ASRock Z97 Extreme6 Motherboard Review

[section_title title=”Introduction”]Introduction

• Brand: ASRock
• Model: Z97 Extreme6
• Price: £137.99 (at time of review)

ASRock are once again proving they are here to stay. With the release of Intel’s 9 series chipset, ASRock have released a plethora of compatible motherboards to take advantage of all the new features. Whether you’re looking for an entry level board just to get you going, or you want a top of the line enthusiast board ASRock are sure to have you covered, they have a number of boards in different sizes and colours including Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX and while the majority of their new boards are blue, it is also easy enough to spot their Fatal1ty range which are red.

Since their split from ASUS in 2002 ASRock has climbed its way to the top and is in fact one of the top motherboard manufacturing companies in the world. They have distributors in over 90 countries and produce consumer, server, workstation and HTPC motherboards. Over the years ASRock have received a number of awards and even cooperated with the likes of pro gamer Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel and HWBOT world overclocking champion Nick Shih to help improve the quality of their motherboards.

Today I will be taking a look at the ASRock Z97 Extreme6. One of the unique features of this board is it has taken M.2 SSD speeds to the extreme with their Ultra M.2 which allows for transfers up to a whopping 32Gbps! The board also still features a regular M.2 slot, 12 power phase design and support for dual channel DDR3 3200MHz RAM when overclocked as well as support NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossfireX.

However, that is not all. ASRock have also added some very handy features for overclockers and enthusiasts in the way of Debug LEDs as well as on board reset and power buttons. ASRock have also added HDD saver technology as well as a dehumidifier feature to name a couple.

Enough of the talk, let’s jump into the fun part! First, let’s have a look at the specifications.