ASRock X58 Extreme3 Intel X58 Motherboard Review

Specifications/Features

Model: X58 Extreme3

Chipset:
– Northbridge: Intel® X58
– Southbridge: Intel® ICH10R

CPU Support: Intel® Socket 1366 Core™ i7 Processor Extreme Edition / Core™ i7 Processor
– Supports Intel® Dynamic Speed Technology
– System Bus up to 6400 MT/s; Intel® QuickPath Interconnect
– Advanced V8 Power Phase Design
– Supports Hyper-Threading Technology
– Supports Untied Overclocking Technology
– Supports EM64T CPU

Memory Support:
– Triple Channel DDR3 memory technology
– 6 x DDR3 DIMM slots
– Supports DDR3 2000(OC)/1866(OC)/1600(OC)/1333(OC)/1066 ECC, un-buffered memory
– Supports DDR3 ECC, un-buffered memory with Intel® Workstation 1S Xeon® processors 3500 series
– Max. capacity of system memory: 24GB
– Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)

BIOS:
– 8Mb AMI Legal BIOS
– Supports “Plug and Play”
– ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events
– Supports jumperfree
– SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support
– CPU, VCCM, IOH, ICH, VTT, IOH/ICH PCIE, CPU PLL, IOH CSI, VCORE Voltage Multi-adjustment
– Supports I. O. T. (Intelligent Overclocking Technology)

Audio:
– 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection
– DAC with 110dB dynamic range (VIA® VT2020 Audio Codec)
– Premium Blu-ray audio support

LAN:
– PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Realtek RTL8111DL
– Supports Wake-On-LAN

PCI Expansion:
– 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (blue @ x16 mode)
– 1 x PCI Express x16 slot (white @ x4 mode) (Double-wide slot spacing between each PCI-E slot)
– 1 x PCI Express x1 slot
– 2 x PCI slots
– Supports ATI™ CrossFireX™ and Quad CrossFireX™
– Supports NVIDIA® SLI™ and Quad SLI™

SATA3:
– 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by Marvell SE9128, support hardware RAID (RAID 0 and RAID 1), NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions (SATA3_2 connector is shared with eSATA3 port)

USB 3.0: 2 x USB 3.0 ports by NEC MPD720200, support USB 1.0/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s

Internal Connectors:
– 6 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5 and Intel® Matrix Storage), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug functions
– 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors
– 1 x ATA133 IDE connector (supports 2 x IDE devices)
– 1 x Floppy connector
– 1 x IR header
– 1 x COM port header
– 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header
– 1 x IEEE 1394 header
– 1 x TPM header
– 1 x Chassis Intrusion header
– 1 x Power LED header
– CPU/Chassis/NB/Power FAN connector
– 24 pin ATX power connector
– 8 pin 12V power connector
– CD in header
– Front panel audio connector
– 2 x USB 2.0 headers (support 4 USB 2.0 ports)
– 1 x Dr. Debug (7-Segment Debug LED)

Rear I/O Panel:
– 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port
– 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
– 1 x Coaxial SPDIF Out Port
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 5 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports
– 1 x Powered eSATAIII/USB 2.0 Connector
– 2 x Ready-to-Use USB 3.0 Ports
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
– 1 x IEEE 1394 Port
– 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED
– HD Audio Jack: Side Speaker / Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone

Form Factor: ATX Form Factor: 12.0” x 9.6” (30.5 cm x 24.4 cm)
– All Solid Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)

Operating System: – Microsoft® Windows® 7/7 64-bit/Vista™/Vista™ 64-bit/XP/XP 64-bit compliant

Certifications:
– FCC, CE, WHQL
– ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)

ASRock Unique Features:
– ASRock OC Tuner
– Intelligent Energy Saver
– Instant Boot
– ASRock Instant Flash
– ASRock OC DNA
– Hybrid Booster:
—- CPU Frequency Stepless Control
—- ASRock U-COP
—- Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.)
– Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.)
– Good Night LED

Onboard Smart Switches:
– 1 x Power Switch with LED
– 1 x Reset Switch with LED
– 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED

Hardware Monitoring:
– CPU Temperature Sensing
– Chassis Temperature Sensing
– CPU/Chassis/NB/Power Fan Tachometer
– CPU Quiet Fan
– CPU/Chassis Fan Multi-Speed Control
– CASE OPEN detection
– Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore

Other Features:
-Supports the Core i7 980X 6-Core CPU
-ASRock DuraCap (2.5 x longer life time), 100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors
-Advanced V8 Power Phase Design
-Supports Triple Channel DDR3 2000 (OC)
-Supports ATI™ CrossFireX™ and Quad CrossFireX™
-Supports NVIDIA® Quad SLI™ and SLI™
-1 x Powered eSATAIII/USB Connector, 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connector, 2 x USB 3.0 Ports
-ErP/EuP Ready, Dr. Debug
-Smart Switch Design : Power / Reset / Clear CMOS Switch with LED
-Supports ASRock Instant Boot, Instant Flash, OC DNA, Multi-Speed Fan Control, OC Tuner, IES, Good -Night LED
-7.1 CH HD Audio (VT2020 Audio Codec with QSound), SRN 110dB & Premium Blu-ray audio support
-Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.)
-Free Bundle: CyberLink DVD Suite – OEM and Trial; Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB – Trial