ASRock Z97 Extreme6 Motherboard Review (w/ Samsung XP941 M.2 SSD)

1. Introduction2. ASRock Z97 Extreme6: Packaging and Bundle3. ASRock Z97 Extreme6: Board Layout and Features4. ASRock Z97 BIOS5. ASRock Z97 Software6. Testing Methodology7. Tests: System-related8. Tests: Processor-related9. Tests: Gaming-related10. Tests: Motherboard-related11. Overclocking: Frequencies12. Overclocking: Performance13. Technical: PCIe Performance w/ Ultra M.214. Technical: Power Consumption15. Closing Thoughts16. View All Pages

Software

ASRock's A-Tuning software gives users access to their system's operating state and a number of convenient tools. Performance, Standard, or Power Saving modes can be applied via F-Stream. We noticed that the Standard mode would result in slightly decreased benchmark results compared to the Performance option.

Overclocking settings and parameters can be tweaked via the software, in an OS environment.

Readings relating to system parameters such as voltages, frequencies, and fan speeds are outlined in the System Info page. ASRock also puts its convenient Board Explorer tool in the A-Tuning software package.

ASRock's main motherboard tools can be accessed via A-Tuning. We did notice the omission of XFast USB which seems to have been terminated by ASRock. This is a disappointment as we found the speed-boosting software to work excellently and provide noticeable results.

  

ASRock includes a wide array of tools that have a range of duties, from tweaking fan speeds to reading storage drive health to setting up a RAM drive. We are glad to see that the OS-based method of tweaking fan speeds is far more user friendly than the UEFI-based alternative.

ASRock also includes 1-year subscription to Orbweb.ME (worth $50) which will be welcomed by users who opt for cloud storage.

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