There are plenty of low cost motherboards to choose from and what we need from them are a mix of reliability and performance. Low cost boards typically last you a year of hard use, need more maintenance, and there is guarantee of stability or reliability. Not to mention an odd mix of compatibility issues. Good budget motherboards carry higher quality parts that last considerably longer, have less compatibility issues, and can keep up with you for the longer haul. ASRock believes they offer this with a few more up to date features. Let’s check out their new ASRock P55 Extreme4 motherboard to see if that’s true.
Features and Specifications
Built around the Intel P55 chipset, the ASRock P55 Extreme4 supports ATI CrossfireX and NVidia SLI. Quad configurations are capable as long as dual GPU PCIe graphics cards are used. However, at 8x by 8x PCIe bandwidth, this platform would favor two very capable single GPU cards as apposed to a quad configuration. That should be enough for hardcore graphics fiends.
In terms of IO, there are 6 SATA2 and 4 SATA3 ports, plus one eSATA in the back, it has just as much storage capacity as some flagship boards. There’s even an extra dual port USB 3.0 enclosure bracket and two rear USB 3.0 IO ports.
Since, some folks may want to use the board for something other than gaming, the board uses a Realtek ALC892 high definition 8 channel audio Codec. This is a step up from the previous generation ALC889 and ALC889A. The ALC892 supports THX TruStudio Pro and Premium Blu-ray audio. Theoretically, that equates to something a bit more capable for those wanting their money’s worth in terms of better audio.
Performance features include dual channel DDR3 memory support up to 2600MHz. That’s no small feat even for today’s fastest memory modules. We know the Intel LGA1156 processors are capable of keeping up and it’s up to the motherboard to help make that happen. Perhaps the Duracaps and updated VRM components surrounding the CPU socket are up to the task. However, we’ve realistically never seen a board capable of maintaining a max DDR3 overclock and max CPU overclock simultaneously. I would settle for a good solid 2000MHz DDR3 frequency and moderate overclock any day.
So, how much does this little platform set you back? It’s actually pretty evenly priced with other comparable platforms at around $144.99 USD at your usual places.
A Close Look at the ASRock P55 Extreme4
One thing you’ve probably already noticed is that the board has a similar white on blue heat sink theme to GIGABYTE boards. But, then a lot of boards are using blue, white these days. There’s only so many ways to dress them up. Here’s a quick walk through and a little more…
The overall layout isn’t without some minor faults. The placement of the 4 white SATA ports near the 24-pin power and DIMM slots isn’t really a DIY user’s first choice. We like our cabling as far away from the memory, CPU coolers, and video cards as possible. It keeps things manageable as well as clean for those of us who like to show off.
Test System Setup
I’ll be comparing the ASRock P55 Extreme4 to the performance of the very solid GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 motherboard. Both boards are similar in price and offer nearly identical features except where DDR3 overclocking is concerned. The Extreme 4 supports up to 2600 MHz where as the P55A-UD3 supports 2200 MHz, overclocked of course.
Here are the test system’s specs:
- Processor: Intel Core i5 661 Clarkdale LGA1156
- Cooling by: Thermalright MUX-120
- Motherboard 1: ASRock P55 Extreme 4 (as tested)
- Motherboard 2: GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3
- Test Memory: Corsair Dominator 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 @ 1333MHz
- Overclocking Memory: Patriot Memory ViperII Sector5 4GB 2400MHz DDR3
- Graphics: Zotac Geforce GTX280 1GB Videocard (cooled by Zalman VF3000N)
- Storage: Kingston SSDNow V+ Series 128GB SSD
- Power Supply: Antec SG-850
- Audio Testing: Psyko Audio 5.1 Gaming Headset and Logitech Z506 5.1 Speaker set
- Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit
Intel Speed Step was left enabled since these platforms tend to operate a little differently when implementing this CPU feature. This setting tends to reflect on the polishing of the BIOS from board to board and reveal any issues that may come up.
Installation Notes
There are a couple of things I observed during installation. When picking up the board from the corner, you can see noticeable amount of bending in the PCB. While this may not be much of a concern to some users, it may be of concern for some that tend to run without a case or who changes enclosures often. Also, the placement of the white SATA 3 ports near the DIMM slots can clutter up the area with cabling. It would have been nice to see some 90-degree ports directed off the edge of the board.
Once up and running, when attempting to overclock the Patriot 2400MHz DDR3 memory, one of the settings didn’t take and the system didn’t easily reset when pushing the CMOS Clear button in the back. A few more presses still didn’t reset the system and resulted in constant restarting. Finally, a hard power off and 3 lengthy presses of the button did the trick and the system was up and running. This isn’t completely uncommon when it comes to these buttons. So, just make sure you give it a 2 to 3 decent 5 second press to reset.
Benchmark Software Setup
A rather extensive software suite was assembled to put the entire platform through its paces by testing CPU, 3D, input/output, audio, and power consumption. This includes: PCMark Vantage, 3DMark Vantage, SANDRA, CineBench R11.5, Heaven Demo v2.0, Gaming: Crysis Warhead and Bad Company 2, RightMark Audio, and CrystalDiskMark. While many users may never utilize these systems daily which includes overclocking, I’m looking to heavily burden the system in order to test all of the sub systems. While the beatings continued, I also looked for any odd instabilities or issues that users may encounter.
For the best results possible, I downloaded and installed the latest motherboard (Intel .INF) and audio drivers. The Extreme 4 had a recent 10/22/2010 1.50 BIOS update which worked well in both Instant Flash and Windows installation. The latest 260.99 NVidia drivers were used to make sure our GTX 280 is ready to go.
Overclocking
Using as little finesse as possible, I went looking for the easiest, most obtainable CPU and memory overclock without having to push voltages in to extremes. With the multiplier backed down to eliminate it as a barrier and using 1.35 volts to the CPU, the platform reached a 185 MHz CPU bus clock before hitting a wall. Anything higher was just a little too unstable with more aggressive VCore and PLL voltage applied. That’s a bit lower than the GA-P55A-UD3 which reached 200 MHz CPU bus clock with very similar voltage and effort.
After backing down the CPU bus clock again and using the right memory divider, the maximum achievable memory overclock using the Patriot ViperII Sector5 2400MHz DDR3 was about 2290MHz. This is par for the course with similarly priced motherboards out there. Getting to 2600MHz memory divider would require a much more aggressive CPU bus clock than the Extreme 4 is capable of reaching. While the P55A-UD3 was a little more aggressive holding up at almost 2400MHz, as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing wrong with a solid 2200MHz DDR3 overclock.
Using the ASRock OC Tuner, I wasn’t as fortunate to get anywhere close to the above results which were achieved through the BIOS. Regular users and beginners will easily get about a 4GHz using OC Tuner using higher multipliers and lower CPU Bus clocks. And, probably more importantly, the software and motherboard seemed eager to accommodate my overclocking fetish with some much needed stability. That’s really the more important thing.
3DMark Vantage
This is a good benchmark for what it does. It often gives us a hint of the scores expected throughout real world performance. In our case, it could mean a very close battle between the two chosen gladiators: The ASRock P55 Extreme4 and the GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3.
PCMark Vantage
Here, the Extreme 4 scores a little better. Being that the Extreme 4 uses a Realtek ALC892 Codec versus the P55A’s Realtek ALC889, it could account for the differences in music scores. It’s enough to score better in the end.
SANDRA CPU Math and Multimedia
Straight out of the gate, the Extreme 4 and P55A-UD3 fight over fractions of a point. The Extreme 4 pulls up and stays just ahead. Let’s see what else goes down.
Cinebench R11.5
Matching CPU features and settings in the BIOS don’t usually offer too much difference. If these were full Auto settings, the GIGABYTE would pull ahead by another .01 for each.
Heaven Demo (DX 10)
Well, this is kind of a first. Even after re-running the benchmark four times, the average was just off by fractions. So, the results are rounded off.
Games: Crysis Warhead & Bad Company 2
Either platforms work for gaming. Nothing seems out of the ordinary and both seem equally accepting of any PCI Express 2.0 card on the test bench.
I/O Motherboard Performance
What about all those ports on the back of the motherboard? In order to measure USB and SATA performance, I used CrystalDiskMark to test sequential read and write performance. And, SANDRA was used to test the LAN, or network performance.
There are no surprises here. Neither of the test platforms utilize a PLX chip in board design to assist the flow of data like some ASUS and even ECS boards out there. Therefore, the results are very close to one another.
Onboard Audio Performance
I ran in to some RMAA testing issues with the THX TruStudio bundled software active. The software is designed to add clarity and full channel control when connected to multi-channel audio devices. RMAA just wouldn’t function or properly run tests. So, I ran the tests without anything extra installed except for the audio driver software. Otherwise, the software did come in handy when personally selecting and testing individual channel volumes.
Overall, the audio quality coming from music, movies, and games was clean. However, when nothing was running, there were some ever so faint noises that I would describe as an old school 14.4 modem. This seems to be validated by RMAA seeing that there is very poor stereo cross talk quality. Since the integrated Realtek ALC892 audio codec itself has done very well on other motherboards we’ve tested, this is most like the result of a compromise in design.
Power Consumption
Many of the P55 chipset based motherboards out there now already operate pretty darn lean when it comes to power consumption. This is especially true when using default BIOS settings which utilize things like Intel SpeedStep which cuts down on CPU consumption when not needed. Here’s what each system consumed with any conservation software or BIOS settings enabled.
It was apparent that both of these boards are consuming power consistent with a 8-12 Phase VRM. However, the P55A-UD3’s Dynamic Energy Saver 2 software does a little better job at conserving a little extra power. It may not seem like much, but it does help over the long haul. However, that efficiency all goes out the window when overclocking as expected.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Extreme 4 was stable and offered up decent stock numbers. It’s a comparable platform to many of the others we’ve tested only a bit cheaper. That cheaper price means a little less overclocking headroom. Considering that overclocking is just a bonus feature of most motherboards, many users will be fine with getting close to 4GHz with little effort. Also, while the number of overclocking users have increased over the last few years, there are still far more stock users concerned about stability, reliability and features.
While I can look past the overclocking numbers, I can’t really excuse audio performance. It’s not the cleanest quality which was evident during testing and when using high quality headsets. Manufacturers have been doing this for a long time now and should be pros at it. With a little more quality control effort, we’re sure ASRock engineers can remedy the issue. Avid gamers may also be willing to over look this if using a discrete audio card since that’s the way to go when really want better quality audio. The odd placement of the white SATA3 ports near the DIMM slots, or any poorly placed port of any kind, is just a quirk that any do it yourself user would notice.
Again, at $144 USD, the ASRock P55 Extreme4 motherboard is priced right in line with its competition. While it doesn’t offer the highest of overclocking, it offers a few more onboard expansion options than the competition. You’ll just have to decide if that’s enough for your system. In the end though, this board is a great value.
Pros
- Stable with a hint of performance
- Continues to move away from tacky colors
- Latest expansion standard
- On-board power, reset, and CMOS clear buttons
- Offers basic level of overclocking and software support
- Strong $99 value
Cons
- White SATA3 port placement
- Slight Realtek ALC892 noise present
- Won’t satisfy avid overclocking
Overall Score: 7.5/10
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ASRock P55 Extreme4 LGA1156 ATX Motherboard – Photo Gallery
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