ASROCK motherboard | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Fri, 27 Jan 2017 16:19:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png ASROCK motherboard | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 ASRock Z170 Extreme4 Motherboard Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/asrock-z170-extreme4-motherboard-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/asrock-z170-extreme4-motherboard-review/#respond Wed, 06 Jan 2016 08:53:44 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=278803 The availability of multiplier-locked Skylake chips has sparked an even greater emphasis on the need for low-cost motherboards to partner with such processors. ASRock's affordable Z170 Extreme4 utilises the Z170 chipset's host of worthwhile features but minimises add-on components in order to maintain aggressive pricing. Aside from the Z170 chipset's rich set of native offerings, …

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The availability of multiplier-locked Skylake chips has sparked an even greater emphasis on the need for low-cost motherboards to partner with such processors. ASRock's affordable Z170 Extreme4 utilises the Z170 chipset's host of worthwhile features but minimises add-on components in order to maintain aggressive pricing. Aside from the Z170 chipset's rich set of native offerings, a feature that ASRock is coining – ‘Sky OC' gives users the ability to overclock their multiplier-locked Skylake CPU by simply tweaking the BCLK.

Retailing for a little less than £110, ASRock makes strict decisions as to where corners should be cut in order to give the Z170 Extreme4 its affordable price tag. Native two-card CrossFire and SLI support is maintained, and there's also an additional full-length PCIe 3.0 slot for high-bandwidth devices such as PCIe SSDs. Keeping the focus on storage offerings, ASRock utilises the Z170 chipset's native characteristics by offering a trio of SATA-Express ports that can alternatively be used as six SATA 6Gbps connections. There's also a single ‘Ultra' M.2 connector which offers support for up to 32Gbps PCIe devices as well as SATA 6Gbps drives.

Other than the exclusion of a set of add-on USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps controllers, you may be hard-pushed to see where ASRock has cut costs. Redundancy is offered in the form of two BIOS chips, there are onboard power and reset buttons, the audio solution is of ASRock's Purity Sound 3 calibre, and 10Gbps USB 3.1 is offered in Type-A and Type-C forms.

Eager to find out if any of ASRock's strategies for meeting the aggressive pricing goal have affected under-the-hood performance, let's get started with a thorough analysis of the Z170 Extreme4.

Features:

  • ASRock Super Alloy
  • Supports 6th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors (Socket 1151)
  • Digi Power, 10 Power Phase design
  • Supports DDR4 3866+(OC) memory modules
  • 3 PCIe 3.0 x16, 3 PCIe 3.0 x1
  • NVIDIA® Quad SLI™, AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™
  • Graphics Output Options: DVI-D, HDMI, DisplayPort 1.2
  • Supports Triple Monitor
  • 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec), Supports Purity Sound™ 3 & DTS Connect
  • 3 SATA Express, 6 SATA3, 1 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
  • 2 USB 3.1 (1 Type-C & 1 Type-A), 8 USB 3.0 (2 Front, 6 Rear)
  • Supports Full Spike Protection, ASRock Live Update & APP Shop
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ASRock X99E-ITX/ac Mini-ITX Motherboard Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/asrock-x99e-itxac-mini-itx-motherboard-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/asrock-x99e-itxac-mini-itx-motherboard-review/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2015 06:50:58 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=253431 The push for small yet powerful computers has been evident over the past few years. Many enthusiasts are no longer happy with an ATX motherboard and full tower chassis to house their single graphics card and pair of storage drives. Instead, budding aficionados are challenging themselves to create smaller and smaller systems without compromising on …

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The push for small yet powerful computers has been evident over the past few years. Many enthusiasts are no longer happy with an ATX motherboard and full tower chassis to house their single graphics card and pair of storage drives. Instead, budding aficionados are challenging themselves to create smaller and smaller systems without compromising on performance. Other than the personal novelty of housing a powerful system in a chassis not much bigger than a desktop printer, functional benefits of the mini-ITX eco-system include greater portability and reduced space requirements.

Aiming to offer an entirely new level of performance which has previously been out of reach for the small form factor (SFF) scene, ASRock offers up the most powerful mini-ITX motherboard ever to reach consumer marketplaces. Can ASRock's X99E-ITX/ac motherboard prove that you don't need to go big to go X99?

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Every iteration of Intel's High-End Desktop (HEDT) platform sees enthusiasts question the possibility of a mini-ITX motherboard sporting the chipset. And each time the questions are posed on various forums, the common conclusion is that the gargantuan HEDT CPU socket seems simply too big to fit on a 17x17cm footprint and optimise it for consumer use. Clearly, cramming the HEDT platform and its armada of features into a 289cm2 PCB area was a challenge that ASRock's engineers licked their lips at.

The X99E-ITX/ac cuts the number of DIMM slots to a pair and uses the LGA 2011-3 CPU socket with narrow ILM mounting holes. But that's pretty much where compromise ends. A host of SATA 6Gbps connections, USB 3.1 ports, dual NICs, 802.11ac WiFi, 32Gbps M.2, and a full-speed PCIe expansion slots render the word ‘compromise‘ irrelevant. Oh, and don't worry about overclocking capacity; ASRock removes the frequency-pushing shackles by means of a comprehensive UEFI and healthy power delivery system.

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Is ASRock's X99E-ITX/ac the go-to motherboard for a no-comprise SFF powerhouse? Or when it comes to Intel's HEDT platform, does size really matter?

Features:

  • ASRock Super Alloy
  • Supports Intel® Core™ i7 and Xeon® 18-Core Processors Family for the LGA 2011-3 Socket
  • X Series OC Socket, Digi Power, 6 Power Phase design
  • Supports Dual Channel DDR4 3200+(OC)
  • 1 PCIe 3.0 x16, 1 Vertical mini-PCIe for WiFi + BT Module
  • 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec), Supports DTS Connect
  • Intel® Dual Gigabit LAN with Teaming Function
  • 6 SATA3, 1 eSATA, 1 SATA Express, 1 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
  • WLAN: 2T2R Dual Band 802.11ac WiFi + BT v4.0 Module, ASRock WiFi 2.4/5 GHz Antenna
  • 2 USB 3.1 Type-A 10Gb/s, 6 USB 3.0 (2 Front, 4 Rear), 4 USB 2.0 (2 Front, 2 Rear)
  • Free Bundle : CPU Cooler, Water Cooling Mounting Plate, ASRock U3 to U2 Converter
  • Supports ASRock Full Spike Protection, APP Shop, A-Tuning, Full HD UEFI
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ASRock 990FX Extreme9 Motherboard Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/asrock-990fx-extreme9-motherboard-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/asrock-990fx-extreme9-motherboard-review/#comments Mon, 18 Feb 2013 08:15:58 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=124510 ASRock's latest addition to their 990FX series of AMD motherboards, the 990FX Extreme9, aims to occupy the company's AM3+ top spot alongside the Fatal1ty Professional board. With premium power delivery components, compatibility with AMD's 8 core PileDriver processors and support for 3-way SLI and CrossFire graphics configurations, the ASRock 990FX Extreme9 sports an excellent set of features …

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ASRock's latest addition to their 990FX series of AMD motherboards, the 990FX Extreme9, aims to occupy the company's AM3+ top spot alongside the Fatal1ty Professional board.

With premium power delivery components, compatibility with AMD's 8 core PileDriver processors and support for 3-way SLI and CrossFire graphics configurations, the ASRock 990FX Extreme9 sports an excellent set of features which should impress the enthusiast market.

The board makes use of ASRock's new-and-improved power delivery components which include; Gold Capacitors, Digi Power VRM, Dual-Stack MOSFET, Hi-Density power connector, and a 12+2 power phase design.

Can this plethora of overclocking enhancements and an excellent feature set translate into enthusiast-grade performance potential?

Specifications:

  • Premium Gold Caps, Multiple Filter Cap
  • Supports Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM), Digi Power, 12 + 2 power phase design
  • Supports AM3+ Processor, 8-Core CPU
  • Supports Dual Channel DDR3 2450(OC)
  • 4 PCIe 2.0 x16 Slots, Support NVIDIA® 3-Way SLI, AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™
  • 8 x SATA3, 2 x eSATA3, 8 x USB 3.0, 8 x USB 2.0
  • Supports Hi-Density Power Connector
  • Intel® Gigabit LAN
  • Supports ASRock X-Boost, XFast 555, Fast Boot, Restart to UEFI, Dehumidifier, OMG, Internet Flash, Easy RAID Installer
  • 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC898 Audio Codec), supports THX TruStudio™
  • Free Bundle : CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar, 1 x Front USB 3.0 Panel with 2.5″ HDD/SSD Rack
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ASRock A75 Extreme 6 (AMD A75) Motherboard Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/colin-beatty/asrock-a75-extreme-6-amd-a75-motherboard-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/colin-beatty/asrock-a75-extreme-6-amd-a75-motherboard-review/#comments Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:19:06 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=61167 In June AMD released the A8-3850 APU which achieved the highest award on Kitguru, for the combination of competitive price and excellent performance. Since then we have reviewed several motherboards, including the excellent ASUS F1A75M pro and Sapphire Pure Platinum A75. Today we are looking at the latest ASRock A75 Extreme 6 which comes fully …

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In June AMD released the A8-3850 APU which achieved the highest award on Kitguru, for the combination of competitive price and excellent performance. Since then we have reviewed several motherboards, including the excellent ASUS F1A75M pro and Sapphire Pure Platinum A75. Today we are looking at the latest ASRock A75 Extreme 6 which comes fully loaded.

Over the last couple of years, we have seen ASRock move from a small player in the budget sector, to a fully fledged manufacturer of some of the industry's finest products, proven time and time again in our review analysis. The A75 Extreme 6 is another board marketed for the discerning enthusiast audience.

The board uses ASRock DuraCap Polymer Capacitors for long life and improved stability. It has full support for all FM1 100W processors and is supplied with Native SATA 3 and USB 3.0 capabilities. With 3 way CrossfireX support and 7.1 channel audio with a full UEFI interface, they certainly don't appear to have cut any corners.

As we have covered this platform before, today we are going to look at the ASRock A75 Extreme 6 when paired up with a killer gaming card – the Sapphire HD6870 Dual Fan Overclock Edition. We are also giving one of these graphics card away in a competition right now, so be sure to check that out.

Need a recap on the Lynx Platform? Then head over to this page.

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