Pros: It looks good.

Cons: Don't use this board if you plan on getting memory about DDR4-3400. I've got g.skill F4-3866C18D-8GTZ memory (DDR4-3866) and the board will only run it at DDR4-2133. I tried to enable XMP mode to get it up to 3866 and it just locks. I tried updating the bios to the latest version as of today (4/17/16) and it still just locks up when I enable xmp even after the update. I did some research and I guess I'm not the only one that has had problems trying to get xmp working with memory above 3400. Very frustrating... I'm probably going to have to return it and get a different board.

Other Thoughts: Tom's Hardware said they had a problem getting memory above DDR-3400 to work also. Why does Asrock say the board will handle 3866 when it becomes unstable above 3400? I'm pretty annoyed right now because swapping out a MB is not something I like doing. I should have known this board was inexpensive for a reason.

Pros: I've heard others mention the build quality was flimsy, that the PCB bent with relative ease and they feared damage while installing the motherboard and its components. Quite the opposite in my experience, the PCB was incredibly sturdy and I never once felt like there was too much give.

With the Noctua NH D15, I have plenty of clearance for both RAM and PCIE.

Cons: There are some features I'd love to see, but I knew what I was getting at this price point so I have absolutely nothing to complain about at this point.

Other Thoughts: I was on a budget for this build. My previous MOBO blew out in a lightning storm, right after my CPU fried to a defective liquid cooler. This board had all the features I needed at a very reasonable price.

Pros: Bios with lots of tools and tweaks. The Realtek ALC1150 is perfect. Don't need to add a $100 audio card, which saves U money (which is good as cash).

Cons: BIOS freezes sometimes.

Other Thoughts: The bios can overclock a core i5-6500. Don't need to get a K-series processor

Pros: Looks absolutely beautiful, red everywhere. Ton's of added functionality, and lots of fan headers.

Cons: Only comes with 4 SATA 6gbps cables.

Other Thoughts: I chose ASrock because I knew bclk overclocking on locked skylake CPU's would be very simple with this ASrock's bioses(or however you spell bios plural).

Pros: So I got this motherboard specifically for the Sky OC feature. Downloaded the correct BIOS about a day before Intel forced ASRock to remove it. Everything updated fine and now I can overclock my i5 6500. I'm also booting from an M.2 which is nice (AMD cannot offer this ability yet) but...

Cons: I always boot into a boot manager menu that makes me click on my boot drive. Not sure how to get this to boot straight into Windows 10. Its not a big deal but I'm not sure how to fix this.

Other Thoughts: Otherwise, impressive feature list at an inexpensive price.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Christopher,
Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Please trouble shoot the mainboard whether the issue is resolved.
• Turn the power off, clear the CMOS.
• Connect the Windows drive (only) to SATA3_0 port.
• Load the BIOS setting default.
• populate the other drives one by one.

If you have any technical support inquiry, please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/Support/tsd.asp
We will assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock Support
Tech Support Email: http://www.ASRock.com/Support/tsd.asp

Pros: -Works w/ Windows 10

Cons: - Company removed SkyOC feature for non-K overclocking.

Other Thoughts: - Company advertised SkyOC feature, the reason I purchased not only my processor, but this motherboard. 2.5 months later and the company has now disabled the feature completely. Asrock engages in false advertising and deceptive business practices.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Brian,

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Its on the mainboard page, please download and update the BIOS (2.23) at link below.

Link: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty%20Z170%20Gaming%20K4/index.asp?cat=Beta

If you have any technical support inquiry, please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/Support/tsd.asp
We will assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock Support
Tech Support Email: http://www.ASRock.com/Support/tsd.asp

Pros: Great overclocking and fan control. Pretty. Have had no reliability issues after running the newest bios.

Cons: Required a bios firmware update straight out of the box. I was getting regular bluescreens every couple hours and after updating the bios have received none.

The Killer NIC is a piece of junk. I would love it if it was just a standard network adapter.

Software was terrible on release, hopefully this improves.

Other Thoughts: The software that came with the motherboard was pretty buggy last time I ran it. I was an early adopter of the board so maybe it has been worked out by now, but I was totally unable to manage the fan speed using the software. Luckily, it has a really nice BIOS where I could modify the fan speeds to work linearly with heat buildup. Oddly the mobo was running all my case fans at 100% all the time. I experimented with overclocking and found my comptuer to run reliably when overclocked with the mobo. However, once again the software was terrible and had errors when I attempted to overclock with it and was stuck making my changes in the bios. Since I got this mobo soon after it and the skylake cpus came out, I wont hold that against it assuming the software is updated.

Pros: I thought this board was nicely built being a first time AsRock user. Son picked it for colors and me from feature to price ratio and future upgradeability. This board has more than enough options for my son’s first gaming rig who is turning 11 - lol. Some reviewers noted about board flexed installing the ram but mine snapped in no problem. I did install DDR4 2400 which only read at 2133 at boot up. The bios adjusted that very quickly. I was very impressed with the bios over the past few builds with Asus boards. I assembled my parts, computer booted right up, upgraded bios with thumb drive, installed windows 10, added utility drives, no problems at all. If this board last, I’ll diffidently be looking closer at AsRock when I’m ready to upgrade mine.

Cons: Installing the stock cooler for a skylake cpu, the board was deflecting some while snapping it into place. Asrock should really have a MB mounting screw near the cpu to help with that. I had to remove a mounting pin in that area from the old Asus MB in my reused case.

Newegg being located in NJ. I paid 30 dollars in taxes on my order, since I live in NJ

Other Thoughts: The onboard video uses a DVI-D, The flat spade does not have the 4 pins around it. This could catch someone off guard is they have an older DVI to VGA adaptor and was not planning on using a GPU at boot.

Pros: it has a lot of features, you can overclock non k cpus, it also has a usb type c port

Cons: the board it pretty flimsy, one of the ram slots doesn't work, the ram slots only have a clip on one side and they don't exactly "click" when you put the ram in

Other Thoughts: should have saved some money and bought the asrock pro 4 instead

Pros: Nice looking motherboard, does what it says. Bios is clean and easy to use. Has a pretty good list of features for its price point

Cons: After about 5 months of average usage, died completely, won't turn on, won't post, I checked everything else in case (psu, cpu, case power button, etc) and it all worked

Other Thoughts: Am in the middle of Rma, let's hope for the best

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued ASRock Customer,

Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Please trouble shoot the mainboard with known good power supply.
• Unplug the ATX power, remove all components from mainboard except CPU and cooler.
• Clear the CMOS.
• Plug the 24 + 8 or 4 pins ATX power.
• Connect the chassis power switch to mainboard.
• Turn on the power to check if its get the power.
• Populate the components one by one to test for screen POST if it gets the power.

If you have any technical support inquiry, please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/Support/tsd.asp
We will assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock Support
Tech Support Email: http://www.ASRock.com/Support/tsd.asp