ASRock X99 Extreme4 Motherboard

On Board Peripherals

The Intel X99 chipset is a single-chip solution, which is also known as a PCH (Platform Controller Hub). This chip supports ten SATA-600 ports (there are no SATA-300 ports), supporting RAID (0, 1, 10, and 5).

The ASRock X99 Extreme4 offers those ten SATA-600 ports (one of them shared with an eSATA connector at the rear panel, and another port shared with the M.2 slot). All SATA ports are located at the motherboard’s edge and rotated 90 degrees, so that video cards will not block them. There are no SATA Express connectors.

Figure 4: SATA-600 ports

The Intel X99 chipset supports eight USB 2.0 ports and six USB 3.0 ports, and the ASRock X99 Extreme4 offers all of them. Of the eight USB 2.0 ports, four are soldered on the rear panel and four are available through two headers located on the motherboard. And of the six USB 3.0 ports, four are soldered on the motherboard rear panel and two are available through a header on the motherboard.

The ASRock X99 Extreme4 does not support FireWire or Thurnderbolt 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 work professionally capturing and editing analog audio (e.g., converting LPs to CDs or MP3, converting VHS to DVDs or any other digital format, etc.).

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. The audio codec is protected from interference with a metallic shield.

The portrayed motherboard has one Gigabit Ethernet port, controlled by an Intel i218V chip.

In Figure 6, you can see the motherboard rear panel, with PS/2 connectors for keyboard and mouse, a Clear CMOS button, four USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA-600 port, four USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, one optical SPDIF output, and the analog audio jacks.

Figure 5: Motherboard rear panel