ASRock 100-Series Motherboards Overwhelm Computex 2015 Coverage

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Crashman

Crashman

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You'll notice that some cheaper boards have DDR3 support, and some of Biostar's boards have both. We've been told the memory controller supports both, but if you look at non-overclocking boards you'll see a lot of talk about DDR3L. I'm not sure if the new processor can handle 1.65V as easily as the old ones did and wouldn't be surprised if Intel announces a lower voltage limit (else the warranty is void).

And about the non-server (non-ECC unbuffered) DDR3L thing: Originally specified for SODIMMs, we saw the same specs pop up on long DIMMs THREE YEARS AGO (we even did a roundup two years ago), yet more-recently we've been told this is a new specification for long DIMMs. To make the transition, most manufacturers have discountinued their previous DDR3L long-DIMMs and are just now re-introducing new DDR3L long-DIMMs while pretending that this is a new standard.

You know how I feel about lies. On the other hand, it's possible that prior DDR3L long-DIMMs were using SODIMM SPD values, and that JEDEC updated the standard for long DIMMs more recently. IF these manufacturers aren't lying, they're at least telling half-truths by omitting the "nonstandard" DDR3L long-DIMMs from their product history.

Getting back to DDR4, it's already been dropping in price. It now comes at less than 50% price-premium over DDR3, where once it was 200% more-expensive. I expect it to be somewhat pricier than DDR3 until the volume of DDR3 drops. And volume drops will occur more slowly since the new CPU supports both.
 
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Brian_R170

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The specs for the Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac are definitely wrong. It clearly does not have 3x x16*, 3x x1 Expansion Slots or 4x DDR4 Memory slots, or 8x 6Gb/s SATA ports for Storage.
 
Crashman

Crashman

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You know what this means? IT MEANS THERE'S A FULL ATX BOARD IN ONE OF THE CHARTS SOMEWHERE WITH MINI ITX SPECS! Unless I already fixed that one...

Oh, and thanks. If you spot the other one, please tell. It might be in another article :)
 
g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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When I was upgrading my system I wanted to go X99 and get a 5820K and an Asus X99 Deluxe, but once I saw how expensive DDR4 was at first, I was like "No thanks!". Now that the prices are lower I may reconsider it in the next year or two.
 
Shneiky

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Yes I am that shallow as to care how a motherboard looks.

Big kudos to ASrock. They got their design together. After the nicely designed Z77, x79 and Z87, the full 90 chipsets were looking like encased in cheap plastic designed with 1990's cheap China toys as an inspiration Well, Asrock boards are pretteh again.

Though, why does the Extreme6 have Fatal1ty's name on it? Being a fan of E6 as a nice price / performance points, but I do not want that name on any board I have. Guess its E7 or most likely E4 for me.
 
Crashman

Crashman

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Remembering that these boards aren't released yet, there are two possibilities: 1: ASRock designed the board as a Fatal1ty model and decided later to change it to an E6 (that just means using a different NIC, right?). 2: ASRock is trying to get more mileage from the brand. If the first is true, you can expect the label to be dropped from production boards. If the second is true, you can expect the label to appear on more production models.

Funny thing, when ASRock announced Fatal1ty marketing on motherboards, I said "I remember what happened to the last brand that did that" :p
 
Shneiky

Shneiky

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Crashman,

Boy, you can say that again!

Though I was also thinking about the possibility it was designed as a Fatal1ty board. The Killer 2200 is a rather obvious giveaway. Your theory might be correct. Guess we are going to know soon.
 
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Arabian Knight

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Funny thing Asrock managed to make an X99 itx Mobo with 4 DDR4 Sodimms and ignoring it for the z170

wake up Asrock we ALL want 4 Dimms on itx motherboards !!!
 
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f-14

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You'll notice that some cheaper boards have DDR3 support, and some of Biostar's boards have both. We've been told the memory controller supports both, but if you look at non-overclocking boards you'll see a lot of talk about DDR3L. I'm not sure if the new processor can handle 1.65V as easily as the old ones did and wouldn't be surprised if Intel announces a lower voltage limit (else the warranty is void).

And about the non-server (non-ECC unbuffered) DDR3L thing: Originally specified for SODIMMs, we saw the same specs pop up on long DIMMs THREE YEARS AGO (we even did a roundup two years ago), yet more-recently we've been told this is a new specification for long DIMMs. To make the transition, most manufacturers have discountinued their previous DDR3L long-DIMMs and are just now re-introducing new DDR3L long-DIMMs while pretending that this is a new standard.

You know how I feel about lies. On the other hand, it's possible that prior DDR3L long-DIMMs were using SODIMM SPD values, and that JEDEC updated the standard for long DIMMs more recently. IF these manufacturers aren't lying, they're at least telling half-truths by omitting the "nonstandard" DDR3L long-DIMMs from their product history.

Getting back to DDR4, it's already been dropping in price. It now comes at less than 50% price-premium over DDR3, where once it was 200% more-expensive. I expect it to be somewhat pricier than DDR3 until the volume of DDR3 drops. And volume drops will occur more slowly since the new CPU supports both.
Click to expand...

ddr4 just wasted effort like ddr2 a minor incremental bus jump when gddr3 was already out and look gddr5 has already been out for awhile, just another nickle and dime operation with another minor bus increase and all the sudden ddr3 3200 is being released after sitting at 1600 for years while vendors floor the market with every minor bus bump under 3200 and ddr4 starts showing up on the market at 2000. exactly how ddr1 switch to ddr2 played out. how many years was it after that ddr3 showed up to replace ddr2 also at ddr2's upper mid range speeds? seriously ddr3 800, makes me laugh.
i'm wondering why nobody has bought Rambus yet to see if they can do anything with the RDram (sometimes just called Rambus DRAM)
 
Sakkura

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Top models including the Z170 Extreme7 provide top features such as triple 32 Gb/s M.2 connectors, which implies that additional parts such as third-party PCIe bridges are in play.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't. The Z170 chipset offers 20 PCIe 3.0 lanes, so there's no need for PLX bridge chips.
 
Shneiky

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@Arabian Knight,

Asrock's X99 ITX has only 2 slots. It runs in dual channel only.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157588

@F-14,

1 -
One of the big advantages of DDR4 over DDR3 is lower operating voltage and thus lower power consumption. DDR4 also provides higher bandwidth, though at slower timings, thus eliminating the gain in a lot of cases. This is makes no difference for normal usage performance, but for servers it is a major step forward. 3rd plus of DDR4 is higher density. DDR3 for servers capped out at 16 GBs per stick. DDR4 already has 32 GB sticks out on the market.

2 -
GDDR5 is not a viable option for system RAM at the current time. It stands for Graphic DDR - or in other words - for graphic cards. Nobody is going to make GDDR5 sticks at the current time - they consume too much power, they cost too much, they require more bandwidth to be effective, they arrive in small capacities and thus they are best used when integrated (soldered) to another component. Like in a Graphics card or a console.

3 -
There is a reason why Rambus died. It was too power hungry and it was hot like hell. Not to mention it was rather hard to adapt. I remember when you had to buy 1 Rambus stick and 1 place-holder empty stick so your system can start. Rambus architecture was not flexible enough.

4-
Everybody seems to forget - consumer hardware is a pass down, cut-down and cheaper parts that are based on Server/HEDT technology. Take a look at X79 and X99 and the Xeons. Same production line for the E5/E3. I3, I5 and I7s are practically E3s. Whatever does not pass as a Xeon, gets an extra bump in voltage to be stable and gets resold as an I processor.

Nobody is going to invest in R&R, then produce "special" parts for consumers that do not fall in the industry standards - it's a waste of resources. The server/HEDT space is where most of the money is.
 
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Arabian Knight

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nope !

http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=EPC612D4I#Specifications

EPC612D4I-1(L).jpg
 
Sakkura

Sakkura

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Not actually an X99 motherboard, it's C612.

Still impressive. Asrock themselves seem to not quite understand what they've done - in specifications it still says "4 DIMM slots" for memory. :D
 
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Arabian Knight

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hahaa :D

True they used the server chipset did not notice that. lets hope they make all itx motherboards 4 SODIMM slots in the future.


 
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shadarlo

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Why would anyone buy a new motherboard now without USB 3.1 on it? That would be a 100% requirement for me these days... you're buying obsolete connectors otherwise.
 
Shneiky

Shneiky

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I would buy such a board. If I have to chose between having more phases on the power design, better caps or a nicer power delivery, thicker PCB or aesthetics or any of those over USB 3.1 - I would definitely drop USB 3.1.
 
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