages.

Apart from these two differences, though, the similarities between both boards are very similar with maximum SATA III ports coming in at two off the chipset, up to four USB 3.0 ports of the chipset and Intel RST and SRT technology both being offered.

The first thing we need to do is check out the box and the bundle that ASRock is offering us. Considering the $79.99 price tag associated with the board, we're not expecting anything too major when it comes to extras.

Once we've done that we'll move onto the board itself before checking out the BIOS. Following that we'll look at our testbed setup and cover the overclocking side of things where we'll cover the "No CPU Overclocking" feature that is listed as not available.

Package

Having a look at the front of the box you can see the 555 XFast technology is heavily highlighted. Apart from that there's not a whole lot more being shown on the front of the box apart from a couple of logos across the bottom and the model number across the top.

Turning the box over you can see we go into some detail on the main features of the board including the 555 XFast technology. Below that you can see we've got a rundown on the Lucid Virtu MVP technology that is included along with a bit of information in Intel Smart Response Technology and Intel Rapid Start Technology. Finally across the bottom we go over some of the other features including DIGI Power, PCIe 3.0, UEFI BIOS, On/Off Play technology and Intel HD graphics.

Considering the price point of the board and the target market, it comes as no surprise that the bundle is on the light side. We've got a bunch of paperwork including some that explains XFast 555 and Lucid Virtu MVP in more detail. Along with that we've got a driver CD, I/O back plate and two SATA cables.