Want to try Skylake but don't want a pricey Z170 motherboard? Until now you were out of luck, but ASRock is about to bring you 29 -- yes, twenty-nine -- more choices based on the new Intel H170, H110, Q170, Q150, and B150 chipsets. The most unique of these are ASRock's Combo motherboards.
Of the 29 motherboards that ASRock announced, four motherboards are given the designation of being a "Combo" motherboard: H170 Combo, B150 Combo, B150M Combo-G, and H110M Combo-G. Although these motherboards share many similar specs with others announced by ASRock, their key feature is that they can accept either DDR4 or DDR3 memory. The full ATX motherboards will be equipped with four DDR3 and two DDR4 slots, while smaller micro-ATX boards will have only two of each.
This ability makes upgrading to the Skylake platform easier, as anyone who owns a DDR3 system can make use of their older RAM. Even if you don't have DDR3 RAM you can use on hand, DDR3 is significantly cheaper than DDR4, and you can save money on build. Later, after the price goes down, you can then purchase faster DDR4 RAM to increase performance.
It should be noted that you cannot use DDR3 and DDR4 RAM together. Even RAM from the same manufacturer with identical specs can run into compatibility issues with each other; RAM is sold in kits to avoid this issue. If RAM that is nearly identical can't work together, DDR3 and DDR4 have no hope of running in tandem.
For specs on all 29 motherboards, we prepared this table listing their primary features. There isn't a lot to be said about them as a group. The only universally shared features are support for Skylake CPUs and specs present across all 100 series chipsets, like USB 3.0 and SATA 3 support. The list is almost split evenly between DDR4 and DDR3 motherboards, too. Any motherboard that ends with "/D3" uses DDR3, while any motherboard using DDR4 does not. The only exception to this is the Combo motherboards mentioned above.
ASRock 100 Series Motherboards
Motherboard | Form Factor | Memory Support | M.2 Support | SATA Support | Power Phases | LAN | USB Type-C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H170 Pro4 | ATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | 1 x Ultra | 6 x SATA 3 | 10 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
H170 Pro4S | ATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | 1 x Ultra | 6 x SATA 3 | 10 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
H170 Pro4/D3 | ATX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | N/A | Realtek LAN | None |
B150 Pro4/D3 | ATX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | N/A | Realtek LAN | None |
H170 Combo | ATX | 2 x DDR4-2133 4 x DDR3-1866 | 1 x Ultra | 6 x SATA 3 | 10 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
B150 Combo | ATX | 2 x DDR4-2133 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | 10 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
H170M Pro4 | mATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | 1 x Ultra | 6 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
H170M Pro4S | mATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | 1 x Ultra | 6 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
Q170M vPro | mATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | 1 x Ultra | 6 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
B150M Pro4 | mATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
B150M Pro4/D3 | mATX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
B150M Pro4S | mATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
B150M Pro4S/D3 | mATX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
B150M Combo-G | mATX | 2 x DDR4-2133 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
H110M Combo-G | mATX | 2 x DDR4-2133 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 4 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
B150M-HDV | mATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | N/A | N/A | None |
B150M-HDV/D3 | mATX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | N/A | N/A | None |
H110M-HDV | mATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | None | 4 x SATA 3 | N/A | N/A | None |
H110M-HDV/D3 | mATX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 4 x SATA 3 | N/A | N/A | None |
H110M-DVS/D3 | mATX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 4 x SATA 3 | N/A | N/A | None |
H110M-GL/D3 | mATX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 4 x SATA 3 | N/A | N/A | None |
H170M-ITX/ac | Mini-ITX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | None | 4 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Dual LAN (Intel + Realtek) | None |
H170M-ITX/DL | Mini-ITX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | None | 4 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Dual LAN (Intel + Realtek) | None |
B150M-ITX/D3 | Mini-ITX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 5 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
H110M-ITX/D3 | Mini-ITX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 4 x SATA 3 | 6 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | None |
H170 Performance | ATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | 1 x Ultra | 6 x SATA 3 | 10 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | 1 x Rear USB 3.0 Type-C |
H170 Performance/D3 | ATX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | 1 x Ultra | 6 x SATA 3 | 10 Phase, Digi Power | Intel LAN | 1 x Rear USB 3.0 Type-C |
B150 Gaming K4 | ATX | 4 x DDR4-2133 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | 10 Phase, Digi Power | Killer LAN | None |
B150 Gaming K4/D3 | ATX | 4 x DDR3-1866 | None | 6 x SATA 3 | 10 Phase, Digi Power | Killer LAN | None |
Availability and pricing information is not currently available.
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