ASRock 990FX Extreme9 ERP: $159.99 | Website: www.asrock.com
Test Machine • AMD FX-8350 • MSI NGTX680 Lightning (313.96) • CORSAIR Dominator Platinum • 2x4GB DDR 2666MHZ CL10 • OCZ Vertex 4 256G SSD • Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 1500W • Windows 7 64-bit SP1 /XP SP3
A
MD’s 990FX and 950SB truly have to go. We do understand that there’s not much for them to add, but we’d like to see native USB 3.0 and PCI-Express 3.0 as well. As it is, it makes it difficult for vendors to make truly inspired boards using the chipset. The CPUs have made some tangible strides in making the AMD 990FX platform compelling, but on the chipset side. We essentially have the same chipset from the middle of 2011, which wasn’t too different from what they brought out in 2010. So if ever AMD was in doubt about refreshing their chipset, we’d like to weigh in 16 The OverClocker Issue 23 | 2013
and say it’s long overdue. That however is a situation we can do nothing about and as it stands this looks to be the chipset for now and forever more. So what are vendors to do then to sell more of these boards based on the chipset? Well, you could either build the best 990FX board possible at a given price point like the Crosshair-Formula-Z or be a little less ambitious and offer the 990FX Extreme9 such as we have here. What may initially sound as a negative experience is actually nothing of the sort. You see, we are fully aware of the limitations that are imposed on vendors in as far as making truly compelling motherboards for the platform, but we do believe there are some things that can and should be done to help differentiate the boards more overtly. On the Exteme9, we have what can only be considered a high end board, but sadly one that doesn’t come to the party with all the toys it could
have had. We levelled similar criticisms at the Formula-Z but here they are that much more pronounced and needed we might add. Before we even get into the performance and all things related, we’d like to say that on a premium product such as this. We expect to have everything useful that is on a Fatal1ty board, with the sole distinction being that this board actually works. For all intents and purposes, this is a much better motherboard and as such we expected more. For instance, a dedicated audio controller would have done the trick, one with all the bells and whistles as found on the X79 Fatal1ty Champion board. We’d have also appreciated a Wi-Fi dongle, PCI-Express DIP switch or perhaps voltage measuring points. In other words, we’d have liked to see a board that’s a little more featured, if only because the native platform is so barren. Performance then is as you’d expect, because the Extreme9 Is slower than the ASUS