Asrock P67 Extreme4 UEFI & Drivers thread [Extreme6 & Pro3 owners welcome]

[Retrolock]

Returned the Pro3 and got the Fatal1ty. Was considering UD4 but Asrock is bang for buck with features that the more expensive mobos have.

[Ket]

Has anyone tried sleeping? When I suspend to sleep and then resume I get an awful lot of system interrupts. Approx 20% cpu usage. Doing a trace throws up a few offenders - but the usb is also one of them. I generally don't sleep anyway as the system boots in 20-30s secs with a SSD. Just something that bugs me a bit.

Also while I am on the whinge. Sound quality. I may have ultra sensitive speakers/receiver but it seems when all sound is off (not mute but no music) I've got some one gently blowing down my speakers. And when I run benches - I get thrums and drones at a very low level. They aren't sensitive to volume but are a constant low level noise - suggesting a ground issue.

I am nitpicking as I am byfarandaway very happy with my EX4 and would recommend it to any and all.

For the sound issue, try throwing a aluminium / copper HS on the sound chip, it'll help eliminate electronic cross-talk.

Here you can find a modded version of Asrock's F-Stream Tuning, with enabled Extreme4 and Extreme6 support.

Special Thanks to bat4

Tip: Install it with mouse already attached on "Fatal1ty Mouse Port"

Any chance that skin can be changed? It looks like something out of the 80s

Returned the Pro3 and got the Fatal1ty. Was considering UD4 but Asrock is bang for buck with features that the more expensive mobos have.

Personally, I would return the fatality and get the Extreme6. Extreme6 has 99.9% the same stuff as the fatality with the added bonus on using better cooling (read: more efficient), is considerably cheaper, and you don't have to look at that ugly mug every time you go into the UEFI. IMO, the Extreme6 is just a better board and a better choice.

[Ket]

A small update for all of you eagerly awaiting it; I've been in touch with my Asrock contact and many of the devices you've all reported as having problems in the top USB3 ports at the back of the board are being looked into. We will get to the cause of the problem

[Olivon]

Typo ... Fata1ty ...

[papatsonis]

Any chance that skin can be changed? It looks like something out of the 80s

hehe , indeed, but it is Asrock's original F-Stream Skin and i like it to stay that way :p for proprietary reasons (i may try at a later time to use the AXTU's skin, no promise though)

Personally, I would return the fatality and get the Extreme6. Extreme6 has 99.9% the same stuff as the fatality with the added bonus on using better cooling (read: more efficient), is considerably cheaper, and you don't have to look at that ugly mug every time you go into the UEFI. IMO, the Extreme6 is just a better board and a better choice.

some true, some false

indeed the differences between these 3 top asrock m/b are in terms of onboard devices.
Extreme4 => 8 vrm phases + 8 sata
Extreme6=> 16 vrm phases + 10 sata
Fatal1ty=> 16 vrm phases + 10 sata + 1 EIDE

to me, the last part in bold was the reason i bought it (no other high end p67 m/b exists with EIDE. Sure it's questionable if the IDE addition justifies the price premium.. To my eyes its more clear decision to select fatal1ty vs the other 2(only for that reason), the Extreme6 is the one difficult to choose as except the 8 vrm phases its identical to Extreme4 in terms of onboard devices (2 more sata, 1 lan, 2 usb3 more).A "Extreme4+" with IDE addition could have saved me some bucks :S. As for the cooling, allow me to disagree, beside the fancy logo and fatal1ty's sign :p, its cooling is sufficient + the mount mechanism with screws, instead of push-pins.
--------------------------

I started searching around for the DTS connect option, and following this post, i dont find any solid evidence that these two board have license for DD encode/decode... more of a marketing gimmick..

Asus Description :
"DTS

DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC
DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC delivers exceptional 5.1 surround experience through the most common PC audio setups - your existing stereo speakers or headphones. In addition to virtual surround, “Bass enhancement” provides stronger low frequency bass sound, and “Voice clarification” provides clear human dialogue even with loud background sound. With these technologies, you may experience a better home-theater audio with ease."

it's essential the same as TruStudio Pro (which in fact has the same effects like XFi-MB soundcard had some asus and msi m/b some time ago, with crystaliser and CMSS3D)

Gigabyte :
"Dolby Home Theater® - Enjoy a Rich Home Theater Surround Sound Experience
Dolby Home Theater® places listeners in the middle of the action, giving their PCs a powerful set of tools to deliver a cinema-style experience in vivid surround sound.

Delivers vivid surround sound for music, movies, and games, using two to eight speakers or any set of headphones
Designed to automatically deliver the best possible listening experience"

these two descriptions are carefully formed, as they do not contain any DTS connect, DDL, DD encode/decode words. Reading here and here i see i don't need it right now, CMSS3D/THX TruStudio Pro Surround is what i need in CoD2 , and that works just ok (along with alchemy)

@Olivon , nice eye
this typo exists even in original F-Stream and hadn't noticed, i may try to correct later

[Ket]

hehe , indeed, but it is Asrock's original F-Stream Skin and i like it to stay that way :p for proprietary reasons (i may try at a later time to use the AXTU's skin, no promise though)



some true, some false

indeed the differences between these 3 top asrock m/b are in terms of onboard devices.
Extreme4 => 8 vrm phases + 8 sata
Extreme6=> 16 vrm phases + 10 sata
Fatal1ty=> 16 vrm phases + 10 sata + 1 EIDE

to me, the last part in bold was the reason i bought it (no other high end p67 m/b exists with EIDE. Sure it's questionable if the IDE addition justifies the price premium.. To my eyes its more clear decision to select fatal1ty vs the other 2(only for that reason), the Extreme6 is the one difficult to choose as except the 8 vrm phases its identical to Extreme4 in terms of onboard devices (2 more sata, 1 lan, 2 usb3 more).A "Extreme4+" with IDE addition could have saved me some bucks :S. As for the cooling, allow me to disagree, beside the fancy logo and fatal1ty's sign :p, its cooling is sufficient + the mount mechanism with screws, instead of push-pins.
--------------------------

I started searching around for the DTS connect option, and following this post, i dont find any solid evidence that these two board have license for DD encode/decode... more of a marketing gimmick..

Asus Description :
"DTS

DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC
DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC delivers exceptional 5.1 surround experience through the most common PC audio setups - your existing stereo speakers or headphones. In addition to virtual surround, “Bass enhancement” provides stronger low frequency bass sound, and “Voice clarification” provides clear human dialogue even with loud background sound. With these technologies, you may experience a better home-theater audio with ease."

it's essential the same as TruStudio Pro (which in fact has the same effects like XFi-MB soundcard had some asus and msi m/b some time ago, with crystaliser and CMSS3D)

Gigabyte :
"Dolby Home Theater® - Enjoy a Rich Home Theater Surround Sound Experience
Dolby Home Theater® places listeners in the middle of the action, giving their PCs a powerful set of tools to deliver a cinema-style experience in vivid surround sound.

Delivers vivid surround sound for music, movies, and games, using two to eight speakers or any set of headphones
Designed to automatically deliver the best possible listening experience"

these two descriptions are carefully formed, as they do not contain any DTS connect, DDL, DD encode/decode words. Reading here and here i see i don't need it right now, CMSS3D/THX TruStudio Pro Surround is what i need in CoD2 , and that works just ok (along with alchemy)

I'll do this bullet style to keep the post short

1. Thats why I said the Extreme6 is 99.9% the same as the Fatality I don't have a single IDE device anymore, and I'm pretty sure most other people don't either. You still save money by getting the Extreme6 then buying a SATA DVD-RW drive : Not to mention I do genuinely believe the Extreme6 to be a far superior board to the Fatality.

2. The mounting used on the Extreme4/6 are screws as well Its just the PCH that uses pushpins (a odd decision I know)

3. The cooling on the Extreme4/6 is far better because its actually designed to dissipate heat and not trap it like the "cooling" will do on the Fatality board. If you want more details earlier in this thread I went into more specifics about thermodynamics and what makes a good heatsink

4. DTS is a very nice feature to have, I remember using it on my 1988B CODEC on the very first Crosshair board, it worked like a charm and made a lot of things sound great has DTS has more low end than THX or Prologic does Its why I'd like to add it with a unofficial driver if I ever find the time to sit down and look things over properly.

[papatsonis]

DTS connect, DDL doesnt rely on driver i think.. as trustudio worked like charm even with 2.58 from realtek's site. It's the license that need for creative's trustudio app (and earlier, with x-fi mod on AD1988 i used) that matters, and i suppose the same applies to DTS connect licensing.

as for the 3), you seriously need to revise :p (at least on heat-trap :p), i haven't disassembled extreme4/6's cooling solution to check how much dissipation surface they have, but even if they do have larger, there is no problem at all in fatal1ty, as the heatsink fins are "open to the air" without a cover plate that actually traps heat, and only needed (like on 3 MBs) is a slow 12cm fan on rear case, to move the heat from vrm (which is low to be honest - ~90watt reported from aida64 during prime95 avx 8 threads at 4.2/1.2v, combine it with its digital pwm, should be how much? ~5?~10? watt wasted due to not 100% efficiency, not big deal )

[Ket]

The cover plates easily peel off on Extreme4/6 VRM heatsinks, and under there is some seriously meaty heatsinkage. Oh and no, the thick "fins" on the Fatality board are not efficient. Part of a good heatsink design is many, thin fins. Not the heat-trap style cooling the Fatality uses Heres some heatsink :banana::banana::banana::banana:

See now THATS a VRM heatsink!

[Retrolock]

@Ket, I would have gone extreme6 easily, but it's not readily available in my country. I suspect because of the pullout of B2 versions but what do I know? Hehe.. It was either the Fatal1ty or Asus P8P67 LE, and I'm not really familiar with that version. UD7 is too expensive, and I'm not going the buy Asus P67 Sabertooth lol. I thought there was a modded bios that erased Fatal1ty's face on the UEFI?

And I'm not using the onboard audio, I'm using an old but reliable XiFi Xtreme Gamer.

[Ket]

I've just checked my mail again guys and Asrock have now got at least some of the devices on hand that are reportedly causing problems and R&D are sinking their teeth into the problem as I type As I know more information I'll let you all know. If you are having problems with the TOP USB3 ports at the BACK of your Asrock Extreme4/6 or Fatality please try the following;

- Download and install the EtronTech EJ168 v.1.00.0000.0098 driver
- Try the device again
- If theres still problems with the device in the TOP USB3 ports on the back of the board move the device to another USB3 port

If problems persist or the device works correctly when moved to another USB3 port please send me a PM telling me the device which has problems in the TOP USB3 ports at the back of the board, or in the case of the device working correctly when moved to a different USB3 port on the board please tell me which USB3 port the device functions properly in.

[Ket]

@Ket, I would have gone extreme6 easily, but it's not readily available in my country. I suspect because of the pullout of B2 versions but what do I know? Hehe.. It was either the Fatal1ty or Asus P8P67 LE, and I'm not really familiar with that version. UD7 is too expensive, and I'm not going the buy Asus P67 Sabertooth lol. I thought there was a modded bios that erased Fatal1ty's face on the UEFI?

And I'm not using the onboard audio, I'm using an old but reliable XiFi Xtreme Gamer.

Oh I didn't quite mean it like that The Fatality is a fine board, I'm just pointing out that from a cooling standpoint the cooling used on the Fatality is very much for "bling", and it won't provide optimal cooling performance like the heatsinks on the Extreme4/6 will. Then theres of course the ugly mug you have to endure with the UEFI on the Fatality, I can't remember a single review where the reviewer didn't bring that up as one of the biggest "problems" with the UEFI lol.

[Retrolock]

Oh I didn't quite mean it like that The Fatality is a fine board, I'm just pointing out that from a cooling standpoint the cooling used on the Fatality is very much for "bling", and it won't provide optimal cooling performance like the heatsinks on the Extreme4/6 will. Then theres of course the ugly mug you have to endure with the UEFI on the Fatality, I can't remember a single review where the reviewer didn't bring that up as one of the biggest "problems" with the UEFI lol.

Yeah, I'm gonna spend a lot of time tweaking the UEFI. Hey, just unfocus your eyes and Fatal1ty's face will be a blur, ala Depth of Field lol...

About the cooling: I hope it won't be too much of a factor... I think the mobo temp sensor in FSteam is 1degree hotter than the Pro3... Let see if it can give me a better overclock than the Pro3 with lesser voltage.

[bat4]

I choose Extreme4 instead of Extreme6 because you can't insert long PCI-E cards into the first PCI-E 1x slot of the Extreme6.

I have replaced my HDD enclosure with a Raidsonic Icy Box IB-250StU3-B, Asmedia ASM1051 chipset. (Same as papatsonis has.) No issues with this device.

I'm thinking that the device with JMicron chipset could have caused the stalling (mentioned in previous posts). Using this device might have affected also the other ports, not only the one to which it was connected.

[banwell]

While we're on about cooling how about this for the PCH?

I know that you dismissed 54mm spacing but this also does 59mm too



EnzoTech CNB-S1L

[Retrolock]

Fatal1ty allowed me UEFI tweaking much better than the Pro3.. Vcore is better and my cpu is much cooler despite my V8 lol





4600 @ 1.312 photbucket ftl

Gonna test it more later, I had to sleep because that was 2am

[lavazza]

Fatal1ty allowed me UEFI tweaking much better than the Pro3.. Vcore is better and my cpu is much cooler despite my V8 lol





4600 @ 1.312 photbucket ftl

Gonna test it more later, I had to sleep because that was 2am

What LLC setting and offset do u use ?

I dont seem to understand which is the safest LLC setting.
1 is too agressive from i have written so 2 or 3 are best ?

[Retrolock]

What LLC setting and offset do u use ?

I dont seem to understand which is the safest LLC setting.
1 is too agressive from i have written so 2 or 3 are best ?

I think my LLC is 5 or 4 but I don't remember not at home right now. I'm definite my offset is 0.010. I'll test it more rigorously later and I expect to up my LLC if it's proven too unstable.

[banwell]

^^there's little point running IBT (to test max heat??) on sandybridge unless you've applied W7 SP1 and updated to intel AvX instruction set.

Else just run Prim95 Blend for 2-3hours.

[Retrolock]

^^there's little point running IBT (to test max heat??) on sandybridge unless you've applied W7 SP1 and updated to intel AvX instruction set.

Else just run Prim95 Blend for 2-3hours.

I've W7 sp1 and I don't know about the intel avx instruction set, gotta read up on it first.

Yup, I'll just run Prime and if everything's ok I'm gonna go for higher clocks.

edit: these tests prevents me from playing my steam games! oh well, overclocking is a game also

[banwell]

Install W7 SP1.

Download the pack here:-

http://software.intel.com/en-us/arti...pack-download/


The unpack and swap the linpack_xeon64 with the one in your IBT software. Just replace and rename for what IBT expects. So for me was it was swapping the new pack into IBT/lindata/x64/Linpack64.

And watch the TEMPS!

[Sailindawg]

While we're on about cooling how about this for the PCH?

I know that you dismissed 54mm spacing but this also does 59mm too



EnzoTech CNB-S1L

That should do fine. I used the Evercool gpu chipset cooler that I had previously on my Expert board. The pins on the Evercool match up well with the holes on the E4. I used MX-2 paste and the Evercool keeps the PCH very cool. I do not need to use the fan on the Evercool. The Evercool does not even get hot to the touch, unlike the stock solution. I measured the E4 PCH hole spacing and it's 2-1/8" or 50.8 mm.

[Ket]

I've had a chat with a few of my contacts at Asrock and so far R&D can't duplicate the problems you guys are saying you are having with your USB devices, so heres what I'm going to do; Below is a list I've compiled of devices people have reported as being problematic, fixed, or potentially problematic. If your device is listed in the problematic or potentially problematic sections can you make a post telling me what device is causing a problem, its model number, and as clear and as detailed problem description as possible.

Likewise, if the Etron v0.98 driver fixes your device problems and those devices are listed under the problematic / potentially problematic sections can you please post saying your device is now fixed so I can update the list.

Reported problematic USB devices with Etron driver v0.98

Verbatim Store'n'Go USB 3.0 HDD
Patriot Xporter 8GB
Blackberry 9700
Huawei E1750 USB modem
Technotrend S2-3600 satellite TV tuner
Technotrend S2-3650 satellite TV tuner
Technotrend S2-2400 satellite TV tuner
Nokia E52 phone (USB connection)
Kingston DT 100 G2 USB 2.0 32 GB stick
Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000, BSOD: EtronXHCI.SYS


Reported Fixed USB devices with Etron driver v0.98

Kingston DT 100 G2 USB 2.0 32 GB stick
Samsung S2 Portable 2,5" USB 3.0
Western Digital Passport 500 GB USB 2.0 HDD
Western Digital Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 HDD
Kingston DataTraveler USB 2.0 16 GB stick


Probable problematic devices with Etron driver v0.98 (JMS539 chip)

Akasa noir S 2.5" USB 3.0
Digitus DA-70577
Fantec QB-35US3
Fantec QB-35US3R
Sharkoon Rapid-Case 3.5" SATA USB3.0
Sharkoon QuickStore Portable USB3.0
Mediasonic HF2-SU3S2
Mediasonic HFR2-SU3S2
Poppstar NE30 (2TB) USB 3.0
Silicon Power Armor A80 USB 3.0
Technaxx USB 3.0 Speedystore Docking Station

[Ket]

I choose Extreme4 instead of Extreme6 because you can't insert long PCI-E cards into the first PCI-E 1x slot of the Extreme6.

I have replaced my HDD enclosure with a Raidsonic Icy Box IB-250StU3-B, Asmedia ASM1051 chipset. (Same as papatsonis has.) No issues with this device.

I'm thinking that the device with JMicron chipset could have caused the stalling (mentioned in previous posts). Using this device might have affected also the other ports, not only the one to which it was connected.

Bat - Check your PMs and please get back to me

[Retrolock]

Install W7 SP1.

Download the pack here:-

http://software.intel.com/en-us/arti...pack-download/


The unpack and swap the linpack_xeon64 with the one in your IBT software. Just replace and rename for what IBT expects. So for me was it was swapping the new pack into IBT/lindata/x64/Linpack64.

And watch the TEMPS!

Hey dude thanks for this. I just ran the test and I passed it 5/5. The test raised my vcore to 1.338 and my temps to 79 but it quickly went down. So how many passes do I have to do? I'm worried about killing my chip hehe.. I should upgrade to Noctua NH-D14...

[BranFB]

hey guys...

any tips for new overclocker with this board