KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
We have reviewed many Z68 boards in recent months, so today we are trying something a little different. Firstly we are concentrating on Synthetic benchmarks with a single Sapphire Vapor X HD6850 installed. Later in the review we will pit this system against the recent award winning Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 build we created at the end of September.
We are doing this to show differences between the budget and ‘luxury' price brackets.
The Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 was tested with a Core i5 2500k running at 4.6ghz. We will test the ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen 3 at the same clock speeds (4.6ghz) with the same graphics cards in CrossfireX, but with a Core i7 2600k instead and 4GB of 2133mhz memory. It is also interesting because the Gigabyte motherboard will be running the second graphics card at x4, whereas the ASRock Z68 will be x16/x16.
If you want to pay more money, will this system be worth the additional cost? That is the reason for this approach.
We are aware that not everyone will be wanting to spend £300 on graphics cards, so we will highlight some of the earlier synthetic testing with a single, budget oriented Sapphire HD6850 Vapor X which we reviewed a while ago. You may also have only one budget oriented graphics card now, but plan to upgrade later.
ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 system:
Processor: Intel Core i5 2600k @ 4.6ghz.
Cooling: Intel XTS100H.
Graphics: Sapphire HD6850 Vapor X (Synthetic testing) & XFX HD6870 Black Edition Crossfire (gaming).
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3.
Chassis: Lian Li X2000.
Power Supply: Corsair 1200W.
Memory: 4GB ADATA 2200mhz gaming memory @ 2133mhz 9-9-9-24.
Storage: OCZ Agility 3 120GB / 1TB Samsung storage.
Compare system:
Processor: Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.6ghz.
Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 CPU Cooler.
Graphics: XFX HD6870 Black Edition Crossfire
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard.
Chassis: Silverstone Raven 3.
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory.
Storage: Intel 80GB SSD (boot) / Patriot Wildfire 120GB SSD.
Monitors: Dell Ultrasharp U2410 Rev A00.
Software:
Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark.
PCMark 7.
3DMark Vantage.
3DMark 11.
Fraps Professional.
Steam Client.
FurMark.
HQV 2.0 Software.
Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Nikon D3X with R1C1 kit.
Olympus E-PL1.
Keithley Integra unit.
Thermal Diodes.
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp.
Extech digital sound level meter & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter.
Games:
Alien V Predator.
Dead Island.
Just Cause 2.
F1 2011.
Lost Planet 2.
Resident Evil 5.
Total War: Shogun 2.
All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform generally under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests games across five closely matched runs and then average out the results to get an accurate median figure. If we use scripted benchmarks, they are mentioned on the relevant page.
Some game descriptions and information are taken with courtesy from Wikipedia.
Very nice indeed, looks great. I need a system upgrade, it kills me everytime I read a review of a new mobo 🙁
Yeah they are really good now, I hate however how some forums have idiots who are ‘experts’ who say they still suck. I have a P67 board of theirs (B3) and it is brilliant, never a problem. hits 4.6ghz with my 2500k no problem too.
x16/x16 is quite rare on these systems. good job ASROCK. bit expensive though isnt it?
This $275 board is meant for triple card multi-monitor setups, and is in direct competition with the $350 Maximus IV Extreme-Z, $360 UD7, $370 G1. Sniper2 budget and $310 FTW.
IMO, if a current triple-CF/SLI setup is the priority and you already own a dedicated SSD, sacrificing the Z68 futures for the $235 P67 WS Revolution is a better deal.
AFAIK, the NF200 bridge/switch is PCIe 2.0. If it is to handle the traffic from 3 PCIe slots to the CPU, then how will do it at PCIe 3.0 speed with PCIe 3.0 video cards and CPU??
Ramon
Why are the first two pci-e slots so close together?
@ Carl. The second slot is the PCIE 3.0 compatible one. If you use SLI etc, I think you are meant to use slot 1 and 3.
Wich setting in the bios do have you change in the bios to achieve 4,6ghz?