ASRock X99 Extreme4 Review

👤by Richard Weatherstone Comments 📅12-10-14
Conclusion

It would be easy to dismiss the ASROCK X99 motherboard as an ‘also ran’ simply due to the fact it brings little extra to the table. Yes it has all the main features you would expect of a motherboard based upon the X99 chipset and yes it can clearly overclock almost to the levels of the very best, dedicated overclocking motherboards however, this motherboard costs half the price which is a fantastic achievement and in some ways embarrasses those boards which are more heavily featured. It can do pretty much what the other higher end motherboards can do. Sadly though, this is where the attraction ends.

Firstly, to conclude our thoughts on the aesthetics, the motherboard looks ‘OK’. We really aren’t sold on the blue black and gold instead much preferring the previous generation black grey and gold. We can understand ASROCK wanting to freshen up the design but the sky blue heatsinks and matching memory slots cheapen the look of the mainboard in our opinion.

Feature wise, the Extreme4 has the key attractions of X99 such as USB3, M.2, SATA 6GB/s, Quad channel ram etc but little more. The 12 phase VRM is a welcome addition but in our testing, it did not enhance the overclocking level of our CPU. The remaining features so as extra gold on the connections and Audio Purity are a much of a muchness and are unlikely to sway public opinion one way or the other. They are a nice to have for sure but hardly a deal breaker.

Finally and you may think obtusely we come to the packaging. While there is nothing inherently wrong with the packaging, it does a great job of summarising what you can expect from the mainboard: Adequate. Herein lays the theme of the ASROCK X99 Extreme 4. It is a motherboard that does everything expected of it but offers little else. If you are looking for a cheapo entry into X99 then you should give this mainboard fair consideration because it isn’t a bad motherboard, far from it and it is certainly one of the cheaper ones on the market. Our issue here is that it could have been so much better with a little extra tweaking because there are moments of genius, such as using the BIOS to get your drivers, check for BIOS updates etc but this is let down by the overall budget feel of the product. The manufacturer’s website is also not the best to navigate which only adds to the perception that you may have bought second best.



Perhaps the key feature of the Extreme4 though is the price. When all of the above is taken into consideration you may feel deterred. You shouldn’t because the main attraction here is the price. At £170 / $240 it is a decent price point and while much of the fat and glitter has been trimmed away, it is after all a solid performer, proven in our testing so if you can get along with the colour scheme and do not need the extravagances of higher end motherboards then we see no reason not to buy this product.

The ASROCK X99 Extreme4 is a fair motherboard. It is a mid-range motherboard with mid-range capabilities at an entry level price point. If you are looking to gain a foothold in X99 you could do a lot worse than this as your foundation for your next PC build.

Pros
+ Good value
+ 'Super Alloy' features
+ Easy driver installer
+ Internet flash
+ XFast Ram

Cons
- Dated looks
- Basic packaging




Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
Our thanks to ASUS, Corsair and Intel for providing some of the components crucial to this review


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