ASRock's AliveNF6G VSTA uses Nvidia's mobile chipset to give budget users an all-in-one solution 

INTRODUCTION

ASRock has now become well known for its budget and mainstream motherboards. In our last ASRock review we looked at their AliveNF5 eSATA2+ motherboard, which used the Nvidia NForce 520 single solution chipset and found it to perform surprisingly well. In this review, we'll be taking a look at the ASRock Alive NF6G VSTA designed for AMD processors (Socket-AM2) upto and including the Athlon FX series.

The ASRock AliveNF6G VSTA comes in the form of a microATX motherboard, and uses Nvidia's Geforce 6100 / NForce 430 chipset, which is an all-in-one solution. This chipset combines the main motherboard functions, audio and graphics ... all into one chip. (more info). Initially, the chipset was designed for use in notebooks. But somehow found it's way on ASRock motherboards ... I guess this chipset would cost less than your standand chipset for AM2 processors.

The Nvidia Geforce 6100 chipset offers onboard graphics using shared system memory upto 256Mb. According to the specifications, the performance expected will be similar to a Geforce 7200. The AliveNF6G VSTA contains the usual features found on most motherboards, these include onboard gigabit ethernet, 4xSATA connections and 4 x DDR2 DIMM slots. There's also a special header for the HDMI interface, firewire and USB.

       

By using a chipset which is essentially a chipset designed for notebooks, ASRock has saved costs and delivered a cheap and affordable motherboard to the masses. But we all know that price isn't everything ... performance is also an important factor.

OK, let's not talk to much and see what the ASRock AliveNF6G VSTA can do for us ...