We flashed the BIOS from a pre-release to version 1.0 on their website which fixed a few problems we had and we recommend you flash your board as well to the latest BIOS on their website. The CPU multiplier didn't have half intervals which was somewhat annoying in finding a sweet spot. Additionally when we switched from auto to manual the CPU voltage and the Northbridge voltage were reset automatically to zero. While I can recall the right voltage for the Phenom 9850 off the top of my head, the default voltage for the Northbridge of the 780a was something I had to look up on another computer. When adjusting to manual settings it should definitely start at first with default values so the user isn't lost. Other than that it was fairly easy and included a wide range of options for the bus, voltages, and we quickly attempted overclocking the processor and the HT bus. We weren't able to match the overclock of the high-end Asus Striker II 780a board of 2.9GHz for a Phenom but came close at 2.84GHz. Unfortunately this wasn't stable and it took a bit of work but we finally obtained a stable overclock at 2.8GHz. Quite good if not up there with the Striker. We also as mentioned ramped up the clock on the HyperTransport to a hefty 2.45GHz. Again this wasn't very stable though.

Using the onboard Wi-Fi was a snap and worked excellently. Simply screw on the module to the header, install drivers, and find your access point and you're off. As a bonus you can also use your computer as an access point if you want. Our connection was good and we never experienced any drop in performance. We do tend to like the idea of onboard Wi-Fi over 2 Gigabit ports but that is a personal preference. ASRock's software for their 802.11g card is quite easy to use.

The hardware accessories include the ASRock Wi-Fi 802.11G antenna, ASRock SLI bridge, ASRock 3-way SLI bridge, I/O shield, Floppy cables, 4 SATA cables, 1 SATA power cable, an HDMI SPDIF passthrough cable, and an ATA 133 cable.

Software included was ASRock's OC Tuner which worked well enough adjusting settings in the BIOS but we feel that using the BIOS usually yields better results and is more reliable. Their intelligent energy saver was also included.
 

Let's move onto performance.