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
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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:
