- Intel Z68
- Celeron / Core i3 / Core i5 / Core i7 / Intel Core 2nd gen (LGA 1155) / Intel Core 3rd Gen (LGA 1155) / Xeon (LGA1155)
- DDR3 2133(OC) / 1866(OC) / 1600 / 1333 / 1066
A little more effort = better board
03/19/2012
This review is from: ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Pros:
Handsome board.
Very quick boot ups.
Included USB 3 2.5" front bay adapter
Protective packaging.
Cons:
[Sigh] Where to begin.
- Wouldn't boot up with graphics card installed (HIS HD4870)
- Poor placement of Dr. Debug LED.
- Poor placement of USB 2, USB 3, HD Audio headers.
- Instant boot doesn't work.
- After installing drivers, first 7 minutes after boot up my hard drive is constantly Reading/Writing. Avast Antivirus comes up clean.
- Documentation is weak.
- USB ports are not always active immediately after win7 log in screen appears. I've had this issue with Gigabyte boards, too.
I seem to have gotten most things worked out other than my video card. I'm leaning towards returning it for a Gigabyte.
See other Thoughts for detail.
Overall Review:
- Can't add a bottom case fan because the USB 3.0 header cable (which is quite thick) will not bend out of the way.
-Can't use the HD Audio header for the case because it's waaaayyyy at the back instead of near the front of the case. So I have no sound out from the front case music ports.
-The placement of the Dr. Debug LED prevented me from seeing it when my graphics card was installed and the machine wouldn't boot, rendering the LED totally useless. Should move LED close to 24 pin power or near the back IO ports.
- With Instant boot installed, when I chose Shut Down, the machine would appear to shut down and then instant boot logo would appear over the whole screen and restart the computer. Requiring me to shut it down again.
- UEFI guide doc simply repeats the name of the setting. Ex., "VTT Voltage - Use this to select VTT Voltage". This tells the reader nothing.
Config:
This board
i5 2500K
4x4GB Kingston DDR3-1600
4 Sata II drives
1 Blue Ray drive
Seaso
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- eric f.
-
Verified Owner
-
Owned For:
1 day to 1 week
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