ASRock ConRoe945G-DVI: Core 2 Duo goes mATX

Quick Thoughts

The ASRock ConRoe945G-DVI is a very affordable budget board for the Intel market that provides a very good feature set for around US $75. The performance of the board in the majority of the synthetic and game benchmarks was very good if not class leading at times. This is quite a feat for ASRock as our 945P board did not perform as well in previous testing. The stability of the board was excellent in all areas of testing and general usage with the proper memory settings. However, we were frustrated during overclocking with the limited memory voltage options as well as the lack of CPU core voltage settings. With that said, let's move on to our initial performance opinions regarding this board.

In the video area, the inclusion of a PCI-E X16 capable slot provides for a myriad of upgrade possibilities if you chose this route. The X16 slot will operate in X1 mode if the onboard graphics capability is used. The board also features Intel's prior generation GMA950 graphics core. This core actually provides a very clear and color saturated signal to your monitor although it will not be mistaken for an upper end ATI card. The display performance is very good for 2D applications all the way up to its 2048x1536 resolution capability. You can probably play the occasional 3D based game from several years back without issue but most 3D games released in the last three years will have trouble with this video solution. ASRock also includes a DVI output card that is installed in the X16 PCIE slot and provides dual monitor capability, and this worked perfectly in our testing. We also tried it with our Acer 24" LCD monitor without issue as the primary display out device.

In the performance area, the ASRock ConRoe945G-DVI generated very consistent and competitive benchmark scores in the gaming, general application, and synthetic tests. The stability of the board was excellent during testing provided we did not push our memory too far. Although we were able to match the other motherboard settings at DDR2-667, we always had the feeling that the memory was on the verge of not being stable unless we increased the CAS rate to 4. We were able to pass all of our tests at 3-4-3-10 at DDR2-667 but a small bump in the front side bus to 271 would render those settings inoperable. The limited memory voltage selection and lack of vCore settings is a setback for this board as we otherwise feel it has the potential to reach its maximum FSB of 350.


Overall, the board offers a very affordable platform for a small case enclosure and would be an excellent alternative for a HTPC system. In fact, we will be comparing several mATX boards in the near future in just this environment that will include power consumption, thermals, and video out capability. By upgrading the video capability to a lower range card like the NVIDIA 7600GS we found this motherboard to be just as competitive at stock speeds as boards costing over $100 more in gaming and audio/visual work. The board will never be the first choice for the computer enthusiast due to limited overclocking and memory settings along with its pedestrian heritage. However, it would make an excellent second system with the right components for a LAN gaming machine or even a primary gaming machine for those on a limited budget looking to use an E6300 Core 2 Duo.

While not as versatile or inexpensive as the ASRock 775Dual-VSTA in allowing you to upgrade from an older system, we still found ourselves gravitating to the stability, compatibility, and performance of the Intel 945G chipset due to the excellent PCI Express graphics performance. We would not hesitate to recommend this motherboard as the platform for a budget HTPC system or even a small form factor gaming system with the right components. In the end, ASRock once again offers excellent value for the money, enough so that your savings can be used for getting what you really want.