FRONTPAGE ASRock Z170 OC Formula Motherboard Review

[Overclockers.com]

In this review we will wrap up the "major" overclocking boards. We looked at the ASUS Maximus VIII Extreme and, more recently, the Gigabyte SOC Force. Both of which were pretty formidable motherboards in their own right. The last board is one of everyone's favorites in the extreme overclocking community, the ASRock Z170 OC Formula. Like those mentioned above this board has, for generations, been noted by respected extreme overclockers as being one of the best for the job. Sadly, I won't be using LN2 for this review, but we will beat on it none the less and come up with a good idea on how it stacks up anyway!

Click here to view the article.

 

[dudleycpa]

Very interesting review!

I've been a fan of ASRock for a while.

Anyone seen this board compared to the EXTREME 6 or Gaming K4?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Very interesting review!

I've been a fan of ASRock for a while.

Anyone seen this board compared to the EXTREME 6 or Gaming K4?

What are your planned uses?
If they don't include heavy amounts of benchmarking and/or sub-zero cooling you're most likely better off with the Extreme6 and some spending money.

 

[wingman99]

Good ASRock Z170 review. You would think stacking of the Dual-Stack MOSFET would retain more heat like insulation?

Did the memory run at 3000 MHz 15-15-15-35 with overclocking by multiplier?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Good ASRock Z170 review. You would think stacking of the Dual-Stack MOSFET would retain more heat like insulation?

Did the memory run at 3000 MHz 15-15-15-35 with overclocking by multiplier?

The features section explains how stacking reduces the heat.

It ran via XMP, one click.

 

[wingman99]

Yes they say it was a lower Rds(on) with more surface area however 1.2 mΩ is normal for MOSFET, it would be good to see the amps.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Yes they say it was a lower Rds(on) with more surface area however 1.2 mΩ is normal for MOSFET, it would be good to see the amps.

The amps are a function of the voltage being fed to the CPU and how much power it is pulling.
Some simple math will tell you how many amps are being pulled through each mosfet.

 

[wingman99]

The max ratting of amps per MOSFET Rds(on) on OC Formula is what I would like to see, ohm's law wont help with that. They did say each choke is 60Amps X 18 phase= 1080 AMPS + 12V= 12960 watts for the CPU LOL.

 

[dudleycpa]

What are your planned uses?
If they don't include heavy amounts of benchmarking and/or sub-zero cooling you're most likely better off with the Extreme6 and some spending money.

That is what I'm thinking. The Extreme 6 is $125 after rebate and the 6700K is "down" to $350. Ninety bucks that could be spent somewhere else (better graphics, SSD, or better cooling.)

Thanks for your input!

 

[clash]

I'm a huge ASRock fan, Thx for the review.

 

[BugFreak]

Sorry if I missed it in the review but did they lose the waterproofing?

 

[EarthDog]

You didn't miss it... I forgot to mention it.


THis does not have the conformal coating.

 

[Blaylock]

Right, my understanding was that the conformal coating made it difficult (or more expensive) to repair RMA's so ASRock opted to axe the coating.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Sorry if I missed it in the review but did they lose the waterproofing?

Dropped when going from Z87 to Z97.

 

[EarthDog]

Z97 still had it. This is the first gen it dropped on the ATX boards. Not sure of their mATX was different.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Z97 still had it. This is the first gen it dropped on the ATX boards. Not sure of their mATX was different.

My bad, I see it on the Z97 now.
There were a multitude of features dropped in the transition from Z87 to Z97, thought the conformal was one of them.

 

[Woomack]

They dropped it while switching from X99 OCF to X99 OCF 3.1. RMA costs were too high, instead of repair, most boards were replaced to new.