ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 FM2 AMD A85X (Hudson D4) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: None.

Cons: Failing USB ports
Intermittent issues with D-sub and USB ports.
Failed to recognise my RAM as dual channel in either slot combination. RAM passes diagnostic tests. EFI had default settings, aside from activation of an XMP profile for 1866 MHz effective speed.
Above issues began occuring after .
Can't be sure when this mobo will fail.
Support was most unhelpful.

Other Thoughts: I'm a PC hobbyist so I understand computers aren't perfect. But this experience has pushed my patience beyond its limits. I desperately needed a modern motherboard in order to keep up with 3 self study courses. Otherwise I risk failing. Properly working hardware is of utmost importance to me and I entrusted that task to ASRock. Unfortunately I was let down. I really wanted to like them.
I contacted newegg about an RMA and was referred to ASRock, who then referred me back to newegg. I did my part as the customer, explaining my issues and wasn't helped. (Though let me be clear. Newegg's customer service was fine).
I simply can not afford to dawdle, yet I'm doing just this.
And let me also note that even if an RMA is possible, I'm very wary of trusting ASRock.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
For the issue, please download and update the latest BIOS at link "http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A85X%20Extreme6/?cat=Download&os=BIOS".
Set the UEFI BIOS default.
Insatll memoty A1 and B1 or A2 and B2 slot to check if its enable the dual channel.
For returning within 30 days, please refer to Newegg return policy.
If you have any technical issues or warranty questions 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: Nice extra features
Seems 100% stable
Even with my non-clean installation/migration
Overclocked 2 diff CPU's both AOK

Cons: None at this price

Other Thoughts: My first non-A**s board in at least 7 years.
Purchased as it was the only reliable looking full size ATX board that was under 100 bones.
Has a 3 year warranty some of the competition had less.
Great stability and reliability

Pros: Nice looking, easy to work with, not exactly cheap but not very expensive, simple but neat package, you get exactly what you pay for...

Cons: None that I can think of...

Other Thoughts: Certainly NOT worth docking an egg, nor even listing as a con, and probably not something that's gonna bother people with experience, but the BIOS, which is nice enough to have basic shining stars animation, is not nice enough to illuminate or underline in any way the menu you are navigating into... I think inexperienced people may get confused or have a hard time finding their way around - at first, that is, until they get the hang of it.

Pros: None, never got it to work

Cons: Dead on arrival. Received a few boot errors via the LED on the board and then that stopped working, too. Tried all combinations of memory slots and anything else I could think of, no dice.

Other Thoughts: Haven't used ASRock, but RMA'd it and ordered the ASUS F2A85-V PRO FM2. Sorry ASRock, strike one you're out, don't have time to be without a box as I'm pulling components from my old in into this.

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;
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.
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: Tom's Hardware approved, Great Price, Everything you'll ever need in a motherboard!

Cons: Ordered two of these, and one of them was DOA out of the box. It never posted at all. Thanks to Newegg though, they gave me an RMA without a question, and a replacement is a few days away!! Once again Newegg, thanks, YOU RAWK!!!!

Other Thoughts: All the bells and whistles and then some, all rolled up into one lean mean fighting machine! Got my A10 5800 clocked at 4.0 ghz, with turbo on, and turbo is set at 4.4 ghz. I haven't experienced so much as a burp, much less a hiccup out of it yet! Once i figured out the settings on the board, I realized that the best and easiest way for me to effectively overclock it was to utilize the unlocked multiplier of the black edition die. I believe that i could push it a little higher without issue on the stock fan, but i'd rather let it break in for a while before I try to coax a little more speed out of her. Funny thing is that this isn't even a gaming machine for me, it's a HDCP total media center that I built. It's in a Moneual 972 black case. I have a Blu-Ray player in it, 16 gig of AMD Radeon RG 2133 Gamer series ram in it, and I have a Silicondust HD Homerun Prime as my tv tuner. With Windows 7 Ultimate as my operating system so i can join my home domain, this machine is able to take anything i have cared to throw at it without even thinking about cracking a sweat. It really makes for a nice piece of equipment in the entertainment rack indeed. Thanks Newegg, YOU RAWK!

Pros: Great features
Great price
Looks good

Cons: The USB 3.0 header appears to be faulty

Other Thoughts: I've spent some time trying to troubleshoot why my front panel USB ports wouldn't work with this board but never could figure it out. I had power to the ports but no data transfer of any kind. I couldn't even get the computer to recognize that a device had been plugged in. I updated all drivers through Asrocks website, but it didn't make a difference. The rear 3.0 ports on the I/O work perfectly fine. I eventually gave up and used a 3.0 to 2.0 adapter and hooked them up through a 2.0 header on the board. I believe the problem resides in the header its self and not the drivers since the four 3.0 ports on the I/O work fine and the front case 3.0 ports work in a 2.0 header.

Pros: If it had worked I am certain that it would have been a GREAT mobo.

Cons: It was defective/dead on arrival

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;
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.
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: Seems to be a high-end board, however do the homework.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A85X%20Extreme6/?cat=Memory

Some memory is support in two sticks and others are 4 sticks.

Cons: None that I can see.

Other Thoughts: FM2A85X Extreme6
Tom’s Hardware Approved Award!!!

Pros: Overall a pretty nice mobo, plenty of connections on both the mobo itself and the i/o. Nice looking, seems sturdy.

Cons: My Harmon Kardon gen 3 Soundsticks have a slight hum and occasional white noise when plugged into the audio jack on the mobo. Which is the only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 eggs, though I might even consider 3 eggs for this issue... :(

Other Thoughts: The software that comes with it is not the best. The way AsRock arranged the drivers screen is kind of unusual and is nothing great. The "turbo charge" feature to charge an iPhone does not seem to increase charge speeds.

Pros: This is by far the best sub $100 board I have ever had and the first one in which I have not encountered a single set up problem.

Easy set up, runs cool, no driver problems, plenty of fan headers, beautiful and intuitive UEFI loaded with features. Feature rich board.

This build was an upgrade to my ancient 7 year old system but I wanted to keep the cost down for now so I decided to reuse my case (which I picked up a couple of years ago), PSU and cooler.

I have this running with an A10-5800k, 16GB of memory, 3 flat panels (HDMI, DVI, VGA). Not a single problem! It's in a Cooler Master Elite 335 case with the original rear 120mm fan (need a new 3-pin front fan as the current one way too loud as it's hooked up to just the P/S so right now, no front air intake). Decided to re-use my Cooler Master Vortex Plus air cooler. Idle: 27C / 25C (CPU / Mobo); Full Load: 51C / 34C (Prime 95 for 6 hours) - with within the APU's maximum temperature of 74C. I keep my ambient room temperature at 23.8C. Used Arctic Silver 5 (of course).


APU: AMD A10-5800K Trinity 3.8GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W
Memory: G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 F3-1866C10D-16GAB
HDD: WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
Cooler: Cooler Master Vortex Plus
Case: Cooler Master Elite 335 (single 120mm rear fan from original case, actually using air duct)
PSU: Thermaltake PurePower 500W NP

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: I/O shield was slightly bent on arrival, but, not enough to knock an egg off.

I was, at first, hesitant to try out ASRock... will definitely be a repeat customer.

I'm not a PC gamer but I very well might get back into it now.

Haven't overclocked... yet.