ASRock Announces 990FX Extreme9 Flagship AM3+ Motherboard

[btarunr]

Leading motherboard manufacturer ASRock has announced today the debut of its most deluxe motherboard of the AM3+ Series – introducing ASRock 990FX Extreme9. Even though packed with the same chipset, this motherboard has added multitudes of features to stir up anticipation for the AMD product lines. Features such as premium gold caps, rock steady power phase design, top notch Intel gigabit LAN solution and also the ASRock exclusive X-Boost for easy and efficient overclocking.

ASRock 990FX Extreme9 is composed by the most luxurious hardware components. It uses AMD 990FX and SB950 chipsets and supports AM3+ processors with up to eight cores, the CPU is provided with high quality power solutions. Premium gold caps that extend the motherboard's life span 2.5 times longer than usual, Digi Power for smoother CPU Vcore voltages, 12+2 power phase design for stable performance and revolutionary Dual-Stack MOSFET for larger die area, lower Rds(on) and better CPU Vcore power efficiency.



The memory includes dual channel DDR3 DIMM slots that support up to 2450 MHz when overclocked. Another 4 PCIe 2.0 x16 expansion slots for supporting NVIDIA 3-Way SLI and AMD 3-Way CrossFireX technology, so users may immerse themselves in mind blowing graphics. As for LAN, ASRock 990FX Extreme9 promises to offer the best internet experience with Intel 82583V Gigabit LAN. With the 7.1 CH HD audio by Realtek ALC898 which supports THX TruStudio, audiophiles won't be disappointed either. Storage devices and other peripherals are more than welcomed with the 8 SATA3 and 8 USB 3.0 ports, and with the free bundled ASRock exclusive front USB 3.0 panel users may connect two USB 3.0 devices and also find enough space to install 2.5 inch HDDs or SSDs. Moreover, the High density power connectors reduce over 23% power loss and also lower the pins' temperature by 22 degrees Celsius.

Game Changing Software
If you're thinking that ASRock 990FX Extreme9 has hardcore hardware specifications, then wait till you hear about the rich software support it has to offer. The ASRock exclusive X-Boost technology allows anyone to overclock their computer by merely hitting the X key during POST, the system is automatically unleashed with up to 116% performance boost!

Other software surprises include the exclusive XFast 555 technology for 5 times faster USB/LAN/RAM speed; the amazing Fast Boot for ludicrous 1.5 second Windows 8 log in and it will boot up so fast that you will definitely need "Restart to UEFI" to enter the UEFI setup page; ASRock Dehumidifier to prevent dampness, Easy RAID Installer, etc.

Were you patiently waiting for the dream motherboard with cool specs and rich features? If so, we have saved the best for last with ASRock 990FX Extreme9. Let the sturdy components, overwhelming performance and futuristic design change your computing style.



For more information, visit the product page.

[RejZoR]

That crappy PCI slot is ruining the otherwise sick looking board. AsRock is slowly turning into ASUS 2 (in terms that they are no longer just budget mobo maker) and their products are looking really good lately. Who knows, maybe AsRock will be my next choice...

[NC37]

Wonder why they didn't continue with the optional mosfet fan addon like the Extreme4 has. Unless it just didn't do much aside from make noise. Which it does at stock setting. Have to turn it down to lowest speed to get it quieter.

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by NC37

Wonder why they didn't continue with the optional mosfet fan addon like the Extreme4 has. Unless it just didn't do much aside from make noise. Which it does at stock setting. Have to turn it down to lowest speed to get it quieter.

It might not need it. More and newer VRMs probably produce less heat because they're newer and more refined and because distributing the CPU power load across more phases will reduce the load on each one which will drive efficiency up and heat down. In addition to generating less heat its more surface area that a heat sink can cover so you're moving more heat away as well. Very interested to see who this board overclocks and what price ASRock is looking to put it at. It looks pretty solid to me.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by RejZoR

That crappy PCI slot is ruining the otherwise sick looking board. AsRock is slowly turning into ASUS 2 (in terms that they are no longer just budget mobo maker) and their products are looking really good lately. Who knows, maybe AsRock will be my next choice...

PCI can still be quite useful, and the rest I don't get. They've been looking good for quite some time now.

[cdawall]

Stupidly spaced PCI-e slots for 3 way SLi/crossfire.

[natr0n]

Now I can get this over the Fata1ity version and still use my audio card.

[Covert_Death]

best 990FX MoBo PERIOD when it hits shelves... i wish i could grab one

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by RejZoR

That crappy PCI slot is ruining the otherwise sick looking board. AsRock is slowly turning into ASUS 2 (in terms that they are no longer just budget mobo maker) and their products are looking really good lately. Who knows, maybe AsRock will be my next choice...

SMH, They Havent been budget since 2011. They infact are better than Asus.

[suraswami]

hmm this means that there are more interesting CPUs from AMD to come on this same socket?

[Hayder_Master]

intel lan on AMD motherboards, lol
by the this guy who make review just like someone escaped from bank robbery and first time on TV.

[T3RM1N4L D0GM4]

Why Realtek, why???
Give us VIA Vinyl Integratd audio plz!

[Covert_Death]

because everyone uses realtek....

I gave up on wanting better on board audio when Microsoft got rid of 3d audio... since i game and there is no 3d audio whatever is on board is more than good enough now a days

[Antykain]

Originally Posted by Hayder_Master

intel lan on AMD motherboards, lol

ASUS has done the same thing and has the Intel LAN on their 990FX Crosshair V Formula and Formula-Z..

[Jstn7477]

I'm guessing that anyone whining about Realtek audio hasn't tried a board with the ALC898 codec, which has a better SNR than the ASUS Xonar DG people like.

[Jorge]

Originally Posted by Aquinus

It might not need it. More and newer VRMs probably produce less heat because they're newer and more refined and because distributing the CPU power load across more phases will reduce the load on each one which will drive efficiency up and heat down. In addition to generating less heat its more surface area that a heat sink can cover so you're moving more heat away as well. Very interested to see who this board overclocks and what price ASRock is looking to put it at. It looks pretty solid to me.

This appears to be the same basic 12+2 VRM design as the Asrock 990FX Fatality mobo which has been around for awhile. They claim to be using stacked MOSFETs which may or may not be ideal for cooling of the VRM. Virtually all AM3+ mobo VRM circuits run very hot with overclocked 8-core FX processors so good VRM cooling - either passive or with fan is required. This mobo and the Fatality model use large passive heatsinks which are preferred for reliability and noise, IMO.

Every quality mobo I have seen in recent years has a VRM thermal throttle that lowers the CPU voltage and frequency if the VRM circuit is running too hot. This is sort of a half-arsed solution for insufficient VRM power capacity when needed, with seriously overclocked CPUs, especially 8-core FX models. Some mobo VRM circuits still burn out as they are really poor designs and should not even be sold in their current state for 125W+ CPUs.

I contacted Asrock to inquire what was better about the Extreme 9 vs. the 990FX Fatality and they couldn't answer. Other than some minor tweaks it's pretty much the same mobo. If you need the slight differences or the price is lower than the Fatality 990FX, then this might be the mobo for you. Otherwise it's pretty much more of the same, which is fine as there is nothing wrong with the 990FX Fatality mobo IME.

[james888]

Originally Posted by Covert_Death

because everyone uses realtek....

I gave up on wanting better on board audio when Microsoft got rid of 3d audio... since i game and there is no 3d audio whatever is on board is more than good enough now a days

I got a xonar dg for $10 and it was vastly better than my onboard. Great upgrade for the money.

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

I'm guessing that anyone whining about Realtek audio hasn't tried a board with the ALC898 codec, which has a better SNR than the ASUS Xonar DG people like.

My onboard in alc892... I have not tried alc898.

[NeoXF]

I'll have people know ALC898 is one of the best onboard audio chipsets, better than those flash SupremeFX whatever or Creative Recon3D... ofc, without fancy stuff like PCB isolation or mic amplification... but still, excellent SNR and such, Realtek have come a long way. If you ask me, the only worthwhile upgrade (ignoring the horrible drivers) from such a audio chipset would be an ASUS Xonar (Essence STX)...

Secondly, yeah... Intel for LAN... but also, probably the best choice for integrated Gbit... so, all in all, very well equipped motherboard, possibly the go-to board for enthusiast AM3+ from now on... if only it also had that fancy PCIe 3.0 that ASUS did recently, it would be (on paper) perfect.


Edit:

Originally Posted by suraswami

hmm this means that there are more interesting CPUs from AMD to come on this same socket?

Well, yeah... there's a big chance of Steamroller coming out in 2 socket variants, from what I can tell... or at least a tweaked Piledriver (Piledriver B?... Piledriver 2.0?) on 28nm... I for one wish a new platform altogether... (with finally more pins that the age-old 9xx since Athlon 64...) LGA, PCIe 3.0, HyperTransport 3.1, DDR4 maybe, native USB3.0, native SATA3-only (maybe even that future PCIe standard for storage, so as we can finally see 550MB/s+ SSDs) and so on...

[Jorge]

As has been known for some time PCIe 3.0 is a technology that is of virtually no real value now and probably won't be for another 5 years. It's great for marketing purposes for those who don't know any different, but in actual use it doesn't deliver any measureable performance advantage as the current spec PCIe 2.0 is not saturated and thus PCIe 3.0 offers nothing of significance until PCIe 2.0 is actually a bottleneck.

These industry specifications (just like DDR4), are developed years in advance of their actual need so manufacturers can test and develop future solutions.

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by Jorge

As has been known for some time PCIe 3.0 is a technology that is of virtually no real value now and probably won't be for another 5 years. It's great for marketing purposes for those who don't know any different, but in actual use it doesn't deliver any measureable performance advantage as the current spec PCIe 2.0 is not saturated and thus PCIe 3.0 offers nothing of significance until PCIe 2.0 is actually a bottleneck.

These industry specifications (just like DDR4), are developed years in advance of their actual need so manufacturers can test and develop future solutions.

the whole idea behind PCIe is to expand the freeway before it becomes conjested. Also when they talk about Lanes- aka PEG 16x its 2 way so that means 1 way its 8 and the other way its 8