Good Board - if it starts because :-)

Good Board - if it starts because :-)

Asrock Z68 Extreme3 ​​Gen3 Socket 1155 Motherboard (Intel Z68, DDR3 memory, 2x USB 3.0) (Accessories)

Customer Review

The ASRock Z68 Extreme3 ​​Gen3 - is a good board for those who want more than fast plugs only time a computer together. Nevertheless, there are with him some annoying things that you previously may not be aware, because they do not know and can not really know. I'll be here a a 1: 1 Experience report, for my last computer-Action is now more than 3 years ago. Looking for a "BTX" Board came to me really only 2 manufacturer in question. 1. ASUS, I like their relatively good quality or disreputable as cheap ASUS Manufacturer AsRock Group. The latter end it was purely price reasons just AsRock. That time no AMD Phenom was, (with whom I had really made a Saugeiles system off the ground) was due to the good reputation of the i5 2500K Intel. Especially its SpeedStep Technology I wanted to have, as the Phenom (the first 4 Kerner) everything always ran with full speed and 120 watts degree heat has to be transported out of the housing first.

The case, a not to be underestimated feature of a computer. This should be extremely quiet and still bring enough air to the CPU and graphics and motherboard into the case. I chose the case Fractal Design Define R3 PC housing black. Alone this case brings out internal organization 13 kilos. It is very well made and insulated especially against noise. The fans are damn quietly without einzubüsen performance. A 600 Watt OCZ 600MXSP ModXStream Pro power supply 600 Watt EU - "R" PSU should round out the whole thing.

The installation of the board ran decently smooth and fast. As a graphic still served my old NVidia GTX 260. The hard drives I closed the same order as my old system, and put plus a Realtek 0815 network card. Because it can only SATA devices are installed. I had an IDE DVD recorder, I had quite simply forgotten. :-) What does this have to do with the network card, which more below.

I started the system and looked once into the bios. I did not change anything and started the still derived from the old system Windows 7 Ultimate. And I had never seen working. Windows 7 ran through to the login window, and I could log. But since no DVD drive was available, I had to somehow get to the driver of the enclosed DVD. This I have done on my laptop, where I released the DVD drive on the network. That's why I needed the 0815 Realtek network card (Windows 7 has here been a driver on board). After installing the driver, I was able to remove from the system those again.

I was extremely enthusiastic and devoted myself now the internals. Done right-click in the taskbar and Task Manager and once astonished Bauglötze. In System Celt 8GB Kingston DDR3 memory and Windows lies reported. 8GB installed, 2GB available. Sure, there is a 32-bit operating system is there are always only 4GB addressed, but only 2 GB free ??? So now had yet approach the manual to the board. On the Board itself the graphics from Intel is now and this I wanted to disable. Because I suspected that these branches to memory. In Bios itself can be found then something like "Low MMIO Align" and an entry "DVMT Memory", the existing manual points "Onboard VGA Share Memory" and Intel's "VT-d" I missed the other hand completely. So I put the messages "Low MMIO Align" and "DVMT Memory" on the minimal values, but they are not particularly small-sized and in addition I disabled "IGD Multi-Monitor" and "Render Standby". Rebooting now brought to 3GB days. Even that might not be true actually. So put on the Internet and the problem issues. Out of memory ASRock Z68 Extreme3 ​​Gen3. The answers the questioner always ran out on the memory Compatibility List ASRock. So I looked at this also, and could make no agreement with my built-up bars. Heavy courage I moved into the next computer business, with this list in hand, gave the original construction Kingstonspeicher and took expensive but the list contained bolt home. This I built one and could not find the slightest difference in Windows. So a pure air number.

But that should not be the end of problems.

From disable the internal graphics I noticed the following. Windows 7 sometimes did not start. Here, the following can be reproduced.
1. the PC is turned off
2. Start the PC
3. there is no picture, nothing !!
4. manually stop the PC by seconds, pressing the switch
5. Reboot, and it takes a small eternity appear until the Biosmeldungen.
6. It flashes a cursor, but Windows does not start
7. Restart again
8. Windows 7 runs with the message, it could not be started, high. The keyboard, a Sidewinder 4 is deactivated. But then it is activated and you can enter the Windows password.
9. Now restart of Windows 7 without any problems are always possible

Once you turn off the PC starts this procedure from the beginning. It may of course be that this is due to my hardware. Here however the following was also exchanged. Memory, Zotak NVidia GTX 260 against MSI NVidia GTX 570 and an installation of Windows 7 64 bit.

This all changed nothing!

Now I have only the conjecture that either my power supply with 600 Watt is a bit weak in the chest or here on AsRock Bios still a lot to improve. But that would be a major setback to the power supply. Because my old system that I had gladly called heating only a 450 watt power supply and ran absolutely stable and clean.

If Windows is running once it is running.

Performance tests must naturally be. :-) Why here the results. In 3DMark Vantage Advanced I reached with the GTX 260 (10,500) not the same values ​​as the 3-year-old phenom system (about 11,300), but they were even less. In PCMark Vantage Advanced (11,000), however, doubled the points (23,000). With the GTX 570 from MSI, however, doubled the 3DMark points (23,000). Why I have to say here a very accurate. If you want a faster PC games, which can also use its old processor, as long as PCI Express 2.0 is already available and it is a 4 core system at least. So it is entirely sufficient to replace the graphics card. But if you want to use and so on Video Coding, which was advised a more current system.

Nice to Have: Here you can beat the Overclockerherz a little higher. Because the board is also to these people, sometimes more or less directed. You can pretty much adjust everything. But be careful, other manufacturers can then still one more choice. Here one must also real eye on the prize have. But for the OC beginners this board is certainly a good first start. In addition, critical elements are directly on the board. So you do not need a housing or external switch to turn on and off. Reset, on / off button are installed directly on the board. And at the external terminals of the CMOS reset is also quite convenient button. So you need not necessarily, in sensitive OC stories, panicked, jumpers was yesterday. :-)

// Update 05/05/2012

Since Windows is installed 7 64bit, the full 8GB memory can be addressed. After me this partially eternal annoying reboot the system had abgeturnt properly due to some complications. I sat in the BIOS everything to default. Only AHCI for hard drives I turned on, as this is set as the default on IDE in the BIOS. On the CPU and memory settings I have changed nothing. My Windows 7 64bit now also displays the full memory. Even if "Low MMIO Align" and "DVMT Memory" on default and thus the maximalsten values ​​is set. And the starting problems are currently disappeared as if by magic.

Lucid Virtu: This feature is supported by the Board to a minimum in the Green Edition. Excluding its monitor to an additional graphics card, so this feature is not really useful in games. Here very few programs are supported. This corresponds to the "D mode". The "i-mode", connection to the Intel graphics, I have not tested and I actually do not test before this.

The Commander Rank: 5/5
February 11
Very good product in 2095 Rank: 5/5
December 23
Simplistic and silly Rank: 1/5
May 6
For all time Rank: 5/5
January 25
Does its job 84 Rank: 4/5
May 1

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