Introduction

"Flagship" products in the tech world are more often than not used as a way to showcase engineering prowess by delivering the "ultimate package" for the product's respective category. We see this repeated time and time again with graphics cards—in a way that establishes most brand-specific designs through custom-designed coolers and beefy PCBs. When it comes time to look at motherboards, though, each flagship board product is very much an engineering demonstration, although that same idea does in part ring true. What differs with motherboards is that each brand really does have a very distinctive style that sets it apart from the rest, and ASRock is no different. ASRock has been around for quite some time as a brand, but they have not always been in the hearts and minds of enthusiasts as a whole, as their entry into the market wasn't ripe with enthusiast-focused offerings. Today, the complete opposite is true, and like with any of the other major brands out there, ASRock has a product that will meet your needs no matter what type of enthusiast you are; and when it comes to those flagship products, ASRock does have those too.

As many of you are aware, Intel will launch a new platform within the next couple weeks to replace the current Z77 Express-based lineup. Be that as it may, if you want to buy or build a PC now, Z77 Express is probably the platform you'll end up with because its full list of features, performance, and power consumption are such that enthusiasts cannot afford to ignore them yet. Intel Z77 Express-based products will still be on store shelves once Intel's latest platform launches, and they'll be very affordable as stores clear them out to make way for the new stuff. So, on that note, we at TPU bid a final farewell to Intel's LGA 1155 socket with one of those flagship products from ASRock: the Z77 Extreme11.

Specifications

Intel Z77 Express Chipset

Intel's launch of their latest desktop platform in the first half of April 2012 began with board products. The Intel Z77 Express platform is an incremental upgrade from previous platforms. It adds additional features and provides a wider level of functionality with full support for the 3rd Generation Core i5/i7 family of CPUs commonly called Ivy Bridge in enthusiast circles.


The Ivy Bridge CPUs are made using a new 22nm process technology that lowers power consumption and gives a bit more performance-per-clock over previous Intel 2nd Generation Core i5/i7 products. Also changed is the onboard GPU that's part of the Ivy Bridge silicon, now taking up more of that slice of silicon that sits under the integrated heatspreader.


The integrated PCIe bus on the CPU has also been upgraded. It can, compared to the two devices and PCIe 2.0 connectivity that are found inside Sandy Bridge products, be split differently from Sandy Bridge CPUs, with Ivy Bridge natively supporting three devices over a single bus with 16 lanes of PCIe 3.0 connectivity. Taking advantage of that added PCIe functionality requires a motherboard design change from previous Sandy Bridge-supporting motherboards. Backward and forward component compatibility for both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge platform products, including CPUs and chipsets, is still possible with updated firmware for older Socket 1155 board products, but using a new Ivy Bridge CPU with an older P67 Express or Z68 Express motherboard may limit PCIe functionality. PCIe functionality would, naturally, with Sandy Bridge only supporting two devices, be limited. The tertiary slot provided on some Z77 Express boards will not work with some products when a Sandy Bridge CPU is installed.

Packaging

When it arrived on my doorstep, the ASRock Z77 Extreme11 very nearly broke my back. The immense box the board arrived in is easily one of the largest I have ever received, but its blacked-out front and rear were definitely quite familiar. Although the wrapping matched the appearance of most other ASRock board products I've covered lately, the heft and grandiose nature of the box really had an impact on me.


There's a flap on the box that opens to display the board through a window while also showcasing some of the ASRock Z77 Extreme11's features on the obverse side. The capital box contains two smaller boxes: one for the board and one for its accessories.


The box the board sits in is lined with a layer of closed-cell foam that keeps the board in place while also keeping it safe during its transit from Taiwan to your local retailer. The other box contains the board's goodies and is filled with stuff—one side has the manuals and the other has all the cables and such.