ASRock Unveils Z170 Motherboards (Socket LGA 1151, Skylake) - They look fantastic!

[BiG StroOnZ]

First of the Z170 lineup from ASRock is the high-end Z170 Extreme 7 that comes with a fully loaded super alloy design.The motherboard adopts a black and gold color scheme like the previous Extreme boards and offers a lot in the overclocking department. Fitted with high-quality capacitors, VRMs and MOSFETs, this motherboard is meant to push the overclocking limits. The LGA 1151 socket that allows support of Intel’s Skylake processors is powered by a 8-Pin connector while the board draws power from an ATX connector. The motherboard has its VRMs and power area kept cool by a large aluminum heatpipe based heatsink that has a Z170 label etched to it.

 

Being the first mainstream consumer platform to support DDR4 memory, we found four DDR4 DIMM slots on the left side to the socket. There are separate power phases for the DIMMs to enhance overclocking on the modules. Two switches (On/Off and Reset) can be found along with a CMOS reset switch. Storage will include 10 SATA 6 GB/s and 3 SATA Express ports while there are two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 internal headers on the motherboard. The Z170 chipset is kept hidden inside a cool aluminum based heatsink with a nice design. The motherboard includes a Dual BIOS that can be changed from a switch and a Diagnostic LED can also be spotted. When it comes to expansion, ASRock is offering four PCI-e 3.0 x16, two PCI-e 3.0 x1 slots and three Ultra M.2 slots that operate at speeds of PCI-e 3.0 x4. A Mini PCIe slot can also be seen that can support SSDs or WiFi cards and can easily be used since the M.2 slot above it is risen.

 

On I/O front, we can see 6 USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, dual Gigabit LAN ports, a 7.1 Channel audio jack, PS/2 port, HDMI and DVI display outputs. Sound is provided through the Purity Sound 3 design that has the technology implemented on an isolated PCB. ASRock is using a thermal armor across the I/O and sound PCB to enhance thermal loads and looks of the board.

 

ASRock Z170 Extreme 7 Motherboard:

 

 

 

 

The second motherboard shown off by ASRock, the Z170 Gaming K6 is part of the FATAL1TY brand. This motherboard is designed to look similar to the Extreme 7 but comes with a red and black color scheme. The LGA 1151 socket that allows support of Intel’s Skylake processors is powered by a 8-Pin connector while the board draws power from an ATX connector. The motherboard has its VRMs and power area kept cool by a large aluminum heatpipe based heatsink that has a Z170 label etched to it.

 

Being the first mainstream consumer platform to support DDR4 memory, we found four DDR4 DIMM slots on the left side to the socket. There are separate power phases for the DIMMs to enhance overclocking on the modules. Two switches (On/Off and Reset) can be found along with a CMOS reset switch. Storage will include 8 SATA 6 GB/s and 2 SATA Express ports while there is a single USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 internal headers on the motherboard. The Z170 chipset is kept hidden inside a cool aluminum based heatsink with a nice design. The motherboard includes a Dual BIOS that can be changed from a switch and a Diagnostic LED can also be spotted. When it comes to expansion, ASRock is offering three PCI-e 3.0 x16, three PCI-e 3.0 x1 slots and a single Ultra M.2 slot that operate at speeds of PCI-e 3.0 x4.

 

On I/O front, we can see 8 USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, Killer E2200 LAN port, a 7.1 Channel audio jack, PS/2 port, HDMI and DVI display outputs. Sound is provided through the Purity Sound 3 design that has the technology implemented on an isolated PCB. ASRock is using a thermal armor across the I/O and sound PCB to enhance thermal loads and looks of the board. Expect more details on Computex 2015.

 

ASRock Z170 FATAL1TY Gaming K6 Motherboard:

 

 

ASRock G10 AC2600 Gaming Router:

 

 

 

 

Another surprising element to the press release was the announcement that ASRock’s Gaming brand is expanding beyond motherboards. Similar to other gaming brands from motherboard companies, ASRock will also provide mice and mousepads (no mention of keyboards or headsets), but in an interesting twist they will also provide a router. The G10 is meant to be a similarly themed (with the logo and the angled edges) device but offers 4T4R connectivity on 802.11ac. This means up to 1733 Mbps connectivity over a single WiFi application. The only critical point here is that no-one sells a 4T4R WiFi card for a PC – the most we’ve seen so far is 3T3R in commercial applications. It will be interesting to see if that leads down a certain path of better WiFi bandwidth opportunities.

 

 

 

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I'm really happy with ASRock here, doing a full redesign on the exterior of their motherboards. I know one thing they have lacked in the past, even being a fan of their products, is styling on their motherboards. They usual stick to the minimalist look most of the time, and their boards are more function over form. However, here it looks like for socket 1151 and Skylake processors with the Z170 chipset they will be taking a page out of ASUS' book. It seems however, as time has progressed people have started to come around to ASRock reassuring others that they are not the same ASRock they once knew. Most people now recommend ASRock for many builds and price points, I could imagine now from these new Z170 boards that people will start recommending them even more because these boards look really good aesthetically and the quality on them looks pretty superb overall.

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[thekeemo]

asrock suddenly jumped ahead of gb for me..

[Jerakl]

gold?

 

At least it's nice looking gold. 

*cough cough* ASUS *cough cough*

[Imachoirstarter]

Is that gold?

Looks more copper to me. Could be gold though. I think I'd prefer copper.

 

EDIT: Says gold in the first sentence, I'm stupid.

[Thony]

Sexy as fok !

#CannonlakeMasterRace

[TheSLSAMG]

The words that just came out of my mouth go a little like this:

 

"Holy fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What the fuck? Holy fuck! Fuck."

 

Yeah, those are some damn sexy boards.

[JoaoPRSousa]

[JoaoPRSousa]

@BiG StroOnZ

The Gaming K6 has the wrong image. Fix it please. Thank you.

[Bouzoo]

That looks... just wow, wow and wow.

[BiG StroOnZ]

@BiG StroOnZ

The Gaming K6 has the wrong image. Fix it please. Thank you.

 

Fixed.

[snowComet]

 

 

You forgot to mention about the router!!!

 

[BiG StroOnZ]

You forgot to mention about the router!!!

 

 

I wasn't sure if mods would allow me to make the post any bigger. 

[snowComet]

I wasn't sure if mods would allow me to make the post any bigger. 

you can divide the post into different sections by the spoiler tag...

[Notional]

Finally M.2 110 mm sockets!

[BiG StroOnZ]

you can divide the post into different sections by the spoiler tag...

 

Added

[Bouzoo]

I wasn't sure if mods would allow me to make the post any bigger. 

I had bigger posts and nothing happened, as long as it's relevant I think.

[Maslofski]

nice!

[jbslayer]

Beautiful. Makes me want to upgrade from my i5 3570k to a skylake i7 when they come out. And I'm glad ASRock is stepping up its aesthetic game, my asrock z77 extreme4 is not that great looking 

[MegaDave91]

Wow, that black/gold board is really nice. 

 

No USB type C.  Not really a big deal though.

[Zeruel]

Damn, AsRock just really stepped up their game. That Fatal1ty board looks like it can go toe to toe with an ROG board, and trust me, I'm the biggest Asus fanboy.

[Guest Kloaked]

I hope they're doing a M-ATX board with a similar design. Starting to like ASRock more and more.

[Overkilled]

Can you use older cpus with 1151 or older motherboards with skylake CPUS or none?

[Aniallation]

black socket!

 

 

Wow, that black/gold board is really nice. 

 

No USB type C.  Not really a big deal though.

There will more then likely be other Z170 boards from AsRock that have USB Type C. They already have Z97 and X99 boards with it.

[CoolaxGaming]

Still looks like plastic

[SurvivorNVL]

...Ohmygod.  Asrock wins.  Take it.  My money.  Have it.