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

[RealTelstar]

AFAIK the extreme7 has less problems than the extreme4.

Said that, finished installing the new rig and everything seems ok. Using a temporary old matrox pci, til i get something for the other pc and move the 570 here.
Boot is extremely fast with all the crap disabled from bios and m4 fw009, around 10 seconds from bios spash to password prompt.
So far so good.

[tinjuko]

Will adding an extra 8GB (2x4 Muskin 1866) to my rig create any instabilities? Are there any drawbacks? I'm considering doing this so that fraps can cache to RAM longer since my HDD is having a hard time keeping up.

Thanks for any input.

[acidwap]

Will adding an extra 8GB (2x4 Muskin 1866) to my rig create any instabilities? Are there any drawbacks? I'm considering doing this so that fraps can cache to RAM longer since my HDD is having a hard time keeping up.

Thanks for any input.

From what I can see in your specs of your system, in theory no, you shouldn't have any probs.

As long as your system is stable to start of with (in terms of oc and compatibility with your current set of ram) adding more ram shouldn't introduce any problems AFAIK.

[LoneWolf]

Hello everyone, first of all thanks for the great thread

I was almost ready to buy ASRock Z68 Extreme 7 but then I'm seeing some problems here and there, and I'm thinking maybe change to Gigabyte, i don't mind pay more for that, but i know there will be things i will not use (as other said already before)

I was thinking going to Gigabyte Z68 UD7, since it will match very nice with my new build, and also love the layout and it's rock solid (hope!)

Do you recommend Z68 UD7 over the Z68 Extreme 7?
Any other recommendation? I know ASUS are having some trouble with the B3 so maybe i should avoid them...

If possible with Black PCB :>, really like the looks ASRock and Gigabyte

Without going into the Asrock bit (I think anything that needs to be discussed so far by myself and others already has been)

If you want to go Gigabyte, I'd ask yourself if you need the UD7, or if the UD5 or UD4 will do. Double-check the feature list. The big reason to have the UD7 is if you need the nVidia NF200 chip because you're loading your system down with cards, going TRI-SLI (or two dual-GPU cards). Other uses might be if you really need dual-NICs (most of us don't, though there are exceptions). If you don't need those things, the UD5, or maybe even the UD4, will be a great choice at a lesser price.

The ASUS P8Z68-V Pro doesn't appear to be a bad board. I don't know if it's built quite as heavily as the Gigabyte (FWIW, my Extreme 4 Gen3 wasn't, either, and aside from its quirks, it did what it did okay), and there have been some people who have complained of it being picky about RAM. However, it has the advantages of an Intel NIC, and a UEFI BIOS, and if you have to have UEFI, ASUS is probably the most advanced at this point. If you have to have black, the Maximus IV may be it for you; my only gripe was their poor placement of the USB3 header, done much better on the Asrock and Gigabyte boards, and that ASUS really doesn't have an incredible support reputation either (when their stuff works, it works great, when it doesn't, support is inconsistent).

I think at this point there really is no one perfect Z68 board. The Extreme 7 Gen3 comes closest in terms of layout, features, and design IMO, but having had the experience I did, I'd probably wait for another BIOS revision or two, and if reports come back good, I'd probably look on it as the winner.

[watercooled]

new bios out for the p67 extreme 4 gen 3

[RealTelstar]

new bios out for the p67 extreme 4 gen 3

It seems to give some problems, so if you dont have the Xai mouse, I would advice against flashing it.

[RealTelstar]

BTW, I have all back usb ports plugged (yeah i have lots of peripherals) and no issue so far.
Need to buy a fast usb3 key.

Edit: ikari has same issue as Xai mouse. I'll get a cheap ps/2 mouse to add for uefi play rather than updating the bios to a not very stable version. The Ikari doesnt work with ps/2 adapter.
When I checked the uefi i had a logitech ps/2 connected.

[RealTelstar]

Tested sleep/resume, it works.

[SoMBrA]

Without going into the Asrock bit (I think anything that needs to be discussed so far by myself and others already has been)

If you want to go Gigabyte, I'd ask yourself if you need the UD7, or if the UD5 or UD4 will do. Double-check the feature list. The big reason to have the UD7 is if you need the nVidia NF200 chip because you're loading your system down with cards, going TRI-SLI (or two dual-GPU cards). Other uses might be if you really need dual-NICs (most of us don't, though there are exceptions). If you don't need those things, the UD5, or maybe even the UD4, will be a great choice at a lesser price.

The ASUS P8Z68-V Pro doesn't appear to be a bad board. I don't know if it's built quite as heavily as the Gigabyte (FWIW, my Extreme 4 Gen3 wasn't, either, and aside from its quirks, it did what it did okay), and there have been some people who have complained of it being picky about RAM. However, it has the advantages of an Intel NIC, and a UEFI BIOS, and if you have to have UEFI, ASUS is probably the most advanced at this point. If you have to have black, the Maximus IV may be it for you; my only gripe was their poor placement of the USB3 header, done much better on the Asrock and Gigabyte boards, and that ASUS really doesn't have an incredible support reputation either (when their stuff works, it works great, when it doesn't, support is inconsistent).

I think at this point there really is no one perfect Z68 board. The Extreme 7 Gen3 comes closest in terms of layout, features, and design IMO, but having had the experience I did, I'd probably wait for another BIOS revision or two, and if reports come back good, I'd probably look on it as the winner.

Thanks for all the good info!
I think i will give ASRock a try, will go for the Extreme 7 Gen 3.
Will let you know if i experience any of the starnge behaviours you experienced with the "little brother" ;-)

[watercooled]

1.1 bios is well buggy

gone back to 1.0

[RealTelstar]

The usb3 docking station is not working reliably, i dont know if it is the unit, the port or the drivers. In the other usb3 port i have an old usb2 key that works flawlessly.
The drivers i have are the ones from asrock download page, i.e. 0.96 whql.

Edit: it seems is the Etron controller matched with some jmicron controller that probably my docking station has. I'll use it for tv (usb2) and get a new dock with esata: anybody has suggestions? I need one open case, since i use it for backup and quick transfer of files only.

[coldkiss]

1.1 bios is well buggy

gone back to 1.0

Hi Watercooled, I was just about to try the new Asrock z68 Extreme4 Gen3 v1.10 bios when I read your post. What differences have you experienced with the newer bios?

[watercooled]

new bios was really buggy with usb devices

gone back to 1.0

[overclock]

I own a new Asrock extreme 3 Gen 3 since yesterday and I am really amazed by the ratio quality/price : very good build quality, i7 2600K overclocked to 4800 Mhz at 1.36 V, HT on, fully stable. It is my first Asrock motherboard and it won't be the last !

I would like to bring a few points with this motherboard :
- the mouse must be plugged directly to the motherboard : when my Revoltec Fightmouse Elite was connected to a hub, I was not able to enter into the bios or the boot selection menu.
- to make Install Boot work, a few steps must be followed :
- install Instant Boot
- choose Fast Mode and click « apply »
- the application must be launched automatically after Windows loading : regedit, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE> SOFTWARE> Microsoft> Windows> CurrentVersion> Run, Open the edition menu> New> string Value, Rename, then give it the value C:\Program Files (x86)\ASRock Utility\InstantBoot\InstantBoot.exe (on Windows 7 x64)
- configuration panel, change category to icons, power supply options/asrock instant boot/modify the mode parameters/modify the advanced parameters/USB parameters/USB selective suppression parameter deactivated then processor power supply management/processor minimal state 100 % (in order to avoid the CPU frequency decrease and to make the Logitech G19 keyboard work)

Since I translated french to english, the paths and parameters may be a little bit different. Nowhere on the web I found the way to make Instant boot work hence these instructions.

Now, when I switch on my PC, I boot into Windows in 1 s ! Great !

[RealTelstar]

OH that's really cool... the normal boot is around 12s for me, nothing i can complain

[coldkiss]

new bios was really buggy with usb devices

gone back to 1.0

Thanks for the reply. I'll give it a whirl and see if I come across any similar issues with my USB devices...

[RealTelstar]

updated previous post to correct that UEFI has issue also with the Ikari mouse.

[Ket]

Greetings gentlemen, I'm back I'll be compiling a list of issues in due course and see what my contacts can come up with, first I have some *real life* issues to attend to though.

[RealTelstar]

WB Ket!
Only usb issues for me. Mouse in bios (Steelseries Ikari Laser) and Etron usb3 controller not well compatible with all controllers of external drives or docking stations.
Not sure which other issues the 1.01 bios gives because I didnt flash it, seems to be related to usb still.

[Ket]

USB3 issues are Etron driver related. I have tested 0.89, 0.91, 0.96, 0.98, 1.101, 1.104 and 1.105. The best in my testing is the Etron 1.101 driver. 104 and 105 driver versions fail badly because they do not recognise any USB device I plug into the front USB3 drive bay. No such problems for the 101 driver.

[RealTelstar]

For the mouse, I'm using a second ps/2 mouse (yes they work together), so i'm cool in the UEFI too

[tipes]

Hi all,

Have not posted here for a long while,but I am considering getting the extreme3 gen 7 board as it seems a great board as far as specs etc go - not to mention its dead sexy looks.
However I notice that peeps are having various problems with these boards so I am looking for some re assurance here as I don't want an unreliable board and agro.Can some owners chime in
and give me their honest appraisals of this board and confirm it is generally ok or not???? I know of course that traditionally every new cutting edge boards from any manufacturer tend to have problems early
on until bios matures etc so - what do you reckon guys and Girls?

Mark

[Ket]

From what I've seen theres no serious problems with the Gen3 boards, I'll be compiling a list of issues as soon as time allows and submitting them to my contacts for them to look at, so current issues will get ironed out. I can't say anymore than that though as I don't have a Gen3 board for testing like I did for the P67 and Z68.

[tipes]

From what I've seen theres no serious problems with the Gen3 boards, I'll be compiling a list of issues as soon as time allows and submitting them to my contacts for them to look at, so current issues will get ironed out. I can't say anymore than that though as I don't have a Gen3 board for testing like I did for the P67 and Z68.

Thanks for that Ket - you may have just convinced me - not that I really needed much of a push Lol.

Mark

[Ket]

You will be glad to know I've just submitted the following list of issues to my contacts, when I know something, you guys will

Extreme4/7 Gen3 Issues:

Floppy drive not detected in Windows unless it is set to the highest BBS priority in the UEFI.

Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800 PCIe TV tuner/DVR card will not install. No problems when tested with Gigabyte
EP45-UD3P or GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD5.

Creative X-Fi Platinum PCI will not install in the lower PCI slot, installation is successful if the card
is moved to the upper PCI slot. (issue may be related to crappy Creative drivers)

Logitech G19 keyboard does not work properly (undefined specifics, probably input/output issues when in UEFI)

Razer Copperhead mouse is not working in UEFI, pointer is stuck in the middle of the screen and can only be
moved up and down.

Problems picking up 2nd video (GTX 470) when running in SLI mode. Out of 5 boots into Windows, it fails
to pick up the second card about 3-4 times. This is happening completely random. Supplementary Molex power
connector is plugged in. (user reported)

Steelseries Ikari Laser compatibility issues in UEFI.