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

[MacClipper]

Enough face or phase?






10 SATA ports






Convenient front USB3 port header
- just nice for the bundled Asrock design USB3 front panel with integrated SSD bay






Nice square buttons
- test lab proven to reset/reboot/rezap faster than round ones..., er wait a minute, is that for real?






Header power incl. PS2






2 oz Copper
- may be why this mutha is so heavy...



Hope you have enjoyed the sharing.

[Ket]

Good pics, how do you find all the money for these boards?

[RealTelstar]

yummy! tnx for pr0n

[MacClipper]

Awaiting Asrock Taiwan's reply on the E3 G3 P1.00 UEFI Vcore settings so now might as well swap over to the E7 G3 since Asrock Support practises a 5 day work week.

This E7 G3 mobo is another very early sample from the factory sporting M0.16 beta which was promptly updated to the final retail P1.00.






And you guys got to see this E7 G3 startup screen live cos it is stunning! My handheld crooked PnS piccy does not do it any justice... argh! But no matter, I am pestering Asrock Taiwan to share their original highres picture for use as a desktop background screen.

[MacClipper]

S3 sleep & resume is all good

[LoneWolf]

Pics of my Extreme 4 Gen 3 installed. "The Black Pearl" is now online.

[tinjuko]

Pics of my Extreme 4 Gen 3 installed. "The Black Pearl" is now online.

[ IMG]http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc514/lone-wolf15/System%20Build%202011%20-%20The%20Black%20Pearl/DSCF0257.jpg[/IMG]

[ IMG]http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc514/lone-wolf15/System%20Build%202011%20-%20The%20Black%20Pearl/DSCF0259.jpg[/IMG]

thanks for the pr0n.

[Ket]

"Black Pearl?" I see red and green in there

[LoneWolf]

"Black Pearl?" I see red and green in there

Where do you see the green?

And yes, there is some red in that black.

[MacClipper]

Asrock Z68 Extreme 7 Gen 3 Desktop background pictures
... are now here, courtesy of Asrock Taiwan. Just do a right mouse click and save to your own PC for use.

1,680 x 1,050 pixels


1,920 x 1,080 pixels


1,920 x 1,200 pixels


2,560 x 1,600 pixels

[Ket]

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.

[AzertyNL]

I've just installed a new Z68 Extreme4 gen3 and a 2500K.

When I run hwinfo64 (v3.84-1340) I'm seeing suspicious values in sensors for "memory ambient" -> 50 degrees C and "memory channel 0 rank max" goes up to 89 degrees C (channel 1 does the same) under 4 worker prime95 load. When the system is idle the "memory channel 0 rank max" (and channel 1) go down to 50 degrees C.

The 89 sounds dangerously high, but I couldn't find any information. Are these sensor readings for real, or are they garbage data that can be safely ignored. What is the normal/healthy range for these sensors, does anyone know whats going on. Is this the CPU, SB or MB responsible for these readings? (core temps look normal (idle 23-25 degrees C, going up to 47-50 degrees C under linX/prime95 load))

[icedtea]

I've had the Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 for over a week now (LOVE the black/gold color which looks damn nice) and so far I havent had a problem, though part of it may be due to me not using USB3.0 nor a SSD (still considering which to get, one of those new SandForce SSDs which are super fast but may cause problems or a slower but rock stable Crucial m4) and I havent installed the XFast Lan/USB software neither.



I'm still looking for a decent 4.5GHz overclock setting; when changing only the multiplier, LinX w/AVX can fail every other boot (some boots it'll pass, seems like the load voltage isnt always the same); currently on a offset -0.055v LLC level3 setting which seems to be stable with idle 0.880-0.888v and load 1.274-1.288v readings on CPU-Z/HWINFO.


As for HWiNFO my values for "memory ambient" are the same 50deg C but on load "memory channel 0 rank max" only goes up to 65deg C. But I am using a 2000rpm fan to cool the shxtty CPU cooler; waiting for a Silver Arrow to arrive; and that may be helping those readings. Core temps? Max 87deg C at a room temp of 34deg C Tryin to save electricity by not using air conditioning, but wasting it by overclocking

With the Z68 Ext4 gen3 stable, I put to rest my 4th pc which I havent fired up for over an year. Was wonderful and loved it.


Current rig: Asrock Z68 Ext4 Gen3 | Core i5-2500K @ 4.5GHz | DDR3-1600 4GBx4 @ 9-9-9-28-2T | HD6950 | WD15EARS | HCP-750

[KILLER_K]

"Black Pearl?" I see red and green in there

He was talking about the "Hauppauge HVR-1800". As it shows the green pcb when you look at that picture. I ordered one of these boards. So this will be replacing my rampage 3 extreme. Hopefully it goes well.

[EzyRyder]

It will be good to know if anyone is having the dreaded eSATA issue with these boards as they are very similar to the non-Gen3 boards. Anyone?

[AzertyNL]

The hwinfo temperature problem I have for the "memory channel 0 rank max" does not look good.
This was a 46x test, icedtea could you check the values on your rig after running prime95 "in place/maximum heat" for 5 minutes?
Any thoughts?

[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.

I have two minor quirks:

The first one, probably everyone will laugh --I have a floppy drive connected, as I still need to work on older systems for others on occasion, and need it for the occasional work with Symantec Ghost or to flash a BIOS. Currently, the floppy drive isn't being recognized properly.

The second --I also have a Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800 PCIe TV tuner/DVR card, and I cannot get the drivers to install in Windows 7 x64. The install routines cannot identify the card properly. The first time, the card was undetected, so I moved it to another slot. I got two unknown devices in the second slot I tried, and couldn't install the card. I went back to the first slot, and got one unknown device, which I couldn't install the drivers for either.

Admittedly, Hauppauge's driver-install routine is the pits; it runs through every piece of hardware they make, as well as trying all the x86 and x64 drivers regardless of operating system (it just fails each driver that doesn't install and goes on to the next), but I had no issues getting the card installed in my Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. I only had 8GB of RAM in that board (I have 16GB now), but any hardware I've seen have a problem with RAM had the problem with 4GB or more, so I don't think it's an addressing issue.

Aside from those two issues, the board is great.

[icedtea]

I've tested as you requested, and the "memory channel 0 rank max" values were up to 75deg C. It may be due to me using cheap memory sticks and running them at a slow 9-9-9-28-2T and 1.455v. How about trying to use a newer beta version of HWiNFO and see how that goes, maybe the software is reading the values incorrectly. I'm using v3.85-1355. Like you, I dont know if those values are valid but since mine arent too high I can just forget about em.

[kmartburrito]

FYI, for anyone waiting on the Extreme7, they're being sold in the States now at Newegg for $289.99. Picked mine up last night, and can't wait for it to get here!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157269

[KILLER_K]

Typical, As i got tired of waiting and just ordered the Gen 3 one. But the $300 dollar price tag puts it up there with the heavy hitters also. Let us know how you like it. Mine should be here monday. Now i have to think about swapping it out or keeping it.

[badatgames18]

currently looking at this board(extreme 7 gen 3)... does it have any ln2 specific features? any bios bugs?

how does it handle blck changes? (my chip can do 106.5 on my ud7, but my evga p67 ftw can even go past 104 )

FYI, for anyone waiting on the Extreme7, they're being sold in the States now at Newegg for $289.99. Picked mine up last night, and can't wait for it to get here!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157269

it's 289.99 but 10 bucks shipping

The hwinfo temperature problem I have for the "memory channel 0 rank max" does not look good.
This was a 46x test, icedtea could you check the values on your rig after running prime95 "in place/maximum heat" for 5 minutes?
Any thoughts?

where is my magnifying glass , but in regards to the memory temp... it's most likely attributed to software not reading it properly as it's a very new board... had the same problem way back when my old ud4 was new. I don't trust software that much with temperatures. Do you have a temp probe lying around? just use that... much more accurate

[Ket]

I have two minor quirks:

The first one, probably everyone will laugh --I have a floppy drive connected, as I still need to work on older systems for others on occasion, and need it for the occasional work with Symantec Ghost or to flash a BIOS. Currently, the floppy drive isn't being recognized properly.

The second --I also have a Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800 PCIe TV tuner/DVR card, and I cannot get the drivers to install in Windows 7 x64. The install routines cannot identify the card properly. The first time, the card was undetected, so I moved it to another slot. I got two unknown devices in the second slot I tried, and couldn't install the card. I went back to the first slot, and got one unknown device, which I couldn't install the drivers for either.

Admittedly, Hauppauge's driver-install routine is the pits; it runs through every piece of hardware they make, as well as trying all the x86 and x64 drivers regardless of operating system (it just fails each driver that doesn't install and goes on to the next), but I had no issues getting the card installed in my Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. I only had 8GB of RAM in that board (I have 16GB now), but any hardware I've seen have a problem with RAM had the problem with 4GB or more, so I don't think it's an addressing issue.

Aside from those two issues, the board is great.

currently looking at this board(extreme 7 gen 3)... does it have any ln2 specific features? any bios bugs?

how does it handle blck changes? (my chip can do 106.5 on my ud7, but my evga p67 ftw can even go past 104 )



it's 289.99 but 10 bucks shipping



where is my magnifying glass , but in regards to the memory temp... it's most likely attributed to software not reading it properly as it's a very new board... had the same problem way back when my old ud4 was new. I don't trust software that much with temperatures. Do you have a temp probe lying around? just use that... much more accurate

I can neither check or verify most of those issues as I don't have a Gen3 board for testing All I can say regards the floppy issue, have you checked to make sure the floppy cable and drive are ok? As for the UEFI bugs question, as long as the quality of the UEFI is like that of the P67 and Z68 boards I bug tested, there will be no bugs to speak of.

[LoneWolf]

I can neither check or verify most of those issues as I don't have a Gen3 board for testing All I can say regards the floppy issue, have you checked to make sure the floppy cable and drive are ok? As for the UEFI bugs question, as long as the quality of the UEFI is like that of the P67 and Z68 boards I bug tested, there will be no bugs to speak of.

The floppy worked fine in my last system; I will need to check the cable I'm using just in case. I don't know why it would be a problem, but I should double-check it.

I'm out of ideas with the Hauppauge card, though I'm talking with Hauppauge tech support. Unknown devices show up in Device Manager, but their install routine doesn't detect the card.

I have three PCIe cards. My Radeon 6970 and my X-Fi Titanium both work. I can't see myself being out of resources in a way that would prohibit the card from being detected properly (especially when my previous board, an Intel P45 chipset one, did fine, and didn't have the PLX chip). My only option left other than tech support (who is telling me the card must just be seated wrong; sorry, tried reseating and switching slots, that isn't it), or to attempt to manually force a driver install and see if that works. Attempting to install via "Update Driver" in Device Manager did not, so I don't know if forcing it will, but it's worth a try. I did have one blue-screen early on trying to install it, so that might happen again.

[tinjuko]

The parts finally came in today. I was looking forward to finally being apart of asrock z68 e4 gen3 crew but the computer didn't fire up. I thought it was the PSU at first but it ran fine when i connected it to a PSU tester and fan. Hopefully, the mobo isnt DOA but I'll do some more tests tomorrow.

[LoneWolf]

Have you tried removing the vid cards and just using onboard Intel graphics temporarily to see if it comes up that way?