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To test the ASRock Z87 OC Formula, we paired it with an Intel Core i7 4770K processor and 8GB of 2133MHz memory from Patriot. We will be outlining the ASRock Z87 OC Formula motherboard's performance with the Core i7 4770K CPU at its stock frequency of 3.5GHz and when overclocked to 4.5GHz.
We will be comparing the ASRock Z87 OC Formula motherboard's performance to that of five other Z87 motherboards. All motherboards are partnered with identical hardware and software, so the results are directly comparable.
By default, the ASRock Z87 OC Formula motherboard forces the 4770K to a constant 3.9GHz. This will be displayed as the ‘stock’ setting. The board used a high CPU VCore of 1.280V at stock which had a clear impact on temperatures.
Motherboard Test System:
- Processor: Intel Core i7 4770K 3.50GHz.
- Memory: 8GB Patriot Viper Xtreme Division 2 2133MHz.
- Graphics Card: nVidia GTX 760 2GB.
- System Drive: 500GB Samsung 840 Series SSD.
- CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i.
- Case: NZXT Phantom 630.
- Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W.
- Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.
Compared Z87 Motherboard(s):
- ASRock Z87 OC Formula (BIOS 1.60 – newest).
- ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac (BIOS v1.70).
- Asus Maximus VI Extreme (BIOS 0711).
- Asus Maximus VI Hero (BIOS 0711).
- Gigabyte Z87-D3HP (BIOS F4).
- MSI Z87 XPower (BIOS v1.0).
Settings:
- ASRock Z87 OC Formula BIOS v1.60.
- GeForce 320.49 VGA drivers.
- Intel 9.4.0.1017 chipset drivers.
Software Suite:
- 3DMark
- 3DMark 11
- PCMark 8
- Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0
- SiSoft Sandra 2013 SP4
- Cinebench 11.5 64 bit
- Super Pi
- VLC Media Player 2.0.7
- CyberLink Media Espresso 6.7
- HandBrake 0.9.9
- ATTO
- Battlefield 3
- Metro 2033
- Sleeping Dogs
wow that is awesome, looks stunning too!
This board looks great – good price point too, which I always like with ASROCK. plenty of detail luke, thanks for review
I just ordered one, hard to find here though, they need to work on their distribution
They are always well priced, they dont seem any worse than MSI, GB or ASUS either in my own tests, but it all depends on what board you get I guess.
Not the Formula I am looking forward to but I might go with this after trying out Asrock’s Fatal1ty Z77 and loving it. Not to mention that 9.5 rating.
That fan though >.<
It's forcing me to wait for the other Formula (VI) before I can decide.
Thanks for the review ^^
Got the ac version of this from Overclockers abour four weeks ago. Just waiting on my custom cable extensions to arrive from Pexon to get my build started. If it is half as good as my X79Extreme11 in my main rig it will be epic
Hi Luke,… was wondering. Is the PLX8605 embedded on the Z87 OC Formula AC driven from the CPU? or is it driven from the extra PCIe lanes provided by the Z87 Chipset? (I’m guessing from the lane configurations that it is the Z87? which would mean you could operate 2-way SLI without any latency?……) Thanks for any help you can provide.