• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

ASRock Unveils the Z170M OC Formula Motherboard

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
47,300 (7.52/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
ASRock got around to launching a micro-ATX variant of its flagship socket LGA1151 motherboard targeted at professional overclockers, the Z170M OC Formula. Although this board spreads across the entire area of 244 mm² that this form-factor allows, it features just two DDR4 DIMM slots, letting ASRock spend the PCB real-estate saved on stronger electrical components. To begin with, the board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and conditions it for the CPU with a strong 14-phase VRM, and a 2-phase VRM for the memory.

ASRock is using an expensive 10-layer PCB to minimize electrical interference. Overclockers are treated with onboard clock fine-tuning buttons, next to voltage measurement points, DirectKey auto-overclocking controls, a decoration of diagnostic LEDs all over the board, and manual switching between two redundant firmware EEPROM chips. The HyperBClk Feature is also featured, in which an external clock-generator is deployed to give users finer control over the base-clock. Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (electrical x8/x8 with both populated), and a third PCIe 3.0 x16 slot that's electrical gen 3.0 x4, and wired to the PCH. Storage connectivity includes a 32 Gb/s M.2 slot, and eight SATA 6 Gb/s, from which four ports can make up two 16 Gb/s SATA-Express connectors. Two USB 3.1 ports (from which one is a type-C port), eight USB 3.0 ports, ASRock's high-end Purity Audio 3 solution, and an Intel-driven gigabit Ethernet interface, make for the rest of its modern connectivity.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Messages
18,584 (2.68/day)
System Name AlderLake
Processor Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans
Memory 32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MT/s CL36
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio
Storage Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2
Display(s) 23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p
Case Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window
Audio Device(s) Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
Mouse Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless
Keyboard RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock
Not bad at all...Good for overclocking.
Some users might just not like the color scheme.
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
14,170 (3.81/day)
Location
Sunshine Coast
System Name H7 Flow 2024
Processor AMD 5800X3D
Motherboard Asus X570 Tough Gaming
Cooling Custom liquid
Memory 32 GB DDR4
Video Card(s) Intel ARC A750
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 2TB.
Display(s) AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Mouse Lenovo
Keyboard Eweadn Mechanical
Software W11 Pro 64 bit
Nice board, and colours, and with real BIOS chips that are user serviceable.
 
Joined
Apr 16, 2010
Messages
2,070 (0.39/day)
System Name iJayo
Processor i7 14700k
Motherboard Asus ROG STRIX z790-E wifi
Cooling Pearless Assasi
Memory 32 gigs Corsair Vengence
Video Card(s) Nvidia RTX 2070 Super
Storage 1tb 840 evo, Itb samsung M.2 ssd 1 & 3 tb seagate hdd, 120 gig Hyper X ssd
Display(s) 42" Nec retail display monitor/ 34" Dell curved 165hz monitor
Case O11 mini
Audio Device(s) M-Audio monitors
Power Supply LIan li 750 mini
Mouse corsair Dark Saber
Keyboard Roccat Vulcan 121
Software Window 11 pro
Benchmark Scores meh... feel me on the battle field!
....when i see beautiful boards like this.......i have an over whelming...yet totally unjustified... desire to build something with it.
 
Joined
Sep 16, 2015
Messages
48 (0.01/day)
System Name Project Clockwerk
Processor Xeon E5-2687W v4 (ES)
Motherboard ASRock X99E-ITX/ac
Cooling Cooler Master Seidon 240P
Memory HyperX Fury DDR4 2x16GB 2400MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 1080 G1
Storage Samsung SM961 128GB / 850EVO 250GB / Seagate 2TB
Display(s) ASUS MG278Q / BenQ HT1075
Case "CW-A" custom ITX case, 14L, 120mm+240mm cooling, full length GPU, 2x standard 5.25" bay
Audio Device(s) "Almagest" custom PC-Fi system, I2SoverUSB interface + DSD1796 based DAC + 3-level amp
Power Supply SilverStone SX600-G
Mouse Corsair Scimitar RGB
Keyboard Cherry G80-3000 red / CM Storm Quick Fire TK red
Software Design suites from Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk and MathWorks.
So this is the board that drives 6700K to the world record for now... been waiting for 3 months :)
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2012
Messages
1,927 (0.43/day)
Location
UK
System Name TITAN Slayer / CPUCannon / MassFX
Processor i7 5960X @ 4.6Ghz / i7 3960x @5.0Ghz / FX6350 @ 4.?Ghz
Motherboard Rampage V Extreme / Rampage IV Extreme / MSI 970 Gaming
Cooling Phanteks PHTC14PE 2.5K 145mm TRs / Custom waterloop / Phanteks PHTC14PE + 3K 140mm Noctuas
Memory Crucial 2666 11-13-13-25 1.45V / G.skill RipjawsX 2400 10-12-12-34 1.7V / Crucial 2133 9-9-9-27 1.7V
Video Card(s) 3 Fury X in CF / R9 Fury 3840 cores 1145/570 1.3V / Nothing ATM
Storage 500GB Crucial SSD and 3TB WD Black / WD 1TB Black(OS) + WD 3TB Green / WD 1TB Blue
Display(s) LG 29UM67 80Hz/Asus mx299q 2560x1080 @ 84Hz / Asus VX239 1920x1080 @60hz
Case Dismatech easy v3.0 / Xigmatek Alfar (Open side panel)
Audio Device(s) M-audio M-track / realtek ALC 1150
Power Supply EVGA G2 1600W / CoolerMaster V1000 / Seasonic 620 M12-II
Mouse Mouse in review process/Razer Naga Epic 2011/Razer Naga 2014
Keyboard Keyboard in review process / Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2014/Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2011
Software Windows 7 Ultimate / Windows 7 ultimate / Windows 7 ultimate
Benchmark Scores cinebench 15.41 3960x @ 5.3ghz Wprime32m 3.352 3960x @ 5.25ghz Super PI 32m: 6m 42s 472ms @5.25ghz
glad I didn't get the impact. I hope this will be less than the big OCF.
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Messages
270 (0.06/day)
Location
Canada
System Name custom
Processor intel i7 9700
Motherboard asrock taichi z370
Cooling EK-AIO 360 D-RGB
Memory 24G Kingston HyperX Fury 2666mhz
Video Card(s) GTX 2080 Ti FE
Storage SSD 960GB crucial + 2 Crucial 500go SSD + 2TO crucial M2
Display(s) BENQ XL2420T
Case Lian-li o11 dynamic der8auer Edition
Audio Device(s) Asus Xonar Essence STX
Power Supply corsair ax1200i
Mouse MX518 legendary edition
Keyboard gigabyte Aivia Osmium
VR HMD PSVR2
Software windows 11
remove integrated power/reset switch and add 2more RAM slot maybe? o_O

also look nice :toast:
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
19,372 (3.54/day)
Benchmark Scores Faster than yours... I'd bet on it. :)
Most people are fine with 16/32GB anyway... (2x8/16GB). That said, the point of the board is to 'extreme' overclock. Using 2 DIMMs is, typically, a lot easier on the IMC than 4 DIMMs allow for higher clockspeeds on the memory. If you know what the board is made for (extreme overclocking) then it makes complete sense why they went this route.
 
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
336 (0.08/day)
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
468 (0.10/day)
Location
Lithuania
Processor Intel Core i5 4670K @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard AsRock Z87 Extreme 4
Cooling Lepa NeoIllusion RGB CPU cooler
Memory 2*4GB Patriot G2 Series RAM
Video Card(s) MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB
Storage Transcend SSD 740 256GB + WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Display(s) Samsung SA 300 24" Full HD
Case NZXT Phantom 530 + Bitfenix Recon fan controller
Audio Device(s) Creative SB0770 X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
Power Supply PC Power and Cooling Silencer MkIII 750W 80+ Gold
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Steelseries Apex RAW
Benchmark Scores IT WORKS
How many matx users are extreme overclokers. I know that it is popular to build compact gaming systems but regular matx board would be enough
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
19,372 (3.54/day)
Benchmark Scores Faster than yours... I'd bet on it. :)
Indeed...

However, some of the mATX boards have been showing better memory overclocking abilities for whatever reason. Specific tool for the job, I guess.
 
Joined
Apr 11, 2016
Messages
2 (0.00/day)
remove integrated power/reset switch and add 2more RAM slot maybe? o_O:toast:

Adding 2 more ram slots would make this board pointless for overclockers and a huge waste of Nick's time. Two dimm boards are more efficient because of their physical layout having a cleaner more direct route to the cpu possibly even when the same distance away thus shortening the traces. Since the 2 slots themselves are closer together this shortens the time it takes for the two to communicate thus allowing for tighter timings on all the tXXXX_dd settings and the same is true for the shortened distance to the cpu relieving stress fom the imc. It's like a race where the slower vehicle wins because it takes a more direct path, where the faster one has to take turns and yeild to oncoming traffic
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Messages
270 (0.06/day)
Location
Canada
System Name custom
Processor intel i7 9700
Motherboard asrock taichi z370
Cooling EK-AIO 360 D-RGB
Memory 24G Kingston HyperX Fury 2666mhz
Video Card(s) GTX 2080 Ti FE
Storage SSD 960GB crucial + 2 Crucial 500go SSD + 2TO crucial M2
Display(s) BENQ XL2420T
Case Lian-li o11 dynamic der8auer Edition
Audio Device(s) Asus Xonar Essence STX
Power Supply corsair ax1200i
Mouse MX518 legendary edition
Keyboard gigabyte Aivia Osmium
VR HMD PSVR2
Software windows 11
Adding 2 more ram slots would make this board pointless for overclockers and a huge waste of Nick's time. Two dimm boards are more efficient because of their physical layout having a cleaner more direct route to the cpu possibly even when the same distance away thus shortening the traces. Since the 2 slots themselves are closer together this shortens the time it takes for the two to communicate thus allowing for tighter timings on all the tXXXX_dd settings and the same is true for the shortened distance to the cpu relieving stress fom the imc. It's like a race where the slower vehicle wins because it takes a more direct path, where the faster one has to take turns and yeild to oncoming traffic
good. so now i am waiting overclocking world record with that board .o_O:laugh:
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
19,372 (3.54/day)
Benchmark Scores Faster than yours... I'd bet on it. :)
Clearly its not for you... however, you waste a shed load of money on an expensive arse board for literally no reason. We are expecting records from YOU! :p
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Messages
270 (0.06/day)
Location
Canada
System Name custom
Processor intel i7 9700
Motherboard asrock taichi z370
Cooling EK-AIO 360 D-RGB
Memory 24G Kingston HyperX Fury 2666mhz
Video Card(s) GTX 2080 Ti FE
Storage SSD 960GB crucial + 2 Crucial 500go SSD + 2TO crucial M2
Display(s) BENQ XL2420T
Case Lian-li o11 dynamic der8auer Edition
Audio Device(s) Asus Xonar Essence STX
Power Supply corsair ax1200i
Mouse MX518 legendary edition
Keyboard gigabyte Aivia Osmium
VR HMD PSVR2
Software windows 11
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
19,372 (3.54/day)
Benchmark Scores Faster than yours... I'd bet on it. :)
Great. Enjoy Cookies!

Just don't talk trash about the board when it appears you aren't sure what is marketed towards. There are plenty of "beautiful" motherboards for half the cost... but hey, you keep on keeping on! Who am I?! :)
 
Top