Nowadays customers don’t find it difficult to acquire the motherboard which would absolutely correspond to their needs. This is primarily explained by the fact that each manufacturer tries to pack its production lineup with models of various calibers. Asus is one of the few companies that restlessly enlarge their motherboard inventory with variegated items, and Vanguard B85 (TUF series) is yet another item for saving users. The key to ‘affordability’ of Intel B85 chipset-based board lies mainly in the reduction of connectivity facilities, where the chipset supports not six but four SATA 6 Gb/sec + four USB 3.0 devices. However, the model is rich in other facilities that are vital for a contemporary multimedia PC.



Design and Layout


To begin with, Asus Vanguard B85 is designed in an uncommon uATX form-factor and supports Pentium/Xeon/Corei3/Corei5/Corei7 CPUs (Haswell gen.) for Socket LGA1150. The motherboard inventory involves 4 DIMM slots for the installation up to 32 …

ASRock enters the market with another budget-oriented micro-ATX mainboard – the H110M-DS/Hyper (the recommended price makes up $60). The greenhorn is designed on Intel H110 chipset as well as ASRock Hyper BCLK Engine. The latter realizes the overclocking of Intel Skylake CPUs (for Socket LGA1151) by means of BCLK alteration; therewith, all other key nodes operate off-the-shelf.



ASRock H100M-DS/Hyper employs 4+1-phase power subsystem. The PCB accommodates 2x DIMM slots for DDR4-2133 MHz RAM with the maximal volume of 32 GB. Storage subsystem is represented by four SATA III ports, whereas expansion facilities include one PCIe 3.0 x16 and one PCIe 2.0 x1 ports.


Audio subsystem is governed by Realtek ALC887 controller and three 3.5-mm sockets. In its turn, network facilities are backed by Realtek RTL8111GR controller. Connectivity options embrace one RJ-45 port, one DVI video port, two PS/2 ports, and four USB ports for peripherals (both v 2.0 and v 3.0).

Abee Corporation, famous for high-end and high-priced chassis, is about to release just another premium PC case. Codenamed Acubic A90, the case features 229x309x249 mm dimensions and weighs 4.9 kg. It is characterized by an austere design, where rack is made of steel and covered by 2 mm aluminum sheet. Abee offers three color variations of this model: black, silver and white. The first two cases will be delivered at about $310, while the third one might cost $10 more.


Acubic A90 is known to support motherboards of mini-ITX/micro-ATX format. Its internal framework is estimated for four PCI expansion cards, a single 5.25-inch drive, two 2.5-inch and six 3.5-inch drives. Besides, the layout allows for the installation of rather lengthy graphics adapters (up to 270 mm), rather high CPU coolers (up to 75 mm), and rather voluminous power supply units (up to 160 mm in length). The frontal panel can’t be called multi-functional. Still, it accommodates a pair of standard 2.5 mm …