ASRock extreme4-M

Discussion in 'Processors and motherboards Intel' started by humik, Feb 21, 2013.

  1. humik

    humik Active Member

    Messages:
    84
    Likes Received:
    3
    GPU:
    GTX 1660 Super 6GB
    Hi guys,

    looking for MB for my updgrade to i5 3350p/3470 ...my Q is... is the ASRock extreme4-M same quality materials etc. like the ATX version? (looking for M version cause low-budget and using only 1 GPU and no PCI).

    Second Q is about holding up OC (maybe for future better CPU with K in name) with my chosen CPU i5 3350p/3470 (turbo +400Mhz) ..the Q is because ATX ver has Digi Power Design, 8 + 4 Power Phase Design and M version has only 4+2 power phase..

    and 3rd Q .. i read somewhere that ASRocks Digi power design is a lie...wtf ?? And read about problems plugin ram modules in and freezing problems ? :)

    thx all !

    buzuluQ
     
  2. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    DDR3-2400 RAM works fine. I have read someone saying that a particular lot of DDR3-2800 Corsair RAM didn't work in an Extreme6 board, but if you spend that much extra money on RAM (it's around 4 times the cost of DDR3-2400 RAM), it would make sense to get an overclocking orientated board, not a board designed to be an all-rounder.
     
  3. humik

    humik Active Member

    Messages:
    84
    Likes Received:
    3
    GPU:
    GTX 1660 Super 6GB
    I will use my DDR3 1333Mhz modules... the problem was about pluging in all 4 modules (or two, or three) together at once and system wont start... he must put one module, start system, then second, start system etc ... and finally he get 4 modules plugged and it works with all of them...

    you using extreme6 ver. ... so you think that ASRock is good quality? is extreme4(-M) ver. good too ? :)
     
  4. IcE

    IcE Don Snow

    Messages:
    10,693
    Likes Received:
    79
    GPU:
    3070Ti FE
    The Extreme4 only really has a 4+1+1 phase VRM setup. And it is *technically* a lie that the Extreme4/6 has digital VRM phase. It actually uses an Intersil analog PWM controller. The reason is that AsRock lost the contract needed to use the digital phase they're used to using. Regardless, either board is fine for overclocking, although the Vcore will read lower than it actually is by .02-.05 on average.
     

  5. humik

    humik Active Member

    Messages:
    84
    Likes Received:
    3
    GPU:
    GTX 1660 Super 6GB

    so is this board in M version safe to use with i5 3570K with some decent OC ?
     
  6. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    I'm very happy with my Extreme6. The Extreme4 is very similar, and considering the Ivy Bridge's don't go beyond 4400MHz too well due to heat, the board limits of overclocking become less crucial. If you really want to delid, go to 5Ghz+, and maybe even use fast memory like the DDR3-2800 memory (just an example), in all likelihood you would use a board more geared towards overclocking, which costs a fair bit more. 4400Mhz should be quite attainable on most boards.

    Going by benchmarks, you would actually gain more (and safely) by going to 8GB (if not 16GB in 2x8GB modules) DDR3-2133 RAM than trying to push to 4600Mhz.

    I realise you aren't looking at figures like this, I was using that as an example. The Extreme4-M should be fine for what you want to do with the CPU. With the RAM however, you really shouldn't have 3 slots occupied, it should be either 2 slots or 4. If you can find one 2GB module identical to what you already have, for very cheap (locally it's $12), you can put that in the fourth slot, otherwise I would recommend getting at least 2x4GB modules, preferably in 2133 (which is the 'sweet spot' price vs performance at the moment). You can sell off the 3x2GB to help get this. The price difference between 4GB of DDR3-1333 and 2x4GB in a kit of DDR3-2133 is actually quite small.

    The 4400Mhz I gave above is a figure that is a rough guide, because going faster than this the temperatures start increasing quite significantly.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 22, 2013
  7. humik

    humik Active Member

    Messages:
    84
    Likes Received:
    3
    GPU:
    GTX 1660 Super 6GB
    thx for nice reply, i have 2x2gb and 2x1gb modules.. so i can plugin them in all 4 slots... maybe in future i will buy better modules, but i think i dont need them now...

    yes i wanna a decent OC... i hope that this i5 3570k with future oc to 4-4,4 Ghz is good enough for some 2-4 years :)

    My only care was about stability with this OC on M version of extreme4 board cause lower 4+1+1 power line... ex4 ful ATX has 8+4 ... but i think its enough cause power use of this CPU is not so high at full power (90-100% cpu usage)

    So you can recommend ex4-M version for my usage? I choose this board cause i like equipment of this board with Z77 chipset and the price is rly good here in Czech rep. ...

    last Q 4 you :) do you think that this cpu is so good for to spare more 70 bucks? Cause my first idea was to pick the cheapest i5 3350p version... (3570K cost here cca 280 bucks and 3350p ver is for 210) ..thx again
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2013
  8. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    If you utilise the No-K overclock feature on the 3350P, going to the i5-3570K will only gain you an extra 500Mhz. The i5-3570K would probably better suite a board with more power phases when running at 4.4Ghz. It would be better to put that $70 towards an SSD (just remember to put music etc on a separate drive, so you don't fill it unnecessarily). You probably wouldn't want any less than 6GB of RAM with a SSD to minimise pagefile writing. RAM wise, remember to put the modules in the paired slots, so the 1GB modules run in dual channel configuration together, and likewise with the 2GB modules.

    I take it you will be selling off the old motherboard and CPU? I guess if you wanted you could put that towards getting 2x4GB of DDR3-2133 RAM (about $60) later on. Ivy-Bridge CPU's seem to be able to take advantage of the faster RAM better than Sandy-Bridge CPU's.

    Check out:
    http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/ivy-bridge-ddr3_4.html

    Older comparisons on Sandy-Bridge didn't show that improvement, which is why people typically say you won't notice the difference.
     
  9. IcE

    IcE Don Snow

    Messages:
    10,693
    Likes Received:
    79
    GPU:
    3070Ti FE
    Yep, just keep the volts under 1.4 to be safe.
     

Share This Page