This ASRock mainboard owns the accessories
set, design and specifications which are almost the same with that of other
premium Socker FM2 mainboards on the market. Moreover, it can stand out with a
great number of exclusive advantages that none of its competitors has. Read our
review for further details!
One of the most remarkable impressions of
the year 2012 is the discovery of ASRock mainboard. Of course, we have been
aware that this company had evaluated their product in advance and regularly
tested their products, but we still keep the moderate expectation. In reality,
could ASRock successfully join the competitive game with the top Taiwanese
manufacturers? Their mainboards used to be the formidable competitors of such
manufacturers as Biostar and Elitegroup. Therefore, an unexpected and nice
surprise has come with the huge innovations brought by ASRock just in a couple
of years. And most importantly, we are not only talking about a single
particular product, but the entire series of the amazingly successful ASRock
LGA1155 mainboards that we kept reviewing about during the year of 2012. The
ASRock 2013’s mainboards are highly competitive and even meet the top
requirements from the ASUSTeK and Gigabyte, and that is totally not because of
the low launching price. They really offer wonderful features, quality of
manufacture and experience that will satisfy and pleased many users.
The product range of the ASRock has been
extended, so everyone can find the suitable mainboards for their demand. That
is why our tests of the ASUS F2A85-V PRO and Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 are
followed by the review of an ASRock’s Socker FM2 mainboard. Two models mentioned
above are top products in the same class, so we also choose the FM2A85X
Extreme6, the best product of ASRock, for a fair comparison.
Package and accessories
Just like ASUS and Gigabyte’s products,
those from ASRock are also easily distinguishable with the external design of
the product package.
External
design of the product’s package
A small picture drawing the mainboard would
be seen on the back side of the box with a list of main specifications and
functions.
The
small picture of the mainboard
The thickness of the mainboard box is
similar to those of the ASUS and Gigabyte, but it is longer and taller because
of a unique packaging: besides a regular antistatic pack, a soft porous frame
is used to make the additional frame to protect the mainboard. The accessories
are not as rich as what we expected, but it is adequate.
·
Four Serial ATA cables half with metal L-shaped
connector locks and another half with straight locks;
·
I/O Shield for the back panel;
·
A brochure on the BIOS functionality and bundled
software features;
·
User manual in multiple languages;
·
DVD disk with software and drivers.
Not
too many accessories
Design and the PCB function
First look at the basic specifications of
the ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6, it seems that there is no difference compared to
that of the ASUS F2A85-V PRO and the Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 that we previously
reviewed about. This reveals the fact that each of them is special in
differently particular aspects.
First
look at the basic specifications of the ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6, it seems that
there is no difference
In terms of the digital voltage regulator
circuitries feature which owned by all of them, the ASRock has the largest number
of power phases: its “Digi Power” system works just like the 8+2. To compete
with the mainboards from ASUS and Gigabyte whose voltage regulator components
are located in a L-shaped form and on both side of the CPU socket, they line up
on the ASRock’s mainboard and are covered by a big-sized heatsink. The latter
is safely secured by screws just like the chipset heatsink. The mainboard can
be spotted with the solid-state “Gold” capacitors which are senior components
that have innovative features. The FM2A85X Extreme6 supports all contemporary
Socket FM2 processors and provides four DDR3 slots for up to 64Gb system. It
also supports the AMD Memory Profile (AMP) as well as the Extreme Memory
Profile (XMP).
The
expansion slot
The ASRock’s mainboard has the same
expansion slots choice as what we have seen on the mainboard of ASUS which includes
three PCI Express 2.0x16, two PCI Express 2.0x1 slots, and two PCI slots. It is
allowed to build multi GPU configurations on the FM2A85X Extreme 6 based on the
AMD CrossFireX technology. A discrete graphics card uses one full-speed PCI2x16
interface. Two such cards will work in the x4 mode and share the 2x8 bandwidth.
Just like two previously reviewed mainboards, the FM2A85X Extreme 6 features 7
out of 8 SATA 6 Gbit/s ports provided by the AMD A85X chipset. The last one can
be seen on the back panel and play the role of a eSATA 6 Gbit/s connector. ASRock’s
products provides a POST indicator as well as the Power On, Reset and Clear
CMOS buttons just like the Gigabyte’s mainboard, but these buttons are bigger
and glow. The Clear CMOS button is placed on the back panel for the user
convenience.
Ports
and connectors on the back panel
The following ports and connectors are
available on the back panel:
·
Universal PS/2 connector for keyboard or mouse
·
Four USB 3.0 ports (blue connectors). Two of
them are implemented through the ASMedia ASM1042 controller. Another two ports
and one more internal pin-connector for two additional USB 3.0 ports are provided
by the mainboard chipset
·
D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs
·
Glowing Clear CMOS button
·
Two USB 2.0 ports, another six ports are laid
by three onboard pin-connectors
·
eSATA 6 Gbit/s port implemented via AMD A85X
chipset, just like seven internal SATA 6Gbit/s ports
·
A local network port (network adapter is built based
on Gigabit Realtek RTL8111E controller).
·
An optical S/PDIF and five similar analogue
audio-jacks provided by eight-channel Realtek ALC898 codec
The FM2A85X
Extreme 6 owns six fans connections, two of which is used for the CPU fans. The
latter is the 3- or 4-pin connector, so its speed can be adjusted in any case
(most of the other mainboards, except for the Gigiabyte’s, have lost this
ability).
However, we have to state that some areas
can be even improved more. For example, ASUS and Gigabyte’s mainboards have
large and convenient latches for their graphics card slots. Such latches can
also be found in some of ASRock’s products, but most of them, including the
FM2A85X Extreme6, have small sliding locks and are locked manually.
The
FM2A85X Extreme6 has small sliding locks and is locked manually.
