Question 1

does this board have enough headers and connections to run a NXZT x40 water cooler and a couple of fans?

Accepted Answer

The board only has two fan headers. One CPU fan and one case fan. If you need more than that you should look at a power supply that cones with some fan cables or Use adapters from molex/sata to a 3 pin fan connector.

Question 2

Will this mobo support an evga gtx 970 gpu without bottlenecking?

Accepted Answer

The board should handle the card just fine. However, your choice of cpu could potentially cause a bottleneck. Go with a newer, mid-grade i5 or better and you should be fine.

Question 3

I am attempting to use this board in a small Mini-ITX build involving i7-core 4790K. Can someone recommend a cooler that would both not interfere with the closest RAM slot and fit into my case, which, being Jonsbo U1, restricts me to 135mm in height of the cooler?

I was looking at the following item but am unsure as to its actual size.

ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT

Any recommendations and advice are greatly appreciated as I am trying to get this thing ordered and built.

Accepted Answer

I am using the Corsair H100i in my build, it's a tight fit but worked out great. 
Obsidian 250D case
ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac
I7-core 4790
OLD ram 2x4GBRL Gskilll Ripjaw F3-10666CL9S
MX-100 SSD 512G
1TB Seagate HD
Sapphire HD 7870 Dual-X 2GB
Pioneer BDXL 2209

Question 4

I am making a list of items, for my next build. My first build was AMD and this is my first time building with INTEL. So I would like ot know if the EVGA GeForce GTX 750Ti and the
Intel Core i5-4690K Processor 3.5 GHz LGA 1150 BX80646I54690K
 I know that the I5 is comaptibel (LGA 1150 ) But I would like to know what you guys (girls) think of this so far?

Accepted Answer

I just built a mini gaming rig with this mb this past summer. i7-4770 3.4ghz  EVGA GeForce gtx770. I'm very happy with it so far. Setup was pretty much plug and play. I don't see why you would have any compatibility issues with your setup. I would spring for the gtx760 or 770 if you can spare the dough. I have been running games at ultra high with my 770 (Skyrim, Farcry 3 and Arma2 so far). Hope that helps!

Question 5

Does this board have an extra USB 3.0 header to accommodate for a Corsair H100i?

Accepted Answer

I'm not sure how an h100i will work with a USB 3.0 header. But yeah the board does have a USB 3.0 headed for plugging in a case USB 3.0.

Question 6

Me again thanks for your help guys.  Do you have to populate both memory slots or can you just use one 8gb stick  and add another 8gb one later?

Accepted Answer

You may only use one slot, just be aware that if you are using an air cooler with a large heatsink it may be difficult or impossible to go back and fill the second slot with the cooler in the way.

Question 7

Would this motherboard support the Samsung 950 Pro that goes in the m.2 slot? I am looking for a board that will support the full amount of channels.

Accepted Answer

yes but only at x2 speeds, at approximately 1000MB/s. I also have an ASRock z97 Extreme 6 in my 2nd machine and the same 950 gets up to 2600MB/s since that board is PCI x4.

Oh yeah, the same 950pro booted to Windows on both boards without any issues.

Question 8

Is the mini pci-e slot only for the wifi card or can it be used for any mini pci-e card?

Accepted Answer

There is one port on the top of the mb for the wifi.  there is another on the back of the mb for M2 drives.

Question 9

Does this board support full length M.2 SSD cards that are 80mm in length such as the Samsung SM951 512GB AHCI MZHPV512HDGL drive?

Accepted Answer

Physically, no. At the spec sheet, it only supports 42mm. One of the Asrock guys did mention that you can replace the CPU socket back support with a plastic one, and install the m.2 card without a screw. Personally I won't do it, cuz it is too risky.

Question 10

This board has an HDMI in port.  Is this actually an HDMI in port or merely a pass through port?  Can I record using that port?

Accepted Answer

it has an Intel 4600 onboard, specs are below, I would rather use my gtx750 j/s.

Supports Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visuals : Intel® Quick Sync Video with AVC, MVC (S3D) and MPEG-2 Full HW Encode1, Intel® InTru™ 3D, Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, Intel® Insider™, Intel® HD Graphics 4400/4600
- Pixel Shader 5.0, DirectX 11.1
- Max. shared memory 1792MB
- Three graphics output options: DVI-I, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2
- Supports Triple Monitor
- Supports HDMI with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096x2304) @ 24Hz
- Supports DVI-I with max. resolution up to 1920x1200 @ 60Hz
- Supports DisplayPort 1.2 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096x2304) @ 24Hz or 4K x 2K (3840x2160) @ 60Hz
- Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI Port (Compliant HDMI monitor is required)
- Supports HDCP with DVI-I, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports
- Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with DVI-I, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports

Questions & Answers