Introduction

I covered several boards already, but a couple of board makers still haven't graced these pages with their latest Z87 products. ASRock, still a relatively new addition to my board reviews, although at times one of the most plentiful, is one of those companies. I too have definitely noticed quite a few ASRock users on our forums, and our readers asked that we cover ASRock products many months ago, so I asked W1zzard to touch base with them, and since he did, there's been a steady stream of parts flowing my way from their head offices--we've seen entry-level and high-end ASRock boards for quite a few platforms now. ASRock's products also take their own twist to enthusiast computing, delivering a wide range of products that are designed to meet the needs of nearly any user. Today, I take a look at a new styling, and this new product, the ASrock's Z87 Extreme6/ac, also comes with a new feature focus for Intel's Z87 platform.

Launched in early June of 2013, reactions to Intel's Haswell platform were very mixed. Not everyone sees a benefit in Haswell products, enthusiast and PC part makers alike, so many board partners have focused on solidifying the features of each product segment their product caters to, leading to an evolution in board design I find pretty exciting. I have received well over 20 board samples prior to the launch, and I've picked a few of them to be shown first, over the past couple months. Most of those have been new designs, but older product positions from past generations are still here, and we get to take our first look at one of those products today. The ASRock Z87 Extreme6/ac is a mainstream, user-focused product with a good amount of bells and whistles to help you get a bit more out of your Haswell experience. Are older product positions a bit underwhelming, like the CPUs are? Let's take a look...

Specifications