The ASRock Extreme4-M is a class act of that there can be no doubt. It has pretty much everything going for it: Looks, size and performance by the bucket load. So are there any improvements to be made?
The packaging, while very smart is basic to say the least. The manner in which the mainboard is separated from the accessories is not very good with just a cardboard square acting as a partition. The same could be said of the accessories which while adequate, do not suggest that this is an expensive item. Of particular criticism are the paltry two SATA cables provided. With up to 7 SATA ports, not including e-SATA, the number of cables could be increased. The motherboard manual upon first inspection appears very thick however, when you come to realise that it is multilingual and thus it only contains the very basic installation and setup information needed you do feel a little short changed. There is a separate manual explaining the UEFI BIOS functions in greater detail but this only goes so far to make up for the other short falls. It could be argued that most other motherboards only feature the same essential accessories but these little oversights are what contribute to separating the absolute best from the also-rans.
While writing this review there have been a couple of BIOS updates so the support for the mainboard is definitely there. Whether this will continue long into the future remains to be seen. ASRock however are making some very big noises in the enthusiast market in a bid to improving their reputation so I have no reason not to believe that continued support will be offered long into the expected lifespan of the motherboard. Speaking of the BIOS; the ASRock UEFI BIOS is perhaps the most polished I have seen on the X79 platform to date. While it is not as in-depth as the other two motherboards we have reviewed based on the X79 chipset, it does exactly what it says on the tin and goes to prove you do not always need the multitude of minor adjustments and settings to get the best performance from a PC setup. ASRock have concentrated on building a BIOS that is both user friendly, easy to follow yet complex enough to keep the overclocking community content. There are a few more tweaks I would like to see like manually inputting the figures rather than scrolling through the options and full mouse compatibility would also be nice as scrolling through the options with a mouse wheel can be hit or miss.
Did I mention the motherboards great looks? To some, the ASRock X79 Extreme4-M may look a little understated, especially when compared to some of the more garish offerings on the market today. It does however look very professional with its sleek black sockets and flashes of gold and silver. If you were hoping for 'weaponized' heatsinks or arachnid heatpipes sprouting from every crevice then you would do well to look elsewhere. This motherboard is neat, tidy, understated yet brimming with quality; it doesn't need gimmicks. The on-board features are well laid out with the power/reset buttons easily identified and attainable. Even the CMOS clear button on the I/O shield is illuminated for ease of use. My initial concerns over the X79 chipset heatsink having a fan were unfounded as the fan rarely span up, if at all and when it did it was inaudible. I would have liked to have seen a beefier VRM heatsink as for the 5GHz overclock it needed a fan positioning over the area to keep temperatures under control. My only other complaint would be the positioning of the MOLEX power socket to provide extra juice to the GPU's under extreme overclocking conditions. I say extreme overclocking conditions as for the most part this is not what this motherboard is aimed at but given the performance of the motherboard, that statement could and perhaps should be retracted.
Overclocking with the Extreme4-M was sublime. Reaching and indeed exceeding the 5GHz barrier was an achievement in itself but getting there was much more satisfying and enjoyable than with the previous motherboards we have reviewed. I was left with eagerness in that I am certain the CPU could be pushed further on this motherboard given extra voltage and better cooling. Such is the confidence this motherboard gives you. My better judgement (fear) however made me refrain from getting too carried away though and thus I stuck with 5GHz rather than destroying a CPU with silly voltage adjustments. I will perhaps save that honour for the Extreme4-M's bigger brother, the Extreme9 which is the flagship motherboard from ASRock. Given the performance of the Extreme4-M, it is hard to imagine what the range topper can achieve, such is this little gem's all-round capability. With that in mind it would be quite easy to forget that we are dealing with an mATX motherboard and not some E-ATX, gazillion phase, quad SLI eating monster. Our suite of benchmarks did however tell another story in that while the ASRock may well have been the highest overclocker, it was on occasion out done by the lower clocked offerings. A result of CPU throttling due to the toasty temperatures or simply a performance deficit due to hardware latency? It's hard to say either way but it is something certainly worth mentioning as while the performance was by no means poor, it did throw up a couple of surprisingly average results despite its mammoth overclock, none more so than the GPU benchmarks where it fell short on more than one occasion.
Overall then, what we have reviewed today is, for the most part, the performance leader and depending on your taste, the best looking X79 motherboard we have had the pleasure of reviewing thus far. Improvements could be made to the product as an overall package as for £170 you don't get a great deal of extras which was slightly disappointing. David has however certainly struck down the Goliaths of the motherboard world, or at least shown them how it's done in the overclocking department. With the performance tweaked a little and accessory list improved, it would certainly be a platinum maybe even elite however, because of these minor shortfalls the ASRock X79 Extreme4-M receives the same colour award as its all Japanese capacitors - Vortez Gold. If you plan on investing in X79 and want small form factor, the ASRock X79 Extreme4-M has got to be at the top of your shopping list.
Pros:
+ Fantastic overclocking ability
+ User friendly UEFI BIOS
+ Great aesthetics
+ Good on-board Features
+ LED Debug
+ Innovative PCIe lock/release catch
+ Good ASRock Software bundle
Cons:
- Slightly lower than average GPU performance
- Loadline Calibration can be excessive
- MOLEX Power positioning
- 4 DIMM slots
- Basic accessories
+ Fantastic overclocking ability
+ User friendly UEFI BIOS
+ Great aesthetics
+ Good on-board Features
+ LED Debug
+ Innovative PCIe lock/release catch
+ Good ASRock Software bundle
Cons:
- Slightly lower than average GPU performance
- Loadline Calibration can be excessive
- MOLEX Power positioning
- 4 DIMM slots
- Basic accessories
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net. Thanks to ASRock for providing today’s review sample.