ASRock X79 Extreme11 Motherboard Review

1. Introduction2. ASRock X79 Extreme11: Packaging and Bundle3. ASRock X79 Extreme11: Layout and Features4. ASRock X79 Extreme11: BIOS and Overclocking5. Testing Methodology6. Synthetic: 3DMark 117. Synthetic: 3DMark Vantage8. Synthetic: PCMark 79. Synthetic: Unigine Heaven10. Synthetic: SiSoft Sandra 201211. Synthetic: Cinebench R11.512. Synthetic: Super Pi13. Synthetic: CrystalDiskMark14. Real World: Media Encoding15. Synthetic: MKV Playback16. Synthetic: Blu-Ray Playback17. Gaming: Battlefield 318. Gaming: DiRT 319. Technical: Power Consumption20. Closing Thoughts21. View All Pages

Our overall impressions of the ASRock X79 Extreme11 are extremely positive indeed.  We are especially impressed with it's overclocking ability.

We managed to achieve 4.8 GHz using the automatic overclocking feature which is great for those who don't have the time or expertise to overclock the system manually. Often with an ‘automatic' overclocking setting, there are compromises to be expected. Not with the Extreme11.

If you are planning to build an overclocked X79 system we would definitely recommend the Corsair H100 cooler is it does a great job of keeping the temperatures in check.  This motherboard achieved 4.8 GHz so easily that we expect it would do a lot more with a custom water loop.

Even though the CEB form factor adopted by this motherboard isn't a standard that we often come across, we found that it fitted fine in our Silverstone Temjin TJ04-E case which only supports ATX motherboards.

Although it's slightly wider than a standard ATX motherboard, it has the same mounting points so can be easily mounted in an ATX case providing that it has eight expansion slots and ample room to the right of the motherboard stand offs.

One of the key features of the motherboard is the array of seven PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots that are capable of running four graphics cards at x16 speeds providing they're installed in the correct slots.  The inclusion of eight SATA3/SAS2 ports is sure to be useful for those users who want to run a large array of solid state and mechanical drives as well.

It's not surprising that the ASRock X79 Extreme11 is expensive considering the impressive feature set.

It can be yours for a price of £480 from Scan which makes it ideal for anyone who has recently won the lottery.  Joking aside, if you require the ultra-high end features of this motherboard and have an appropriate bank balance, it's a must have.

For the majority of users, though, we would recommend one of ASRock's more cost effective models.

Pros:

• Excellent overclocking performance.
• 4-way graphics support.
• Ten SATA3 ports.
• Attractive aesthetics.

Cons:

• Very expensive.

KitGuru says: A very capable motherboard that is ideal for people who want to run 4-way graphics.

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