ASRock to introduce 3 Intel Z68 boards next month – Z68 Extreme4, Z68 Pro3 and Z68 Pro3-M
ASRock will be releasing 3 new boards based on the INTEL Z68 chipset next month. Z68 chipset bridges the best of both Intel P67 and H67 chipset, allowing you to overclock and tap the power of the graphics capability within your processor even with an additional graphics card is installed.
There will be 3 models, Z68 Extreme4, Z68 Pro3 and Z68 Pro3-M. The first 2 are ATX boards and Z68 Pro3-M is a mATX board.
All 3 boards supporst the 2nd generation Intel Core i7/i3/i3 LGA 1155 processors and K-series processors.
The Z68 Extreme4 being the highest end of the trio comes with 3x PCIe2.0 x16, supports ATI Quad CrossFireX, QUad SLI and has 2 PCIe 2.0 x1 slots. Z68 Pro3 only has 1 PCIe 2.0×16 and 3 PCIe 2.0×1 while the Z68 Pro3-M has 1 x PCIe 2.0×16 and 2 x PCIe 2.0×1
For graphics, all 3 boards uses the Intel HD graphics and has output ports D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI and DIsplayport. The Z68 Pro3 only has D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI.
All 3 boards has 7.1ch HD audio with Z68 Extreme4 with one step up supporting THX TruStudio.
In terms of audio, Z68 Extreme4 has 4 SATA3, 1 eSATA3, 4 SATA2. Z68 Pro3 has 2 SATA2, 4 SATA2 while the Z68 Pro3-M has 2 SATA3 and 3 SATA2 ports.
The Z68 Extreme4 has the most USB ports. It has 4 USB 3.0 (2 front, 2 read) and 10 USB 2.0. The Z68 Pro3 has 2 USB 3.0 and 8 USB 2.0. The Z68 Pro3-M has 2 USB 3.0 and 10 USB 2.0 ports.
All 3 boards supports the Intel Smart Response, Lucid Vartu and XFast USB.
ASRock XFast USB Technology redefines the new standard in high performance computing. Proving once
again to be the pioneer in motherboard industry, ASRock XFast USB Series Motherboards integrate with
the latest XFast USB Technology which delivers the world’s fastest USB data transfer speed. The ASRock XFast USB technology can even boost USB 3.0 performance up to 185.52%!
With Lucid Virtu software, next-generation PCs with 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ processor platforms will
dynamically assign tasks in real time to the best available graphics resource based on power, performance and
features.
CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 trial now supports Intel® Quick Sync Video hardware transcoding and is optimized for second generation Core i7, i5, and i3 processors to accelerated conversion of all your favorite media files for your favorite portable players. Now you can easily display your favorite movies, songs and photos on iPhone, iPad, PSP, Xbox, Youtube, Facebook etc. Compile, convert and enjoy images and songs as much as you want and enhance your videos to new levels with TrueTheater Technology.
For users who are tempted to connect the SSD and HDD on ASRock Z68 Extreme4 motherboard, the Intel Smart Response Technology can make the SSD become the “Cache of the HDD” to boost up the HDD
access speed.
Even when the system is power off (in ACPI S5 mode), On/Off Play Technology still allows users to enjoy
the great audio experience from the portable audio devices through the PC speaker.
The ASRock Z68 Extreme4 is also equipped with ASRock On/Off technology for music playback and a free bundle of the Front USB 3.0 panel and Cyberlink Mediaespresso 6.5 trial is included in the package.
