Conclusion
It has come to the end of our review about
the ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6. We started it with a short applause for its
success and still we do not intend to withdraw those words. The ASRock’s
mainboard based on Intel Z77 Express and is designed for the exceptional LGA
1155 processor. It would be a winning battle for this mainboard in the
competition with other manufacturers’ products. They are surely better than
their opponents in many aspects, and they are working so hard to keep improving
their products. However, unfortunately, the same thing does not happen to
ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 mainboard. This is not completely because the mainboard
is not so good or owns too many drawbacks. No, that is not true, it has the
same specifications with ASUS F2A85-V PRO and Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 which are
reviewed before. Moreover, there are many exclusive advantages can be showed
off in this mainboard that none of its competitors has. However, there are
still aspects to be improved and we are about to point out what they are below.
Gigabyte
GA-F2A85X-UP4
Let’s recall every advantage of the ASRock
FM2A85X Extreme6 that we keep pointing out during our review. We do not pay
much attention to the accessories, PCB layout, manufacturing quality and
technical specifications here, because all of these three products seem to be
so indistinguishable in these aspects. First of all, we are truly surprised
when the ASRock struggle to eliminate a common problem of the AMD Turbo Core
technology, which cause the reduction of the clock rate of the Socket FM2
processor to under the nominal level at the high loads. The processor frequency
multiplier will not fall under high load not only when overclocked by the “ASRock
X-Boost” technology but also when you simply choose the preset overclocked
configuration provided by the EZ OC mode’s parameter. We are so pleased when it
is able to access into the SPD memory system in the same section, where
adjusting the memory timings is also possible. However, only the ASRock FM2A85X
Extreme6 mainboard can make this information a real convenience and usable
anytime and anywhere. Generally speaking, we appreciate their attention to the
user needs, when the start-up screen is actually a list of hotkeys, when each
parameter in the BIOS is accompanied by a sufficient and detailed comment,
which therefore eliminates the need of manual consulting, going to forums or
wait for responses from the technical supporters. The small and simple Restart
to UEFI utility turns out to be so convenient and useful as it allows rebooting
the system accessing into the BIOS automatically. We wish that all of other
mainboard manufacturers pay enough attention to this utility and introduce such
thing in their products too.
ASUS
F2A85-V PRO
We just mentioned the new function, but in
reality, there are other advantages of the ASRock’s mainboard that deserve to
be discussed, although they are so familiar already. For example, the fast BIOS
updating process by using a flash USB drive and it is even faster and easier
when updating the BIOS via Internet. The board is proud of its very
user-friendly BIOS and coming with a great number of MAGIX Multimedia Suite
software. Now let us list out the discovered drawbacks. We do not like the
annoying sliding locks on the graphics card slots and the non-working fan
rotation speed adjustment function, which denies the benefits from having two
processor’s fans connections, which, in contrast, should have been a strong
advantage. Despite the fact that the fans cool the processor down when it is at
the maximum speed during the overclocking process and when the heatsinks on the
processor voltage regulator becomes too hot. We do not hope that the
Cool’n’Quiet technology to be disabled during overclocking and is not pleased
with the memory timings process. At the same time, we have to tell that the
mainboard allows overclocking our test CPU to the same level that other
mainboards do. It works really well, and among the three mainboards that we
have reviewed on up to now, ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 owns the lowest price, but
it is up to you to decide whether its advantages can exceed the drawbacks.
ASRock
FM2A85X Extreme6 owns the lowest price, but it is up to you to decide whether
its advantages can exceed the drawbacks.
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Specifications
·
Processor socket: Socket FM2
·
Chip: AMD A85X (Hudson – D4)
·
Memory: 4x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM, max. capacity:
64GB, dual-channel; DDR3 2400 – 800 SDRAM, supporting AMP and XMP.
·
Expansion slots: 2xPCI Express 2.0 x16 (1x16
or 2x8); 1x PCI Express 2.0 x16 (x4); 2xPCI Express 2.0x1; 2x PCI
·
Multi-GPU configuration: AMD CrossFireX
Technology, AMD Dual Graphics Technology; Lucid Logix Virtu MVP Technology
·
Sound: Realtek ALC898 HD 8 channel
·
Network: Realtek RTL8111E Gigabit Ethernet
controller
·
USB: 3.0 AMD A85X + ASMedia AS1042
·
Fans: 6 fans in total, two 4-pin
·
Form-factor: ATX, 305x244mm
·
Additional functions: two processor’s fan
connections, one of which is 3-pin connection; Power On, Reset and Clear CMOS
button: POST-code indicator; inconvenient sliding lock on the graphics card
slot
·
Internal port: 3 (6 in addition) USB 2.0; 1 (2
in addition) USB 3.0; 1 Serial Port; 7 SATA 6.0
·
Peripheral port: 1PS/2 (mouse or keyboard), 2
USB 2.0; 4 USB 3.0; 1 LAM; 1 eSATA; 5 single-audio port; Optical SPDIF; D-Sub;
DVI-D; HDMI and DisplayPort
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