Soundmax? Not a popular choice, might explain the issues. BIOS upgrades can work wonders for troublesome Asus boards.
But it's not magic.
That Asrock looks like a well-rounded board. Has everything you need. As an enthusiast, I miss 1600FSB and 1200 memory support, but that's not needed for most.
Have an Asrock board in older box (AMD Duron 2GHZ). Simply works, no complaints.