Component Analysis

The single PCH is much easier to deal with the dual chipsets found on higher end boards, in particular those on AMD X870 motherboards, which often mean that PCIe slots need buttons or other contraptions to release your graphics card as the usual lever is blocked. Here, there's a single chip that's cooled by a much smaller heatsink.


The Wi-Fi 6E module is an Intel AX211NGW and has standard connectors throughout so if need be you can always upgrade it if you need Wi-Fi 7. As previously mentioned the module cover cap is removable, and we'd be seriously tempted to spray paint it white so it blends in better. Still, it's probably more attractive than having the bare module on show.


The onboard audio is provided Realtek's ALC1220 audio codec, which nestles amongst a portion of isolated circuitry. While there are only two 3.5 mm mini jacks on the I/O panel, you can run up to 7.1 speaker systems by utilizing the front audio ports, but we'd imagine opting for something more elaborate for audiophiles such as an external DAC would be more popular.


The 2.5 Gbps Ethernet controller is provided in the form of Realtek's RTL8125BG under the Dragon branding, which essentially means it comes with software via ASRock to be able to perform basic bandwidth control functions. Thunderbolt 4 support is native to Arrow Lake, but you can still spot some components on the PCB such as this Intel Thunderbolt 4 JHL9040R retimer.