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ASRock Lists 'Windows 7-Ready' Motherboards, Has First Motherboard with Certification
Motherboard innovator ASRock has issued a partial list of its motherboards that it endorses as ready for Windows 7. The company also released the first motherboard to qualify for the Compatible with Windows 7 logo. With certification, hardware vendors look to reach out to most grass-root consumers in assuring support for the new OS, although the discerning user would know what components in the PC would suffice, even if the hardware doesn't carry certification logos.

ASRock added 14 motherboards for the Intel, and 15 for AMD platforms to its list. It includes a broad range of motherboards starting from Intel X58, Intel 4-series, NVIDIA nForce 700i series, AMD 7-series, NVIDIA nForce 700a, and 600a series. The ASRock P45XE is the company's claim to be the industry's first to sport the Windows 7 compatibility logo. Its specifications are pretty standard for motherboards in its class, and so with it, one could easily make out what are the criteria for Windows 7 compatibility. The P45XE supports the entire range of LGA-775 processors, and supports DDR2-1200/1066/800/667 MHz memory. Six SATA ports offer storage, although RAID isn't on offer since the ICH10 southbridge is used (instead of the RAID-supportive ICH10R). Two PCI-Express x16 slots supporting ATI CrossFireX technology, gigabit LAN and 8-channel audio, and ASRock's proprietary Intelligent Overclocking Technology (IET) make for the rest of the feature-set.

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