ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Intel Z68 Motherboard Review

Specifications & Features

General
CPU – Supports 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 / i5 / i3 in LGA1155 Package
– Advanced V8 Power Phase Design
– Supports Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology
– Supports Intel® K-Series unlocked CPU
– Supports Hyper-Threading Technology
Chipset – Intel® Z68
Memory – Dual Channel DDR3 memory technology
– 4 x DDR3 DIMM slots
– Supports DDR3 2133(OC)/1866(OC)/1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
– Max. capacity of system memory: 32GB*
– Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)

*Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® 32-bit OS. For Windows® 64-bit OS with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation.

BIOS – 64Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support
– Supports “Plug and Play”
– ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events
– Supports jumperfree
– SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support
– CPU Core, IGPU, DRAM, PCH, CPU PLL, VTT, VCCSA Voltage Multi-adjustment
Audio, Video and Networking
Graphics – Supports Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visuals : Intel® Quick Sync Video, Intel® InTru™ 3D, Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, Intel® HD Graphics 2000/3000, Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
– Pixel Shader 4.1, DirectX 10.1
– Max. shared memory 1759MB
– Multi VGA Output options: D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort
– Supports HDMI 1.4a Technology with max. resolution up to 1920×1200 @ 60Hz
– Supports DVI with max. resolution up to 1920×1200 @ 60Hz
– Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 2048×1536 @ 75Hz
– Supports DisplayPort with max. resolution up to 2560×1600 @ 60Hz
– Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI (Compliant HDMI monitor is required)
– Supports HDCP function with DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort ports
– Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback with DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort ports

*Due to chipset limitation, the Blu-ray playback of Intel® HD Graphics is only supported under Windows® Vista™ and Windows® 7.

**Intel® InTru™ 3D is only supported under Windows® 7 and Windows® 7 x64.

Audio – 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)
– Premium Blu-ray audio support
– Supports THX TruStudio PRO™
LAN – PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Broadcom BCM57781
– Supports Wake-On-LAN
– Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
Expansion / Connectivity
Slots – 3 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (PCIE2/PCIE4: single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode; PCIE5: x4 mode)
– 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots
– 2 x PCI slots
– Supports ATI™ Quad CrossFireX™ , 3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™
– Supports NVIDIA® Quad SLI™ and SLI™
SATA3 – 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, Intel® Rapid Storage and Intel® Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions
– 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by Marvell SE9120, support NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions (SATA3_M2 connector is shared with eSATA3 port)
USB 3.0 – 2 x Rear USB 3.0 ports by Etron EJ168A, support USB 1.0/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s
– 1 x Front USB 3.0 header (supports 2 USB 3.0 ports) by Etron EJ168A, supports USB 1.0/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s
Connector – 4 x SATA2 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, Intel® Rapid Storage and Intel® Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug functions
– 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors
– 1 x Floppy connector
– 1 x IR header
– 1 x CIR header
– 1 x COM port header
– 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header
– 1 x IEEE 1394 header
– 1 x Power LED header
– CPU/Chassis/Power FAN connector
– 24 pin ATX power connector
– 8 pin 12V power connector
– SLI/XFire power connector
– Front panel audio connector
– 3 x USB 2.0 headers (support 6 USB 2.0 ports)
– 1 x USB 3.0 header (supports 2 USB 3.0 ports)
– 1 x Dr. Debug with LED
Rear Panel I/O I/O Panel
– 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
– 1 x VGA/D-Sub Port
– 1 x VGA/DVI-D Port
– 1 x HDMI Port
– 1 x DisplayPort
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports
– 1 x eSATA3 Connector
– 2 x Ready-to-Use USB 3.0 Ports
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
– 1 x IEEE 1394 Port
– 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED
– HD Audio Jack: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
Other Features / Miscellaneous
Unique Feature – ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU)
– Instant Boot
– ASRock Instant Flash
– ASRock APP Charger
– SmartView
– ASRock XFast USB
– Lucid Virtu
– ASRock On/Off Play Technology
Hybrid Booster:
– CPU Frequency Stepless Control
– ASRock U-COP
– Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.)
– Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.)
– Good Night LED
Smart Switch – 1 x Power Switch with LED
– 1 x Reset Switch with LED
– 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED
Support CD – Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), ASRock Software Suite (CyberLink DVD Suite – OEM and Trial)
Accessories – 1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_2S Card
– Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
– Floppy Cable
– 4 x SATA Data Cables (optional)
– 2 x SATA 1 to 1 Power Cables (optional)
– 1 x 3.5mm Audio Cable (optional)
– 1 x Front USB 3.0 Panel
– 4 x HDD Screws
– 6 x Chassis Screws
– 1 x Rear USB 3.0 Bracket
Hardware Monitor – CPU Temperature Sensing
– Chassis Temperature Sensing
– CPU/Chassis/Power Fan Tachometer
– CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan (Allow Chassis Fan Speed Auto-Adjust by CPU Temperature)
– CPU/Chassis Fan Multi-Speed Control
– Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore
Form Factor – ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
– All Solid Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)
OS – Microsoft® Windows® 7 / 7 64-bit / Vista™ / Vista™ 64-bit / XP / XP 64-bit compliant
Certifications – FCC, CE, WHQL
– ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)