Asrock z170 extreme4
ASRock"s Z170 Extreme4 is cheaper than the previously tested Extreme6, but is it also a better value? We examine the features and push our overclocks khổng lồ find out!
A few high-quality features địa chỉ to mediocre overclocking and efficiency khổng lồ make the Z170 Extreme4 a fair, if unexceptional, value. Lacking any strong competition at this approximate price, it gets our stamp of approval.
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Pros+
Beats cheap boards in overclocking• USB 3.1 support• Basic SLI support• High-quality hãng sản xuất intel network controller• ALC1150 audio controller• License for DTS Connect
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ASRock has already left a fairly solid impression on us afterwe tested its Z170 Extreme6, a board that was disqualified from award contention only because we couldn"t validate its beta firmware or pre-release accessories kit. That happens sometimes with pre-release sản phẩm reviews, and ASRock did indeed change its accessories kit immediatelyafterlaunch.
Today, ASRock gets another bite at the value-supremacy apple with its Z170 Extreme4, the next mã sản phẩm down from the Extreme6. The Extreme4"s largest downgrade appears lớn be its loss of the add-in SATA controller in Extreme6. We"re even treated khổng lồ the same I/O panel configuration, with its six USB 3.0 ports, two USB 3.1 ports, triple đoạn phim outputs, full array of digital and analog audio connections, and a handy CLR_CMOS button.
The loss of two SATA ports hardly seems worth the $25 to $34 price difference on a chipset that automatically supplies six, và that could be good news for value seekers as long as the cheaper mã sản phẩm holds up in our bít tất tay tests.
Specifications
ASRock Z170 Extreme4
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Features
The Z170 Extreme4 is still laid-out to tư vấn three graphics cards with extra cooling space between the đứng đầu card, or two cards with really thick coolers, with the two thẻ option more-favored by the board"s x16/x0 lớn x8/x8 automatic switching. That third slot has only four lanes và shares bandwidth with everything else on the chipset (PCIe x1, networking, audio, storage) through an x4 connection khổng lồ the CPU. Those who would rather configure the Z170 Extreme4 with extra single-slot graphics cards for low-bandwidth applications, such as wall-sized arrays of displays, will find that all three PCIe x1 slots are also open-ended, allowing the use of more-common PCIe x16 graphics cards.
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The Z170 Extreme4 even has those same annoying single-sided DIMM latches that the Extreme6 features. Designed to lớn ease memory replacement in boards with tight DIMM-to-graphics-card clearance, the Z170 Extreme4 doesn"t even make practical use of this feature, unless a builder chooses to lớn put a super-long card in the uppermost PCIe x1 slot. As a memory tester, I"ve seen the sliding force liên hệ "fingers" wear a single-latched slot out after a few dozen installations. Typical enthusiasts, if there ever was such a thing, should have little concern.
ASRock calls what looks like an 8+4 voltage regulator "10-phase." Though that could mean 10+2 phase, I"ll hotline it 12-phase since so many of ASRock"s competitors quit advertising how their regulators are split. What"s apparent is that these use ASRock"s traditional chokes rather than the fancy ones of the Extreme6, but what"s not apparent is whether or not this will affect overclocking. ASRock rates the Extreme6"s chokes at 60A & traditional chokes at 20A, but their math still adds up to far more nguồn than our bộ vi xử lý core i7-6700K needs to lớn sustain a solid overclock.
ASRock added a switch for selecting between the two firmware ICs without advertising the feature, và even its manual shows three jumper pins there. Overclockers should enjoy the extra convenience of the switch and, should they somehow corrupt both ROMs, also enjoy that ASRock"s ROMs are socket-mounted.
The Extreme4"s onboard extras consist primarily of a nguồn button, a reset button, và a two-digit status code display. We also find a Thunderbolt upgrade thẻ header & a PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 connector, both of which have become fairly common on mid-priced Z170 motherboards.
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Layout is pleasing, with the "missing" expansion slot located under the upper PCIe x16 slot where it would likely be covered by a graphics cooler anyway, a USB 3.0 front-panel header located at the front edge above the uppermost slot, & an EPS12V power nguồn connector pushed far away from most bulky CPU coolers. Users with poorly-designed cases might have trouble getting their front-panel audio cables lớn reach the bottom-rear corner, but they should blame their case manufacturer for that.
