ASRock B250 Pro4, Intel B250 motherboard socket 1151 [B250 Pro4]

The Intel B250 chipset supports Intel's processors of the 6th ("Skylake") and 7th ("Kaby Lake") generation and provides a favorable base for office, business and gaming PCs. The B250 chipset offers a maximum of 12 PCIe lanes, six SATA 6G ports, and 12 USB ports, of which up to six can support the fast 3.0 standard. The number of HSIO lanes, which are responsible for connecting the LAN, SATA and USB ports as well as the PCIe lanes, was increased by seven to 25 compared to the predecessor.

The features of the ASRock B250 Pro4 at a glance:

2 × PCIe (3.0) x16 (x16 / x4) & 3 × PCIe (3.0) x1 & 1 × PCI slot
6 × USB 3.0 (Type A & Type C) / 5 × USB 2.0
2 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 / x2) / 6 × SATA 6G
Four DRR4 DIMM slots in dual-channel mode
Video output via HDMI, DVI-D or D-Sub (VGA)
Support for AMD's CrossFireX technology (2-way)
The ASRock B250 Pro4 in detail

The ASRock B250 Pro4 motherboard has four DIMM slots for DDR4 memory in fast dual-channel mode. The two PCIe x16 slots, one of which is connected to full 16 lanes and the other with four lanes to the chipset, support AMD's CrossFireX technology. For board and expansion cards, the board has three PCIe x1 slots, a classic PCI slot and an M.2 key-E slot for an optional Wi-Fi, Bluetooth module.

Data storage in the form of HDDs or (M.2) SSDs can be connected via six SATA-6G connectors and two M.2 slots. The M.2 ports allow the use of M.2 SSDs and are typically connected to the chipset via four PCIe lanes, usually in the 3.0 standard. In combination with the NVMe protocol, a data transfer rate of just under 4 GB / s is possible. Thus, M.2 PCIe SSDs are up to eight times faster than SATA 6G SSDs!

The motherboard provides three USB 3.0 Type A, one USB 3.0 Type C, and one USB 2.0 port for input devices, headsets, and other gaming peripherals on the I / O panel. The ASRock B250 Pro4 features a black and white design with a stylish I / O armor, an excellent onboard sound (Realtek ALC892), and internal connections with a COM port, TPM, chassis intrusion, Power LED and speaker header. Cooling solutions include a 4-pin CPU fan connector, two 4-pin chassis fan connectors, and a 4-pin pump connector.

Technical details:
Format: ATX
Chipset: Intel B250 ("Union Point")
Socket: 1151 (for Intel CPUs of the 6th and 7th core generation ("Skylake" / "Kaby Lake")
RAM: 4 × DDR4 (Skylake: DDR4-2.133, Kaby Lake: DDR4-2.400)
Dual-Channel
Slots (physical):
1 × PCIe 3.0 x16
1 × PCIe 3.0 x16 (electrical x4)
Compatible multi-VGA configurations: 2-Way-CrossFireX (Quad-GPU)
3 × PCIe 3.0 x1
1 × PCI
1 × M.2 Key-E (2230, for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth)
Internal connections:
6 × SATA 6G
1 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4, 2242/2260/2280)
1 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x2, 2242/2260/2280)
1 × COM port header
1 × TPM header
1 × chassis intrusion header
1 × Power LED & Speaker header
1 × CPU fan (4-pin)
2 × Case Fan (4-Pin)
1 × Pump connection (4-pin)
1 × Front Panel Audio Connector
1 × Thunderbolt AIC Connector (5-Pin)
1 × Thunderbolt AIC Connector (10-pin)
2 × USB 3.0 (two headers)
4 × USB 2.0 (two header)
External connections:
1 × PS / 2 keyboard / mouse
4 × USB 3.0 (3 × Type-A / 1 × Type-C)
1 × USB 2.0
1 × RJ45 LAN
2 × WiFi antenna slots
1 × HDMI
1 × DVI-D
1 × D-Sub (VGA)
3 × audio (Realtek ALC892)
Power supply:
1 × 24-pin EATX
1 × 8-pin ATX 12V