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

[zoomee]

It's been over a week and a no reply to your or my questions, and this is the "official thread". My next step is to try and contact ASROCK directly but i haven't heard good thing.
Last board i buy from them unless i get some questions answered. It's a shame they have some nice "looking" board

I currently have no faith or hope in this company or it's supporters

Ur not the only one m8. I been waiting for an official new bios since september!!. This will be my first and last asrock product

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[Church]

I somewhat doubt *official* in thread name means some kind of official support from vendor itself, in my eyes it's rather to deduplicate related threads. And bashing vendor because some non paid enthusiasts haven't replied in due time by your ungrounded expectancies? Sounds a bit childish. Well, it's not exactly end of life for others here or vendor.

[reaver_shado]

I somewhat doubt *official* in thread name means some kind of official support from vendor itself, in my eyes it's rather to deduplicate related threads. And bashing vendor because some non paid enthusiasts haven't replied in due time by your ungrounded expectancies? Sounds a bit childish. Well, it's not exactly end of life for others here or vendor.

I totally argee with you my comments are somewhat childish however they're well founded and not foul lashing out (random garbage anger), and I did have somewhat ulterior motives. I was hoping to grab some anger for a fanboy or maybe an actual rep from the company, the ket person seems to have a connection to the company.

Although, i will admit i have made a slight mistake, ASROCK fourm link, directs you to 3rd party fourms. I've made the mistake of thinking this was one of them. As it is not, i would think that the idea of *Offcial* should have been removed in the title by an admin, as this is dissipative.

I still hope someone can help me out, maybe i've made a simple mistake, which a enthusiast could easily correct?

Until then my opinion still stands, unless your an enthusiast, i don't recommend this companies boards. I really hope this changes as they have great looking boards

[Ket]

Lets get something straight here, I report anything worthwhile to my Asrock contacts. You need to appreciate I'm not paid by anyone so I do things as and when I have the time. Also remember its been christmas, everybody has been away on holidays and has things to catch up on. We are not robots.

[Ket]

Hi guys , i just received my extreme 4 gen 3, nice board. Does this board support triple channel btw?

Im using the triple channel memory (Corsair dominator 3x2 gb) from my old setup, but it runs not very well.

2 gb runs normal, 4 gb runs sometimes (sometimes it boot sometimes not), 6gb wont run.

Nessecery buying dual or quad channel ddrs ?

P67 and Z68 boards are dual channel.

Hi all,

Has Asrock officially confirmed Ivy Bridge support for the Ex4Gen3? I kinda assumed they did and was all set to buy it tomorrow until these two threads stopped me dead in my tracks.

http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/4...e-support.html

http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/4...herboards.html

Does anyone have any other source confirming or contradicting the information in those links?

Edit : The statement that bothers me the most 'Z68 Professional Gen3 and Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 will support Ivy Bridge CPU'

I've been told by my contacts the Gen3 boards will get a UEFI update to support Ivy, they aren't sure on non gen3 boards yet though.

Hey about to buy the Z68 Extreme 4 tomorrow but have just heard in this thread that this board has some serious issues with usb3 and random bsod.

What confuses me though is (I haven't had time to read through everything posted here yet) I don't think I've seen any mention of bsod'ing here while in the thread linked there is almost 9 pages of complaints about the etron drivers mixed in with oc'ing problems.

This board really is good value it seems, but if it's as problem ridden as I've heard is it worth it?

Both P67 and Z68 boards I have do not have many problems at all. Certainly nothing as drastic as random BSODs and even the Etron issue is under relative control now. Just be sure to download the latest Etron driver (clicky) and you should be good to go.

[Ket]

Having a few problems ive put my specs in my sig. Seems my overclock throttles @4.0 when i run prime or occt but when i run super pi or gaming in bf3, skyrim and other games runs at full 4.8 o/c tryed turning off cie and all c states in bios still no go just weird. If anyone here knows the fix plz tell me

You need to increase long & short power duration limits, try setting 200 or 250. You should also increase core current limit to 200 or 250.

Sorry Ket, but I can't leave this remark unanswered. I think the users have the right to know the issues about the Etron USB 3.0 Controller.

Maybe you have no issues with Etron USB 3.0 Controller, but see these links with unhappy users.

Let's start with the most serious bug, until version 0.101 the Etron drivers could cause random BSOD even if you didn't use the USB 3.0 ports. See this forum:

http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...e-crazy-8.html

http://www.overclock.net/intel-gener...sods-halp.html

http://windows7forums.com/blue-scree...uild-help.html

Not only is it less reliable than the Renesas solution found on most boards, it is slower as well:
http://www.hardcoreware.net/gigabyte...oard-review/9/
Quote: "This board is the first time I have seen the Etron EJ168A controller, and I have to say, it sucks."

See this review:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1668/6/

On a German site they are building up a list with compatible and incompatible USB devices:
http://www.pctreiber.net/forum/intel...e_14617.0.html

See this user having problems:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/...rts-responding

Or this user:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1624179

Users start to RMA Asrock mainboards with this Etron controller and exchange them for Asus:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1785632

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1789651

See this forum:
http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/4...0-problem.html

http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/4...-problems.html

http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/4...ont-panel.html

See this German forum:
"The Etron EJ168A USB 3.0 controller is a disaster"
http://www.pctreiber.net/forum/intel...e_15202.0.html

Tell me Ket, have you received a free motherboard from Asrock?

Those are all very old things being drudged up, to my knowledge most of them have been fixed. I've also tested the USB3 ports with all of my devices and the only device that has a problem is a really old Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000, plugging it into a USB2 port fixes that.

Tell me Ket, if the Etron controller "is the first to be interoperable with USB 2.0 and 1.1." why do you make the users "silly" if they plug USB2 devices into USB3 ports?

The world’s fastest USB 3.0 controller.

As already said by vulture_g7, I was simply stating what Etron were claiming of the EJ168A controller, and that was very clear. In no way did it represent my opinion, just simply stated what Etron said, and gave the user my experiences with the 168A controller. If something sucks as you well know, I have no problems in saying it sucks. If you can find them burried in the forums look for my Corsair Vengeance and G.Skill Ripjaw reviews As to why its silly to use USB2 devices on USB3 ports, the simplest answer is because the difference between USB2 and USB3 is night and day, they are two completely different animals. Its not like the step from USB 1/1.1 to USB2 which were incremental steps really and not whole lot changed. One of my contacts close to R&D also advises against using USB2 devices in USB3 ports. If you want full details on why its a bit daft using USB2 devices in USB3 ports.. that'll be a long post so use google first

Hey guys,

So I sold my 5850 graphics cards. I've been 'trying' to use the onboard graphics on my mainboard since with not much joy.
Basically I keep getting flickering and often the screen just goes completely blank altogether. Some advice please - heres what I've tried already:

Bear in mind no overclocking is enabled on anything at all, and it all worked fine with my 5850's. Full system spec is in my sig barr the X-Fi Elite soundcard I have plugged in.

A)- Completely removed ATI drivers
B)- Installed both latest Intel and Asrock drivers for Intel HD.
C)- Reset CMOS completely (pulled battery for 15 minutes).
D)- Upgraded and downgraded to all BIOS revisions (1.0, 1.10, 1.15)
E)- Complete format and reinstall of windows from scratch.
F)- Tried upping iGPU +0.50mv (next step in BIOS) to no avail (made it worse!)
G)- Tried with and without iGPU VDroop (setting in BIOS)

Heres a video showing the problem - as you can see its pretty much unusable as a result!

http://youtu.be/9T25po1MU-s

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Download and try the latest drivers from intels site. Apparently the newest drivers fix a lot of user complaints, and trust me intel had a LOT of complaints about their crappy HD drivers.

[zoomee]

Thanks ket. Ur help is appreciated mate.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[Church]

Ket: if you have such contacts, can you ask them for pics of Extreme4/7 boards without heatsinks to check waterblock compatibility? When i asked asrock via support section of site, after a while i got only mail with that "it's bad to run board without heatsinks", so i'm guessing about some language barrier at fault.

[Ket]

I will indeed ask, might take a few days though if my contact doesnt have any pics of the board heatsinkless already.

[Ice009]

How many years warranty does Asrock have in Australia? I keep seeing it advertized as 3 on local online stores. Is that correct?

Also, I am going to upgrade the Q6600 in my internet box to a 2600K and turn it into and encoding box, as I have quite a few HD-DVDs that I want to backup. I just need to get a MB now and was looking at the Asrock Extreme4 Gen3 or the Gigabyte Z68XP UD3R. Leaning towards the Asrock because I've read lots of people bash the Sandy Bridge Gigabyte boards. What do you guys recommend?

How is the USB3 performance now on the Asrock boards? I want to get a USB3 dock and use that quite a bit with the board so I need a board that has good USB3 support.

Edit : Quick question about RAM - Can you use X79 Quad Channel kits on these Z68 boards? That shouldn't be a problem should it?

[Ket]

If everywhere over there says 3 years, 3 years it will be. I don't have a Gen3 board atm but I do have the Z68 E4 and the board is very reliable, OCs well and works with all the USB devices I have without issue now. I do advise you start by using the Etron .101 driver though otherwise you are bound to run into problems. The .107 Etron driver would seem to be quite good too so if you have problems with the .101 Etron driver move up to the .107 driver. Quad channel memory should also work fine, just remember P67/Z68 are dual channel boards.

[Fredz77]

Hello, a clarification please. I have asrock z68 extreme4 Gen3. There is a menu option called overclocking GT FREQUENCY, I'm not using the intel hd video, so if you would like to know how to disable it in UEFI? Some friends have the same board and not on this menu option to overclock.

WHIT i5 2500k.

[Ice009]

Quad channel memory should also work fine, just remember P67/Z68 are dual channel boards.

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by this Quad Channel comment? I was going to use 16GB (4 x 4GB) anyway, so wouldn't a quad channel kit be the same as buying two dual channel kits? I was just asking if X79 RAM in compatible, I assume the Ripjaws Z kits are very similar to the Ripjaws X kits?

Also, my keyboard is a Logitech G15, and my mice are Logitech G5 and Logitech MX518. I was reading through this thread and some people mentioned they had issues with those mice in the UEFI BIOS. Is that fixed yet?

[B Boy Rock]

As far as I know most issues with keyboards/mice have been fixed. I use a MX518 and haven't even bother updating yet though, so I can't confirm anything, but when I asked about my mouse on another forum I was told problems were fixed.

[Ket]

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by this Quad Channel comment? I was going to use 16GB (4 x 4GB) anyway, so wouldn't a quad channel kit be the same as buying two dual channel kits? I was just asking if X79 RAM in compatible, I assume the Ripjaws Z kits are very similar to the Ripjaws X kits?

Also, my keyboard is a Logitech G15, and my mice are Logitech G5 and Logitech MX518. I was reading through this thread and some people mentioned they had issues with those mice in the UEFI BIOS. Is that fixed yet?

Simply, P67/Z68 are dual channel boards, quad channel memory kits should work fine if you intend to fill all DIMM banks anyway but I can't guarantee anything. AFAIK, mouse/keyboard issues are mostly ironed out with the latest UEFI releases.

[bleachigo]

Hey guys a little bit of a problem here.I have my 2600K OC'ed to 5.0Ghz on Extreme 7 and whenever i run prime95, the CPU throttles down to 3.4Ghz the go back up to 5.0Ghz then go back down again randomly.These are my settings at bios:

50x multi
250 core current limit
Core v=1.470v fixed
level 1
DRAM v=1.515v
PCH v=1.068v
CPU PLL v=1.840v
VCCSA=auto@0.925
C1E,C3,C6,Thermal throttling,speedstep disabled
spread spectrum disabled
package c=auto
I have disabled speedstep,C1E,C3,C6 and thermal throttling.Using a Corsair H100 on an open air setup.Highest temp is 83C on core 3 and the rest are about 5-8C below that.Any other settings i should know about?I heard that these chips throttle down at a certain temp like 95c or something but it shouldn't do that on mine since i'm only at 83C.Here is a pic of it when i was testing.Note the difference between real temp and cpu-z.

[davefran]

You need to up your short and long power limits to 250 aswell

[bamtan2]

Ur not the only one m8. I been waiting for an official new bios since september!!. This will be my first and last asrock product

asrock releases bioses all the time, unlike other board makers you just have to know where to look.

asrock z68 boards have new bios on janurary 16 2012: http://www.pctreiber.net/asrock-bios-downloads

they are beta, the release log will not mention all the changes, and none of the changes may help you. but asrock is making new bioses!!!

[bleachigo]

You need to up your short and long power limits to 250 aswell

Did that also.Same results.

[bigmac11]

Enable Speedstep

[Ket]

Hey guys a little bit of a problem here.I have my 2600K OC'ed to 5.0Ghz on Extreme 7 and whenever i run prime95, the CPU throttles down to 3.4Ghz the go back up to 5.0Ghz then go back down again randomly.These are my settings at bios:

50x multi
250 core current limit
Core v=1.470v fixed
level 1
DRAM v=1.515v
PCH v=1.068v
CPU PLL v=1.840v
VCCSA=auto@0.925
C1E,C3,C6,Thermal throttling,speedstep disabled
spread spectrum disabled
package c=auto
I have disabled speedstep,C1E,C3,C6 and thermal throttling.Using a Corsair H100 on an open air setup.Highest temp is 83C on core 3 and the rest are about 5-8C below that.Any other settings i should know about?I heard that these chips throttle down at a certain temp like 95c or something but it shouldn't do that on mine since i'm only at 83C.Here is a pic of it when i was testing.Note the difference between real temp and cpu-z.

Increase core current limit along with long and short power draw limits to 300 or more. 1.47v is a LOT of juice for a 2600K its going to be a all consuming power guzzling hog.

[reaver_shado]

Hoping someone can help me out. My only hassle with my board is upon resume from sleep, I get BSOD not immediate but it's a guaranteed. It seems to be video card related, at first it was BSOD was tell me VIRTUVDDM cause it but now after uninstalling that, BSOD says ATIKGATM (or something like that). I suspect it's something with crossfire and thus NF200, which i don't like i have very many options to deal with myself. There's a setting in BIOS to do with S level but i don't really understand have tried both setting, no diff. Have tried 3 diff ATI drivers, no change, and on my original board this wasn't happening. (although i didn't have PCIE revodrive for boot device)

Thank you anyone for help me out.

[videogamer323]

Ket: if you have such contacts, can you ask them for pics of Extreme4/7 boards without heatsinks to check waterblock compatibility? When i asked asrock via support section of site, after a while i got only mail with that "it's bad to run board without heatsinks", so i'm guessing about some language barrier at fault.

I have the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3

You are in luck. I found that Koolance has some that will fit your mosfets/vrm.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...fa3a4080f51701
You need 2 of them each with their own MVR Heat Transfer Plate, 75.5mm

I am running them and you can see them here tucked in behind the rear 120mm radiator. I will warn you if you plan on using the 4pin molex below the power management then you will need to dremel/cut off the ear on the molex plug so it will fit beside the mount.
http://disorbtion.smugmug.com/Comput...IMG1716-X3.jpg
I can see if I can get a better picture if you need, just let me know.

EK is working on their site right now it seems and I can't get there, but I thought they had a mosfets/vrm block as well that was 1 pc for our boards. I went with the cheaper and universal solution for "down the road"
EDIT: Nevermind they don't seem to have one for this board...

I have not watercooled the southbridge yet and haven't researched a block for it. That will be when I tear the loop down to add the watercooled videocard when I buy it. I do believe if you run crossfire/sli like I am right now it is going to be a tight squeeze, but just have to make sure the proper block with proper barb locations is selected.

[vulture_g7]

Plz tell me what the exact message is so that I may help you if I can.
A long shot: Tried to disable intel internal gfx from the bios?

Hoping someone can help me out. My only hassle with my board is upon resume from sleep, I get BSOD not immediate but it's a guaranteed. It seems to be video card related, at first it was BSOD was tell me VIRTUVDDM cause it but now after uninstalling that, BSOD says ATIKGATM (or something like that). I suspect it's something with crossfire and thus NF200, which i don't like i have very many options to deal with myself. There's a setting in BIOS to do with S level but i don't really understand have tried both setting, no diff. Have tried 3 diff ATI drivers, no change, and on my original board this wasn't happening. (although i didn't have PCIE revodrive for boot device)

Thank you anyone for help me out.

[reaver_shado]

Plz tell me what the exact message is so that I may help you if I can.
A long shot: Tried to disable intel internal gfx from the bios?

This would really suck balls if i had to disable it, I specfically went with Z68 rather then X79 because i liked having the on-die GPU for my second monitor.

Currently in the process of moving (i'll get back to you on this in a couple of days), but the problem is really starting to P.M.O. I was thinking considering i suspect it's crossfire related to remove a GFX and thus disable crossfire and see if the probelm persists. AT the very least i would know exactly what the problem is so i can pass it on to someone (ASROCK Tech support) to get it corrected.