ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Motherboard
| Article Index |
|---|
| ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Motherboard |
| Specifications |
| Testing - Part One |
| Testing - Part Two |
| Final Thoughts and Conclusion |
Product(s): ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Motherboard
Provided By: ASRock
Price: ~$190 Online
Introduction:
A couple weeks back we took a look at an "entry" level board from ASRock, the H61M/U3S3 (our full review can be found here). The H61M is based on the Intel 1155 Sandy Bridge platform and as we saw in our testing when paired with an Intel i7 2600k CPU we were able to pull off some pretty impressive numbers.
Today we are going to look at another board from ASRock, the Z68 Extreme4. The Z68 Extreme4 is also an Intel 1155 Sandy Bridge board with the major difference being this board is using the Intel Z68 chipset (as compared to the H61 chipset that the ASRock H61M/U3S3 board is using). The Z68 Extreme4 is a bit more pricy when compared to the H61M with the Z68 Extreme4 retailing for about $190 USD and the H61M retailing for ~$75 USD. With a higher price tag the Z68 Extreme4 also brings a bunch of extra features to the table as well as more "advanced" overclocking features (which we will test later on in the review).
In this review we are going to take a look at what the Z68 Extreme4 is all about and how it compares to a cheaper board like the H61M. We already know what the Intel i7 2600k CPU is capable of and we are going to see just how much more we can push it on an "enthusiast-level" motherboard.
First Impressions:
Box (Front) |
Box (Rear) |
The ASRock Z68 Extreme4 is one of ASRock's more expensive boards and as soon as you pull it out of the box you can tell that it's not a cheap "bargain" motherboard thanks to some pretty beefy cooling and features (inputs and outputs) galore.
One thing for enthusiasts to note is the inclusion of power and reset (as well as a Clear CMOS) buttons built onto the board. Once you get this board installed into a case you won't be using those buttons much (maybe the Clear CMOS button every once and a while) but if you want to assemble your computer on the test bench before you install it into a case these little buttons can be very handy.
Full View |
PCI |
Ports |
Accessories |
Much like the H61M from ASRock, the Z68 also has a ton of onboard features. HDMI, VGA, DVI, Displayport, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, and Firewire are all available on the rear of this motherboard (with 2 additional USB 3.0 ports available via an addition USB header for front USB ports).
The Z68 Extreme comes with a bunch of accessories inside the box. You've got a power adapters, SATA cables, an addition 2 USB 3.0 ports that can be mounted in the front (or rear) of your case as well as a SLI bridge if you decide to use multiple graphics cards in the future. The accessories are pretty standard when compared to other manufacturers and should included everything you need to get your system installed and running.
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Memory |
The Z68 Extreme4 has some pretty beefy cooling built into the board. Obviously the enhanced cooling is intended to keep things nice and cool and allow you to overclock your system if you choose to. Cooling like this isn't really required to run a system at stock speeds, although having things run nice and cool is never a bad thing.
Power and Reset Buttons
One thing for enthusiasts to note is the inclusion of power and reset (as well as a Clear CMOS) buttons built onto the board. Once you get this board installed into a case you won't be using those buttons much (maybe the Clear CMOS button every once and a while) but if you want to assemble your computer on the test bench before you install it into a case these little buttons can be very handy.
So there we go, that's the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Motherboard. In the next section we'll take a closer look at some of the fine details and then we'll put this board to the test and see what it can do.
