Wednesday, May 8th 2013
Next-Gen ASRock Motherboards Waterproof
Among the pile of new features motherboard makers are coming up with, for their next-generation socket LGA1150 motherboards, this one from ASRock is bound to stand out. Select ASRock 8-series motherboards will feature water-proofing. Why do you need it? Because the enthusiast crowd likes to use water-cooling, and custom-built water-cooling loops are prone to leaks and spills, if not done right. Water-proofing ensures the board is more resilient to coolant spills. ASRock doesn't guarantee protection from all kinds of liquid coolants, but at least it's a step in the right direction. Other innovations by ASRock include enhanced onboard audio, HDMI in (for video recording), 802.11 ac WLAN, and HomeCloud software.
21 Comments on Next-Gen ASRock Motherboards Waterproof
I was under the impression the number of people that do this type of thing were vastly diminishing, but I suppose it's a nice option for the handful that still feel the need.
I wish this was around back when I used my Prometeia Mach II (before it became a mainstay of my 'crap I thought was cool when I was young' closet.)
That said, socket-insulating 'tape' putty, nail polish, and different methods of spray-coating were part of the fun!
"and custom-built water-cooling loops are prone to leaks and spills, if not done right".
Obviously open loop coolers can also leak but most folks who use them are doing so because they like to tinker so if they fry their hardware they just suck it up and buy new. This keeps them from getting bored with the hardware they have at the moment.
I expect Asrock is going to be sorry that they advertised these new mobos as "waterproof"...
lol but really. this is intended for people cooling with liquid nitrogen
Shit happens... better safe then sorry. They put the proper, "if not done right", clause on there. Nothing wrong with that statement. That said, I trust my loops more than a "sealed" loop.
Realised how balls it is and hence had to comment.
What utter nonsense.
All motherboard's already get a conformal (waterproof) coating its the layer of glossy shine that also covers the top layer pcb tracks and ive never ever seen a mobo with bare top tracks , it is possible to add yet another layer post component fitting but then you have to mask connectors leaving an ingress point still in the main problem area ie pciex slots.
Pr bull.... and there isn't an issue if you take your time and pick the right bits and coolant.
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