Today PCStats will be testing new the ASRock K8 Combo-Z/ASR motherboard. This could be the perfect board for those of you who want to go Athlon64 on the cheap, but don't want to be stuck without an upgrade path to newer socket 939 processors. Based on the ALi M1689 chipset which we'll cover in more detail later in the review, the K8 Combo-Z/ASR can be used with both Socket 754 and Socket 939 Athlon processors! Although not at the same time.

The full range of socket 754 and 939 processors are supported, from the 32-bit AMD Sempron to the mighty AMD Athlon 64FX. Each CPU socket has its own memory banks and yes, Socket 939 is dual-channel compatible as long as you fill only the first two memory banks. There are a mere three PCI slots, though this should be enough for the average user. An 8x AGP slot handles the graphics duties as PCI Express is not supported by the ALi chipset; 7.1 audio and a 10/100 LAN controller are also integrated into the motherboard.