Monday, November 18th 2013

ASRock Unveils the Z87 Extreme11/ac Motherboard

Amid the heaps of Z87 chipset motherboards which have already been around for a while, there can only be one that rises from the top with its delicacy and perfection. The long wait has ended, here comes the king of all Intel 8 Series motherboards. All hail ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac, the most high end Z87 motherboard on the face of earth!

Insane Specs: 22 SATA3 (16 SAS-3 12 Gb/s) / 4-Way Multi-GPU / Thunderbolt 2
Using out of the world to describe ASRock's flagship motherboard Z87 Extreme11/ac is actually an understatement. This motherboard boasts a whopping 22 SATA3 ports, including 6 SATA3 ports by Intel Z87 chipset, and another 16 SAS-3 12.0 Gb/s ports from the added LSI SAS 3008 Controller plus 3X24R Expander, which can reach up to an unearthly 6.1 GB/s transfer speed!
Graphics aficionados shall also be overjoyed by the fact that ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac in no way lacks VGA connectivity! Enhanced with a PLX PEX 8747 chip, it is capable of supporting 4-Way CrossFireX and 4-Way SLI with its solid PCIe 3.0 slots at x8/x8/x8/x8 mode to deliver mind blowing visuals.

Like every other tiny detail on this motherboard, Intel Thunderbolt technology also gets a facelift! This time ASRock Z87 Extreme 11/ac is armed with Thunderbolt 2 for up to 20 Gbps high speed data transferring. Besides Daisy Chain which allows the connection of 12 Thunderbolt devices, users may also connect their graphics card to ASRock's exclusive DP-In port on the motherboard using a mini-DP to DP cable, and link Thunderbolt devices and monitors with a Thunderbolt cable to get extreme performance of the graphics card via Thunderbolt technology!
A-Style, Reinventing Your Lifestyle
As much as hardware specifications may seem exciting and luxurious, in the end, it's usually practical features that provide satisfying user experiences that really matters. Without question, ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac is built with A-Style features, including Home Cloud for remote wake and remote desktop anywhere anytime. The most top notch onboard audio solution Purity Sound 115dB SNR. And of course the world's fastest 2T2R Dual Band 802.11ac WiFi + Bluetooth v4.0 module, which provides 867 Mbps crazy fast internet connection, plus it comes with an exclusive Wi-SD Box for installing 4 USB 3.0 devices and an SD 3.0 card reader. Other features such as 12 Power Phase design, Dual-Stack MOSFET, Digi Power, Japan made gold capacitors can also be found on this motherboard, making Z87 Extreme 11/ac an epic choice for enthusiasts.

For more information about this product:
www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z87%20Extreme11ac/index.asp
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30 Comments on ASRock Unveils the Z87 Extreme11/ac Motherboard

#1
TheLostSwede
News Editor
Why?

There simply aren't enough PCI Express lanes on that board to handle all the hardware at any kind of sensible rate...

Edit:Also some higer res images


Posted on Reply
#2
EarthDog
I would assume this has a PLX/PEX chip to help mitigate that problem...
Posted on Reply
#3
TheLostSwede
News Editor
EarthDogI would assume this has a PLX/PEX chip to help mitigate that problem...
It doesn't mitigate anything, it's a switch (I guess they change the name of these things and I wasn't paying attention), you can't add something that isn't already there.

Let's count:
LSI SAS - 8 lanes
4x x8 slots - 32 lanes
3x x1 slots - 3 lanes
1x mini PCIe slots - 1 lanes
1x Gigabit Ethernet - 1 lanes
Thunderbolt 2.0 - 4 lanes

That's a total of 49 lanes from a chipset that supports 16+8 lanes in total...
Not a good idea imho...

Also note that the eSATA and the two mSATA slots are shared with the six SATA ports from the Z87 chipset, not that anyone would really care on this board, but hey...
Posted on Reply
#4
OC-Rage
nice

which can reach up to an unearthly 6.1 GB/s transfer speed monster MB

WOOOOOOOOOOW armed with Thunderbolt 2 for up to 20 Gbps high speed data transferring

ready for OC and gaming
Posted on Reply
#5
ensabrenoir
...beautiful board... if the price is right definitely have a use for it. wait..Haswell isnt gonna be a 1 gen like 1156 is it? That'll be a deal breaker. Not certain if anyone would want to run more than 2 gfx crds on this board though. Asrock is making some awesome looking boards though.... but don't get caught up in the bling. So wanna see a review with this thing maxed out to see if it can handle all its "marketing potential."
Posted on Reply
#6
EarthDog
TheLostSwedeIt doesn't mitigate anything, it's a bridge, you can't add something that isn't already there.

Let's count:
LSI SAS - 8 lanes
4x x8 slots - 32 lanes
3x x1 slots - 3 lanes
1x mini PCIe slots - 1 lanes
1x Gigabit Ethernet - 1 lanes
Thunderbolt 2.0 - 4 lanes

That's a total of 49 lanes from a chipset that supports 16+8 lanes in total...
Not a good idea imho...

Also note that the eSATA and the two mSATA slots are shared with the six SATA ports from the Z87 chipset, not that anyone would really care on this board, but hey...
I think one of us are not so sure on what a PEX chip actually does, LOL (also I was not talking a bridge, but a switch)! AFAIK, it ADDS lanes. That is why Haswell boards with 16x native use them for quad SLI...(among other boards that use it).

www.plxtech.com/products/expresslane/pex8747

Also, a Haswell CPU only supports 16 PCIe lanes.
Posted on Reply
#7
RCoon
TheLostSwedeIt doesn't mitigate anything, it's a bridge, you can't add something that isn't already there.

Let's count:
LSI SAS - 8 lanes
4x x8 slots - 32 lanes
3x x1 slots - 3 lanes
1x mini PCIe slots - 1 lanes
1x Gigabit Ethernet - 1 lanes
Thunderbolt 2.0 - 4 lanes

That's a total of 49 lanes from a chipset that supports 16+8 lanes in total...
Not a good idea imho...

Also note that the eSATA and the two mSATA slots are shared with the six SATA ports from the Z87 chipset, not that anyone would really care on this board, but hey...
What do you think a PLX chip does?!
Posted on Reply
#8
buildzoid
RCoonWhat do you think a PLX chip does?!
PLX chips aggregate traffic not actually create more lanes. So if you were using all the lanes at maximum or close to maximum bandwidth the chip would bog down and give you a bunch very slow lanes. Now this scenario is pretty unlikely but is still possible.
Posted on Reply
#9
EarthDog
Right. It shares the original bandwidth, but essentially it creates more lanes (again not full bandwidth lanes that come off the CPU, but more lanes none the less). If a board did not have it, you could not put that much functionality/pathing on a mobo...AFIAK, is HAS TO have a PLX/PEX chip on that board to make that happen.
Posted on Reply
#10
TheLostSwede
News Editor
I know very well what the PLX chips does, but it's impossible to create something that isn't there in the first place. And if you were to populate this board with four graphics cards and 16 drives, you'd be running at quarter speed, if you're lucky...
Posted on Reply
#11
Mistral
ensabrenoir...beautiful board...
I disagree. No matter how the rest of it looks, those 30mm fans disgust me to no end.
Posted on Reply
#12
Octavean
Interesting board,....

I think I'll try and wait for Haswell-E / LGA-2011-3 / X99 though. While this looks to be a great board I question the available lanes too. Something with more native lanes would likely be better.

I'm on Sandy Bridge-E now for my main system and see little to no need to change at the moment. Thunderbolt / Thunderbolt II would be nice (although not necessary) but they keep putting it on boards like these rather then boards better suited for it (like X79 and the upcoming X99),....for questionable reasons.
Posted on Reply
#13
ensabrenoir
MistralI disagree. No matter how the rest of it looks, those 30mm fans disgust me to no end.
Alot of people complain about noise and dust but as of yet, on my x79 extreme 9, it has yet to ever cycle on. And as far as dust goes....i just clean it like the rest of the pc. So untill i hear the whine or see what looks like a small animal stuffed into one..... i'm indifferent when i see them.
Posted on Reply
#14
Assimilator
22 SATA ports? That is bat f**k insane. Is there even a CASE that can support that many SATA devices?
Posted on Reply
#15
ensabrenoir
Assimilator22 SATA ports? That is bat f**k insane. Is there even a CASE that can support that many SATA devices?
MountainMods makes quite a few :D
Posted on Reply
#16
pidgin
whats the point of spending huge amount on mobo when next year DDR4 comes and requires buying a new board
Posted on Reply
#17
EarthDog
Because the performance gained by DDR4 will likely be negligible considering that there are nearly no gains over DDR3 1866 in the first place (in most apps and nearly all games)? Maybe?
Posted on Reply
#18
de.das.dude
Pro Indian Modder
that southbridge will be noisy
Posted on Reply
#19
micropage7
too many sata port but the rest is ok, i like their i/o. all you need just plug it in
Posted on Reply
#20
RCoon
pidginwhats the point of spending huge amount on mobo when next year DDR4 comes and requires buying a new board
What's the point in buying a [insert current gen here], when [insert new gen here] is right around the corner?
Bad arguement is bad.
Posted on Reply
#22
RCoon
tiggerI think putting 22 sata ports on it is retarded
You're just jealous you don't have 22 SSD's to RAID 0. Combine all that bandwidth they share and they will probably be as fast as a single SSD.
Posted on Reply
#23
The Von Matrices
I don't understand the purpose of this for anything other than being a flagship product and just bragging that ASRock can actually design something this extreme. Is anyone actually going to use all the features on this board at the same time?
Posted on Reply
#24
EarthDog
Workstation level boards... is the demographic this is going towards... in a heavily overkill fashion I may add... LOL!
Posted on Reply
#25
Octavean
Assimilator22 SATA ports? That is bat f**k insane. Is there even a CASE that can support that many SATA devices?
Probably,......

Ive seen cases with 21, 3.5" hot-swap bays. I'm guessing the have cases with more,....
Posted on Reply
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