ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional ThReAD

[Formula350]

I asked the support for an UEFI option for that. Let's see what they can do with it.

I think that the 2nd LAN could be useful in some cases, but I agree that the 2nd onboard USB3 connector is unnecessary.

I hope they get implemented (I thought you had said they sent you a BIOS with those options already :\)

Anyway I checked the VRM controller chip and it's a CHiL one which can measure many things. I've read that the ASUS uses the same controller under DIGI+ name.
It would be very good if the mobo could report the CPU's current.

Yes, I had seen that awhile back in a large board photo! I was quite excited about it's use, so I seriously hope ASRock doesn't drop the ball by not taking advantage of all the options available by the chip. So I've got my fingers crossed...

Also, as to not hijack the 'Dozer thread:

You can disable the throttling.



In ASRock Fatal1ty at least.

I see ASRock didn't make too many changes in the BIOS. That is 100% the same menu option and ordering as in my 890FX Deluxe3 I hope the Fatal1ty isn't basically a GUI overtop their old 890FX line's BIOS :\ I want near-C5F BIOS options, dag nabbit!! lol

[Opteron146]

Anyway I checked the VRM controller chip and it's a CHiL one which can measure many things. I've read that the ASUS uses the same controller under DIGI+ name.

Sounds good, but what about the MOSFETs? They advertise with 12+2 phases, but that ChiL chip can only handle 6 or 8. Which chip is it? The 8326 or the 8328? I heard once, that mainboard manufacturers always use a 2way parallel setup, i.e. the mainboard should have 12+2 divided by 2 (real) phases, thus 7.

Anyways I am puzzled if these are of the same quality as the chips Gigabyte or MSI are using. Gigabyte is often advertising with ferrit chokes and low-rds mosfets, while MSI advertised "DrMos", which is probably not bad either. I don't like all that marketing BS, but low-rds sounds good, as these mosfets are not heating up as much, if I understood it correctly.

Anyways, in short: Can you give a quality rating for AsRock's mosfets?

Thanks

Opteron

P.S: And yes, AsRock's BIOS support is one of the best, you can actually talk to someone, and even better, you get a reply ! ;-)

[Oliverda]

Sounds good, but what about the MOSFETs? They advertise with 12+2 phases, but that ChiL chip can only handle 6 or 8. Which chip is it? The 8326 or the 8328? I heard once, that mainboard manufacturers always use a 2way parallel setup, i.e. the mainboard should have 12+2 divided by 2 (real) phases, thus 7.

Anyways I am puzzled if these are of the same quality as the chips Gigabyte or MSI are using. Gigabyte is often advertising with ferrit chokes and low-rds mosfets, while MSI advertised "DrMos", which is probably not bad either. I don't like all that marketing BS, but low-rds sounds good, as these mosfets are not heating up as much, if I understood it correctly.

Anyways, in short: Can you give a quality rating for AsRock's mosfets?

Thanks

Opteron

P.S: And yes, AsRock's BIOS support is one of the best, you can actually talk to someone, and even better, you get a reply ! ;-)

It's the CHiL 8328 and yes it's "only" seven phases. 6 for the CPU cores and 1 for the CPU-NB. All phases have two chokes (=14 chokes).
Actually I can't describe the quality of the components but it's not DrMOS. I can only tell you that the CPU voltages are rock stable
which is very rare nowadays unfortunately.

pwm.jpg

[xdan]

The chokes are MPFC (Max Power Ferrite Choke), with a capacity of 50A, X58A-OC has also chokes of this type.
The metalic clips are their sign.
X58A-OC-20-580x473.jpg
Asrock implemented also in Z68 EXTREME7 GEN3 these chokes.
There is no such thing as 12-24 phases for CPU VRM.
There are 4, 5, 6 phases controlers, and the number of chokes/phases can be 1, 2, 3, 4( 6*4= 24 Gigabyte VRM).
Mem, IGP, NB have aditional 1-2 phases and chokes afferent.

EDIT: More chokes doesn't mean always better and more stable power to the cpu.
Evga designs and Asus MIV prove that.

About MOSFETs, from what i see Asus CH V uses normal mosfet's?
ch_10-580x449.jpg

[bamtan2]

I sent an email to ASRock support and they sent me an updated UEFI where you can switch on/off the two LAN and the three USB 3.0 controller separately. They sent me and updated version of F-Stream utility as well which now can use the POST CODE led to display the current CPU temperature. I really satisfied with the support so far.

this is part of the reason why asrock is the best motherboard maker right now. they also have unofficial updates for motherboards that are YEARS old.

I think that the 2nd LAN could be useful in some cases, but I agree that the 2nd onboard USB3 connector is unnecessary.

if you guys want a lower end motherboard with fewer features, they do make those. please don't dump on the high end. some of us would like to continue seeing high end motherboards.

[Opteron146]

It's the CHiL 8328 and yes it's "only" seven phases. 6 for the CPU cores and 1 for the CPU-NB. All phases have two chokes (=14 chokes).
Actually I can't describe the quality of the components but it's not DrMOS. I can only tell you that the CPU voltages are rock stable
which is very rare nowadays unfortunately.

Sounds good, but out of curiosity I want to know if it is low-rds or not. Can you see the labels of the mosfets? Maybe we can pin down the type.

The chokes are MPFC (Max Power Ferrite Choke), with a capacity of 50A, X58A-OC has also chokes of this type.
The metalic clips are their sign.
X58A-OC-20-580x473.jpg
Asrock implemented also in Z68 EXTREME7 GEN3 these chokes.
There is no such thing as 12-24 phases for CPU VRM.
There are 4, 5, 6 phases controlers, and the number of chokes/phases can be 1, 2, 3, 4( 6*4= 24 Gigabyte VRM).
Mem, IGP, NB have aditional 1-2 phases and chokes afferent.

EDIT: More chokes doesn't mean always better and more stable power to the cpu.
Evga designs and Asus MIV prove that.

About MOSFETs, from what i see Asus CH V uses normal mosfet's?

Thanks, is there any visible difference between mosfets and low-rds mosfets? I don't think so, but I just want confirmation.
Furthermore, if we got some part numbers from the label, do you think we can find some information about the part online?

Thanks again

Opteron146

P.S: Maybe the easiest thing would be to ask the AsRock support about it ^^

[Oliverda]

* * * UPDATE * * *

I've just got an updated 1.44 version UEFI directly from a support guy called Peter.

1. Now you can select a background for UEFI. So you can say good bye to magnificent John.

fatal1_thb.png fatal2_thb.png

2. If you set the Onboard Debug Port LED option to ON then the display LED will show the mobo measured CPU temperature after boot up.

pcode_temp_thb.png

3. You can enable/disable the two LAN ports and the three Etron USB 3.0 controllers separately.

lan_thb.png usb3_thb.png

4.

From now you can see the actual AGESA version in the CPU configuration section.

agesa_thb.png


He promised an updated version of F-Stream Tuning utility which will show the CPU's current (and wattage).

ASRock's support is great!

[armada]

im so torn on this vs the chv or sabertooth... any thoughts comparing them? since they are so close on price. i like the fact the sabertooth has 8 sata on board but two are jmicron which kinda sucks i know but on my intel builds i always end up using them all. i am however staying away (i think) from msi and giga after past issues with them. and seems dfi is out of the game..

what about slot layout do you guys this is a better overall one than the asus' are? since this has 2 pcie 1x which imo have little use and as said that top on is limited. this is my first amd build in years so i dont know a whole lot of exactly what i need/want in a am3+ board..any advice would be great but this board does look sweet and now that we can change the bios im almost sold

[superpyton]

Some tests with Thuban and PSC.

Test setup:

• Phenom II X6 1055T
• Zalman CPNS10X Extreme
• ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Proffesional (EFI: P1.20)
• A-Data Gaming 2000 MHz CL9 2x2GB
• Sapphire HD2600 PRO 256 MB DDR3
• Seagate Baracuda 7200.9 80 GB SATA 2
• Zalman ZM-500HP
• Windows 7 HP x64

Tests - EFI 1.20 (memory divider: 8x/1:4, CPU-NB multiplier: 10x):

• 1600 MHz 6-8-6-21 1T 1,65 V (CPU-NB Voltage: 1,25 V) - HyperPi 32M stable
• 1800 MHz 7-9-7-24 1T 1,65 V (CPU-NB Voltage: 1,25 V) - HyperPi 32M stable
• 2000 MHz 8-10-8-27 1T 1,65 V (CPU-NB Voltage: 1,25 V) - HyperPi 32M stable SCREENSHOT HERE
• 2040 MHz 8-10-8-27 1T 1,65 V (CPU-NB Voltage: 1,3 V) - unstable (12 loop)
• 2040 MHz 9-11-9-30 1T 1,65 V (CPU-NB Voltage: 1,35 V) - unstable (1 loop)
• 2040 MHz 8-11-8-27 1T 1,65 V (CPU-NB Voltage: 1,35 V) - unstable (3 loop)

Now some test with EFI 1.44 - thanks Oliverda

Tests - EFI 1.44 (memory divider: 8x/1:4, CPU-NB multiplier: 10x):

• 2040 MHz 8-10-8-27 1T 1,65 V (CPU-NB Voltage: 1,35 V) - HyperPi 32M stable SCREENSHOT HERE
• 2080 MHz 8-10-8-27 1T 1,65 V (CPU-NB Voltage: 1,35 V) - unstable

[bamtan2]

what about slot layout do you guys this is a better overall one than the asus' are? since this has 2 pcie 1x which imo have little use and as said that top on is limited.

I like this slot layout. I like having 2 PCI slots because I have a LOT of old PCI devices I could pull out at any moment. I like supporting 2x graphics cards. I like supporting a RAID card on the bottom 16x slot (only 4x lanes). I don't mind the 1x slots because I know there aren't enough lanes to do any better. Already the bottom 16x is actually a 4x. So surrounding the main 16x with two 1x is actually a convenience and is utilitarian, because it leaves room for different graphics and addon configurations, because they could have otherwise left those spots empty or put a PCI slot there which would be wasted because I want a PCI more than a PCI-E 1x. I independently analyzed all these slot configs and ended up agreeing with the one on this motherboard. If I have more PCI-E lanes to work with, or if I don't want PCI legacy support, I would pick a different config. But for me today, this is it.

[armada]

ya know i actually never noticed they dont do 16x 16x 8x. why on earth leave the last slot with only a 4x? look at the msi gd80 for instance. i just dont know if i could buy a gd80 after my last rma experience with msi last year.

[xdan]

Sounds good, but out of curiosity I want to know if it is low-rds or not. Can you see the labels of the mosfets? Maybe we can pin down the type.



Thanks, is there any visible difference between mosfets and low-rds mosfets? I don't think so, but I just want confirmation.
Furthermore, if we got some part numbers from the label, do you think we can find some information about the part online?

Low-rds mosfets are not something that spectacular.
They work at 16% lower temperature, providing a lower power consumption and heat than standard mosfets.
But i think that 16% is at their best, the difference i don't thinks that do anything.
MOS mosfets or tantulum mosfets(these are the best), bring some real difference.


EDIT: but from what i see, i just look now on Gigabyte low-rds mosfets page, Asrock has low rds mosfets too...
Low mosfets have 4 pins, standard two...
Or they must be that short too? ...
I think that if you can read what is labeled on them, you can find information on net.
Anyway i think that Fatal1ty 990FX Professional has a very strong VRM, just that it is.
In 1-1.1/2 years i think Asrock would implemed DR. MOS too or tantulum, and dual bios, these is just that it's still missing from Asrock mb's, in rest they have all.

[sin0822]

i Hate to come in here and correct you, but there is a way to have something close to true phases. Those are phase doublers. if you see DrMOS configurations, you will see that each of those Drmos chips requires its own PWM durect connection. The low RDS(ON) on the ASUS, ASrock don't they just can use the same driving signal per double teh number of MOSFETs. Actually most ASUS boards do it this way, the M4E uses 4 DirectFET per phase and one inductor, the M4G-Z uses 3 FETs, 2 low side, 1 high side, but the M4G-Z is a bit more precarious.

The M4G-Z only uses 4 PWM phases, but instead of driving 6 MOSFETs with a singal driver, ASUS implements another IC, this one IC contains 2 drivers and a doublers, so for the CPu phases the M4g-Z has 8 phases, 8 drivers, 3 MOSFETs per phase, and 8 inductors.

There are many ways to correctly double the phase count, one way is to double the number of PWm signals, with doublersl ike on the M4g-z and OC board. in the case of the asus, it divides the switching frequency in half. On the Sniper 2 its divided in half as well on most GB boards, but i don't know much about the ASUS one, but i know the GB one is capable of not having to divide the SF in half when only one set of the doublers is used, not 2 like on the UD7,.

http://www.intersil.com/data/fn/fn7564.pdf

The cheap way to double phases is to not use a driver per phase and just use two phases per driver, as we see on many cheaper boards. I count phases by the number of drivers and pwm signals, but a tru phase would be one directly from the PWM, so ussually 4 or 6 or 8.

[Oliverda]

Latest stuff from the support:

UEFI 1.44

F-Stream utility with current/wattage and additional HDD led support.

[sin0822]

i always love current and wattage monitoring when its correct, and the Chil is prob one of the most correct out there.

[Oliverda]

i always love current and wattage monitoring when its correct, and the Chil is prob one of the most correct out there.

fstream.png



AIDA64 will probably get a support for this too.

[SBB]

I have the P67 Fatal1ty and love it and I was looking forward to a 990FX version for BD ... but my Asus Xonar needs to fit in the Top PCI-E and I dont think it'll fit due to the heatsink below the CPU socket (even though it fits in the P67 fatal1ty, that has a low heatsink) ... looks like the 970 Extreme4 might be the choice for me ...

[Oliverda]

I have the P67 Fatal1ty and love it and I was looking forward to a 990FX version for BD ... but my Asus Xonar needs to fit in the Top PCI-E and I dont think it'll fit due to the heatsink below the CPU socket (even though it fits in the P67 fatal1ty, that has a low heatsink) ... looks like the 970 Extreme4 might be the choice for me ...

Are you going to have three x16 PCIe card?

[SBB]

Are you going to have three x16 PCIe card?

No, just SLI cards, but the sound card in the bottom would block air to the 2nd cards fan, and I dont really want to do that when having the sound card above is a much better solution

[Oliverda]

No, just SLI cards, but the sound card in the bottom would block air to the 2nd cards fan, and I dont really want to do that when having the sound card above is a much better solution

Then buy a PCI sound card.

[SBB]

Then buy a PCI sound card.

Nice try, but the PCI on this board also has the same problem

[Oliverda]

Nice try, but the PCI on this board also has the same problem

Really.

Anyway are you sure that the soundcard in the last PCIe slot would block air to the 2nd cards fan?

[SBB]

yeah it'd be in the slot next to it and i'm using these cards

[Mechromancer]

I'm seriously considering this board over an ASUS Sabretooth now. I hope the price is right $149.99 or in that ballpark. You have to love a company that listens to its customers. The high quality components on the board put a smile on my face. Thanks to all the guys that identified the components. One question though, do we know yet if the board has any power protection like over/under current/voltage for those pesky power fluctuations during storms? I recently lost my ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe mobo to a jolt that made it past my Cyberpower 1500VA UPS and PCP&C 750 Silencer II. It hit before the UPS or even breakers could trip and ruined my day.

[Oliverda]

yeah it'd be in the slot next to it and i'm using these cards

All right. Unfortunately the 970 Extreme4 isn't capable of x16/x16 CF or SLI. You should get a 990FX mobo.

I'm seriously considering this board over an ASUS Sabretooth now. I hope the price is right $149.99 or in that ballpark. You have to love a company that listens to its customers. The high quality components on the board put a smile on my face. Thanks to all the guys that identified the components. One question though, do we know yet if the board has any power protection like over/under current/voltage for those pesky power fluctuations during storms? I recently lost my ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe mobo to a jolt that made it past my Cyberpower 1500VA UPS and PCP&C 750 Silencer II. It hit before the UPS or even breakers could trip and ruined my day.

Don't hesitate too much. It's better than Sabretooth and your X-Fi Fatal1ty will be love it.

I don't know anything about such protections of the mobo but I would recommend you a Seasonic X PSU.