ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Fairly simple to install. No need to mess around with jumpers. Great over-clocking capabilities. Internet BIOS flash through the CMOS w/o OS installation is a nice feature

Cons: This board shipped with 2 bad DIMM slots. Need to RMA.

Other Thoughts: ASRock is based out of Taiwan. Getting technical support is troublesome as you have to rely on existing online FAQs and forums. To file for technical support, an online support form needs to be filled, and it takes some time to get a response. There is also no phone number listed that can be used for troubleshooting and technical support.

Pros: -Looks pretty cool
-2 PCI x16 Slots, For CrossfireX or SLI
-Plenty more PCI slots for expansions
-PCI Express 3.0
-4 RAM slots
-OC'd my i5 2500k from 3.30 GHz, to 4.2 GHz Easy!

Cons: -Boring start up logo. Just a plain "Asrock" in green.
-Other than that, none!! Great Mobo!

Other Thoughts: I got this board about 4 months ago for my new gaming PC build.

Everything I had fit into it great and everything works perfect!

I overclocked my Intel Core i5 2500k EASILY to 4.2 GHz

I started with 2 sticks of RAM, and I'm upgrading that shortly to use all of the slots. Going to have 16GB :)

Overall this is an amazing motherboard. It's pretty cheap, and performs like a baws! I recommend buying it :)

Pros: DOA

Cons: DOA

Other Thoughts: Came DOA, sent RMA, and they claimed that it was my fault that it wasn't functional. Very disappointed to have to leave negative feedback for a company that I thought had an excellent reputation.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. ASRock mainboards are fully tested to assure that they're working before shipped. Unfortunately, due to nature of electronic product, it can happen.
For the future reference, 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
Check the mainboard’s CPU socket pins should not be bent
Reseat the CPU with heatsink fan as well if socket pins are normal
Test with single memory module (non-ECC, un-buffered), try with another known good memory if its same issue.
Using onboard Video (CPU with iGPU supported or test with VGA card)
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: Board Looks nice, features good for the price

Cons: Board was DOA, Asrock customer support is quite bad unfortunately, some of the worst customer service I've ever talk to. I had error 53 as soon as I got the board, getting it replaced.

Other Thoughts: I can't recommend this board. The support team for this product is terrible. The board has well documented issues, which clearly aren't resolved.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Code 53 usually related to memory and/or its controller.
Our customer support always try the best effort to help customers. Unfortunately, that could not satisfy your needs.
Please update replacement mainboard is working fine.
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: I purchased another Asrock MOBO and like it.

Cons: What concerned me was the free 8gb of ram that isn't listed on the memory support list compatible with this motherboard. Why give you something that isn't recomended to be used with the product being purchased? Newegg should have an opt out option on these free tag-alongs. I'm sent these freebies sometimes and have no use for some of them, but if you return what you actually need and forget to return the useless freebie you're stuck for it. Having paid for something you may not have wanted in the first place. If Newegg does have an opt out I can't find it.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

Thank you for your purchase and review. Mainboard supports most of the DDR3 memory on the market.
The mainboard support list memory models are the reference which had been tested in our lab to provide users.
If you have any technical questions please contact us 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 sata III ports, two pci 3.0 slots, pci express, lots of usb 3.0 options, debug tool, easy power/reset button, clear cmos function. very easy to use bios.

Cons: if you need help from ASRock support good luck. There are forums that you can join to try to get help with issues, but it's not always easy to find what you're looking for, and they only contact you by email which isn't immediate which is annoying when you are frustrated with an issue while in the middle of a build.

Other Thoughts: Voltage offset mode is the easiest way to overclock CPUs on this board from my experience. Usually somewhere between .5 -.7 offset gives you plenty of voltage to achieve a stable OC to 4.5 on 3570ks with reasonable temps (assuming you have an aftermarket cooler).

Crossfire function works great, but it is annoying to me that they only offer SLI bridge and not crossfire.

Really, this is a great board for all of the features that you get, and honestly it's probably more features then you even need. It also goes on sale frequently in combo deals where you can get $70 off processor/mobo which makes it pretty affordable given all it has to offer.

Pros: Some good things about this motherboard: Awesome BIOS, gold capacitors (not really gold, but, but still a better quality capacitor than most), and good heat sinks.

Cons: Not really too many. As with most computer parts...only time will tell. My last mobo lasted about 2 years before I bought a newer one (not this one). This is the motherboard I bought for my new build.

Other Thoughts: The mother board has this system where it places extra (?) caps by the CPU to create more power or something. Not sure if I'll get to harness this power, but, oh well lol. You can read the box when you get it. Regardless, this is a great motherboard with an 1155 chip!

Pros: None...arrived dead

Cons: DOA.. looks like a lot of people have recently received dead boards... probably a bad batch of untested motherboards

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
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
Check the mainboard’s CPU socket pins should not be bent
Reseat the CPU with heatsink fan as well if socket pins are normal
Test with single memory module (non-ECC, un-buffered), try with another known good memory if its same issue.
Using onboard Video (CPU with iGPU supported or test with VGA card)
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 http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.


Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: Simple Bios. Lots of sata ports that are angled. USB 3.0 Header. Some cool programs came with it... I don't use any of them though. Board looks nice.

Cons: 3.0 header is kinda awkward looking with cable attached but i think that has more to do with the actual cable being so big.

Pros: 1) 3570k @ Stable 4.5Ghz, peak temp 75, about 6hrs prime95 test
2) 8 month's survival, no problem
2) Reasonably cheap and quality built for OC
3) Z77 chipset, supports Exp. PCI 3.0, Ivy Bridge CPU's, 3.0 USB, 2133 DDR3
4) Offers what I want so that I don't pay extra $$ for the redundant stuff

Cons: 1) Asrock's unique softwares are confusing and even harming. Xfast USB has REDUCED my file transfer from my portable 3.0 USB harddrive to PC. I've seen in it in Win7. I've just ignored it.

2) When I've upgraded my bios, I've lost all the OC settings, all. Saved profiles had been lost. There was no warning about this loss.
It isn't just putting the Vcore voltage. There are other load level settings that assures the stability of the OC.

3) 2133 DDR3 memory support is limited. I've got ADATA XPG Xtreme Series 2 x 4GB, 2133 and I'm very happy with it. At the time I've bought this memory, it had 0 reviews, 0 score. So, it had been a gamble at that time.

Other Thoughts: It had been a very long while since I had bought this MB. I could certainly have written more up & downs about this in the past. I've restrained myself to write this review just to check its long time stability but 8 months isn't actually long enough. If I wait 2 years, then this MB will be outdated however.

LOOK UP the supported DDR3 memories from Asrock or the memory manufacturer's website. Otherwise, you'll be a loser who will give a low score review here for this great MB. There are a lot of whiners about not booting system. Your PC won't start with incompatible memory, unfortunately. It isn't just a matter of buy some hot deal DDR3 & plug it in.

I've OC'ed the CPU and not the memory. CPU OC can be most likely pushed up a little bit more which I've never tried because it won't be efficient anymore. Memory OC room is much more limited than CPU OC room so there is no reason to bother with it in practice. Also, memory OC is more difficult since one needs to adjust its timings. It just doesn't offer any much peformance (otherwise buy another MB and another memory). Video games utilize GPU much more than CPU and this quadcore CPU is already fast enough.

I wanted to run prime95 about 12 hours which I couldn't. It's prime95's problem, not my OC's. It crashes after about 6 hours but Win7 does not crash. No freeze or the infamous blue screen. It's just prime95's fault or, who knows, some driver problem although I've had the latest MB and Intel drivers installed. Anyway, 6 hour test had been enough for me.