ASRock 990FX Extreme4 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Runs the AMD 8350 CPU with 16 gig of 21333 speed flawless. Use after market CPU fan runs cool OC 4300 OC turbo 4400. Use SSD drives 128, 256, 480, 512 all 6BG a second and Blue Ray burner. Used Mid tower case with 4 120mm 3 spd fans. Must have 750watt power supply. Used EVGA 4 rail 750 with 10 plugs for bower wires. All apps run fast. Win ratings 7.8s and 7.9s.

Cons: NONE

Other Thoughts: Went with Windows 7 Ultimate while you can still get it. No speed difference then PRO even with Ultimate Bigger Application with more features.

Pros: Excellent BIOS for standard users, and good for tweaker/OverClockers.. I wouldn't take anything away from this board, as it does what it's supposed to...

Cons: Only issue I had, was that I had to press the rear CLEAR CMOS button twice to initially get the PC to boot. I'd read thru the comments section, and found another user had stated that so when the time came that I put together my new system, I tried that and it posted just fine.

Other Thoughts: Ordered quite a few parts together.. Will be placing this "other thoughts" in ALL of my reviews of the parts I placed...
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
AMD FX-8320 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.0GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core
NZXT LEXA S LEXS Case
Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-750 750W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified, Modular Design, Single +12V Rail, ATX12V v2.31/EPS12V
GIGABYTE GV-R795WF3-3GD Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5
ASRock 990FX Extreme4 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
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All parts came as intended, and seemed to work well together. Only problem I've had, has been 2 random crashes while watching YouTube videos. Screen goes black, sound continues for a few seconds, then cuts out and PC freezes. As it's only been twice, and while watching YouTube videos, but not while playing any games, I'm thinking it may be freak accident. Will redo review should I find out anything more..
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Have had no troubles with the board as far as I can tell, and as stated in the GPU review I did, the blackscreen/freeze issue that has only happened during YouTube videos could simply be a fluke. Regardless, I cannot say anything bad about this product or it's performance.
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Final Thoughts - Definite Buy for AMD CPUs that are AM3+ like the FX-8320 that I purchased...

Pros: Lots of features, works great, has legacy ports, IDE, and a floppy controller on it.

Has more SATA ports than most will ever use.

Onboard debug display and power/reset buttons were nice when I was bench-testing it.

UEFI is easy to use, has lots of features.

Documentation was thorough and clear compared to the poor English I'm used to seeing.

Cons: Mine has a duff USB port, but is otherwise fine. If I plug something into it, the PC freezes a few minutes later. After rebooting, the device appears as "Unknown Device". The devices work fine in other ports. Not worth RMAing since there's so many other USB ports to use on it.

Other Thoughts: Originally gave this board 2 eggs due to Newegg's failure to mention that it doesn't support a Phenom II x4 940. The 920 & 940 are apparently the only AM2+ models in the Phenom II line, which I wasn't aware of. Ended up buying an FX8350 for it.

Some other things to note about it:

I was getting error 0d after assembly, which the manual says isn't valid ("Reserved for future AMI codes"). Clear the CMOS and it should go away. If it comes back, try a different video card.

For RAM, manual shows "Configuration 2" using white slots only. Do that and it won't post. Use the blue slots first.

Shipped with BIOS v2.00, which was nice so I didn't need to update it.

Pros: I used this motherboard on my first self assembly and liked how easy the directions were to follow. The motherboard performs as stated and delievers. I had no issues with mounting the board and putting componets into place. For the money the xfast usb and xfast lan are great additions to the motherboard.

Cons: The directions did lie when it says you can place 2 RAM sticks into the white slots and not into the blue slots. With a noob like myself I was easily confused until I switched them. The motherboard is a little confined on space if you use a massive heatsink for the cpu. Another reason why I placed the RAM in the white and not the blue. The USB 3.0 slot can be finicky to plugin. When i would clean my system and place it back the cable has the tendency to fall out of place easily.

Other Thoughts: But in conclusion he pros outweigh the cons for this motherboard and for the past 2 months has given me no performance issues.

Pros: Nice layout, pretty motherboard, works with FX-8350 and SLI. Nicest packaging I've ever seen on a motherboard. Prompt shipping.

Cons: After two months of use, board no longer POSTs normally.

With no case connectors, after rear CMOS button is pressed, motherboard will post. No debug codes displayed other than the normal POST process. System operates, and will reboot in a normal manner. If system is shut down (powered off), it will not post if powered on from either the motherboard power button or by jumping the front panel header pins. After pressing and holding the clear CMOS button for 10-15 seconds, a metallic "clunk" emits from the board and it will again POST. Having to configure BIOS for every boot is extraordinarily inconvenient and leads to behaviors which are not energy star compliant.

Other Thoughts: Unwilling to deal with the RMA process after 60 days - will probably buy another board and let this one gather dust.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Please trouble shoot the mainboard with below steps;
Turn the power off, clear the CMOS.
Re-install single memory module.
Re-seat the VGA card with 6+6 power (if applied).
Plug monitor to VGA card.
Turn the power back on to enter BIOS.
Set the UEFI BIOS default to check if the symptom still occurs.
If you have any technical questions or warranty issues please contact our Tech Support at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: Lots of features, looks nice. Quality documentation that's not total Engrish. Don't know if it works (see cons).

Cons: The manual states that the 940 (and its baby brother, the 920) are the only Phenom II's that it won't support. Newegg's site makes no mention of that fact.

Guess what I have...

I didn't think to look at the specs section in the manual since Newegg said it'd work when I bought it. It wasn't until my old rig was apart and I tried to move the CPU to the new board that I found this out. It simply won't fit in the socket.

Other Thoughts: I put the 940 back in my ASUS M4N78 PRO and reassembled. If I can find 16GB of DDR2 for dirt cheap, I might just upgrade the RAM and keep using it.

I picked this over ASUS because it had a floppy controller and PS/2 keyboard port.

Still deciding whether to RMA the AsRock or buy a processor that works with it. The nature of the other reviews and what seems like a high failure rate is making me lean towards RMA...

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Unfortunately, mainboard does not support AM2+ (Phenom II X4 940 ) CPU but AM3 and AM3+.
For more information, please visit mainboard’s CPU support list link at http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/990FX%20Extreme4/?cat=CPU
As always, we appreciate your purchase and constructive reviews are welcome.
If you have any technical questions or warranty issues please contact our Tech Support at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: Looks nice, offers alot

Cons: Doesnt work, dr debug code isnt even in the book or website. ASrock support is worthless. 3rd motherboard ive gotten DOA

Other Thoughts: 3rd mobo ive gotten from newegg in a row thats DOA. Gonna have to pay for shipping AGAIN

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Since this is third mainboard having same issue, please check other components that they are working properly.
Please trouble shooting the mainboard for below steps with known good components;
Turn the power off.
Remove the mainboard from inside computer to outside, place the mainboard on top of the empty mainboard’s box
Clear the CMOS
Reseat the CPU and heatsink fan as well
Test with single memory module (non-ECC, un-buffered), try with another known good memory if its same issue.
Video card with 6+6 power (if applied)
Power supply with connecting 24 pins + 8 or 4 pins ATX power to the mainboard
Plug the computer case’s power switch to mainboard's front panel power header and try again
If you have any technical questions please contact us at 909-590-8308 or http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.


Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: Fantastic Mobo, runs fx-8350 perfect. awesome options and an extra fan included to install on the north heatsink.

Cons: Only con is I had to flash the bios before I was able to get it to post. nothing to difficult so no loss of egg

Other Thoughts: I run this mobo with an fx-8350 & radeon 7850

Pros: It "worked"great lots of features.

Cons: Lasted all of three months... Lots of people having the same issue. Asrock customer support is throwing me around a loop.

Other Thoughts: Go with an asus product. Asrock Pcb boards are only 4ply unlike asus which is 6

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Sorry to hear that the mainboard has malfunctioned after 3 months which’s due to nature of electronic product, it can happen.
Please trouble shooting the mainboard for below steps with known good components;
Remove the mainboard from inside computer to outside, place the mainboard on top of the empty mainboard’s box
Clear the CMOS
Reseat the CPU and heatsink fan as well
Test with single memory module (non-ECC, un-buffered), try with another known good memory if its same issue.
Video card with 6+6 power (if applied)
Power supply with connecting 24 pins + 8 or 4 pins ATX power to the mainboard
Plug the computer case’s power switch to mainboard's front panel power header and try again
If you have any technical questions or warranty issues please contact us at 909-590-8308 or http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.


Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: I usually don't give to many 5 star reviews but this board is great. I manhandled it pretty bad and since my stupid cheap case came with a missing standoff I just left one of the more useless holes empty. The front panel or expansion slot usb 3 additions were super nice except not too many cases have external 3.5" bays but it comes with a pci bracket so you can easily use that. It comes with a dedicated clear cmos switch and an onboard power button. Pcie locks are pretty decent too, very secure. Has 8 sata 3 ports, 2 in a different location I mean this thing is loaded. Packaged well. Bios is aight.

Cons: Ugly (doesn't really matter too much), I don't even know what color scheme they were going for, if at all. Friggin' NB fan is kinda of terrible and doesn't screw in that well, the hole mounting it to the heat sink thing is set up terribly if you chose to put the fan on instead of the useless logo. It also makes a little noise but hey, they give you the option. And the fan doesn't lower you NB too much so I might not even bother. The last thing would be the fan pins, they're all at the top of the board so if you're like me and have a lower-front intake fan then your gonna need to use a molex to 3 pin connector or some sort of extension because there's almost no way.

Other Thoughts: Great board came with bios 2.00, its nice because there's a little sticker on the board (bios chip) with the version.