14 DAY TRIAL // AMD's A-Series accelerated processing units (APUs) may use FM1/FM2 sockets, but the real power is held by systems based on AM3+ motherboards, as it is they that can hold FX-series central processing units (CPUs).
That is why mainboards that even use chipsets featuring that socket are more feature-packed than all other AMD-ready boards.
ASRock's 990FX Extreme9 is just the latest addition to the growing collection of Vishera-ready platforms.
Using a Digi Power, 12 + 2 power phase design, it can run 8-core CPUs at a clock much higher than normal.
For that matter, the memory can be overclocked as well. The four DDR3 slots support dual-channel RAM at 2450 MHz, though serious efforts can take things higher than even that.
That said, ASRock also installed four PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots, ready for NVIDIA 3-way SLI and AMD 3-way CrossFireX multi-GPU configurations.
The reason PCI Express 3.0 isn't supported, for those who forgot or missed it, is that AMD's chipsets do not support the technology yet.
ASUS actually has the only AMD mainboard with PCI Express 3.0, and it is all thanks to third-party controller chips. But we are getting sidetracked.
ASRock's 990FX Extreme9 has 8 SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, two eSATA 6.0 Gbps, eight USB 3.0 ports and just as many USB 2.0 ports. Needless to say, Gigabit Ethernet and audio (7.1 channel) are present and accounted for as well.
Video ports are the only things missing, since this isn't a board for APUs and, thus, if there is to be graphics support, it will come from add-in adapters.
Finally, ASRock tossed in Premium Gold caps, Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM), and various other overclocking features (both hardware and software).
The full spec rundown can be found on the official product page that ASRock has posted here.