ASRock X99 Extreme4 Firmware
The X99 Extreme4’s OC Tweaker menu opens to a group of factory-programmed overclocks similar to those of its software, but with a slightly different voltage slope. Turbo 4.5 GHz ramps up 50 mV past our desired 1.30 V limit, so we started our overclock with the more longevity-friendly Turbo 4.4 GHz setting.
The highest frequency we’ve been able to reach with this Core i7-5960X sample and a 1.30 V core is 4444 MHz, give or take a few MHz of BCLK rounding error, based on a 101 MHz BCLK setting at 44x CPU multiplier. The X99 Extreme4 gets us there, rounding down to 4543 MHz.
Because data rates exceeding 2666 MT/s require an increased base clock, the DRAM Configuration submenu includes a redundant BCLK setting. The X99 Extreme4 picked 125 MHz x 24 as the appropriate setting for our DDR4-3000, but our CPU couldn’t take the strain.
Dropping to 124 MHz BCLK at that same multiplier helped us to reach a stable DDR4-2975.
A 1.30 V CPU core setting was spot-on according to CPU-Z, and our thermal readings were consistent with other motherboards using these same settings at full load.
Other firmware-integrated applications allow users to download drivers, update the firmware, set fan slopes, or even send an email to ASRock tech support before the OS is loaded.
