ASRock's new flagship AM3+ board sports a handful of useful features. For starters, it comes with an advanced 12 + 2 power phase for the CPU, along with a digital PWM system to manage the CPU voltage. This should give the CPU a more stable voltage when under heavy load as compared to systems with analog PWM Vcore management. For increased lifetime, ASRock's all-new 990FX Extreme9 is also built using 100 percent Japan-made premium gold covered capacitors, along with Dual-Stack MOSFETs for more efficient power delivery.
The 990FX Extreme9 also comes with a Hi-Density power connector for the CPU, which should reduce connector temperature by up to 22℃ and also decrease power loss by up to 23 percent.
The motherboard also comes with a Dehumidifier feature, which allows the user to set a time for the PC to power itself on for a set duration into a 'dehumidifying' boot. In this mode the system will run the fans and display a ‘humidifying’ screen. Whilst normally redundant, it is useful the user when away from home for an extended period of time and to prevent humidity damage to the PC.
When it comes to hardware specifications the 990FX Extreme9 doesn't disappoint either. It comes with support for all of AMD's new AM3+ processors and supports DDR3 RAM that clocks up to 2450 MHz (whilst overclocking). There is support for not only 3-Way SLI or CrossFireX, as expected on most 990FX motherboards, but also 4-way SLI or CrossFireX. Intriguing though, ASRock has opted to equip the 990FX Extreme9 with Intel Gigabit LAN, something that deserves a small compliment.
ASRock's 990FX Extreme9 comes with 4 PCIe 2.0 x16 slots, one PCIe 1x slot, and a classical PCI slot. Moreover the board has 8 SATA3 ports, 2 eSATA3 ports, along with 8 USB 3.0 ports (4 on rear I/O and 4 on onheader), 8 USB 2.0 ports (4 on rear I/O and 4 on onboard header), and it comes with a 2.5" USB3 panel for front expansion. Built in are also 7.1 audio, along with coaxial and optical SPDIF out, a Firewire port, a pair of traditional PS/2 ports and a clear CMOS button on the rear I/O.
For more information on ASRock's all-new 990FX Extreme9, head here.
