ASRock Wants the Best Mobo Ideas in the World

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Strip it of the old technologies. No parallel or COM ports. No IDE or floppy ports. Might free up real estate on the board. Might simplify the design, speed things up, reduce heat? It will definitely force people to adopt the latest techs if they haven't already.

While you are at it -- USB 3.0 and wifi.
 
Oh, and 10. If you're going to get rid of legacy ports, either include them on a PCI x1 riser, or make that riser a readily available accessory. There's still a lot of business software that requires a dongle to operate, and there are still LPT port scanners in use.
 
I would love to see these features together in an ASRock Mother Board :-
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1) Triple Channel DDR3 2000 .

2) E Sata Port on the Rear Panel .

3) Firewire IEEE - 1394 A or if possible B .

4) Wi Fi Card or Wireless Lan Card , if possible a Draft N Card inbuilt or as a PCI-E 1X Riser Card .

5) Better Audio - Atleast equivalent to Creative Extreme Music . X-Fi quality would be awesome.

6) On Board Hardware Switches with LEDs for Power On/Off , CMos Reset.

7) CMOS Reset on the Rear Panel so that we do not need to open the case in case of system Instability/Booting failure due to Overclocking or mistakenly done any wrong Bios Settings.

8) USB 3.0 Ports & SATA 6Gbits/sec.

9 ) This is NOT compulsory but would be nice - An On Board Graphics equivalent to ATI Radeon 5650 series or Nvidia 8800/9800 GTX series.The more advanced Graphics you could integrate the better .This will be just an added bonus & NOT compulsory because most of us will be using a dedicated Graphic Card anyways.But it will come handy if the Graphic Card gone bad due to any reason We we need to RMA it.Then this integrated card will come handy for those of us who does not own more than 1 Graphic Card. :) I am going to repeat it again Sir that having an Integrated Graphic Card is NOT mandatory in this era of high-end Dedicated Graphic Cards. :)

10) It is also optional & NOT mandatory.I would like to see an High-end Board which will have an option ( either integrated or via a PCI-E 1X Riser Card ) of an Analogue & DVB-T TV Tuner Card.


I know integrating all these features can make your Mobo Extremely Pricey but I'm sure most of us will be ready to pay that price if we get such a Premium product because we know that we won't have to regret our investment at all.

Also , I Know maybe it is NOT possible to expect so many things from a MotherBoard because I know maybe you will first want to look at making your products affordable to the masses but I am generally listing here what the features I would like to expect from a '' World Class Quality Dream MotherBoard '' . :)


Thank you for reading.Continue Rocking ASRock.We will be there with you always. :)
 
Most important mobo features I look for are:
1) All connectors like USB heareds, COM, FP audio, etc. should be placed on side edge of board. Long, double slot video cards squeeze the cables, quickly killing the connections.
2) Get rid of floppy and IDE. They're obsolete, really. If someone needs floppy, there are USB floppy drives. IDE is completely useless.
3) SATA connectors should be angular, always and ever. However I'd love to see them rotated perpendicular to what they are now, so cables would run in parallel to case' bottom surface. Better cable management.
4) use the topmost expansion slot to place x16 PCI-Express, don't waste it. Top-class rig will feature multiple cards, sure, but hey, there are fruggin THREE cases widely available with more than seven slots for cards. That locks to max 3 double-slots and one expansion card, like high-end audio, RAID, TV or other card.
5) put e-sata on the back IO panel, it's really useful, (high)way more than firewire.
6) get rid of any add-on cards. Sure they are handy, like USB 3.0, but occupy space and and slots. Or at least sell them in QUANTITIES, not only as bundle to one selected model.
7) Keep the BIOS as clearly structured, as possible. Developer BIOSes tend to be really messy, and it transfers to user confusion. Don't exposure "easy overclock values". Or at at least do not move them from their logical place, but duplicate into separate menu
8) move the 4/8-pin connector out of that area between IO shield and VRM heatsink. I cursed this on ASRock boards since P4-478 days. Users often have to remove the mobo to pull the damn connector, especially when this area is covered by large case fan and big CPU cooler. Put it on the mobo's edge, with locking notch facing upwards.
9) ATX specs afaik forbid angular 24pin power plug, but wouldn't it be possible to include a plug-in converter? Just a wish.
10) ESA is dead, but SIMPLE external device, connected to USB that has control over many PWM fan headers that mobos has 😉, that is duplciated by lightweight simple application will make tons of users happy.
 
A retro gaming motherboard. DOS on a flash chip, with a multi boot option that will read many autoexec.bat/config.sys pairs, custom tailored for whichever game you want to run. DOS session loads straight to a virtual disk, hard drive is only used to store cd images and game saves. Include a virtual CD solution in the firmware, so you can load all your old DOS game CD's once to the hard drive, then forget.
 
I'd like to see an on board TV tuner, more video out options (single component being one of them). This one is a long shot but, the ability to run either Sli or Crossfire for the choice of which ever video card tickles my fancy at the time. An integrated temp/system monitor that can mount in a 3.5 drive bay (with fan controllers). On board wireless, with a nice external mounting antenna. And finally it should come packed with a nice RF or wifi remote for controlling power up and windows Media Center. That's not asking for much right? :)
 
A few things:

1. The motherboard should be able ot skip all memory/hardware/tests and get right to the OS on boot, or at least be able to do the POST tests in the background. That way, the BIOS POST doesn't interrupt the user experience.

2. As others have mentioned,a small integrated SSD for installing the OS would be great!

3. A built in utility that allows users to easily upgrade their hard drives. For example, if I have a 250GB HD that's failing (bad sectors), this utility could allow me to connect a second hard drive (equal or larger capacity), then image it, unmark the bad secors, and resize the partition (if the drive is larger). That would be a killer BIOS app.
 
Intel board
3x PCI-Express slot. (with SLI capability)
2x PCI slot
6x DDR3 slot
6x audio port (7.1 audio support + 1x Microphone)
optical audio port
6x USB 3.0 on the back
2x USB 3.0 for the front
1x firewire port
1x network gigalan port (on board)
Intel X58 chipset
2x IDE 133 port
6x SATA 3 port with RAID Support (0,1 5 and 10)
1x eSATA port (external SATA port)
(Could have wireless as an option with an external antena)

2 different bus clock (1 for the memory and 1 for the CPU (2 different FBS won't make CRASH your PC))

No onboard video card!

This is everything I need.
 
1) Strip off legacy devices finally. Remove PS/2 ports, floppy, IDE, switch VGA for DVI. Adopt USB 3 and SATA 3 as standard.

2) Built in gigabyte ethernet and wireless and built in bluetooth.

3) Solid, well build, northbridge and southbridge heatsinks.

4) Overclocking options and very good BIOS that can do anything.

5) All pci-e slots run at 16x. Space them a little further apart to allow for dual-slot cards in crossfire to get a little breathing room.

6) Partner with Azuretech or a different company and offer a very high quality built in x-fi sound card.

7) Utilize MOBO space. You can really space out some things better

8) TV Tuner built in

9) an external temperature and settings reader to put in a 2.5 or 3.5 slot. Nothing fancy, but accurate and easy to read and customize.

10) Switch the positions of the 8 Pin Power connector and the USB, RESET, POWER, FANS, LIGHTS connectors. That way the power connector is close to the PSU, and the case button wires are near the top of the MOBO, making them easier to hide.

11) 10-12 SATA Slots -modular design, or able to slide up and down the side of the MOBO.

12) 4 PCI Express, or simply all 6 and be able to change them in BIOS.
 
My needs are simple and I think people are going overboard here. I completely agree with the stated simplified motherboard configuration that lacks a lot of the legacy connections. IDE, PS2, firewire, VGA, etc. are all outdated and generally unused these days. Current standards (USB 3, SATA 3) are a must.

I build a system every 3 or 4 years to last me as long as possible. I look for quality components. These should be able to handle modest overclocking and not freak out the second something unexpected happens. From my experience, most people build for balance when setting up their personal systems and don't want to be hassled once its setup.
 
I would like to see a few things:

flash/ssd drive with bootable linux for fast loading if you just need to get on the computer fast to check something online(failsafe if hard drive dies you can atleast use the computer while new hard drive arrives(minimum storage like 2-8 gigs))

Tester to see if motherboard is dead (take out power connector and connect little unit into that spot for motherboard test) Hardware diagnostics to see what the issue is when trying to work on computers is always nice.

4xcrossfire/sli configurations with ample room to install all 4 gpus (would be willing to lose some bells and whistles (if you are making a pure gaming rig I don't need 8000 usb connectors and 2 ethernet connections and other pci slots))

 
Switchable Graphics ---- It would be nice to be able to have an nice Crossfire/SLI system that you don't have to leave the graphics cards running all the time and burning power. The Internal IGP uses a lot less power.

A utility that allows you to change CPU frequency, FSB, Voltages on the fly and allows you to save them as "Profiles", so you can switch between overclocking/overvolting to underclocking/undervolting easily.

TV Tuner --- One with support (Needs to work under Linux and Windows). Maybe something with the ability to record 1080I on component inputs 🙂
 
Get rid of on board sound and on board video. They take up way too much space on the board and are never adequate for anything other than basic web browsing. That would also free up back plane space for more usb/esata ports.


here's a quick redesign I did in mspaint.



The ssd that's in the middle of the thing would be connected via an interconnect directly attached to the mobo ... this way you would have not only the entire space used on the board but you'd have the ability to put any ssd in the system and attach it directly to the board thus eliminating one of the limiting factors for SSDs ... the Sata interface. You may even be able to drop the controller chip from the ssd entirely eventually and use the cpu and south bridge to write directly to the chips on the ssd. So you guys could not only change motherboards as we know them but hard drives as well.

One other thing that would be nice to have... an iLO port Rather than a second Nic. If I need to boot my pc remotely it would be nice to be able to log into it's IP in a browser and get an interface where I can click 1 button and force it to boot. Rather than have to call home and have someone turn it on for me. plus with an iLO port you can watch everything the pc is doing including the boot process... I think you can even get into the bios but it's been a while since Ive used it so I could be wrong there.


Rear I/O ports would include:

9x usb 3.0 in a 3x3 configuration (still having a front usb header on the board of course)
1x wireless antenna screw with a wired antenna included with the board
1x rj45 or fiber (hey if youre dreaming dream big right?) wired networking port
2x esata ports
Possibly 1x firewire A or B port but I really don't know anyone who uses firewire extensively anymore.

On board audio sucks but if you are adamant about including on board audio please talk to creative or turtle beach or someone who makes a top notch card so when Im playing a game I don't hear a constant buzz from the speakers.


Lastly taking a cue from the server environment one of these would be nice to have.
http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportDocument/c01107658/c01107661.jpg

here's what it looks like on the server itself
http://yfrog.com/5rledhealthdisplayj

http://yfrog.com/5rdl370g6j (those are 3.5" drives btw so you can get an idea of how big that panel is)

There's an led on each of those items listed so if the pc wont boot and say, one of the ram sticks is the cause, a light comes on on that specific device on that little panel and a loud sustained beep is heard. So you look at your diagnostic health panel and see wth the problem is and you find out its one of your ram sticks... so you pull that stick and reseat it and if that doesn't work you RMA it. You could add ones for the pci-e slots, nic(s), onboard sound if present, raid if present, etc. You could even go so far as to do an LCD display like on the front of a blade center but that might cost quite a bit more.

On some HP models its on a little pull out panel to save space (dl380 3u's I think it is). For a home mobo you could put it over the rear IO ports on some little rails so it would pull of the back if you didnt want to open your case or have a window in the side opposite the mobo.
 
Bottleneck assessment and alignment. That is, if gaming or production reaches bottlenecks from a video card, processor, FSB, RAM, etc, there should be an easy GUI in bios/UEFI to measure and understand the theoretical bandwidth throughput of each bus (similar to Windows ratings of 7.2, 7.9, etc), from the PCI-e, the SSD (which could be directly connect to the processor, the way the new intel motherboards moved the DDR3 RAM bus from the northbridge directly to the CPU. SSD could connect directly to the CPU and virtual memory, if reaching/surpassing the speeds of RAM, could provide a cheap, non-volatile form of random access memory. But I like volatile too. Also, with the PCI-e 2.0 specification, the maximum bandwidth on one lane is only x16, and x32 was never designed, even though it's possible. If PCI-e 3.0 will allow for x32 lanes, and 2x32 lanes in SLI, then it would be nice, to also make just one PCI-e x64 lane in budget motherboards for users that do not want the dual video card setup, and it would be great for GPUs like the ATI 5970, which combine two GPUs on one card (assuming a future one went all the way up to x64). The bottleneck assesment would help users know the upgrade ceiling of each bus, and thus make a purchase based on the likelihood a processor, a video card and RAM/SSD are all synchronized with comparable levels of bus speeds and will be released during the technological generation of the motherboard.
 
Give us a warranty of more than 1-year. Look to companies like ASUS and EVGA as examples of coverage time to match.

From a reliability standpoint:
1-Year warranty equals:
* Engineered to be inferior
* Maximize profits while sacrificing quality and using a marketing team to cover for it
* Designed to fail soon after 1 year.

I am not alone in this thinking. I know many people who agree with me, and this thinking is not restricted to the computer part enthusiast industry.
 
How about :

- Entirely passiv cooled chipset etc.
- Dual DVB-T/C/S tuner with common interface slot
- USB 3.0
- eSata
- Built-in IR
- Dual SDHC Card reader

Install 2 x 64GB SDHC's, a small SSD system sata-drive, blu-ray drive, RAM and you've got the basic components for a powerfull HTPC with this all-in-one mobo. And no moving parts if a ATOM/ION version of this mobo could be done with passive cooling too.
 
More than one 24 pin PSU connector, one on top and the other on bottom only in best model since all high end case has PSU at the bottom.

Include power control unit, put MOSFET in line with the PSU to cut off all power to components when computer is in off state.

Automatic shutdown SLI/Crossfire extra card when not needed, control by the power control unit.

Wireless build in on the Motherboard. only extra SMA antenna is needed to be attached
 
on-board class-6 flash memory that is recognized by readyboost in windows. (running through the USB chip is fine I think, but over pci would be better) This could involve having an "internal" usb connection on the board to plug in an included usb flash drive, but again... it must be fast enough. Size would be important and probably change with mobo type to reflect the probable usage of that board. I would think minimum would be 4 gigs but that might be the sticking point. Still useful as finding class-6 flash anywhere but online is impossible, and even online is tough.

another easier idea? An included "spot-fan" (fan on a bendable stalk that can be aimed anywhere) that securly mounts and plugs in without cable clutter and can cool problem areas like multi-card graphics where space might be tight.
 
I think the system should be expandable and customisable.

So, you start off with an ITX-sized board with CPU/Northbridge and basic southbridge, so the board can be used on it's own. The sides of the board are edge connectors (Like on the bottom of PCI cards and the rest), covered with plastic caps for protection.
The edge connectors where the back of the board where the ports would be would enable different ports to be connected as needed, with connections for each PHY (So Ethernet, Audio, USB, PS/2, Serial, Firewire etc.)

You can buy a "Memory unit" that slots into the memory side, enabling you to add more sticks of RAM.

You can buy a "Expansion unit" that has PCI-Express and/or PCI connectors on it, with various sized models for mATX, E-ATX, and differing numbers of slots, as well as (for example) SLi, CrossfireX or Lucid Hydra support.

You can then get a "Storage unit" that connects to the side of the expansion unit, and provides you with SATA, PATA, SAS, RAID and more.

You'd probably start off with a bundle of these boards together for the base unit, but enthusiasts and modders could replace the boards with ones that suit their own needs.

It also means that if you want to change your CPU (From Intel to AMD, for instance), you don't need to buy a whole new motherboard, you just buy a new CPU module. If you want to upgrade from a mATX system to a full ATX one, you buy a new case and a larger expansion board, keeping everything else the same. If you need overclocking capabilities, you can drop in a better CPU board. Want Dual CPUs? Drop in a (possibly multi-layer) Multi CPU board.
 
Since I run my PC in a bare bench configuration, I'd love to have a simple on/off button so I can turn my computer on/off without having to use a screwdriver at all times.

Other than that, I agree with a previous poster; remove as much legacy chips as possible. They take up space, require additional engineering and costs more to make (I assume).
 
I prefer minimalist motherboards. Motherboards that don't have a lot of features 'built in' but are very very good at the features they do have. I do NOT want on-board sound, or on-board NIC or anything other than basic IO ports, USB 3, SATA, e-SATA, PCIe, RAM... But because of the lack of features, I want it to be able to overclock like mad. I want it to have LOTS and LOTS of these IO ports that has been freed up by having BUS lanes freed up. I want it to be compatible with every NIC and every sound card, and every video card on the market. I want it to be able to use a USB port to power a proverbial microwave.

To be honest, I also want the industry to merge SATA and USB... Perhaps even include powered fiber-optic IO ports...
 
I've had two ideas for MOBOs that I've always wanted implemented.

First, like a couple people have mentioned, an ultra-stripped non-standard-backplane motherboard for modders. It'd be MicroATX or ITX in nature, but it'd be no taller than a RAM module. EVERYTHING on the board would be flush with the top of a RAM stick. It'd have only the essentials. only one PCI-X16 slot, nothing else. ONLY SATA, no IDE/Floppy/Anything. ONLY USB3.0, no FireWire/USB2.0/PS2/Com/LPT, and so on. The back plane will be 4 stacks of USB (with 2 stacks available for the front,a nd MAYBE a front-plane FireWire port). The audio would be provided with an integrated X-Fi. There would be a Red/blue/green and an Optical on the back-plane, a header for front-plane, and then a break-out internal connector for the other analog points on either a 5.25 or (even better) a pci area back-panel bridge. There would ONLY be an HDMI (with bitstreaming, preferably) port, nothing else for video. Stacked ontop of that would be a SINGLE eSATA point. So, the back plane would, essentially, be a horizontal audio stack, 4 USB stacks, and then a combination HDMI/eSATA stack. And that's it. Internally, there'd be a header for front-panel USB/Audio, a header for a break-out box for the audio, and SATA jacks, and nothing more. No networking, no Wireless or bluetooth, nothing. So, you'd be looking at a board that is no thicker than a ram stick, with a single PCI-X card slot for potential graphics card. It'd have the VERY basic inputs of USB, video, and sound. The point? For someone who likes to mod (like me) or someone who just wants to use ultra-slim cases. The point, for me at least, would be to gut out a DVD/Blu-ray player, and replace it's internals with a PC instead. It's not really very hard at all (I've taken measurements, and there are even a few websites/forums that explain how to take a set-top's DVD/Bluray drive, and wire the pins into like a SATA, IDE (which can be converted to SATA with a box), and failing that, SATA laptop drives are plentiful and easily modded). The stripped down nature, and plethora of USB, is because you just don't need all that crap when the point of the box is to be a set-top player. network? USB. You don't want antennas and so on sticking out the back, you want to be able to hook a USB extender and set something up for better reception. Extra Storage (beyond the SSD or laptop drive that'd probably be used)? USB. think of anything you need. It comes in USB lol. And HDMI is home theatre friendly. Why the PCIX port? Because you may need it for a GFX card. I've seen a lot of people that make the PCI-X16 90deg angle converter for modders and the like. If you wanted to go all out, you could. Same with audio. But yeah, that's my first idea. I think that'd be SO hype for the modder community, and it would be solid BITCHIN for OEMs, too, because they could build ultra-slim, powerful PCs the size of a very thin set-top box. it'd keep costs down, because I imagine that the board wouldn't be expensive (cutting out a lot of superfluous stuff would keep costs WAY down), and by being so small and versatile, it would be super-easy to integrate. Hell, at that basic level, you could even have it find it's way into high-performance servers. Similar to like 1U racks, you could build clusters of small, paper-thin servers for amatuers who don't have the money to afford Racks and Rackmounts... I've just always thought a super-duper ultra-thin micro/itx board targetted at end users and not servers/OEMs would be dope.

My other idea is a little different tack, but in similar vein. Essentially, it'd be for a specific segment, primarily overclockers. essentially, it'd be a modification on the Socket. What you'd do is develop a "cartridge" mechanism. For people who change out their CPUs regularly because they like to upgrade, or just for easy system building. Essentially, instead of the basic LGA 775/1155/1366 socket, it'd be a specially manufactured contact probably just a copper-to-copper contact area (maybe with increased surface area) instead of the verticle pins. This would have a specially designed bracket to hold on a specifically designed cartridge. The cartridge would clip in a CPU, and then let you mount on a (standard) heat sink or water cooler contact. You would then just "clip in" the CPU cartridge after everything is settled, and boom, off you go. This way, for people do do lots of modding and testing, or people who are always upgrading, you have a low-impact, quick way to swap in and out heat sinks, CPUs and so on. It'd be great for testers especially, because it'd reduce the wear-and-tear on the LGA grid substantially, allow for quick and easy upgrades, and it'd be better for cooling, too, because, theoretically, you could make the mounting bracket out of aluminum, connect it to grounded points on the board, and have it double as a cooling array for capacitors/voltregs, too.

-E
 
Modular design.. so we can move or omit slots and connectors around to fit our particular case.

addition 9/30/2010:
dream main board:
Nanobiotechnology – basically a blank board.. just add specific proteins and DNA to grow your desired shape and performance characteristics :)
 
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