The ASRock Extreme7 Gen3 is a ASRocks latest and greatest high end motherboard which supports Intels socket 1155 CPUs. Therefore it comes with a bucket load of features as well as a lot of accessories. 
The Extreme7 Gen3 is ASRocks high end motherboard regarding Intels Z68 chipset. Therefore we're really curious what they've done from the layout and design perspective.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Specifications / Delivery
| CPU | Intel Socket 1155 Core i7, Core i5, Core i3 |
| Chipset | Intel Z68 |
| Memory | Dual Channel DDR3, 4 x DIMM, Max. 32 GB DDR3, 2133 OC / 1866 OC / 1600 / 1333 Non-ECC,Un-buffered |
| Multi-GPU |
NVIDIA 3-Way SLI Technology AMD CrossFireX Technology LucidLogix Virtu Technology |
| Slots | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 4 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (dual x16/x16, triple x16/x8/x  1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 1 x PCI |
| Audio | Realtek ALC892, 7.1 Channel |
| Storage | 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s Intel (RAID 0, 1, 5, 10) 4 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s ASM1061 4 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s Intel (RAID 0, 1, 5, 10) 2 x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s |
| I/O internal / Connectors | 1 x IR header 1 x CIR header 1 x COM port header 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header 1 x IEEE 1394 header 1 x Power LED header CPU/Chassis/Power FAN connector 24 pin ATX power connector 8 pin 12V power connector SLI/CrossFire power connector Front panel audio connector 4 x USB 2.0 headers (support 8 USB 2.0 ports) 1 x USB 3.0 header (supports 2 USB 3.0 ports) 1 x Dr. Debug with LED |
| I/O external | 1 x D-Sub Port 1 x DVI-D Port 1 x HDMI Port 1 x DisplayPort 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port 2 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports 1 x eSATA3 Connector 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 3.0 Ports 2 x RJ-45 LAN Ports with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED) 1 x IEEE 1394 Port 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED HD Audio Jack: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone |
| Formfactor | ATX (30.5 cm x 24.4 cm) |
| BIOS | 64Mb Flash ROM, EFI AMI BIOS GUI |
| Warranty | 3 years |
Regarding the delivery you find a lot of accessories. Next numerous manuals there also is a 3-way SLI bridge, a CrossFire Bridge, SATA cables, ... There really is everything you could possibly need.
Features
| PCI-Express 3.0 | The ASRock Extreme7 Gen3 already has PCI-Express 3.0 Support onboard. Therefore from this point of view the board is ready for Intels upcoming Ivy Bridge. Sandy Bridge doesn't support PCI-e 3.0. You'll have to use PCI-Express 2.0 in this case. |
| NVIDIA NF200 | NVIDIAs NF200 chip provides additional PCI-Express lanes. In this case it is for example possible to run a SLI/CrosFire setup with x16/x16. |
| Digital Power Design | The ASRock Extreme 7 comes with a digital power design onboard. This enables a more efficient current supply as well as a minimum of electromagnetic radiation. |
| Lucid Virtu | Lucids Virtu software allows a dynamic load balancing between the integrated graphics and a discrete graphics card possible. The software in this case can for example deactivate the discrete graphics card and only use the integrated graphics from the CPU. This makes sense when applications only need 2D compute power. Another example would be a 3D application where Virtu dynamically assigns load to either both the integrated as well as discrete graphics in order to maximize performance. |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Layout
Already at a first glance the ASRock Extreme7 Gen3 looks very good with its harmonic design. ASRock decided to use black as a basic color and combined it with some elements in silver and grey. Especially the cooling blocks look very nice and appealing. The layout in general is well thought. Because of the big cooling blocks which keep the mosfets at adequate temperatures there is still enough space to finally install a big CPU cooler but it might get tight.
ASRock equipped the Extreme7 Gen3 with a 8+4 phase current supply whereas the CPU can rely on eight phases and the memory gets an additional four phases. Furthermore ASRock implemented a digital power design which should emit less electromagnetic radiation than its analogue counterpart. Therefore ASRock claims that the system stability can be enhanced even further, especially during extreme overclocking.
Totally you'll find four DIMM-slots on the Extreme7 Gen3. Officially supported are DDR3- 2133 (OC) / 1866 (OC) / 1600 / 1333 with up to 32 GByte capacity. There is plenty of space to install even big aircoolers and they shouldn't interfere with memory.
Current converters as well as northbridge are being kept at adequate temperatures via a passive heatpipe cooling solution. The southbridge got an independant cooling block which has been nicely designed as well as the other cooling blocks. The aluminium blocks around the CPU socket are quite big. Nevertheless their not too close to the CPU socket which means that this will not compromise the installation of a big CPU coolers.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Anschlüsse und I/O
Totally ASRock equipped the Extreme7 Gen3 with ten angled SATA ports which should be enough for any gaming system or high end PC. You'll also find practical onboard power- and reset-buttons. There also is a debug display which is very useful if you should have issues with one of the components in your system. A feature overclockers will like, concerns the additional molex connectors which can be used to additionally stabilize the power supply for the graphics cards.
Totally you'll find six fan header on the Extreme7 Gen3 which is more than enough, to provide a well equipped high-end-system with fresh air. The fanheaders are located around the CPU socket as well as at the bottom edge of the board. The fact that ASRock equipped the Extreme7 Gen3 with a total of five PCI Express x16 slots made it very likely that one of those slots might be placed at the bottom edge of the board. At the end of the day this really is the case. Therefore, if you place a dual slot graphics card in the last expansion slot this will cover the connectors at the bottom edge of the board.
Looking at the external connectors directly at the back-panel ASRock equipped the Extreme7 Gen3 with four USB 3.0/2.0 ports, two USB 2.0 port, one eSATA 3 Gbps ports, two gigabit ethernet ports, one VGA connector, one DVI port, a HDMI port, a display port and and analogue audio panel with an optical out.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Fazit
| Allgemein | + | - | |
| At a first glance ASRock leaves a very good impression with its Extreme7 Gen3. We very much like the design of this board and it defintely is an eye-catcher. Furthermore the delivery is impressive too. There really is absolutely everything you need to setup your rig neatly. Furthermore there aren't a lot of boards on the market which offer more PCI Express lanes and in the end more PCI Express slots. | - Design - 5 x PCI-Express x16 |
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| Layout | + | - | |
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Generally the ASRock Extreme7 Gen3's Layout has been very well thought. Once more practical are the angled SATA connectors of which you'll find a total of ten. Furhtermore there also are very useful power- and reset-buttons. There even is a debug display which is very convenient in case you should have issues with a component in your system or the board itself. Altogether there are five PCI-Express x16 slots. No wonder that one was placed at the bottom edge of the board. In this case you should be aware that if you plan on putting a garphics card into the last PCI-Express x16 slot you'll block the connectors at the bottom edge of the board. Fortunately you have four other slots to put GPUs in. If a big CPU cooler needs to be placed onto the Extreme7 Gen3 this is also possible. Although the cooling blocks are quite big, there are no compatibility issues. Last but not least, overclockers will enjoy the additional molex power connector which supports the current supply regarding overclocked graphics cards. |
- 10 Angled SATA connectors - Power/Reset-Button onboard - Debug display |
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| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Author: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch