ASRock P55 Extreme4 Motherboard Review (1156)

The ASrock P55 Extreme4 has proven in our testing to be a very impressive motherboard for the 1156 platform. The balance of featureset and performance is intoxicating …. with in built support for both SATA 600 and USB 3.0 across a total of eight ports. We also like the front USB 3.0 panel which adds value for money to the overall product.

Overclocking is where this product also shines, with the latest beta bios we were able to take our Intel 750 CPU to 4ghz, a 50% overclock, by simply selecting one setting in the bios. Manual overclocking is also well catered for with a wealth of options, meaning we could push the CPU even further to 4.2ghz with higher core voltages.

With support for both Crossfire and SLi and a detailed POST diagnostics display, you will never be wanting for gaming power and backup support if something goes wrong. The fact that ASrock have cut 775 cooler mounting holes into the PCB is also a nice touch, this could save money on a potential upgrade for an enthusiast user who already has a good third party cooler.

Throughout all of our testing we would rate this product as one of the most stable motherboards we have tested, when we pushed our Quad core 750 processor to 4.4ghz, the system safely managed to recover to the bios, without even using the handy CMOS clear on the back panel.

The price in the UK is said to be around the £125 price point which makes it a very solid buy for a discerning enthusiast user who wants USB 3.0 and SATA 600 support for the newest SSD drives. The pre configured overclocking options work wonders for performance and will surely aid those who really don't have the desire or ability to spend hours in the bios working out stable settings.

KitGuru says: ASRock have really delivered the goods with this product, it is one of the finest 1156 motherboards we have tested to date and is priced very competitively.