ASRock Unveils X99 Extreme4 and X99 Extreme6

[btarunr]

ASRock unveiled prototypes of its first LGA2011-2 motherboards based on Intel X99 Express chipset, ready for the company's upcoming Core i7 "Haswell-E" HEDT processors. The color-scheme and heatsink designs are not finalized. Both boards are built in the ATX form-factor, and draw power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and 4-pin Molex power connectors; and use 12-phase VRM to condition power to the CPU. Both further feature eight DDR4 DIMM slots. They differ in their expansion slot areas. The Extreme4 features a total of four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, while the Extreme6 features three, which uses the space saved to drop in two storage slots, an Ultra-M.2 (x4 link layer) and an mSATA. The Extreme6 offers two Intel-made GbE connections, while the Extreme4 offers just one.



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[The Von Matrices]

Does anyone know what the port directly below the CPU socket of the Extreme6 is?

The Extreme4 features a total of four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, while the Extreme6 features three, which uses the space saved to drop in two storage slots, an Ultra-M.2 (x4 link layer) and an mSATA.

Both boards have "Ultra" M.2 sockets. The Extreme6 drops one of the PCIe x16 slots in favor of what looks like mPCIe. I'm betting mPCIe and not mSATA since that would fit the WiFi card that ASRock typically offers on their Extreme6 boards.

Also, what a horrible place for a vertical USB port.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Does anyone know what the port directly below the CPU socket of the Extreme6 is?

It is a JIG socket for motherboard debugging and diagnostic.

 

[SaltyFish]

I guessed they finally decided to drop legacy PCI. Unless it's being covered by that big blue sticker, the Extreme4 board looks to be missing the battery backup. Can't say the Molex power slot on that looks well placed either. Otherwise, looks to be nice offering.

I wonder if AsRock will follow up with an mATX version as well like what they did for X79.