Introduction
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ASRock has released seven motherboard models for the new socket LGA2011 platform, heavily betting that this platform will become more mainstream after Intel releases cheaper LGA2011 processors during this year. Let’s take a look at the X79 Extreme6/GB, which comes with three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, five SATA-600 ports, six USB 3.0 ports, and a high-end, add-on sound card called “Game Blaster.”
To better understand the differences between the several socket LGA2011 motherboards released by ASRock, we compiled the table below. The X79 Fatal1ty hasn’t been released yet. Prices were researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this article. “Game Blaster” is a PCI Express x1 add-on sound card featuring a Creative Sound Core3D audio chip and a Broadcom networking chip.
| X79 Fatal1ty | X79 Extreme9 | X79 Extreme7 | X79 Extreme6/GB | X79 Extreme6 | X79 Extreme4-M | X79 Extreme4 | X79 Extreme3 | |
| Form Factor | ATX | ATX | ATX | ATX | ATX | microATX | ATX | ATX |
| Memory Sockets | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| PCI Express x16 | 4 (x16/x8/x16/x0 or x16/x8/x8/x8) | 5 (x16/x0/x16/x0/x8 or x8/x8/x8/x8/x8) | 5 (x16/x0/x16/x0/x8 or x8/x8/x8/x8/x8) | 3 (x16/x16/x8) | 3 (x16/x16/x8) | 3 (x16/x16/x8) | 3 (x16/x16/x8) | 3 (x16/x16/x8) |
| PCI Express x1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Standard PCI | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| SATA-300 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| SATA-600 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| eSATA-600 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| USB 2.0 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 |
| USB 3.0 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| FireWire | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Gigabit Ethernet | 1 | 1+1 | 2 | 1+1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Audio | ALC898 | Game Blaster | ALC898 | Game Blaster | ALC898 | ALC898 | ALC898 | ALC898 |
| Voltage Regulator | 16+2 | 16+2 | 12+2 | 12+2 | 12+2 | 6+2 | 6+2 | 5+1 |
| Price | NA | USD 345 | USD 260 | USD 280 | USD 250 | USD 219 | USD 215 | USD 215 |
In Figure 1, you see the ASRock X79 Extreme6/GB motherboard.
Figure 1: ASRock X79 Extreme6/GB motherboard
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