Early Verdict
ASRock’s X99 Extreme3 offers high-value for new Core i7-5820K-based builds, but leaves little room for moderately-priced component upgrades (such as additional DIMMs).
Pros
- +
Efficiency • Moderate overclocking • Price • Ultra M.2
Cons
- -
Less-desirable when paired with a high-end processor • One-per-channel DIMM limit • Slot limitations (2-card SLI) • Voltage regulator
Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Introduction
Value-minded performance enthusiasts have expressed great interest in the bottom of Intel’s high-end LGA 2011-v3 platform, including the Core i7-5820K seen in our recent SBM Alternative PC. But factoring economics into high-end configurations always leaves a catch (or three). Half of the problem is total cost. Buyers on a budget generally don’t want to pay more than $200 for a motherboard or DRAM. Memory manufacturers are attacking this conundrum with 16GB DDR4-2400 kits priced under $200 for at least a month, and ASRock has been right beside them with its X99 Extreme3 motherboard.
We don’t expect a bunch of added features from a low-cost board, and ASRock doesn’t provide them in its X99 Extreme3. The primary up-market interface is a four-lane PCIe 3.0 M.2 slot, and even that kicks down to a single-lane link when it's forced into SATA mode. ASRock still fits the board with the chipset’s full complement of USB 3.0 connections, including four at the I/O panel and two through a front-panel header. It even adds an I/O panel-accessible CLR_CMOS button to aid overclockers. Here’s how the board’s full specs compare to several mid-priced models:
Security experts claim new 'Perfctl' malware could pose a risk to any Linux server
Lunar Lake allegedly smokes Z1 Extreme handheld gaming champ in early gaming benchmarks
CUDA-beating ZLUDA breathes new life with financial backing from unknown party — pivots to AI workloads across multiple GPU vendors
