Test: Einzeltest: ASRock Z77 OC Formula Motherboard
Zitat: MSreco_highend
With the new Z77 OC Formula, ASRock is trying to detach from the older, regular motherboard designs and step-up by proposing a build on a new layout, with many of the legacy components removed and an UEFI interface with a lot of options available. Under the massive heatsinks which also act as waterblocks we will find a 12 + 4 VRM design; the premium alloy chokes that are nearby are able to reduce up to 70% core loss and their construction is more durable (magnetic and heat-resistant). The 8-layer PCB succeeds to deliver lower temperatures and higher energy efficiency when overclocking. The board was designed in collaboration with the well-known overclocker, Nick Shih and thanks to that, we can choose from the specially designed automatic OC profiles inside the UEFI, no matter if we are using either a K-series or non-K CPU. As we have seen with the Fatal1ty motherboards, the main ASRock overclocking utility has been re-skinned and now comes with the Formula Drive name. The functions it includes are many: Hardware Monitor, FAN-tastic Tuning, Overclocking, OC DNA, IES, XFast RAM or Multi-Thermal Sensor. Speaking of the Multi-Thermal sensor, the board contains not one, but two hardware monitoring chips and a great amount of thermal sensors, so we are able to monitor the temperature in 13 more areas. A new software tool is the Timing configuration, which gives us access to all subtle RAM timings, without the need to reboot and enter the UEFI. The board is also equipped with Rapid OC buttons, which allow manual setting of the CPU Ratio, BCLK frequency and CPU voltage. The PCI-E slots can be also disabled manually by simply working with the switches located on the top right side of the motherboard. This is not all, ASRock has also included a set of 7 detection points on the motherboard for acquiring live voltage readings with the multimeter. The manufacturer has also included 10 plastic stands that we can use to test or work with the motherboard without installing it into a case. Regarding the board performance, we can see clearly that ASRock has continued to optimize the system software, especially the UEFI, so we have received very good test scores and thanks to the beefy VRM we could set a stable 4.7GHz frequency, with a much lower voltage than the previous Extreme6 motherboard. The board can be found online for about 209 Euros, about 20 more than the Z77 Fatal1ty Professional.