After several analyzes of x99 motherboards it is time to resume the range of Z97 motherboards that really are the ones that most users end up buying. In recent days we have had one of the best selling boards for the z97 socket, the ASrock Extreme 4, which is positioned in the mid-range with high-end details at a very competitive price.

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Technical characteristics

ASROCK Z97 EXTREME 4 FEATURES
CPU	CPU - Supports 5th Generation, New 4th and 4th generation Intel ® Core ™ i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium® / Celeron ® Processors (Socket 1150) Digi Power Design 12 phase feeding design Compatible with Intel ® Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology Supports Intel ® K-Series CPU unlocked Supports ASRock BCLK Full Range Overclocking Chipset - Intel ® Z97
Chipset	Intel ® Z97 Express Chipset
Memory	- 4 x DDR3 DIMM Slots - Supports DDR3 3200 + (OC) / 2933 (OC) / 2800 (OC) / 2400 (OC) / 2133 (OC) / 1866 (OC) / 1600/1333 / 1066 without ECC, UN backed memory - Max. system memory capacity: 32GB * - Supports Intel ® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 1.3 / 1.2 - 15μ Gold contacts in DIMM Slots
Multi-GPU Compatible	Graphics - Supports Intel® Integrated HD Graphics 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. 1792MB shared memory - Four graphic output options: D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 - Supports Triple monitor - Supports HDMI with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096 × 2304) @ 24Hz - Supports DVI-D with max. resolution up to 1920 × 1200 @ 60Hz - Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 1920 × 1200 @ 60Hz - Supports DisplayPort 1.2 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096 × 2304) @ 24Hz or 4K x 2K (3840 × 2160) @ 60Hz - Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI port (no HDMI compatible monitor required) - HDCP Compatible with DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports - Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray BD) playback (with DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports * Intel ® HD Graphics built-in visuals and VGA outputs can be supported only by processors that are integrated GPU. * * Due to chipset limitations, Intel ® HD Graphics Blu-ray playback is only supported by Windows ® 8/8 64-bit / 7/7 64-bit. * * * Intel ® InTru ™ 3D only supports Windows ® 8.8 64-bit / 7/7 64-bit.Slots - 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 (PCIE2 / PCIE5 / PCIE6: Single to x16 (PCIE2); Dual to x8 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE5); triple at x8 (PCIE2) / x4 (PCIE5) / x4 (PCIE6) - 3 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 Slots - Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX ™, 3-Way CrossFireX ™ and CrossFireX ™ - Supports NVIDIA ® Quad SLI ™ and SLI ™ - 15μ Gold contacts in PCIe VGA (PCIE2) slot
Storage	- 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb / s connectors from Intel ® Z97, RAID support (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel ® Rapid Storage Technology 13 and Intel ® Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI, connection in Hot and ASRock HDD Saving Technology - 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb / s ASMedia ASM1061 connectors, support NCQ, AHCI, Hot Plug and ASRock HDD Saver Technology - 1 x SATA Express Connector (shared with SATA3_4, SATA3_5 and M.2 Socket) * - 1 x M.2_SSD (NGFF) Socket 3, supports M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb / s module and M.2 PCI Express Gen2 module up to x2 (10 Gb / s)
USB and extras	- 2 x USB 2.0 ports (ESD Compliant Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) - 2 x USB 3.0 ports (ASMedia ASM1042AE) (Supports ESD protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) - 4 x USB 3.0 ports (Intel ® Z97) (Supports ESD protection (ASRock Full Protection from Spike))
Net	- Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb / s - Giga PHY Intel ® I218V - Supports Intel ® Remote Wake Technology - Supports Wake-On-LAN - Supports Lightning / ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection) - Compatible with Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az - Supports PXE
Bluetooth	Do not.
Audio	- 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec) - Premium Blu-ray Audio Support - Supports Surge Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection) - Supports Purity Sound ™ 2 - Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps - 115dB SNR DAC with differential amplifier - TI ® NE5532 premium headphone Amplifier (Supports up to 600 ohm headphones) - Direct Drive technology - EMI protection cover - PCB isolated shielding - Supports DTS Connect
BIOS	BIOS - 2 x 64Mb AMI UEFI legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support (1 x main BIOS and 1 x backup BIOS) - Supports Secure UEFI Backup Technology - ACPI 1.1 Compliant wake up events - SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support - CPU, DRAM, PCH 1.05V, PCH 1.5V Multiple Voltage setting
Format.	ATX format: 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm

ASRock Z97 EXTREME 4

Z97 Extreme 4 case

Instruction manual, drivers and quick guide

Wiring and back plate

SLI bridge and M.2 connection.

ASRock presents its Z97 Extreme 4 motherboard in a normal size box that is perfectly protected with cardboard and plastic. On its cover we find the " X " logo as it is the highest series of the company. Inside we find a very interesting bundle:

ASRock Z97 Extreme motherboard 4.Instruction manual, drivers and quick guide. SATA wiring and back plate. SLI cable and screw for M.2 disk.

The first thing we see is that it is an ATX motherboard with measures 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm and that a soft bluish design and a black PCB predominate. The motherboard is compatible with the LGA 1150 socket with Intel Haswell / Haswell Refresh and Intel Devil's Canyon processors of the latest generation Z97 chipset. It incorporates 4 DDR3 sockets with a maximum capacity of 32GB at 3200 Mhz.

As we can see for the power it is designed with an 8-pin EPS and 24-pin ATX power system.

To allow efficient and effective stability, it has 12 digital phases with 20A " Premium Alloy Choke " capacitors, Nichicon 12K Platinum capacitors and "XXL" aluminum heatsinks that are blue. After our tests we have verified that it indeed lives up to the expectations set.

We have a total of 3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots and another three PCI Express 2.0 to x1 Slots. The board allows us to install a 3 WAY SLI / CrossFireX configuration that, taking into account the established price (about € 130), is the only one that meets this functionality. To improve the transfer of data between cards and motherboard they have added the 15μ Gold Contact function that increases the base performance of the connection 5 times. It also has an extra MOLEX connection to give a bonus to punctured graphics cards.

WE RECOMMEND YOU Rock Z270 Extreme4 shown in pictures

In addition to the PCI Express connections it also has the M.2 interface . Although many people do not see much sense, we do find it because it allows us to connect a solid state hard drive with a speed of Gb / s.

The Sound Purity sound card is a combination of various solutions (hardware and software) that deliver fantastic sound, driven by the Realtek ALC1150 chip. What are the improvements? Integration of a 115dB SNR DAC, Premium TI 5532 600 ohm headphone amplifier, shielding and interference isolation.

I like that a motherboard of this range incorporates a control panel where we can start the pc, restart it, a debug led and clear the BIOS. It also incorporates Dual BIOS with an internal switch to apply the desired one and an internal USB 3.0 connection.

We have a total of 6 Gb / s SATA connections of which one is designed for a SATA Express connection. This idea and number of connections seem ideal to me. Good job!

It also incorporates the HDD Saver functionality that allows you to turn off hard drives and thus disappear in my system. What is this for? Simply to have a little more privacy, more encryption functionality and save heavily.

Finally we stop at the rear connections:

2 x USB 2.0.1 x DVI and D-SUB. 6 x USB 3.0.1 x HDMI. 1 x DisplayPort. 1 x Gigabit LAN. 1 x 7.1 Sound card

Test bench and tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel i7 4770k
Base plate:	ASRock Z97 Extreme 4
Memory:	G.Skills Trident X 2400mhz.
Heatsink	Noctua NH-14S
HDD	Samsumg 840 250GB
Graphic card	Nvidia GTX780
Power supply	Antec HCP 850

To check the stability of the processor and the motherboard we have used a high-end processor: i7 4770k. Since it does not allow us to overclock, we have passed the tests with the stock values.

TESTS
3dMark Vantage:	P49015
3dMark11	P14722 PTS
Crysis 3	48 FPS
CineBench 11.5	9.3 fps.
Resident Evil 6 Lost planet tomb Raider Meter	1311 PTS. 145 FPS. 62 FPS 59 FPS

Final words and conclusion

The ASRock Z97 Extreme 4 is an excellent mid-range motherboard with great high-end nuances. It incorporates Super Alloy technology with 12 digital phases, XXL heatsinks, 3 WAY SLI & CrossFireX support, 8 SATA connections, M.2 10 Gb / S slot and Purity Sound 2 sound card.

In our performance tests we have verified that at the overclock level it gives a good result at 4600 mhz with an i7-4770k and at the gaming level with Tomb Raider at 62 FPS and all filters activated. Great!

In short, if you are looking for a good, beautiful and cheap motherboard, the ASRock Z97 Extreme 4 is the perfect candidate. Since we consider it one of the motherboards of the year, for its benefits and excellent price of € 130.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ LARGE HEATSINKS.
+ NICHICON CAPACITORS
+ OVERCLOCK POWER.
+ PURITY SOUND 2 SOUND.
+ SATA EXPRESS AND M.2.
+ THE BEST PRICE