 |
|||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||
When we first tested the LGA2011 platform, we were shocked by the X79 chipset's lack of features. The X79 fails to differentiate itself from the more affordable Z68 as users still get six SATA ports of which only two are 6Gb/s capable. USB 3.0 support is nowhere to be found, but you get the same 14 USB 2.0 ports as on the Z68.
If you compare the X79's features to the older X58/ICH10R chipset combination, you will note that after 3 years very little has changed. Essentially you get two extra USB ports, two additional PCIe x1 lanes and a pair of SATA 6Gb/s port upgrades.
As a result it has never been more important for motherboard manufacturers to include additional features and this is exactly what Asrock has done with the Fatal1ty X79 Champion, making it one of the most feature-packed X79 motherboards available. Starting with the boards multi-GPU support there are five PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, though not all are wired for the full x16 bandwidth. Only the first and fourth x16 slots are wired for x16 bandwidth while the second, third and fifth slots are wired for x8 bandwidth. This means the board can support up to four individual graphics cards in a x16/x8/x8/x8 configuration when using 4-Way CrossFireX or 4-Way SLI. The Fatal1ty X79 Champion has eight DIMM slots for up to 64GB of RAM. Using the chipset's quad-channel memory architecture, it supports frequencies of 1866, 1600, 1333 and 1066MHz, while 2400 and 2133MHz are possible with overclocking -- no different than you'll find on most X79 motherboards.
Whereas the X79 chipset provides six SATA ports (two 6Gb/s), Asrock has included an additional Marvell 6Gb/s controller for another four ports: the Marvell SE9230 provides four SATA 6Gb/s ports using the PCI Express bus. This controller also supports a feature called HyperDuo Plus Technology which is essentially SSD caching, allowing users to combine the lightning fast performance of an SSD with the enormous storage capacity of a traditional hard drive. Also included is the Marvell SE9172 controller which provides a pair of eSATA 6Gb/s ports on the boards I/O panel.
Network connectivity comes from two Broadcom BCM57781 controllers, which support Wake-On-LAN, Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az and Teaming. As impressive as the boards networking configuration is we were also excited by Asrock’s decision to use the Creative Sound Core3D audio solution. The Core3D audio supports THX TruStudio PRO, CrystalVoice, EAX 5.0 and full Blu-ray Profile 2.0 Audio Decoder Support.
Asrock has tasked three Texas Instruments TUSB7340 controllers with delivering the Fatal1ty X79 Champion USB 3.0 connectivity. The TUSB7340 is a USB 3.0 xHCI compliant host controller supporting up to four downstream ports using PCIe x1 Gen 2. A pair of controllers power eight ports on the motherboard's I/O panel, while the third supports a pair of onboard headers for another four connectors.
The Fatal1ty X79 Champion also offers FireWire via the VIA VT6315N controller which uses the PCIe x1 interface and supports two 400Mb/s IEEE1394a ports (one via the I/O panel, one via header). |
|||||
|
|
moss |
Posted on: 06/06/2012 10:40 PM
Love the look of the Champion! Wish I could afford it  I want to upgrade my LGA1366 system to the LGA2011, just gotta wait a little longer and get a cheaper board. Thanks for the review though. |
|
drate |
Posted on: 06/06/2012 11:50 PM
I wish you could install a mSATA SSD on the Z77 Extreme9 for caching. |
|
lame |
Posted on: 06/07/2012 05:35 AM
Fatal1ty branded products ... really Asrock :S |
|
stretch1 |
Posted on: 06/07/2012 11:07 PM
very good looking boards from asrock. I bought the extreme6 and I am very happy with it. The 9 looks even better! |