ASRock A88X Extreme6+ Review

👤by Tony Le Bourne Comments 📅20-01-14
Specifications & Features
A-Style
- Home Cloud
- Purity Sound™
- HDMI-In
CPU
- Supports Socket FM2+ 95W / FM2 100W processors
- Digi Power design
- 8 + 2 Power Phase design
Chipset
- AMD A88X (Bolton-D4)
Memory
- Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Technology
- 4 x DDR3 DIMM Slots
- Supports DDR3 2600+(OC)*/2400(OC)/2133/1866/1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
- Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB**
- Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 1.3 / 1.2
- Supports AMD Memory Profile (AMP)

* DDR3 2600+ is only supported with two DIMMs.

**Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® 32-bit OS. For Windows® 64-bit OS with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation.

BIOS
- 2 x 64Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support (1 x Main BIOS and 1 x Backup BIOS)
- Supports Secure Backup UEFI Technology
- Supports "Plug and Play"
- ACPI 1.1 Compliant wake up events
- Supports jumperfree
- SMBIOS 2.3.1 support
- DRAM, VDDP, VDDR Voltage multi-adjustment

Audio, Video and Networking

Graphics
- Integrated AMD Radeon™ R7/R5 Series Graphics in A-series APU
- DirectX 11.1, Pixel Shader 5.0 with FM2+ CPU. DirectX 11, Pixel Shader 5.0 with FM2 CPU.
- Max. shared memory 2GB
- Four graphics output options: D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort
- Supports Quad Monitor with FM2+ CPU. Supports Triple Monitor with FM2 CPU.
- Supports HDMI with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096x2160) @ 24Hz
- Supports Dual-link DVI-D with max. resolution up to 2560x1600 @ 60Hz
- Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 1920x1200 @ 60Hz
- Supports DisplayPort 1.2 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096x2400) @ 60Hz or 4K x 2K (4096x2160) @ 60Hz
- Supports DP++
- Supports Multi-Streaming
- Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI Port (Compliant HDMI monitor is required)
- Supports Blu-ray Stereoscopic 3D with HDMI Port
- Supports AMD Steady Video™ 2.0: New video post processing capability for automatic jitter reduction on home/online video
- Supports HDCP with DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort Ports
- Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort Ports

*Only FM2+ APU can support up to 4096x2160 resolution display via HDMI port.

Audio
- 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec)
- Premium Blu-ray Audio support
- Supports Purity Sound™
- 115dB SNR DAC with differential amplifier
- TI NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier (Supports up to 600 ohm headsets)
- Direct Drive Technology
- EMI shielding cover
- PCB isolate shielding
- Supports DTS Connect

LAN
- PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
- Qualcomm Atheros AR8171
- Supports Qualcomm Atheros Security Wake On Internet Technology
- Supports Wake-On-LAN
- Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
- Supports PXE

Expansion / Connectivity

Slots
- 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE2/PCIE4: single at x16 (PCIE2); dual at x8 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4))
- 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slot (PCIE5 @ x4 mode)
- 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 Slots
- 2 x PCI Slots
- Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX™, 3-Way CrossFireX™, CrossFireX™ and Dual Graphics

*PCIE 3.0 is only supported with FM2+ CPU. With FM2 CPU, it only supports PCIE 2.0.
Storage - 7 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug

Connector
- 1 x IR Header
- 1 x COM Port Header
- 1 x Chassis Intrusion Header
- 1 x Power LED Header
- 2 x CPU Fan Connectors (1 x 4-pin, 1 x 3-pin)
- 3 x Chassis Fan Connectors (1 x 4-pin, 2 x 3-pin)
- 1 x Power Fan Connector (3-pin)
- 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector
- 1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector
- 1 x XFire Power Connector
- 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector
- 3 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 6 USB 2.0 ports)
- 1 x USB 3.0 Header by AMD A88X (Bolton-D4) (Supports 2 USB 3.0 ports)
- 1 x Dr. Debug with LED
- 1 x Power Switch with LED
- 1 x Reset Switch with LED
- 1 x BIOS Selection Switch

Rear Panel I/O
- 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
- 1 x D-Sub Port
- 1 x DVI-D Port
- 1 x HDMI-Out Port
- 1 x HDMI-In Port
- 1 x DisplayPort
- 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
- 2 x USB 2.0 Ports
- 1 x eSATA Connector
- 2 x USB 3.0 Ports (AMD A88X (Bolton-D4))
- 2 x USB 3.0 Ports (ASMedia ASM1042)
- 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
- HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone

Other Features / Miscellaneous

Unique Feature
- ASRock A-Tuning
- ASRock Instant Boot
- ASRock Instant Flash
- ASRock APP Charger
- ASRock XFast USB
- ASRock XFast LAN
- ASRock XFast RAM
- ASRock Crashless BIOS
- ASRock OMG (Online Management Guard)
- ASRock Internet Flash
- ASRock UEFI System Browser
- ASRock UEFI Tech Service
- ASRock Dehumidifier Function
- ASRock Easy RAID Installer
- ASRock Easy Driver Installer
- ASRock Interactive UEFI
- ASRock Fast Boot
- ASRock X-Boost
- ASRock Restart to UEFI
- ASRock USB Key
- ASRock FAN-Tastic Tuning
- Hybrid Booster:
- ASRock U-COP

Support CD
- Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar, Start8 (30 days trial)

Accessories
- Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
- 4 x SATA Data Cables

Hardware Monitor
- CPU temperature sensing
- Chassis temperature sensing
- CPU Fan Tachometer
- Chassis Fan Tachometer
- CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan
- CPU/Chassis Fan multi-speed control
- CASE OPEN detection
- Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, Vcore

Form Factor
- ATX Form Factor
- Premium Gold Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality conductive polymer capacitors)

OS
- Microsoft® Windows® 8.1 32-bit / 8.1 64-bit / 8 32-bit / 8 64-bit / 7 32-bit / 7 64-bit

Certifications
- FCC, CE, WHQL
- ErP/EuP ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)


Home Cloud - Remote Desktop Anytime, Anywhere
This motherboard supports Security Wake On Internet Technology with the onboard Qualcomm® Atheros® LAN, so you can connect with your PC from anywhere in the world. You will be able to power your PC on or turn it off, monitor and take control of it remotely with another smartphone, tablet or computer.

Imagine yourself as a desperado riding into the sunset, an outcast of the society exiled from your country, or simply at the groceries two blocks away from home. You miss your personal computer so much and you'll need Home Cloud for the following real world scenarios:

Mail
Keep your stored mail near at hand whenever you need it.

Multimedia
Stream your secret stash of vids, music and pics.

TV
Watch your favorite local TV programs by connecting to your PC.

Documents
Access or send files remotely anywhere.

Monitor
Keep an eye on your pets or children when you are away from home.



Purity Sound™ - Bask in the Music
Purity Sound is a combination of several hardware, software audio solutions and technologies that will satisfy even the pickiest audiophiles. Including 7.1 CH HD audio with Realtek ALC1150 audio codec, 115dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier, TI® 5532 Premium Headset Amplifier which supports up to 600 ohm headphones, cap less Direct Drive technology, EMI shielding cover, PCB isolate shielding and support for DTS Connect.

Purity Sound™ brings you:
- 115dB SNR
- Excellent Bass
- Less Sound Distortion
- More Details
- Supports up to 600ohm headphones

Traditional Audio Solution:
- 110dB SNR
- Poor Bass
- More Sound Distortion
- Less Details
- Does not support high impedance headphones

This frequency response chart was tested with 32 ohm normal headphones. It indicates how traditional audio solution’s frequency response drops drastically at low frequencies. Compared to traditional audio solution’s (2.0dB) at 20 Hz bass low freq area, Purity Sound™ still maintains its frequency response (0.4dB) and provides better bass with the TI® NE5532 amplifier, improving the bass quality by 20% (1.6dB)!

HDMI-In - The Smart Way to Connect Your Devices
Tired of constantly switching devices to connect to your one and only monitor? From now on just connect the monitor to your motherboard, and connect your secondary device (such as a PS3 or Xbox) to the motherboard’s HDMI-In port. With HDMI-In users may conveniently toggle between the computer’s screen and the secondary device’s screen with a hotkey, or even use their secondary device without powering on the computer.

FM2/FM2+ APU Support
This motherboard is compatible with both AMD FM2 and FM2+ APUs. Please note that some new features may be only supported by FM2+ APUs.

Premium Gold Caps
This motherboard uses Premium Gold Caps that are 100% made in Japan. These solid capacitors are sleek, high gloss caps with a premium gold coating that represents its long lasting durability and ultra stable performance.

Digi Power
More Precise, More Efficient
Unlike traditional motherboards that use analog power, this motherboard uses a next generation digital PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) design, which provides CPU Vcore voltage more efficiently and smoothly, so that the stability and lifespan of the motherboard is greatly enhanced.

8+2 Power Phase Design
Designed with a 8+2 Power Phase design, this motherboard features sturdy components and completely smooth power delivery to the CPU. Hence, this motherboard offers unmatched overclocking capabilities with the best system stability, plus enhanced performance with the lowest temperature for advanced gamers and extreme overclockers.

4K/2K
4K is a new standard for display resolutions with a minimum of 3840 x 2160 pixels, which is twice the horizontal and vertical resolution of the 1080p format and four times as many pixels overall. Get ready to lose yourself in this eye popping virtual reality.

* Only FM2+ APU can support up to 4096 x 2160 resolution display via HDMI port.

Quad Monitor
Graphics, graphics and even more graphics! You've demanded for more eye candy, so this motherboard supports Quad Monitor. You may choose up to four display interfaces from the rear i/o to connect monitors and use them simultaneously without installing another graphics card.

Next-Gen PCI-E 3.0 Support
This ASRock motherboard supports the Next-Gen PCI-E 3.0! PCI Express 3.0 can maximize the bandwidth of the next-gen PCI Express 3.0 VGA cards, thus providing ultimate graphics performance.

Get PCI-E 3.0 Benefits
• Higher bit rate - 8.0GT/s
• Higher bandwidth per lane - 1GB/s
• Higher efficiency - 98.5% encoding efficiency
• 100% backward compatible with previous PCI-E 2.0 / 1.0 standard

PCI-E architecture Raw bit rate Bandwidth per lane per direction Encoding Efficiency
PCI-E 2.0 5.0GT/s 500MB/s 80%
PCI-E 3.0 8.0GT/s 1GB/s 98.5%

Note: PCI-E 3.0 supported with FM2+ APUs

A-Tuning
A-Tuning is ASRock's multi purpose software suite with a new interface, more new features and improved utilities, including EZ OC, Auto Tuning, XFast 555, OC Tweaker, System Browser, Live Update, Tech Service and a whole lot more!

X-Boost
Brilliantly designed for smart overclocking, ASRock X-Boost Technology is able to unleash the hidden power of your CPUs. Simply press “X” when turning on the PC, X-Boost will automatically overclock the relative components to get up to 15.77% performance boost! With the smart X-Boost, overclocking CPU can become a near one-button process.

X-Fast RAM
5X Faster for Photoshop Execution, XFast RAM will create a virtual disk from the system memory to boost the performance. For Photoshop, It can even perform 5X faster than before.

X-Fast LAN
XFast LAN can lower latency in the game after setting online game priority higher.

X-Fast USB
USB Performance Comparison ATTO Disk Benchmark 4K Read

USB Key
In a world where time is money, why waste precious time everyday typing usernames to log in to Windows? Why should we even bother memorizing those foot long passwords? Nobody has time for that! Just plug in the USB Key and let your computer log in to windows automatically!

UEFI Tech Service
Contact ASRock Tech Service by sending a support request from the UEFI setup utility if you are having trouble with your personal computer. Users may try to choose the category of the issue they have encountered, describe the problem in detail, and then attach an optional picture or log file for our technical support team.

Dehumidifier
Dampness kills most electronics, so it's a better idea to keep your personal computer dry. Now users may prevent motherboard damages due to dampness by enabling Dehumidifier. When it is enabled, the computer will power on automatically to dehumidify the system after entering S4/S5 state.

Easy Driver Installer
For users that don’t have an optical disk drive to install the drivers from our support CD, Easy Driver Installer is a handy tool in the UEFI that installs the LAN driver to your system via an USB storage device, then downloads and installs the other required drivers automatically through the internet. Completely no CD or optical disk drive required!

Restart to UEFI
Fast Boot is so fast that it is impossible for users to enter the UEFI setup utility during POST. Therefore, ASRock Restart to UEFI technology allows users to easily enter the UEFI setup utility automatically when turning on the PC next time. It is designed for those who constantly need to enter the UEFI setup utility.

UEFI System Browser
UEFI system browser is a useful tool included in ASRock's graphical UEFI. It can detect the devices and configurations that users are currently using on their motherboard. With UEFI system browser, you can easily examine the current system configuration in the UEFI setup without having to open the chassis and take everything apart.

Fast Boot
With ASRock’s exclusive Fast Boot technology, it takes less than 1.5 seconds* to logon to Windows® 8 from a cold boot. No more waiting! The speedy boot will completely change your user experience and behavior.

*The boot time may vary with a different configuration.

OMG
Limit and control your children's time spent on the internet. ASRock OMG (Online Management Guard) technology allows you to establish an internet curfew or restrict internet access at specified times. Administrators are able to schedule the starting and ending hours of internet access granted to other users.

Interactive UEFI
Some people might complain that the BIOS configuration on old computers aren't user friendly enough. Well, not any more! ASRock Interactive UEFI is a blend of system configuration tools with cool sound effects and stunning visuals. The unprecedented UEFI provides a more attractive interface and brings a lot more amusement.

Easy RAID Installer
Easy RAID Installer can help you install the RAID driver easily without floppy drive. It can copy the RAID driver from a support CD to your USB storage device with just one simple click in UEFI setup.

DTS Connect
Tired of listening to crappy audio that makes your ears bleed? Experience high-quality surround sound from your personal computer. DTS Connect is a blanket name for a two-part system, including DTS Interactive and DTS Neo:PC, it is used on the computer platform only, in order to convert PC audio into the DTS format.


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