A few days ago, ASRock has released and officially introduced one of the most fully featured and impressive motherboard based on the Intel Z87 chipset – the ASRock Z87 Extreme 11/ac. This is an E-ATX motherboard which means that this is one big motherboard pack with lots of connectivity options. And according to ASRock, the Z87 Extreme 11/ac is “the Most Powerful Z87 Motherboard on the Face of Earth!”. Check out its features, specifications, price and availability below.
ASRock Z87 Extreme 11/ac Features
The ASRock Z87 Extreme 11/ac was demoed a few months ago on a tech event, displaying its potential to accommodate a total of 22 SSD drives and support for a 4 way multiple GPU configuration. This monster board features 22x SATA3 ports (16 x SAS-3 12.0 Gb/s + 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s) from LSI SAS 3008 Controller+ 3X24R Expander. It supports NVIDIA 4-Way SLI and AMD 4-Way CrossFireX supported by PLX PEX 8747 Bridge. It also has 4-channel, dual-port Thunderbolt 2 ports and a built-in 802.11ac WiFi.
Since this is a Z87 based motherboard, it supports the latest 4th generation Intel Core i7, i5, i3 Haswell processors, and Xeon, Pentium and Celeron CPUs in LGA 1150 package. The ASRock Z87 Extreme 11/ac features premium gold capacitor design, DiGi Power, 12 Power Phase design and dual-stack MOSFET. Just reading these set of features alone makes me really excited about this motherboard already. But that’s not all; there are still many features and specs that I have not mentioned in this paragraph. Check them out from the official press release below and the specifications table after.
From Official Press Release
Amid the heaps of Z87 chipset motherboards which have already been around for a while, there can only be one that rises from the top with its delicacy and perfection. The long wait has ended, here comes the king of all Intel 8 Series motherboards. All hail ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac, the most high end Z87 motherboard on the face of earth!
Insane Specs: 22 SATA3 (16 SAS-3 12 Gb/s) / 4-Way Multi-GPU / Thunderbolt 2
Using out of the world to describe ASRock’s flagship motherboard Z87 Extreme11/ac is actually an understatement. This motherboard boasts a whopping 22 SATA3 ports, including 6 SATA3 ports by Intel Z87 chipset, and another 16 SAS-3 12.0 Gb/s ports from the added LSI SAS 3008 Controller plus 3X24R Expander, which can reach up to an unearthly 6.1 GB/s transfer speed!
Graphics aficionados shall also be overjoyed by the fact that ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac in no way lacks VGA connectivity! Enhanced with a PLX PEX 8747 chip, it is capable of supporting 4-Way CrossFireX and 4-Way SLI with its solid PCIe 3.0 slots at x8/x8/x8/x8 mode to deliver mind blowing visuals.
Like every other tiny detail on this motherboard, Intel Thunderbolt technology also gets a facelift! This time ASRock Z87 Extreme 11/ac is armed with Thunderbolt 2 for up to 20 Gbps high speed data transferring. Besides Daisy Chain which allows the connection of 12 Thunderbolt devices, users may also connect their graphics card to ASRock’s exclusive DP-In port on the motherboard using a mini-DP to DP cable, and link Thunderbolt devices and monitors with a Thunderbolt cable to get extreme performance of the graphics card via Thunderbolt technology!
A-Style, Reinventing Your Lifestyle
As much as hardware specifications may seem exciting and luxurious, in the end, it’s usually practical features that provide satisfying user experiences that really matters. Without question, ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac is built with A-Style features, including Home Cloud for remote wake and remote desktop anywhere anytime. The most top notch onboard audio solution Purity Sound 115dB SNR. And of course the world’s fastest 2T2R Dual Band 802.11ac WiFi + Bluetooth v4.0 module, which provides 867 Mbps crazy fast internet connection, plus it comes with an exclusive Wi-SD Box for installing 4 USB 3.0 devices and an SD 3.0 card reader. Other features such as 12 Power Phase design, Dual-Stack MOSFET, Digi Power, Japan made gold capacitors can also be found on this motherboard, making Z87 Extreme 11/ac an epic choice for enthusiasts.
ASRock Z87 Extreme 11/ac Specifications
| A-Style | - Home Cloud - Purity Sound™ - 802.11ac WiFi |
| CPU | - Supports 4th generation Intel® Core™ i7 / i5 / i3 / Xeon® / Pentium® / Celeron® in LGA1150 package - Digi Power design - 12 Power Phase design - Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM) - Supports Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology - Supports Intel® K-Series unlocked CPUs - Supports ASRock BCLK Full-range Overclocking |
| Chipset | - Intel® Z87 |
| Memory | - Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Technology - 4 x DDR3 DIMM Slots - Supports DDR3 2933+(OC)/2800(OC)/2400(OC)/2133(OC)/1866(OC)/1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory - Max. capacity of system memory: 32GB* - Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 1.3 / 1.2 |
| BIOS | - 2 x 64Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support (1 x Main BIOS and 1 x Backup BIOS) - Supports Secure Backup UEFI Technology - ACPI 1.1 Compliant wake up events - SMBIOS 2.3.1 support - CPU, DRAM, PCH 1.05V, PCH 1.5V Voltage multi-adjustment |
| Graphics | - Supports Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visuals : Intel® Quick Sync Video with AVC, MVC (S3D) and MPEG-2 Full HW Encode1, Intel® InTru™ 3D, Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, Intel® Insider™, Intel® HD Graphics 4400/4600 - Pixel Shader 5.0, DirectX 11.1 - Max. shared memory 1792MB - Two VGA output options: HDMI and mini DisplayPort/Thunderbolt™ 2 Ports - Supports Triple Monitor - Supports HDMI Technology with max. resolution up to 4K × 2K (4096x2304) @ 24Hz - Supports mini DisplayPort/Thunderbolt™ 2 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096x2304) @ 24Hz - Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI Port (Compliant HDMI monitor is required) - Supports HDCP with HDMI and mini DisplayPort/Thunderbolt™ 2 Ports - Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with HDMI and mini DisplayPort/Thunderbolt™ 2 Ports - Supports data transfer rate up to 20Gbps with Thunderbolt™ 2 Port - Supports Daisy-chain up to 6 Thunderbolt™ devices |
| Audio | - 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec) - Premium Blu-ray Audio support - Supports Purity Sound™ - 115dB SNR DAC with differential amplifier - TI NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier (Supports up to 600 ohm headsets) - Direct Drive Technology - EMI shielding cover - PCB isolate shielding - Supports DTS Connect |
| LAN | - Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s - 1 x Giga PHY Intel® I217V, 1 x GigaLAN Intel® I211AT - Supports Intel® Remote Wake Technology (on Intel® I217V) - Supports Wake-On-LAN - Supports Dual LAN with Teaming - Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az - Supports PXE |
| Wireless LAN | - Supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac - Supports Dual-Band (2.4/5 GHz) - Supports high speed wireless connections up to 867Mbps - 2 Antennas to support 2 (Transmit) x 2 (Receive) Diversity Technology - Supports Bluetooth 4.0 / 3.0 + High speed class II |
| Slots | - 4 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE1/PCIE3/PCIE5/PCIE7: single at x16 (PCIE5); dual at x8 (PCIE1) / x16 (PCIE5); triple at x8 (PCIE3) / x8 (PCIE5) / x8 (PCIE7); quad at x8 (PCIE1) / x8 (PCIE3) / x8 (PCIE5) / x8 (PCIE7)) - 3 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 Slots - 1 x Mini-PCI Express Slot: For WiFi + BT Module - PLX PEX 8747 and PLX PEX 8605 embedded - Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX™, 4-Way CrossFireX™, 3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™ - Supports NVIDIA® Quad SLI™, 4-Way SLI™, 3-Way SLI™ and SLI™ |
| Storage | - 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors by Intel® Z87, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel® Rapid Storage Technology 12 and Intel® Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug (SATA3_5 connector is shared with the eSATA port) - 16 x SAS-3 12.0 Gb/s/SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors by LSI SAS 3008 controller + 3x24R expander, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 1E and RAID 10) (support up to 10 HDDs), NCQ and Hot Plug - 2 x mSATA Connectors by Intel® Z87, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel® Rapid Storage Technology 12 and Intel® Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug (MSATA1 connector is shared with the SATA3_4 connector; MSATA2 connector is shared with the SATA3_2 connector) - 1 x eSATA Connector by Intel® Z87, supports RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel® Rapid Storage Technology 12 and Intel® Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug |
| Connector | - 1 x IR Header - 1 x COM Port Header - 1 x Power LED Header - 2 x CPU Fan Connectors (1 x 4-pin, 1 x 3-pin) - 4 x Chassis Fan Connectors (1 x 4-pin, 3 x 3-pin) - 1 x Power Fan Connector (3-pin) - 1 x SB Fan Connector (3-pin) - 1 x MOS Fan Connector (3-pin) - 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector - 2 x 8 pin 12V Power Connectors (Hi-Density Power Connectors) - 2 x SLI/XFire Power Connectors - 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector - 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) - 1 x Vertical Type A USB 2.0 - 2 x USB 3.0 Headers (Support 6 USB 3.0 ports) - 1 x Dr. Debug with LED - 1 x Power Switch with LED - 1 x Reset Switch with LED - 1 x BIOS Selection Switch |
| Rear Panel I/O | - 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port - 1 x HDMI Port - 1 x DisplayPort Input for Thunderbolt™ 2 port - 2 x Thunderbolt™ 2 Ports (Support Thunderbolt™ devices or mini DisplayPort monitors) - 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port - 1 x eSATA Connector - 2 x USB 2.0 Ports - 2 x USB 3.0 Ports (Intel® Z87) - 4 x USB 3.0 Ports (ASMedia hub) - 2 x RJ-45 LAN Ports with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED) - 1 x Clear CMOS Button - HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone |
| Unique Feature | - ASRock A-Tuning - ASRock Instant Flash - ASRock APP Charger - ASRock XFast USB - ASRock XFast LAN - ASRock XFast RAM - ASRock X-FAN - ASRock Crashless BIOS - ASRock OMG (Online Management Guard) - ASRock Internet Flash - ASRock UEFI System Browser - ASRock UEFI Tech Service - ASRock Dehumidifier - ASRock Easy RAID Installer - ASRock Easy Driver Installer - ASRock Interactive UEFI - ASRock Fast Boot - ASRock Restart to UEFI - ASRock USB Key - ASRock FAN-Tastic Tuning - Hybrid Booster: - CPU Frequency Stepless Control - ASRock U-COP - Good Night LED |
| Support CD | - Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar, Start8 (30 days trial), MeshCentral, Splashtop Streamer |
| Accessories | - CPU/Chassis/Chipset temperature sensing - CPU/Chassis/Power/SB/MOS Fan Tachometer - CPU/Chassis/SB Quiet Fan (Auto adjust fan speed by CPU temperature) - CPU/Chassis/SB/MOS Fan multi-speed control - Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore, CPU Input Voltage |
| Form Factor | - EATX Form Factor - 8 Layer PCB - 2oz Copper PCB - Premium Gold Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality conductive polymer capacitors) - Multiple Filter Cap (MFC) (Filters different noises by 3 different capacitors: DIP solid cap, POSCAP and MLCC) |
| OS | - Microsoft® Windows® 8.1 32-bit / 8.1 64-bit / 8 32-bit / 8 64-bit / 7 32-bit / 7 64-bit |
| Certifications | - FCC, CE, WHQL - ErP/EuP ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required) |
Price and Where to Buy
There is no word yet regarding the ASRock Extreme 11/ac price, but definitely this board won’t come cheap. Probably it will match the price of Asus’ flaghip Z87 motherboard – Asus Maximus VI EXTREME which is current at $395. Or probably even higher around $400 USD more or less, since the ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac is currently priced at $359.99. There is no word as to the exact date of availability or as to when it will hit shelves. I just hope that this board could do x16 all the way even in 4-way GPU configuration. The motherboard I know that can do this is the Asus P9X79-E WS.
