ASRock FM2A88X EXTREME6+

On Board Peripherals

The AMD A88X chipset is a single-chip solution. This chip supports eight SATA-600 ports with RAID (0, 1, 10, and 5). On the ASRock FM2A88X EXTREME6+, one of them was placed on the rear panel as an eSATA-600 port, leaving seven SATA-600 ports available.

Figure 4: SATA-600 ports

The AMD A88X chipset supports 10 USB 2.0 ports and four USB 3.0 ports. The ASRock FM2A88X EXTREME6+ offers eight USB 2.0 ports, two soldered on the rear panel and six available through three headers located on the motherboard; and six USB 3.0 ports, four located on the motherboard rear panel and two available on a header located on the motherboard. The two extra USB3.0 ports at the rear panel are controlled by an ASMedia ASM1042 chip.

The ASRock FM2A88X EXTREME6+ doesn’t have FireWire ports.

This motherboard supports 7.1+2 audio format, i.e., eight channels plus two independent channels for audio streaming. On this motherboard, the audio is generated by the chipset using the Realtek ALC1150 codec, which is an excellent audio codec, providing 115 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog outputs, 104 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog inputs, and up to 192 kHz sampling rate for both inputs and outputs, with 24-bit resolution. These specifications are good even for the user who wants to professionally capture and edit analog audio (e.g., converting LPs to CDs or MP3, converting VHS to DVDs or any other digital format, etc.)

The codec chip is shielded against electromagnetic interference, and the audio interface is equipped with a TI NE5532 amplifier for the frontal headphones output.

The analog audio outputs are independent and the motherboard also comes with an on-board optical SPDIF output. It also has a header labeled “SPDIF_OUT”, where you can install an adapter to have a coaxial SPDIF output or to connect a cable to older video cards that required a physical connection to have audio on their HDMI outputs.

The analog audio outputs are independent only if you use a 5.1 analog speaker set. If you install a 7.1 analog speaker set, you will need to use the “line in” jack.

Figure 5: Audio codec with shield

The portrayed motherboard has one Gigabit Ethernet port controlled by a Qualcomm Atheros AR8171 chip.

A very interesting feature is an HDMI input. By a programmable hotkey, you can switch from CPU video output to an external HDMI source, such as a laptop or a video game console, using only one monitor for two devices with no need to switch cables.

In Figure 6, you can see the motherboard rear panel with a shared keyboard/mouse PS/2 connector, two USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, DVI-D output, HMDI output, DisplayPort output, HDMI input, one eSATA-600 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, four USB 3.0 ports, an optical SPDIF output, and the analog audio jacks.

Figure 6: Motherboard rear panel