14 DAY TRIAL // Even though Intel’s Z77 chipset wasn’t made official yet, ASRock has already finalized the design of some of its upcoming 7-series LGA 1155 solutions, including that of the high-end Z77 Extreme 6 which has recently starred in a video unboxing.
This new motherboard will most probably be launch in late April and will become ASRock’s flagship solution for Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge processors.
To underline its premium position in the company’s lineup, ASRock fitted the Z77 Extreme6 with a 12 phase digital-PWM power circuitry, as well as with two x16 PCI Express 3.0 slots that are compatible with CrossFireX and SLI setups.
An additional PCI Express x16 Gen 2.0 slot is also available (x4 electrical), which is seconded by a PCIe 2.0 x1, a pair of legacy PCI slots, an mSATA connector, as well as by no less than 8 SATA ports, four of these supporting SATA 6Gbps transfer speeds.
Moving to the back of the Z77 Extreme6, TweakTown reports that ASRock’s creation comes fitted with both a HDMI and a DisplayPort output.
In addition, users also get four USB 3.0 ports (driven by the Intel Z77 chipset) and 7.1-channel audio with S/PDIF out, while two additional USB 3.0 ports are available through an on-board header.
A slew of USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port and an Ethernet jack round up the connectivity list, but the rear I/O header also features a Clear CMOS switch.
Other overclocking oriented features include the presence of on-board Power and Reset buttons and a LED BIOS debug display.
No information regarding pricing or availability of this motherboard was made public by ASRock, but more details should be unveiled as we get nearer to the launch of Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors.
