ASRock X58 Extreme3 Motherboard Performance Review

ASRock X58 Extreme3

Today we have the opportunity to look at a new motherboard from ASRock. Established in 2002, ASRock is a company that is still a bit on the small side when compared to some of the big guns out there. Despite being on the small side I am confident they are planning on making some big waves with the center piece of today’s article, the ASRock X58 Extreme3. The ASRock X58 Extreme3 aims to be a top notch board with a rock bottom price. Coming in at only $199.99 it is currently the only motherboard below the $200.00 price barrier that offers the most current features. Features such as USB 3.0, SATA 3, and E-SATA3 are going to set the ASRock X58 Extreme3 apart from its low cost brethren!

• Supports the Core I7 980X 6-Core CPU
• ASRock DuraCap (2.5 x longer life time), 100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors
• Advanced V8 Power Phase Design
• Supports Triple Channel DDR3 2000 (OC)
• Supports ATI CrossFireX and Quad CrossFireX
• Supports NVIDIA Quad SLI and SLI
• 1 x Powered eSATAIII/USB Connector, 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connector, 2 x USB 3.0 Ports
• ErP/EuP Ready, Dr. Debug
• Smart Switch Design : Power / Reset / Clear CMOS Switch with LED
• Supports ASRock Instant Boot, Instant Flash, OC DNA, Multi-Speed Fan Control, OC Tuner, IES, Good Night LED
• 7.1 CH HD Audio (VT2020 Audio Codec with QSound), SRN 110dB & Premium Blu-ray audio support
• Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.)
• Free Bundle: CyberLink DVD Suite – OEM and Trial; Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB – Trial

Some of the motherboards out there will sacrifice bandwidth in one area to satisfy the needs of another. That is not the case with ASRock’s True 333 technology. The ASRock X58 Extreme3 features the True 333 technology. This technology allows you to run the PCI-E for VGA cards, SATA3 and USB 3.0 at full speed simultaneously!

If the above information wasn’t enough to fill up your insatiable need for information, below is a full, much more comprehensive list of specifications.

General
CPU	– Intel Socket 1366 Core I7 Processor Extreme Edition / Core I7 Processor Supports Intel Dynamic Speed Technology – System Bus up to 6400 MT/s; Intel QuickPath Interconnect – Advanced V8 Power Phase Design – Supports Hyper-Threading Technology – Supports Untied Overclocking Technology – Supports EM64T CPU
Chipset	– Northbridge: Intel X58 – Southbridge: Intel ICH10R
Memory	– Triple Channel DDR3 memory technology – 6 x DDR3 DIMM slots – Supports DDR3 2000(OC)/1866(OC)/1600(OC)/1333(OC)/1066 ECC, un-buffered memory – Supports DDR3 ECC, un-buffered memory with Intel Workstation 1S Xeon processors 3500 series – Max. capacity of system memory: 24GB – 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.Due to Intel CPU spec definition, XMP DIMMs and DDR3 2000/1866/1600 are supported for one DIMM per channel only.
BIOS	– 8Mb AMI Legal BIOS – Supports “Plug and Play” – ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events – Supports jumperfree – SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support – CPU, VCCM, IOH, ICH, VTT, IOH/ICH PCIE, CPU PLL, IOH CSI, VCORE Voltage Multi-adjustment – Supports I. O. T. (Intelligent Overclocking Technology)
Audio, Video and Networking
Graphics	– n/a
Audio	– 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection – DAC with 110dB dynamic range (VIA VT2020 Audio Codec) – Premium Blu-ray audio support
LAN	– PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s – Realtek RTL8111DL – Supports Wake-On-LAN
Expansion / Connectivity
Slots	– 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (blue @ x16 mode) – 1 x PCI Express x16 slot (white @ x4 mode) (Double-wide slot spacing between each PCI-E slot) – 1 x PCI Express x1 slot – 2 x PCI slots – Supports ATI CrossFireX and Quad CrossFireX – Supports NVIDIA SLI and Quad SLI
SATA3	– 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by Marvell SE9128, support hardware RAID (RAID 0 and RAID 1), NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions (SATA3_2 connector is shared with eSATA3 port)
USB 3.0	– 2 x USB 3.0 ports by NEC MPD720200, support USB 1.0/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s
Connector	– 6 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5 and Intel Matrix Storage), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug functions – 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors – 1 x ATA133 IDE connector (supports 2 x IDE devices) – 1 x Floppy connector – 1 x IR header – 1 x COM port header – 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header – 1 x IEEE 1394 header – 1 x TPM header – 1 x Chassis Intrusion header – 1 x Power LED header – CPU/Chassis/NB/Power FAN connector – 24 pin ATX power connector – 8 pin 12V power connector – CD in header – Front panel audio connector – 2 x USB 2.0 headers (support 4 USB 2.0 ports) – 1 x Dr. Debug (7-Segment Debug LED)
Rear Panel I/O	I/O Panel – 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port – 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port – 1 x Coaxial SPDIF Out Port – 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port – 5 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports – 1 x Powered eSATAIII/USB 2.0 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: Side Speaker / Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
Other Features / Miscellaneous
Unique Feature	– ASRock OC Tuner – Intelligent Energy Saver – Instant Boot – ASRock Instant Flash – ASRock OC DNA – 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; Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB – Trial)
Accessories	– 1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_2S Card – Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield – Floppy/ATA 133 Cables – 4 x SATA Data Cables (optional) – 2 x SATA 1 to 1 Power Cables (optional)
Hardware Monitor	– CPU Temperature Sensing – Chassis Temperature Sensing – CPU/Chassis/NB/Power Fan Tachometer – CPU Quiet Fan – CPU/Chassis Fan Multi-Speed Control – CASE OPEN detection – 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)

Now that you know everything there is to know about the ASRock X58 Extreme3 motherboard, let’s start the tour!