**Official** Asrock Z68 Gen3 Extreme7 & Extreme4 thread

[icedtea]

Okay, here is what i need. Someone that has either a 470 gpu on up or a 580 gpu.

I wish I had liquid cooling and a 580 to help out more, the most I have is a 6950 with a 6970 bios
But I doubt its a power draw problem; vid cards dont draw too much power at boot. Also you've said that it'll run at 4.8GHz if you use the optimized cpu oc setting which hints its more likely a UEFI setting problem, but cant be for sure since you've not shown us your settings etc.

Try having a look at this, its for ASUS P67 boards and a bit old but it is a good guide that can be used as reference for any board. I'm sure there's a good guide/sample setting for ASRock boards somewhere in the P67 Extreme4 thread, just too lazy to look through 65 pages.

My wild guess is that you'll have to enable Internal PLL overvoltage, set Turboboost and core power limit to 300, Vcore to fixed at around 1.4-1.45v, adjust load-line calibration to 1 or 2 along with the usual disabling of spread spectrum and so on. That or you just have a faulty board.

[Arise]

Guys I would like to know if someone here had hans on the Z68 Extreme 7 Gen 3 ?
I'm waiting for this one to get my hans on..Looking for the upgrade

[KILLER_K]

Well the fatality board had no issues with my gpus. But here is the nice response if got back from asrock though.

Hi,
Are you going to help me with the 580 gtx and logitech g19 issues on this board? As now i have tried a 470 gpu and it does the same thing on your board. So it either needs a bios update or i have a defective board. I have a asrock fatality on the way to test and see if it works. So if it works fine on that new board then i know you board is bad then. So i will let you know. If it is bad how long does your company take to get a new one out? Or can i try another board and maybe pay the difference on it. Thanks

This is the reply i got back.

Re: Z68 Extreme4 Gen3$ Got issues with this board.
Dear KILLER_K;
Please contact your vendor and return your motherboard .

ASRock America Support

Would have actually been nice to get some help. Instead of contact the place where you purchased the board at. As this makes me think that they honestly do not care.

[humeyboy]

TBH Asrock is not yet a great company and does not even have a proper forum for help!

These Mobos need to be cheap, £200+ for 2 of their models is approaching stage where you buy an Asus or Gigabyte.

Added to fact they have basically overclocked switches to get PCI-E 3.0 (going by post by Asus rep) and there is no way to know if when PCI-E 3.0 is validated if it will be accepted officially!

He stated that PCI-E 3.0 same as all previous revisions is not just about speed but more power and all modern Mobos should have good enough circuits to carry this higher power as the hardware is now on the Intel CPU not Chipset and hence Asus/Gigabyte/MSI are all doing upgrade to PCI-E 3.0 with a simply Bios upgrade!

Also the model with the NF200 will never be any more than PCI-E 2.0 on the slots connected to it!

[LoneWolf]

TBH Asrock is not yet a great company and does not even have a proper forum for help!

These Mobos need to be cheap, £200+ for 2 of their models is approaching stage where you buy an Asus or Gigabyte.

Added to fact they have basically overclocked switches to get PCI-E 3.0 (going by post by Asus rep) and there is no way to know if when PCI-E 3.0 is validated if it will be accepted officially!

He stated that PCI-E 3.0 same as all previous revisions is not just about speed but more power and all modern Mobos should have good enough circuits to carry this higher power as the hardware is now on the Intel CPU not Chipset and hence Asus/Gigabyte/MSI are all doing upgrade to PCI-E 3.0 with a simply Bios upgrade!

Also the model with the NF200 will never be any more than PCI-E 2.0 on the slots connected to it!

First off, I've bought ASUS and Gigabyte. Gigabyte is great stuff. ASUS is often decent, though I haven't bought as much from them recently due to pricing, and what I have heard from reputable friends on customer service experiences. Still, good boards.

I've owned ASUS, Intel, Gigabyte, MSI, Abit, and AOpen over the past fifteen years, starting with 486 processors. This Asrock board is my first by them --but it's every bit the quality those have been. Your "need to be cheap" comment implies that Asrock is still a budget arm of ASUS, which it is no longer. They have been spun off, and they make budget AND enthusiast boards, with features and quality to match.

The ASUS rep is correct in that PCIe 3.0 support is dependent on the processor. Every manufacturer has said in their documentation that an Ivy Bridge processor is required for PCIe 3.0, so I don't see what the issue is here. As for the "overclocked switches" bit, whether it is true or not, the comment sounds like someone trying to disparage their competition. PCIe 3.0 support is there, when the processors come out. Most informed buyers are choosing mainboards with PCIe 3.0 support not because of that feature, but it is a bonus on top of an already good mainboard.

I doubt I'll change your mind --but unless you own one, I don't think you have the ability to say whether their product is good or not, as you haven't experienced their product. I'm happy with mine, and wish you luck.

[LoneWolf]

As wonderful as the pictures are, anybody having any issues with the Extreme7 or Extreme4? I'm hoping no, but I have seen a few old bugs creep into these boards which were quickly fixed.

Ket, I'm still having my issues with the Hauppauge HVR-1800 TV Tuner/DVR card. I've tried every PCIe slot except for the one my graphics card is in, even swapping my X-Fi card around. Neither Windows Update's drivers, nor the Hauppauge ones detect the card correctly. I'm thinking it's probably a minor BIOS bug, as the card is still seen as an unknown device in Device Manager, but I don't have another option to try at this point. Suggestions, or a connection to an Asrock tech (if you know one) would be helpful.

Otherwise, everything is running great, rock solid and stable, and I'm happy.

[humeyboy]

First off, I've bought ASUS and Gigabyte. Gigabyte is great stuff. ASUS is often decent, though I haven't bought as much from them recently due to pricing, and what I have heard from reputable friends on customer service experiences. Still, good boards.

I've owned ASUS, Intel, Gigabyte, MSI, Abit, and AOpen over the past fifteen years, starting with 486 processors. This Asrock board is my first by them --but it's every bit the quality those have been. Your "need to be cheap" comment implies that Asrock is still a budget arm of ASUS, which it is no longer. They have been spun off, and they make budget AND enthusiast boards, with features and quality to match.

The ASUS rep is correct in that PCIe 3.0 support is dependent on the processor. Every manufacturer has said in their documentation that an Ivy Bridge processor is required for PCIe 3.0, so I don't see what the issue is here. As for the "overclocked switches" bit, whether it is true or not, the comment sounds like someone trying to disparage their competition. PCIe 3.0 support is there, when the processors come out. Most informed buyers are choosing mainboards with PCIe 3.0 support not because of that feature, but it is a bonus on top of an already good mainboard.

I doubt I'll change your mind --but unless you own one, I don't think you have the ability to say whether their product is good or not, as you haven't experienced their product. I'm happy with mine, and wish you luck.

No you will not change my mind and I have every right to say what I feel even if I do not own one because I was going to buy one but they are still not a Tier 1 company and £200+ is too high for some added features using "overclocked switches" that others are going to do with simple Bios upgrade!

I seriously doubt the Asus rep would make it up as that would make them look bad and you even agree with him!

Right now there is no proper PCI-E 3.0 hardware or certs so nobody can claim official support for it!

Intel are ripping peeps of with 3 sockets in 3 years and these Z68 are basically hybrid mongrels adding PCI-E 3.0 (for now) and USB 3.0 support with add bolt on chips, at least 2 of the SATA 6Gbs ports are native now!

I remember the same long ago when Mobos had SDRAM+DDR slots and USB1.1+2.0 ports!

Every day I look/read and try hard not to upgrade for sake of it as I used to do till 2 years ago!

The Extreme 7 looks nice but lack of heatpipe in SB Chipset worried me as Vortex did review on Extreme 4 and says SB gets pretty hot!

I also have no need for the on-board video outputs (4 on one model) and would prefer Intel made CPU's that were not CPUGPU's where FSB/BLK could once again be clocked!

Any numpty can raise a multi and as you know OC'ing is a hobby.

[grimpy]

Is there a way to stop the mouse being inverted in the bios?

[KILLER_K]

Is there a way to stop the mouse being inverted in the bios?

Have you removed the 24 pin and pulled the battery and moved the clear cmos pin? As this is about the only way that i have seen to effectively clear it.

[LoneWolf]

No you will not change my mind and I have every right to say what I feel even if I do not own one because I was going to buy one but they are still not a Tier 1 company and £200+ is too high for some added features using "overclocked switches" that others are going to do with simple Bios upgrade!

I seriously doubt the Asus rep would make it up as that would make them look bad and you even agree with him!

Right now there is no proper PCI-E 3.0 hardware or certs so nobody can claim official support for it!

Intel are ripping peeps of with 3 sockets in 3 years and these Z68 are basically hybrid mongrels adding PCI-E 3.0 (for now) and USB 3.0 support with add bolt on chips, at least 2 of the SATA 6Gbs ports are native now!

I remember the same long ago when Mobos had SDRAM+DDR slots and USB1.1+2.0 ports!

Every day I look/read and try hard not to upgrade for sake of it as I used to do till 2 years ago!

The Extreme 7 looks nice but lack of heatpipe in SB Chipset worried me as Vortex did review on Extreme 4 and says SB gets pretty hot!

I also have no need for the on-board video outputs (4 on one model) and would prefer Intel made CPU's that were not CPUGPU's where FSB/BLK could once again be clocked!

Any numpty can raise a multi and as you know OC'ing is a hobby.

I never said you didn't have the right to say what you felt. Nor did I insult you, though it appears you may have taken what I said as a personal attack.

If you're not doing any video encoding or transcoding, I can see where the onboard GPU isn't useful to you. I like Intel's QuickSync technology, which adds a huge boost for this.

By the way, I recently went from an overclocked Q9650 myself. I skipped the first Core i-Series, seeing as my system benched out similarly to a Core i5-750. However, I have found Sandy Bridge to be a considerable increase in performance. Whether that increase is something you want right now, or want to wait for, is up to your needs and your wallet.

As for a heat-pipe, usually the ones direct from vendor are to bridge another heatsink (such as the ones on the MOSFETs); Asrock is not exactly unusual in not having one, and many heatpipe SB coolers have the potential to interfere with expansion cards. I'm sure if you wanted more, you could purchase something third-party from Thermalright. Personally, I've had no issues with the SB heatsink on my Extreme 4, and it isn't nearly as aggressive as the one on the Extreme 7. I just have good case ventilation.

I'm not sure how Intel is "ripping people off with bolt-on USB 3.0 chips". Intel chose not to implement USB 3.0 in the 6-series chipsets. Vendors are taking up the slack because they wish to provide it. We can wish USB 3.0 was part of Intel's 6-series chipset, but in the absence of it, it is nice for vendors to offer an alternative.

If I had any disappointment with Intel, it would be that the 7-series chipsets aren't supposed to offer any more PCIe lanes than the 6-series, nor any additional SATA 6Gbps ports. That made it easy for me to buy a Z68 mainboard now, because the only significant thing I see Intel bringing to the table is integrated USB 3.0.

[humeyboy]

I never said or bite at you "having a go at me" as I was in no way angry at you!

I only pointed out I do not need to own one to comment on it after as much reading as I could find on it and toying whether to buy or not as I can get by on my rig for now and get IvyBridge in 2012 but way Intel are going it will be another half backed upgrade!

There is no way in hell Intel's crappy GPU can encode faster than a ATI/Nvidia IF software was made to fully support them!

At the end of the day we are now at stage it takes no time and be it 10mins or 15mins makes no real difference unless your encoding all day long for a living.

Also reviews have proved the power saving of new ATI/Nvidia GPU's make the so called "power saving" of switching to the Intel GPU during light load pointless!

I would bet most enthusiasts would like to have no internal GPU and have option to clock the FSB/BLK again.

I am not buying a Mobo to need swap its cooling and I know the Ext 7 has a better SB sink but still I have no issues ever with any Asus Mobos effecting any cards fitting my case.

Intel were 1 of inventors of USB and I know they have a new alt for it (think its called Thunderbolt now after name change) but have now said they will support USB 3.0 in 2012 but fact remains all these "bolt on" options are not as good or fast as on-chip (NB or SB) versions that Intel were so good at as you should know!

I am pretty sure I have read Asrock do not use the good NEC USB 3.0 controlers.

The Ext 7 is avail in UK now for about £235 and to me I am better buying an Asus or Gigabyte at £250-300 but want to see if any new Mobos come from them in months ahead (now till say Oct)

[icedtea]

Then why bother posting on an ASROCK thread?
Also, ASUS uses ASMedia controllers on their P8Z68Vs, dont use "heatpipes" (personally I think heatpipes mean nothing on mobos since spacing is too limited to add a huge sink) and their heatsinks also get hot, and have three display output ports on the backpanel.

If your looking for dont care about the IGPU you should look at the P67 boards, some are being dumped at really cheap prices. Get one cheap and think about replacing it when Ivy Bridge comes along. Forget about FSB/BLK overclocking, Intel dont want users overclocking those "budget" chips as a cheap alternative they want us to buy those 2500Ks and 2600Ks. Lock multi, limit FSB/BLK and enthusiasts will have no other choice.

[ante_ante]

Omw to buy the asus p8p67 evo board, but now i found the extreme4 gen3 so going for that instead. What do u think? Will be using a 2500K

[RealTelstar]

I am pretty sure I have read Asrock do not use the good NEC USB 3.0 controlers.

The Renesas controller is no better than others.
Actually the Etron used by Asrock is very good, especially when overclocked (yes :P)

[LoneWolf]

There is no way in hell Intel's crappy GPU can encode faster than a ATI/Nvidia IF software was made to fully support them!

Untrue, if you have read anything about Intel QuickSync, which was devised specifically for video encoding/transcoding. It beats both ATI and nVidia, provided the application supports it. That is certainly its one weakness, but Cybermedia Espresso and several other applications support it. It can also beat any x86 CPU's encoding on its own.

Also reviews have proved the power saving of new ATI/Nvidia GPU's make the so called "power saving" of switching to the Intel GPU during light load pointless!

I don't use it for power saving; I use it so I can use the ATI GPU for gaming, and the Intel GPU for encoding/transcoding. As someone else said, if it is not important to you, perhaps a P67 chipset mainboard will be to your preference.

I would bet most enthusiasts would like to have no internal GPU and have option to clock the FSB/BLK again.

Whether they do or not is besides the point, as this is unavailable. This is a separate argument from whether you like or dislike the video ports on the Asrock board vs what ASUS or Gigabyte boards have to offer, probably better reserved for what you like or don't like about Intel.

I am not buying a Mobo to need swap its cooling and I know the Ext 7 has a better SB sink but still I have no issues ever with any Asus Mobos effecting any cards fitting my case.

Which ASUS boards have SB heatsinks with a heatpipe? This was my point, because if you are going to complain about an Asrock board not having it, and then call ASUS superior right after, I would expect you to show me an ASUS board that does this better than the Asrock. I don't believe ASUS does it any worse, but neither do they do this any better. Let's compare the ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe, their $249 Z68 chipset mainboard. Nope, no Southbridge heatsink; in fact, a heatsink less aggressive than the Asrock Z68 Extreme 7.

Intel were 1 of inventors of USB and I know they have a new alt for it (think its called Thunderbolt now after name change) but have now said they will support USB 3.0 in 2012 but fact remains all these "bolt on" options are not as good or fast as on-chip (NB or SB) versions that Intel were so good at as you should know!

"As I should know?"

What I do know is that VR-Zone has put together a roundup of USB 3.0 controller chipsets. The Etron controller on the Asrock Z68 Extreme series turns out to be one of the best. There is no guarantee that Intel will be any better. The two advantages of integrated are price (which I doubt will change, just a better profit margin for mobo manufacturers) and driver support from Intel is great. Still, there are USB 3.0 chipsets doing the job now.

http://vr-zone.com/articles/usb-3.0-...dup/13358.html

I am pretty sure I have read Asrock do not use the good NEC USB 3.0 controlers.

NEC is not the only good USB 3.0 controller chipset on the market. Read the VR-Zone article. In fact, the current NEC chipset is aging, and while it works well, does not support some of the newer standards that the Etron chipset and some others support.

The Ext 7 is avail in UK now for about £235 and to me I am better buying an Asus or Gigabyte at £250-300 but want to see if any new Mobos come from them in months ahead (now till say Oct)

With respect, if that is your choice, why are you posting in an Asrock thread? I would encourage you to make the choice you like, without disparaging others for choices they have made after doing some actual research, choices that are at least as valid as yours.

[BDM123]

LoneWolf, said it like a gentleman!

[humeyboy]

Then why bother posting on an ASROCK thread?
Also, ASUS uses ASMedia controllers on their P8Z68Vs, dont use "heatpipes" (personally I think heatpipes mean nothing on mobos since spacing is too limited to add a huge sink) and their heatsinks also get hot, and have three display output ports on the backpanel.

If your looking for dont care about the IGPU you should look at the P67 boards, some are being dumped at really cheap prices. Get one cheap and think about replacing it when Ivy Bridge comes along. Forget about FSB/BLK overclocking, Intel dont want users overclocking those "budget" chips as a cheap alternative they want us to buy those 2500Ks and 2600Ks. Lock multi, limit FSB/BLK and enthusiasts will have no other choice.

BECAUSE I am FREE to do so as a member of this community and if you cannot accept that then you should not bother visiting!

Also a P67 has even more bolt on crap than Z68, another half baked pointless Intel money cow after long lived 775.

Do you even know WTF your talking about?

The Intel K CPU's still have same FSB/BLK limitation due to internal GPU, its only Multi that is unlocked!

SB-E possibly and IB are supposed to going to give some relief to 100mhz official BLK with some ratios allowing the old method of OC'ing

I am really itching to upgrade but know it will be a mistake to do so right now.

[humeyboy]

@ LoneWold, trying to pick my post apart and preach to the choir and it is not going to work with me!

ALL my Asus Mobos up to one in sig have had full heatpipes since heatpipes 1st appeared on Mobos.

Once again a far more powerful ATI/Nvidia GPU is well more capable that any Intel GPU at encoding AGAIN IF it is fully supported!

I finally came into this thread to voice my opinion/concerns as I was tempted to buy this Mobo not be picked apart by a fanboy or told I shouldn't post here by a newbie!

Have you even read any reviews on these Mobos or visited forum thread about Bios issues and USB+ other devices not appearing etc?

You have said nothing to me that makes you look as smart as a buddy above thinks you are.

I will end this by telling you not to tell BLATANT LIES as I have not told anyone not to buy an Asrock Mobo, again I posted my opinion accept it or I advise you turn your PC off if you cannot handle it because there is a lot of other's opinions out there you may not like!

[LoneWolf]

Blatant lies?

I'll be happy to listen to where I have "blatantly lied" if you can quote me and show where. I'll also be happy to see any tests you can post that show that ATI and nVidia GPU acceleration outperform Intel QuickSync when all three technologies are properly supported.

Further, I'll post a few studies I've already read, prior to making my statements about QuickSync.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/t...-2100-tested/9

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...0k,2833-5.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/gra...0_9.html#sect0

If these sites are not reputable enough for you, I'm not sure what will convince you. If I hadn't seen all of these tests prior to our discussion, I might have been doubtful too, but the proof is there. Note also that Cybermedia Espresso was optimized for CUDA and ATIStream encoding/transcoding long before QuickSync, so it can take advantage of all three methods --and still, QuickSync wins.

You're also not separating your judgment of Asrock from the problems you have with Intel processor technology or chipset architecture. Many of the problems you say you have amount not to being with an Asrock board, but to something related to the Sandy Bridge architecture or the Intel 6-Series chipset. Those problems are better discussed in a non-Asrock thread because most of them happen with every Intel 6-series chipset mainboard, regardless of who makes it. If you have an issue with an Asrock mainboard, we're all happy to listen.

Also, if you have a picture of an ASUS Z68 chipset board that currently has a heatpipe on its SouthBridge cooler, I'd be glad to see it, and I'll admit I'm wrong. I'm not above that. I have found that the ASUS P8P67 WS REVOLUTION does have one, but it isn't a common occurrence, and if it was necessary, I think every vendor would be doing it all the time.

Your hostility when disagreeing, well, I just don't understand it. To use a term from your side of the pond, you're behaving like a Sixth-Year. You certainly have the right to disagree with me, I just don't know why you seem to be so upset when you haven't been called any names, or treated unfairly.

[humeyboy]

Are you for real?

Google links all day, I can do the same and it does not make you as clever as your buddy thinks you are.

You made out I am trying to get others not to buy an Asrock Mobo!

Here is your Blatant Lie :"without disparaging others for choices"

I have said ZERO towards anyone else's likes or dislikes of these Mobo's and once again that is what this forum is about, its not all about pro's but con's learn to accept that!

[sierra_bound]

Guys, please try to keep the discussion civil, otherwise this threat will be closed. TIA.

[owikh84]

Ive tried Patriot 2400 9-11-9 1.65v it wont boot on MIVE.

[tinjuko]

Looking for some advice on raid setup. Thanks in advance for any help.

First time playing with raid. After setting up my raid1 with my storage drives (not my OS SSD), I get BSOD for a sec as the Win 7 logo pops up and it reboots itself.

Steps I took to set up the raid:
- Changed SATA mode to RAID in bios
- Ctrl-I to access the raid prompt
- created raid volume
- named it raid1
- set to raid1 (mirror)
- selected my two 2TB HDD samsung spinpoint F4s (formatted and empty)
- exited and restarted computer and got the BSOD
- tried increasing the voltage of cpu up to +.015 with no success
- when I turn off raid mode, win 7 loads up fine

does it have to do something with AHCI?

edit: i think i figured it out. It's because I have one HDD on the intel and the other HDD on the marvell controller.

[LoneWolf]

In addition to my Hauppauge card issue, my system still will not recognize the standard internal Mitsumi 1.44MB floppy drive I installed that worked in my previous system.

I replaced the floppy cable with a new one, and recently replaced the power supply as well, so I'm sure everything should be up and running, but Windows 7 does not detect the drive, even though it lists the controller in Device Manager.

[KILLER_K]

Looking for some advice on raid setup. Thanks in advance for any help.

You have to do the registry hack. Because you installed the os with no raid to begin with. Try this and see what you get.

With RAID disabled, boot into Windows and start Regedit.exe
1. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\iaStorV
2. In the right-hand column, you should see a value named Start. Double-click this entry and change the data from 1 to 0.
3. Reboot with RAID enabled – Windows should load just fine. Now install your raid drivers. This time around, it should detect your hardware and install without any issues.