ASRock is a relatively new motherboard manufacturer, and it shows in their designs. They are more willing to come up with edgier designs, with a particular emphasis on marketing-friendly features. Today, we are going to take a look at one of their Intel Z170-based motherboards – the ASRock Z170 Extreme4.

Updated @ 2016-05-03 : Updated the review with additional information, particularly with regards to its PCI Express and SATA Express ports.

 

ASRock Z170 Extreme4 Specifications

Specifications	ASRock Z170 Extreme4
Chipset	Intel Z170
CPU Support	6th Generation Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium / Celeron processors (Socket 1151) - Supports Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology - Supports Intel K-Series unlocked CPUs - Supports ASRock BCLK & Hyper BCLK Engine Full-range Overclocking
CPU Power	10-phase digital power design
Memory Support	Up to 64 GB of non-ECC, unbuffered DDR4 memory - Four DDR4 DIMM slots with 15 μ gold-plated contacts (dual-channel) - Supports up to DDR4-3866+ (OC) with a single memory module - Supports DDR4-3600 (OC) / DDR4-3200 (OC) / DDR4-2933 (OC) / DDR4-2800 (OC) / DDR4-2400 (OC) / DDR4-2133 - Supports ECC UDIMM memory modules (operating in non-ECC mode) - Supports Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 2.0
BIOS	Two 128 Mbits AMI UEFI BIOS with multilingual GUI support - Supports Secure Backup UEFI Technology - ACPI 5.0 & SMBIOS 2.7 Compliant - Supports CPU, DRAM, PCH 1.0V, VCCIO, VCCSA voltage adjustments
Processor Graphics Support	- Supports Intel HD Graphics with up to 1792 MB shared memory - Built-in DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 output supports triple monitors - Maximum DVI-D resolution : 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz - Maximum HDMI resolution : 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz / 3840 x 2160 @ 30 Hz - Maximum DisplayPort resolution : 4096 x 2304 @ 60 Hz
Audio Support	ASRock Purity Sound 3 - Realtek ALC1150 7.1-channel HD audio codec - Nichicon Fine Gold series capacitors, 115 dB SND DAC with two Ti NE5532 amplifiers
LAN Support	Intel I219V Gigabit LAN - Supports Energy-Efficient Ethernet 802.3az - Supports Lightning & ESD Protection
Expansion Slots	3 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots - x16 with single card / x8-x8 with two cards / x8-x8-x4 with three cards - Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX, 3-Way CrossFireX and CrossFireX - Supports NVIDIA Quad SLI and SLI 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots (Flexible PCIe design)
Storage Ports	3 x SATA Express (10 Gb/s) ports with RAID 0/1/5/10 support - each can be converted into two SATA 3 (6.0 Gb/s) ports 1 x Ultra M.2 socket - Supports Type 2230 / 2242 / 2260 / 2280 / 22110 M.2 modules - Supports M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen 3 x4
Connectors	- 1 x COM Port Header - 1 x TPM Header - 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header - 2 x CPU Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control) - 3 x Chassis Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control) - 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector - 1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector) - 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector - 1 x Thunderbolt™ AIC Connector - 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (ASRock Full Spike Protection) - 1 x USB 3.0 Header (ASRock Full Spike Protection) - 1 x Dr. Debug with LED - 1 x Power Switch with LED - 1 x Reset Switch with LED
Rear Panel I/O	- 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port - 1 x DVI-D Port - 1 x HDMI Port - 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 - 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port - 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (ASMedia ASM1142) (Supports ESD Protection) - 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ASMedia ASM1142) (Supports ESD Protection) - 6 x USB 3.0 Ports (Intel Z170) (Supports ESD Protection) - 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED) - 1 x Clear CMOS Switch - HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
Hardware Sensors	- CPU & chassis temperature sensors and fan tachometers - Case Open detection - Voltage monitoring for +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore, DRAM, VPPM, PCH 1.0V, VCCIO, VCCSA
Form Factor	Full ATX
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 / 8 / 8.1 / 7
Certifications	- FCC, CE, WHQL - ErP/EuP ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)

 

Unboxing The ASRock Z170 Extreme4

The ASRock Z170 Extreme4 comes in a typical motherboard box – a large cardboard box with its key features printed on the underside. Let us show you what’s inside the box in this unboxing video…

Inside, the box is divided into two layers by a simple cardboard insert. Under it is the ASRock Z170 Extreme4 motherboard in an anti-static bag with a pink polyethylene anti-static sheet wrapped around it.

When you remove everything, you will find the following items :

• One ASRock Z170 Extreme4 motherboard
• One ASRock Z170 Extreme4 Quick Installation Guide
• One ASRock Z170 Extreme4 driver CD
• One ASRock case sticker
• One ASRock Z170 Extreme4 I/O shield
• Four SATA 3 cables
• One SLI bridge card
• One M.2 module screw

Page 2 > The Motherboard, CPU Power & Performance, DDR4 Memory

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