ASRock Z87 Extreme6/ac (Intel LGA 1150)

cadaveca · Aug 2, 2013

I take my first look at ASRock's Z87 products with the Z87 Extreme6/ac. Packed full of connectivity options, it definitely has Extreme connectivity, but is it perhaps also an Extreme disappointment?

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dj-electric · Aug 2, 2013

Dave's reviews make me hard. Thanks man, there's some legit stuff there/

Jstn7477 · Aug 2, 2013

Aww, my board got "the beatdown." Interested to see what ASRock has to say.

LAN_deRf_HA · Aug 2, 2013

Is it weird the first thing I do is go to the audio page? Not much else get's me interested in a board these days.

SimpleTECH · Aug 2, 2013

Very strange that it didn't perform that well. My Extreme6 (non-ac) runs great in synethic benchmarks and in games. The only downside I've found with mine is that it doesn't overclock my Samsung RAM past 2200MHz. But on the flipside I can do lower timings than my ECS Z87H3-A2X EXTREME.

micropage7 · Aug 2, 2013

honestly im kinda shock you rate this board 7.8, i guess it would get 8 point some at least
but nice review as usual

BiggieShady · Aug 2, 2013

Memory read and memory copy performance is weird ... since memory controller is integrated on the CPU :confused:

1c3d0g · Aug 2, 2013

It definitely looks like some kind of problem slipped past QA with the Asrock motherboard.

TheLostSwede · Aug 2, 2013

The ASM1074 is a USB 3.0 hub, not a controller...

dj-electric · Aug 2, 2013

^whua?

http://www.easycom.com.ua/data/mboard/2013731180-2420/img/32-asm1074_msi_z87_xpower.jpg

EarthDog · Aug 2, 2013

http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show_products.php?cate_index=97&item=128

The ASM1074, the four downstream ports USB3.0 HUB Controller

Kursah · Aug 2, 2013

Gonna go take a read...I almost chose this board before I settled on the Asus Z-87 Pro...

Thanks Dave! :toast:

Jstn7477 · Aug 2, 2013

TheLostSwede said:
The ASM1074 is a USB 3.0 hub, not a controller...

Dj-ElectriC said:
^whua?

http://www.easycom.com.ua/data/mboard/2013731180-2420/img/32-asm1074_msi_z87_xpower.jpg

EarthDog said:
http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show_products.php?cate_index=97&item=128

Yes, Z87 only provides 6 USB 3.0 ports, so it appears ASRock used a hub on the rear panel to get 4 ports back there while having the two front panel headers.

brandonwh64 · Aug 2, 2013

Dj-ElectriC said:
Dave's reviews make me hard. Thanks man, there's some legit stuff there/

^^^

Umm Yea dave NICE review!

cadaveca · Aug 2, 2013

TheLostSwede said:
The ASM1074 is a USB 3.0 hub, not a controller...

Actually, it's called a HUB CONTROLLER by ASMedia, so it's both in my books. Common part on many motherboards today.

Sometimes the boards I get from ASRock are early versions that do not have full functionality. I did receive one Intel Z77-based board from ASRock that should have had PCIe 3.0, for example, but rather than using PCIe 3.0 switches, it used PCIe 2.0 switches, so didn't actually have PCIe 3.0. PCIe 2.0 switches were very hard to come by at the time, so I rolled with the punches, so to speak, and that review was also posted with the board "as is".

The issues I encountered could be a bad board, or could be a problem with my stuff. I most definitely had a memory kit die in this board, the kit I use for all board reviews, and that's part of why there haven't been board reviews from me every week in July as I had planned. I also had my basement flood and spent about a week and a half dealing with that.

Board makers are always welcome to comment on my reviews, but unless complete stability is not possible, I do not often comment to board makers directly about the problems I find. If this product wasn't stable, the review would not have been posted, but because it was stable, both under OC and at stock, the only thing I can place the cause of the problems I found on is the BIOS itself. I have tested two other boards since this ASRock board, and did not seem to encounter the same issues, eliminating my hardware as the source of the problem, most likely, but there is still a chance that something is off with my CPU and memory.

When ASRock responds, I'll post an update.

m1dg3t · Aug 2, 2013

@ dave: n00b! :roll:

Nabarun · Aug 3, 2013

Nice review. I think the price of the board doesn't justify the shortcomings. Asrock better reply soon. I initially wanted this board, but now I'm feeling more attracted towards Asus.

springs113 · Aug 4, 2013

Nabarun said:
Nice review. I think the price of the board doesn't justify the shortcomings. Asrock better reply soon. I initially wanted this board, but now I'm feeling more attracted towards Asus.

why not an msi...they are truly a catch in the rye.

radrok · Aug 4, 2013

Top notch review, thanks Dave.

The more Z87 reviews I see the more I think that the MSI GD65 is the real deal, that board only lacks a PLX chip and it'd easily be the by far best Z87 board (which already is).

cadaveca · Aug 4, 2013

radrok said:
Top notch review, thanks Dave.

The more Z87 reviews I see the more I think that the MSI GD65 is the real deal, that board only lacks a PLX chip and it'd easily be the by far best Z87 board (which already is).

Kinda, yeah. MSI has the XPower with PLX, and they really wanted me to review it too, but I refused because I have way too many other boards to cover already sitting here. I think those that want that level of board from MSI will buy anyway, so see it as no big deal.

However. I gotta say, ASUS is currently top for OC right now, but I have yet to try ASRock OC boards, which have definitely got the BIOS attention this board did not. MSI, for easy GAMING goodness, yeah, they are on top of their game for meeting that market directly.

Nabarun · Aug 4, 2013

springs113 said:
why not an msi...they are truly a catch in the rye.

I agree. And the Z87 GD65 has impressed a LOT of reviewers. But the thing is, I'm kinda addicted to JJ's (you know, 'Mr. Asus'

) YouTube videos. Only Asus has that kind of native supporting videos/guides/tutorials and they do this on a VERY active basis for almost all their product lineup. I have searched, but there is nothing remotely close from MSI, Asrock or Gigabyte. Try their Facebook pages as well - they hardly seem to notice. Besides, I think I'm more drawn towards Asus' 5k/10k rated solid capacitors and overall better components etc. MSI is good no doubt, and I am still undecided. The thing is, I have a lot of legacy pci stuff. And I like certain features like dual networking etc. Only the Asrock Z87 Extreme6(/ac) had EVERYTHING I want. But from what I have seen so far, EVERY reviewer seems to have some problem or the other with the Asrock boards. Be it mediocre OC, crappy BIOS, RAM not letting you POST .... The problem with RAM seems more widespread, and not just with the latest chipset. Also, their CPU socket pins have problems too. And from their Facebook page, I see they have VERY crappy after-sales service. All this is making me wanna go for something proven to be reliable and functional. As I said, MSI does look quite good. But let's see. I am in no hurry. Haven't got much money right now.

System Name	Awesomesauce 4.3 \| Laptop (MSI GE72VR 6RF Apache Pro-023)
Processor	Intel Core i7-5820K 4.16GHz 1.28v/3GHz 1.05v uncore \| Intel Core i7-6700HQ @ 3.1GHz
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Mouse	Logitech G502
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System Name	Windows 10 64-bit Core i7 6700
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Motherboard	Asus Z170M-PLUS
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Storage	Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB, Seagate Baracuda 1 TB
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Audio Device(s)	Realtek HD Audio
Power Supply	Corsair TX v2 650W
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei
Keyboard	CM Storm Quickfire Pro, Cherry MX Reds
Software	MS Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

ASRock Z87 Extreme6/ac (Intel LGA 1150)

cadaveca

My name is Dave

dj-electric

Jstn7477

LAN_deRf_HA

SimpleTECH

micropage7

BiggieShady

1c3d0g

TheLostSwede

News Editor

dj-electric

EarthDog

Kursah

Super Moderator

Jstn7477

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!

cadaveca

My name is Dave

m1dg3t

Nabarun

springs113

radrok

cadaveca

My name is Dave

Nabarun

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Video Card(s)	Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
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