ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4 Motherboard Review

1. Introduction2. ASRock AB350 Gaming K4: Packaging and Bundle3. ASRock AB350 Gaming K4: Board Layout and Features4. ASRock B350 UEFI5. ASRock B350 Software6. Testing Methodology7. Tests: CPU Related8. Tests: Memory & System Related9. Tests: Gaming Related10. Overclocking & Power Consumption11. Tests: Motherboard Features Performance12. Closing Thoughts13. View All Pages

Retailing for around £100, the ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4 is targeting budget gamers who do not require multi-GPU capability. In doing so, ASRock offers up several tempting features, such as dual M.2 ports, RGB LED capability, and a 6+3-phase power delivery solution.

Aggressively targeting a £100 price point, ASRock's Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4 has managed to retain an impressive number of features associated with higher-end models. You get two M.2 slots, the second of which is intended for SATA devices but supports reduced speed PCIe operation, onboard red LED lighting, and USB Type-C (albeit at 3.0 5Gbps bandwidth).

A steel-reinforced PCIe slot sits alongside six SATA 6Gbps ports and four DIMM slots, so ample hardware expansion should be covered. How will the ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4 perform in our testing? Can it handle the strenuous demands of AMD's more power-hungry multi-core Ryzen processors?

	ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4
Form Factor	Narrow-ATX, 30.5 cm x 22.4 cm
CPU Socket	AMD AM4, 6+3 phase VRM
Chipset	AMD B350
Memory	DDR4 Dual channel, 4 DIMMs, up to 64GB, up to 3200MHz+ with OC (with a Ryzen CPU)
Onboard Graphics	VGA, DVI-D, and HDMI ports for use with AM4 APUs
Expansion Slots	1x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16 for Ryzen, wired to the CPU), 1x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x4 mode, wired to the CPU and shared with M.2 slot 1), 4x PCIe 2.0 x1 (wired to the chipset)
Storage	4x SATA 6Gbps (via B350 chipset) 2x SATA 6Gbps (via ASMedia ASM1061 chipset) 1x M.2 SATA 6Gbps or NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 (with Ryzen CPUs) or PCIe 3.0 x2 (with AM4 APUs) 1x M.2 SATA 6Gbps or NVMe PCIe (at reduced bandwidth) (wired to the chipset)
USB	6x USB 2.0 (4 Internal, 2 Rear, via B350) 7x USB 3.0 (2 Internal via AMD, 5 Rear via AMD) 1x USB 3.0 Type-C (1 Rear, via AMD)
Networking	1x Realtek RTL8111GR Gigabit LAN
Audio	Realtek ALC892-based 7.1 channel HD audio
Fan Headers	4, all support 3/4pin fans (1x CPU, 3x CHA)
RGB Headers	2, 4-pin RGB
Rear I/O	1x PS/2 mouse & keyboard combo port 2x USB 2.0 ports 1x VGA 1x HDMI 1x DVI-D 5x USB 3.0 Type-A port 1x USB 3.0 Type-C port 1x LAN (RJ45) port 3x OFC audio jacks
UEFI BIOS	ASRock Fatal1ty UEFI

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