When a new chipset comes out almost every motherboard manufacturer releases a slew of motherboards and it is really hard to choose which one is right for you.  As it stands right now ASRock has 10 motherboard based on the X79 chipset.  Today we are checking out one of ASRock’s mid-range X79 motherboards the X79 Extreme6/GB.  It is really hard to call this board mid-range as it has all of the features any enthusiast, gamer or overclocker would want.  With its sleek looks, three SLI/CrossFire PCIe 3.0 slots, support for up to 64GB memory and 10 SATA connectors this board means business.  The Extreme6 comes in two flavors the normal Extreme6 and the Extreme6/GB.  The “GB” version which we are reviewing comes with a PCIe add-in Game Blaster card that features Creative Sound Core3D 7.1 CH HD audio and Broadcom Gigabit LAN.  Read on as we take a look!

Special thanks to ASRock for providing us with the X79 Extreme6/GB Intel X79 Motherboard to review.

Packaging
The X79 Extreme6/GB comes in a pretty plain retail box.  On the front is labeling that lets you know the X79 Extreme6/GB board is inside and emblems showing off the various technologies and features of the board.  Flipping the box over there is a complete overview of the board and it goes into detail on some of the main features.

Getting everything out of the box as far as accessories go you have an external 3.5-inch USB 3.0 bracket, 3 bags of SATA cables, I/O shield, tri-SLI bridge, SLI bridge, the Game Blaster Card, driver & utility CD, and user’s guides.  The Game Blaster card is nicely packaged in its own box.  Taking it out it is a PCIe x1 card that is not only a sound card, but also features a Broadcom Gigabit LAN port.  The idea behind this is that you will get better audio than the motherboard and using the LAN port on the card you will take some work off your CPU.

To give you a good idea of how the X79 Extreme6/GB comes and for a brief overview check out our video below.