Board Layout

ASRock really has the end consumer in mind with the design of the X299 Extreme4. The simple, subdued color scheme and relatively simple design with just a few PCIe slots is directly designed to meet the needs of mainstream consumers wanting to take an affordable foray into the HEDT space.


The socket area seems a bit cluttered, with lots of components under the socket you'll want to be mindful of when installing your cooling. The expansion slot arrangement offers a triplet of PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and a single PCIe 3.0 x1 slot up top for audio or perhaps LAN devices.


DIMM slots flank both sides of the socket, supporting eight DIMMs in total, and these are rated to support speeds of up to 4200 MHz, although more is possible with manual tweaking. Densities that add up to 128 GB are possible.


M.2 slots are offered in two sizes, with the upper one supporting most standard devices and the lower slot offering support for 110 mm devices.


The rear I/O panel offers eight USB ports of various flavors, a single LAN port, audio plugs, separate PS/2 ports for your mouse and keyboard, and a clear CMOS button to round things out. SATA connectivity is available over eight ports driven by the Intel X299 chipset.


The LAN plug is pushed via an Intel I219-V controller.


The X299 Extreme4's bottom edge is rather unexciting. No POST display; just standard pin headers for USB and such, along with a couple of fan headers.