Asus PRIME H410M-K
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One of the most affordable Asus motherboards of 2020 with an LGA 1200 processor socket for installing a 10th generation Intel Core CPU (Comet Lake microarchitecture, 14 nm). In addition to affordable cost, it is distinguished by compact dimensions (microATX) and a balanced hardware configuration. It is positioned as an inexpensive solution for completing entry-level/mid-level office or multi-purpose household (home) PCs.
It works without problems with any models of high-performance discrete graphics cards with PCI-E 16x interface, which allows it to be used in low-cost gaming assemblies. Thanks to the Intel H410 chipset, the Asus PRIME H410M-K motherboard is guaranteed to be compatible with all Core i9/i7/i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron CPU families. It has two slots for DIMM modules, demonstrates a high degree of compatibility with various modules (up to DDR4-2933).
It supports up to 64 GB of RAM (2x32 GB) operating in dual-channel mode, which is enough to solve any household and the vast majority of professional tasks, as well as comfortable gaming. Able to flexibly control fans (including using the ASUS Fan Xpert utility and from the UEFI BIOS). To create a capacious disk subsystem, there are four SATA3 ports for SATA SSD or HDD drives (up to 6 Gbps). The board is equipped with a high-speed Realtek RTL8111H network controller and a Realtek ALC887 audio codec with an improved analogue path.
High-quality 8-phase power subsystem
The Prime line has always occupied an intermediate position in the Asus range. These boards provide enough performance and cooling for entry-level and mid-range systems, but don't tread into the territory of the more expensive TUF and ROG family of components. The hero of this review, Asus PRIME H410M-K, confirms this thesis, standing out with a reliable power supply, high-quality PCB, stable cooling and a bunch of small but useful features that make it stand out from other entry-level solutions.
M.2 not delivered
The board is made in a compact micro-ATX format and is suitable for assemblies in a stone case. The processor is powered by 8 phases. For hard drives and 2.5-inch drives, 4 SATA connectors are provided. There are no connectors for M.2 drives. On the one hand, this is an omission, a fast NVMe SSD has never bothered anyone. On the other hand, no one bothers to connect a regular SATA SSD, it will still turn out much faster than with a regular hard drive.
A set of useful software for system configuration
Of the interesting, we highlight the Energy Processing Unit complex, which optimizes the power consumption of the system by turning off unused controllers and adjusting the voltage of the central processor. In addition, there is an Armory Crate command centre and a Fan Xpert complex on board, which allows you to configure the finest nuances of the coolers. In our opinion, the latter is an overkill for an entry-level board; no one will install a pack of additional fans to blow the case into an office computer. Other engineering solutions stand out as well. So, to improve the quality of the audio signal, Asus spread the left and right channels on different layers of the printed circuit board, and for the PCI-E 16x slots, a reinforced design is used, which provides an improved graphics card clamp. Although this is not a full-fledged reinforcement, it is usually more common to see such sets in boards of a higher rank.
