ASRock is quietly confident of its OC Formula range. We awarded the Z77 version because of its aggressive tactics at the $240 price point and while the Z87 model offered even more but at $330 it missed that sub-$250 market which cheaper overclocking builds are built on. The Z97 OC Formula ditches the Lamborghini on the box and comes back down to earth at $210, although the feature set becomes lighter as a result. The mainstream overclocking motherboard market is always hot at $200, so today we are putting the Z97 OC Formula through its paces.

ASRock Z97 OC Formula Overview

When we first reviewed the Z77 OC Formula, we praised its price point and feature set, especially when other Z77 overclocking motherboards around the same price point where taking chunks of the market. At the time we concluded that a motherboard as a whole was well constructed and an event, but a little more as part of the package would be nice just to sweeten the deal. For the Z87 version, ASRock released a $330 price point overclocking board with features such as an LCD that displayed temperatures and voltages while the system was in use. While it performed well, the increase in price made it feel like it had lost that $200-250 market that the original OC Formula was aimed at. We suggested that if ASRock had released it as a ‘Z87 OC Formula Plus’ and something else was lower down the price stack, it might have been better received.

For Z97, the tables have turned in the opposite direction. Here we have a $210 product, with the micro-ATX at version at $130. The only issue ASRock had for Z97 in terms of price-competitiveness is that the Z97 chipset is more expensive than the previous generations. This gives ASRock less room to maneuver in terms of feature set.

Nevertheless, for that $210 we still get some quintessential ATX OC Formula features. The superhydrophobic Conformal Coating is still here, covering the motherboard in a water repellent surface (although ASRock still recommend you do not purposefully drop liquids on it as the socket and slots are not insulated for obvious reasons). In fact it would seem that the Conformal Coating has been revised slightly - the amount of superhydrophobic polymer is more even across the board and is aesthetically more discreet. The OC Formula also supports 4-way Crossfire and 2-way SLI due to the x8/x4/x4 + x4 or x8/x8 layout, and we get overclocking buttons with voltage check points as well as a Killer E2200 series network port and upgraded Realtek ALC1150 audio. New for 9-series is HDD Saver, a tool that gives the user control over the power of two of the SATA drives. This allows the user to hide the drives when not in use saving them from data attacks or in order to improve longevity.

Due to the price reduction from Z87, there is no air/water combination cooling for the power delivery, although the XXL heatsinks should be sufficient for any 24/7 setup. There is no mini LCD screen either, but the two digit debug is sufficient at this price.

The main competition for the Z97 OC Formula ($210) will be the Z97X SOC Force ($195), the Z97 MPower ($190) and the Maximus VII Hero ($205). All four aim for the heart of the self-build market but with the focus on overclocking and performance rather than gaming bundles or video game bundles and themes.

Visual Inspection

Similar to the other OC Formula motherboards, this one is designed by Nick Shih, ASRock’s in-house and former world #1 overclocker. Aiming back down at the $200 price bracket means a step back in features of the Z87, but the heatsinks on this thing are larger than standard. The 12-phase power delivery uses two yellow heatsinks joined by a heatpipe, and the CPU has two 8-pin EPS 12V connectors to supply power. Only one needs to be used for even the heaviest overclocks for 24/7 operation -  all our results in this review were taken with one 8-pin installed. ASRock places two purely for the super extreme overclockers using liquid nitrogen.

The socket area is not the cleanest for extreme overclockers to insulate, however ASRock is keen to promote its use of 12K capacitors and multiple filter caps to regulate impedance over a larger frequency range. Akin to previous OC Formula motherboards we have multiple temperature sensors on the board, with eight in total and four of them around the socket area. For fan headers this motherboard has seven, four of which are in the socket area. The two CPU fan headers are above the socket between the heatsink and the DRAM, one of these being four-pin. Two others are between the left hand heatsink and the first PCIe slot, although using these with GPUs that have large back plates (such as the Lightning range) might be a bit of an issue. The final three fan headers on the board are at the bottom, one of which is four-pin. This makes only two of the seven being 4-pin headers, an unfortunate trend in ASRock products.

On the right hand side of the motherboard are two sets of voltage check points for extreme overclockers to confirm their settings. A USB 3.0 header is above the 24-pin ATX power connector, and below this are eight SATA ports. The top two are supplied via an ASMedia ASM1061 controller, with the other six via the chipset. There is also the extra connector for a SATA Express drive, although this shares bandwidth with the M.2 slot.

Below the SATA ports are a pair of removable BIOS chips, a BIOS select switch and the front panel header.

The bottom of the motherboard is jam packed, to say the least. Aside from the three fan headers mentioned above, we get power/reset buttons, plus and minus buttons for overclocking, a menu button to bring up an overclock menu, a HDD Saver header, a two-digit debug, a TPM header, a COM header and a 4-pin molex power connector for extra VGA power. Personally I am at the point of despising the 4-pin molex for extra VGA power because the connector is bulky and fewer devices are using molex power in 2014. A SATA power connector, or a 6-pin PCIe, is preferred. Aside from this, the Thunderbolt connector is in between the bottom two PCIe slots, and the PCIe selection switches are underneath the heatsink next to the LN2 Mode switch and Slow Mode switch. Amusingly, there is space for a third switch here and the text ‘XMP Mode’ next to it – I have a feeling that ASRock were planning an XMP mode switch like ASUS but were not able to get it to work in time for launch. We may see it appear on later Z97 series motherboards down the line or in the next chipset launch.

On the right hand side of the motherboard is Purity Sound 2, ASRock’s enhanced Realtek ALC1150 audio solution. Here we get an EMI shield for the codec, PCB separation between digital and analog signals and audio-specific filter caps. One could argue that audio for an overclocking motherboard is a little overkill, but it comes down to the market. The market for overclocking boards in 24/7 use is for gamers, and some level of audio is required to offer a good experience. All the motherboard manufacturers are well versed in enhanced ALC1150 audio solutions, so it almost becomes an add-on. I would hazard a guess and say if ASRock had used a lower (ALC892) codec we would have marked it down due to the pricing of the board.

The PCIe layout is the standard Z97 pitch for 4-way AMD GPUs without a PLX chip:

1 GPU: x16
2 GPU: x8/0/x8 (also for SLI)
3 GPU: x8/x4/x4
4 GPU: x8/x4/x4 + x4 from chipset

Those final x4 lanes from the chipset are rated at PCIe 2.0, and are available in any configuration for add-in cards such as audio cards or additional connectivity.

In between the first two PCIe slots is an M.2 connector, supporting 2230 to 22110 sized drives at PCIe 2.0 x2 speeds. This allows M.2 to be part of Intel RST from the chipset, but it does share lanes with the SATA Express port.

In previous OC Formula iterations, the rear panel has featured HDMI-In or dual network ports. Due to the decrease in price, we lose both of these. We have instead a combination PS/2 port, four USB 2.0 ports, six USB 3.0 ports (four from ASMedia ASM1074 hub, two from chipset), HDMI-out, a Killer E2200 series network port, a ClearCMOS button and audio jacks.

Board Features

ASRock Z97 OC Formula
Price	US (Newegg)
Size	ATX
CPU Interface	LGA1150
Chipset	Intel Z97
Memory Slots	Four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB Up to Dual Channel, 1066-3400 MHz
Video Outputs	HDMI
Network Connectivity	Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2200 Series
Onboard Audio	Realtek ALC1150 via Purity Sound 2
Expansion Slots	3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16, x8/-/x8, x8/x4/x4) 1 x PCIe 2.0 x4 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1
Onboard Storage	6 x SATA 6 Gbps, RAID 0/1/5/10 2 x SATA 6 Gbps (ASMedia) 1 x SATA Express 1 x M.2 x2 * M.2 and SATA Express share bandwidth
USB 3.0	4 x USB 3.0 from Chipset (one header, two rear panel ports) 4 x USB 3.0 from ASMedia hub (four rear panel ports)
Onboard	8 x SATA 6 Gbps 1 x SATA Express 1 x M.2 7 x Fan Headers 1 x USB 3.0 Header 1 x USB 2.0 Header HDD Saver Header Thunderbolt Header Power/Reset Buttons Two Digit LED Debug Menu/Plus/Minus OC Buttons 14 V-Probe Voltage Measurement Points Slow Mode Switch LN2 Mode Switch BIOS Selection Switch
Power Connectors	1 x 24-pin ATX 2 x 8-pin CPU EPS 12V 1 x 4-pin Molex for VGA
Fan Headers	2 x CPU (4-pin, 3-pin) 4 x CHA (4-pin, 3x3pin) 1 x PWR (3-pin)
IO Panel	1 x PS/2 Combination Port 4 x USB 2.0 6 x USB 3.0 HDMI-Out ClearCMOS Button Killer E2200 Series Network Port Audio Jacks
Warranty Period	3 Years
Product Page	Link

While the number of fan headers is much appreciated, the lack of 4-pin headers means that fan control in software might be limited. The use of a Killer NIC over an Intel one is a choice for the manufacturers: the Killer is more expensive, but it comes with network prioritization software. If a manufacturer selects Intel, they have to license cFos, which is better software but the total cost of Intel + cFos is more than the Killer package. I am glad that 22110 M.2 drives are supported, although we really need to see how the M.2 market grows over the next few quarters to see what the most popular M.2 size will be.

ASRock Z97 OC Formula BIOS

Even though we recently reviewed the ASRock X99 BIOS, the Z97 BIOS we used for this review is part-way between the Z87 and the X99 iterations. This means that we get a Full HD mode at 1920x1080, with a crystalline entity in the background and no longer the starry sky. The icons are adjusted to smaller emoji-like features, but the upgrade for X99 that Z97 did not get is the adjusted OC Tweaker menu. Here it is a run on option list that requires continuous scrolling, whereas for X99 it was split into submenus to make it easier to process.

On both the Z97 and X99 BIOS versions we lack any form of Simple Mode. First entry into the BIOS is in the Main tab that tells the user the motherboard name, BIOS version, CPU installed, CPU speed, DRAM installed and DRAM frequency. With a Simple mode and a graphical interface we could see this information in a way that is easier to present and also something that embodies an interactive graphical BIOS. ASRock is behind on this front.

The OC Formula BIOS gets a yellow tint, and the companion shades of yellow and white make this BIOS extremely easy on the eyes. Here we get the options for Full HD mode, a guide to help the user around the BIOS as well as an Active Page selection:

The My Favorite option menu allows users to select any option from the BIOS for a custom menu. This is particularly useful for overclockers that adjust the same options across multiple reboots:

Here is a set of my most frequently used options for overclocking. ASRock has perhaps missed a trick here – using their overclocker Nick Shih he could dream up a set of options or two in line with what he uses internally.

OC Tweaker is the overclocking menu, and because this is an overclocking motherboard for both 24/7 clockers and the extreme crowd, we get a series of options for both. For extreme clockers, Nick Shih has a set of options for them:

Anything listed here as LN2 means Liquid Nitrogen cooled, so perhaps not so useful for most users of this motherboard. Perhaps this menu should be hidden unless the LN2 switch has been enabled.

Also in OC Tweaker is the Optimized CPU OC Settings which is more helpful for 24/7 overclocking presets:

We test these options in our overclocking section later in the review.

For manual overclocking, ASRock has placed all the options in one long menu. Aside from the OC Profiles at the top, next in line is the CPU Configuration with the first option being the all-important MultiCore Enhancement for a simple boost at stock.

This is followed by the DRAM and FIVR settings:

Then the voltage menus:

Check the gallery below to see how extensive this list is. I understand that as an overclocking board that all these options might seem necessary, but only the 0.001% of high end users will understand most of this. ASRock needs to form these options in stages in-line with the user level of experience or competence: this is where the Simple/Advanced correlation comes in.

ASRock’s overclockers are proud of the DRAM overclocking abilities, and hence the DRAM options in the BIOS are also extensive.

In the DRAM Configuration menu there are a series of DRAM presets for a variety of high-end memory kits that extreme overclockers might purchase. From the image above, here we have 15 different options and this constitutes less than a quarter of the scroll bar. Other manufacturers end up doing something similar, aiming to help extreme overclockers get records on their motherboards because it all mounts up to extra publicity if a major record is broken.

The OC Formula BIOS also has the DRAM Tweaker, showing the JEDEC and XMP settings detected for each module and allowing the user to check against certain values.

The Advanced menu contains the options for the CPU, Chipset and Storage, allowing users to adjust the power states of the CPU, which controllers are enabled or what PCIe slot should have priority for video output.

For switching between the M.2 and SATA Express ports, the option is in the Storage Configuration menu:

For the OC Formula in the BIOS we used, Rapid Start Technology and the Thunderbolt port is disabled by default, but Smart Connect Technology is enabled.

ASRock has historically been a little wild in thinking of new ideas for their motherboards, and these ideas have coalesced in the Tools menu. At the top is the new HDD Saver option which allows users to connect two SATA devices and control the power to them. This allows the user to disable the drives when not in use, extending longevity and protecting them against data-loss based viruses. The HDD Saver option is disabled by default.

The System Browser is also here, showing the user where devices are installed into the motherboard. This is useful if the user does not have direct access to the system but one of the PCIe devices, SATA devices or DRAM sticks has failed – this image will let them know which one is the culprit.

Online Management Guard is a tool to disable the network ports at certain times of the day. The primary use for this is if an adult is building a PC for someone else in the family but wants to restrict their time on the internet.

The Dehumidifier Function is also here, allowing the fans in the motherboard to spin up after the system has been put to sleep to let the temperature inside and outside the case equalize. This might help in humid climates to reduce condensation inside the case as the temperature drops – the hot air in the case while the system is running can hold more water than the air outside the case, and thus by removing that air before everything cools down, the total water content of the air inside the case is reduced.

The HW Monitor tab is where we find the voltage and temperature options alongside the BIOS fan controls. Because the OC Formula is based around having plenty of data on hand, all the voltages, each of the nine temperature sensors and all seven of the fan headers are included here.

Users can adjust the fan profiles here as well, although ASRock has not integrated a user-friendly way of adjusting the fans at this time. Users can adjust a multi-point gradient by using menu options, and the graph to the right helps in interpreting the data, but something more point-and-click would be preferred.

The rest of the BIOS focuses on boot options and security. Unfortunately ASRock is still behind in implementing a Boot Override function on Z97.

ASRock Z97 OC Formula Software

Almost every element of ASRock’s software package falls into a single interface. On regular motherboards it is called A-Tuning, but for the OC Formula range they call it ‘Formula Drive’. The only other real difference aside from the name is the color scheme. There are a couple of other bits of software that ASRock is trying to integrate:

We have covered APP Shop before, but basically this is a list of ASRock vetted software similar to the App Store, although at the minute everything is based on freeware. Here we get Chrome, ASRock Cloud and a few free-to-play APAC based games.

There is a tab for BIOS and Driver updates, although out of the three or four motherboards I have reviewed with this software, it does not seem to work. There is update software in the Formula Drive interface though, which has a higher success rate.

The Rapid OC Configuration tool is used for the onboard OC buttons. When this software installed, a driver is also put into play which makes these onboard buttons capable of adjusting more than just coarse frequency. Using the Rapid OC Interface and the hotkeys, more is possible.

The Timing Configurator for fine tuning memory settings is also included, although only DRAM experts need apply.

Most users will have Formula Drive as their main software instead, and the first screen is Operation Mode, offering three easy settings for the system. Standard Mode places the system at its regular stock speed, whereas Power Saving forces the system into idle frequency mode unless 100% CPU is detected. In this instance, it will slowly speed up the CPU over 6-10 seconds from idle speeds to full speeds. So while Intel champions the race to sleep on mobile, ASRock prefers low frequency while taking longer to process – this mode might also reduce the feel of speed in the system, given that idle frequency is in play all the time unless full CPU loading is detected. Performance mode places the system at the top turbo frequency no matter the loading, avoiding idle speeds completely. It also offers up the Advanced button for more OC options:

Here we get some of the BIOS options for Optimized CPU/GPU OC Settings, and a form of Auto Tuning. ASRock’s Auto Tuning in the past has not been that aggressive, and if ASRock expanded the auto tuning options to be more configurable (let the user suggest stress intensity or limits on temperature/voltage) then we might see something more impressive.

Similar to the BIOS, the majority of the extra options fall in the Tools tab. Here are options for XFast RAM, Fast Boot, OMG, Fan Tuning, Dehumidifier options, USB Key, HDD Saver and DISK Report.

XFast RAM allows the user to partition some of the DRAM for a RAMDisk that can also act as a RAMCache. Some caching options are provided.

The Online Management Guard interface acts similarly to the one in the BIOS, allowing users to select which hours of the day the network interface is disabled.

The fan tuning options in software are a lot more detailed than those in the BIOS with a fan tester giving the user a breakdown of how their fan responds as power is applied. Most fans do not respond linearly to additional power, so using this test allows the user to manipulate the fans for the best response. While I appreciate the multi-point gradient and the ability to adjust the graphs with the mouse, ASRock needs to allow some element of hysteresis such that the fans can maintain a high speed as the temperature drops in order to force the temperature down even faster.

The dehumidifier controls here are similar to that in the BIOS. The FAN Control option dictates the power applied to the fan as a number between 0-255, where 255 is 100% power.

The USB Key option allows the user to allocate a user to a specific USB drive to facilitate easy log in to the OS.

The DISK Health Report is a nice addition to the software stack, something I feel most manufacturers should look into.

OC Tweaker from the BIOS is added into the software here, although it feels almost like an afterthought. Offering sliders for overclocking along with a long list of options is not a good user experience.

The System Information screen has a small problem. Due to its size, it is able to fit all the voltages and fan speeds here, but the temperatures from all the sensors on board have to be diverted in the Multi-Thermal Sensor option:

Here we can see where all the thermal sensors are on the motherboard. If ASRock’s fan controls were more integrated into the thermal system, we could allocate different thermal sensors to each fan header, or a combination therein due to their position inside the build.

System Browser is also included as part of the software.

The Live Update system from ASRock has good days and bad days. With X99, I was offered some updates, but with Z97 it would seem that there are no driver or BIOS updates available at the time I checked. Though it is interesting to note that here ASRock has not included the size of the potential download. This information is a must – a user should not be locked into a 300 MB download for audio drivers and not be told how big the download is.

ASRock Z97 OC Formula In The Box

Most motherboard manufacturers now have three primary launch lines. Gaming motherboards have features aimed at gaming builds, while channel motherboards focus more on functionality than style. Overclocking motherboards are a little odd, for the reason that the extreme overclocking crowd is fairly small. In order to appeal to a wider audience, the manufacturer must include more general features (such as improved audio) to make it more marketable. But the Gaming and OC ranges both offer an opportunity for the manufacturer to make the purchase an ‘experience’. This means making the user feel pleased they purchased the product by providing them with something a little extra. The box contents are one of the places to do this, although it all depends on the price segment the motherboard is offered in.

The Z97 OC Formula comes with:

Driver Disk
Manual
Rear IO Shield
Four SATA Cables
HDD Saver Cable
Flexi SLI Bridge

For any set of box contents, this is pretty abysmal. This represents almost the bare minimum. There is nothing to make the motherboard purchase an experience here. It could be said that ASRock is trying to reduce the cost of the board to make it aggressively priced, and overclockers are not too concerned about what comes with the board.

Many thanks to...

We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our test bed:

Thank you to OCZ for providing us with PSUs and SSDs.
Thank you to G.Skill for providing us with memory.
Thank you to Corsair for providing us with an AX1200i PSU and a Corsair H80i CLC.
Thank you to MSI for providing us with the NVIDIA GTX 770 Lightning GPUs.
Thank you to Rosewill for providing us with PSUs and RK-9100 keyboards.
Thank you to ASRock for providing us with some IO testing kit.
Thank you to Cooler Master for providing us with Nepton 140XL CLCs.

Test Setup

Test Setup
Processor	Intel Core i7-4770K ES 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 3.5 GHz (3.9 GHz Turbo)
Motherboard	ASRock Z97 OC Formula
Cooling	Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Corsair H80i Thermaltake TRUE Copper
Power Supply	OCZ 1250W Gold ZX Series Corsair AX1200i Platinum PSU
Memory	G.Skill RipjawsZ 4x4 GB DDR3-1600 9-11-9 Kit
Memory Settings	1600 9-11-9-27 1T tRFC 240
Video Cards	MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2GB (1150/1202 Boost)
Video Drivers	NVIDIA Drivers 337
Hard Drive	OCZ Vertex 3 256GB
Optical Drive	LG GH22NS50
Case	Open Test Bed
Operating System	Windows 7 64-bit SP1
USB 2/3 Testing	OCZ Vertex 3 240GB with SATA->USB Adaptor

ASRock Z97 OC Formula Overclocking

Experience with ASRock Z97 OC Formula

ASRock’s CPU Optimized OC Setting for automatic overclocks is a reasonable place to start with 24/7 overclocking. The settings aim to take in as many CPUs as possible based on the silicon lottery, but due to the range it encompasses it can be easy enough to find a rough guide to where the CPU will overclock based on the cooling.

For manual overclocking, we partitioned our favorite options into the My Favorites menu and used the manual overclocking results as a rough guide:

Methodology:

Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. We select the automatic overclock options and test for stability with PovRay and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads. These stability tests aim to catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.

For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (100ºC+). Our test bed is not in a case, which should push overclocks higher with fresher (cooler) air.

Results

We did come across a relatively serious issue with the OC Formula. When implementing our manual overclock options, we could not use the ‘all core’ option to set a CPU multiplier across the whole CPU range. We had to revert to selecting ‘per core’ and adjusting each option manually. While not a red flag moment, it certainly broke the flow of some fun overclocking. I would imagine this would be updated in a subsequent BIOS update and might already be fixed.

System Benchmarks

Power Consumption

Power consumption was tested on the system while in a single MSI GTX 770 Lightning GPU configuration with a wall meter connected to the OCZ 1250W power supply. This power supply is Gold rated, and as I am in the UK on a 230-240 V supply, leads to ~75% efficiency > 50W, and 90%+ efficiency at 250W, suitable for both idle and multi-GPU loading. This method of power reading allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency. These are the real world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.

While this method for power measurement may not be ideal, and you feel these numbers are not representative due to the high wattage power supply being used (we use the same PSU to remain consistent over a series of reviews, and the fact that some boards on our test bed get tested with three or four high powered GPUs), the important point to take away is the relationship between the numbers. These boards are all under the same conditions, and thus the differences between them should be easy to spot.

Idle and long idle power consumption is in the middle of the pack, although peak power consumption while under CPU load matches some of the higher power users.

Windows 7 POST Time

Different motherboards have different POST sequences before an operating system is initialized. A lot of this is dependent on the board itself, and POST boot time is determined by the controllers on board (and the sequence of how those extras are organized). As part of our testing, we look at the POST Boot Time using a stopwatch. This is the time from pressing the ON button on the computer to when Windows 7 starts loading. (We discount Windows loading as it is highly variable given Windows specific features.) 

15 seconds is relatively slow for a POST time, although when stripped we get closer to 11 seconds indicating that the ASMedia controllers are doing some damage. One thing we have not looked at before is how ASMedia and other controllers compare to each other for POST time – I imagine there might be a cost element involved as well.

Rightmark Audio Analyzer 6.2.5

Rightmark:AA indicates how well the sound system is built and isolated from electrical interference (either internally or externally). For this test we connect the Line Out to the Line In using a short six inch 3.5mm to 3.5mm high-quality jack, turn the OS speaker volume to 100%, and run the Rightmark default test suite at 192 kHz, 24-bit. The OS is tuned to 192 kHz/24-bit input and output, and the Line-In volume is adjusted until we have the best RMAA value in the mini-pretest. We look specifically at the Dynamic Range of the audio codec used on board, as well as the Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise.

Audio performance is surprisingly low for an ALC1150 based motherboard. It would seem that around the 10 kHz and 30-50 kHz ranges this setup does not perform that well.

USB Backup

For this benchmark, we transfer a set size of files from the SSD to the USB drive using DiskBench, which monitors the time taken to transfer. The files transferred are a 1.52 GB set of 2867 files across 320 folders – 95% of these files are small typical website files, and the rest (90% of the size) are small 30 second HD videos. In an update to pre-Z87 testing, we also run MaxCPU to load up one of the threads during the test which improves general performance up to 15% by causing all the internal pathways to run at full speed.

USB performance is in the top half of the pack, with the ASMedia USB hub doing reasonably well.

DPC Latency

Deferred Procedure Call latency is a way in which Windows handles interrupt servicing. In order to wait for a processor to acknowledge the request, the system will queue all interrupt requests by priority. Critical interrupts will be handled as soon as possible, whereas lesser priority requests such as audio will be further down the line. If the audio device requires data, it will have to wait until the request is processed before the buffer is filled.

If the device drivers of higher priority components in a system are poorly implemented, this can cause delays in request scheduling and process time. This can lead to an empty audio buffer and characteristic audible pauses, pops and clicks. The DPC latency checker measures how much time is taken processing DPCs from driver invocation. The lower the value will result in better audio transfer at smaller buffer sizes. Results are measured in microseconds.

DPC Latency continues to be a positive point for Z97, with the OC Formula achieving 65 microseconds at peak.

CPU Benchmarks

Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives in essence an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, memory subtimings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.

The ASRock Z97 OC Formula does implement its form of ‘MultiCore Enhancement’. The only benchmark it performed lower than average was during Handbrake and 4K encoding, scoring 20 FPS compared to the top Z97 motherboards scoring 22 FPS.

Point Calculations – 3D Movement Algorithm Test: link

3DPM is a self-penned benchmark, taking basic 3D movement algorithms used in Brownian Motion simulations and testing them for speed. High floating point performance, MHz and IPC wins in the single thread version, whereas the multithread version has to handle the threads and loves more cores.

Compression – WinRAR 5.0.1: link

Our WinRAR test from 2013 is updated to the latest version of WinRAR at the start of 2014. We compress a set of 2867 files across 320 folders totaling 1.52 GB in size – 95% of these files are small typical website files, and the rest (90% of the size) are small 30 second 720p videos.

Image Manipulation – FastStone Image Viewer 4.9: link

Similarly to WinRAR, the FastStone test us updated for 2014 to the latest version. FastStone is the program I use to perform quick or bulk actions on images, such as resizing, adjusting for color and cropping. In our test we take a series of 170 images in various sizes and formats and convert them all into 640x480 .gif files, maintaining the aspect ratio. FastStone does not use multithreading for this test, and thus single threaded performance is often the winner.

Video Conversion – Handbrake v0.9.9: link

Handbrake is a media conversion tool that was initially designed to help DVD ISOs and Video CDs into more common video formats. The principle today is still the same, primarily as an output for H.264 + AAC/MP3 audio within an MKV container. In our test we use the same videos as in the Xilisoft test, and results are given in frames per second.

Rendering – PovRay 3.7: link

The Persistence of Vision RayTracer, or PovRay, is a freeware package for as the name suggests, ray tracing. It is a pure renderer, rather than modeling software, but the latest beta version contains a handy benchmark for stressing all processing threads on a platform. We have been using this test in motherboard reviews to test memory stability at various CPU speeds to good effect – if it passes the test, the IMC in the CPU is stable for a given CPU speed. As a CPU test, it runs for approximately 2-3 minutes on high end platforms.

Synthetic – 7-Zip 9.2: link

As an open source compression tool, 7-Zip is a popular tool for making sets of files easier to handle and transfer. The software offers up its own benchmark, to which we report the result.

Gaming Benchmarks

F1 2013

First up is F1 2013 by Codemasters. I am a big Formula 1 fan in my spare time, and nothing makes me happier than carving up the field in a Caterham, waving to the Red Bulls as I drive by (because I play on easy and take shortcuts). F1 2013 uses the EGO Engine, and like other Codemasters games ends up being very playable on old hardware quite easily. In order to beef up the benchmark a bit, we devised the following scenario for the benchmark mode: one lap of Spa-Francorchamps in the heavy wet, the benchmark follows Jenson Button in the McLaren who starts on the grid in 22nd place, with the field made up of 11 Williams cars, 5 Marussia and 5 Caterham in that order. This puts emphasis on the CPU to handle the AI in the wet, and allows for a good amount of overtaking during the automated benchmark. We test at 1920x1080 on Ultra graphical settings.

Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock Infinite was Zero Punctuation’s Game of the Year for 2013, uses the Unreal Engine 3, and is designed to scale with both cores and graphical prowess. We test the benchmark using the Adrenaline benchmark tool and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.

Tomb Raider

The next benchmark in our test is Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider is an AMD optimized game, lauded for its use of TressFX creating dynamic hair to increase the immersion in game. Tomb Raider uses a modified version of the Crystal Engine, and enjoys raw horsepower. We test the benchmark using the Adrenaline benchmark tool and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.

Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs is a benchmarking wet dream – a highly complex benchmark that can bring the toughest setup and high resolutions down into single figures. Having an extreme SSAO setting can do that, but at the right settings Sleeping Dogs is highly playable and enjoyable. We run the basic benchmark program laid out in the Adrenaline benchmark tool, and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.

Battlefield 4

The EA/DICE series that has taken countless hours of my life away is back for another iteration, using the Frostbite 3 engine. AMD is also piling its resources into BF4 with the new Mantle API for developers, designed to cut the time required for the CPU to dispatch commands to the graphical sub-system. For our test we use the in-game benchmarking tools and record the frame time for the first ~70 seconds of the Tashgar single player mission, which is an on-rails generation of and rendering of objects and textures. We test at 1920x1080 at Ultra settings.

Final Words

Ever since the overclocking motherboard market realized that the $200 price point offered a large number of sales, each manufacturer has optimized their product stack to take advantage of this market. The Z77 OC Formula did this really well at $240-250, offering a really nice motherboard for the price and package. The Z87 OC Formula aimed at the $350 crowd instead and matched the price point with some impressive new features, but it lost the sense of ‘overclocking on the cheap’ that the market seemed to like. The new Z97 OC Formula goes back to those roots, and despite the Z97 chipset being more expensive than the previous two, ASRock fits in this model at $210.

So at $210, there is not much room to move in terms of additional features. The combination air/water heatsinks are gone, as is the LCD showing temperatures and voltages. What does stay is ASRock’s Conformal Coating, a superhydrophobic polymer coating that is designed to help moisture run off the motherboard without interfering with electrical signals. From our visual inspection, we can see that the Conformal Coating has been refined to give a much cleaner surface that feels more secure and covered than before. ASRock once told me that the machine that applies this coating can only do three motherboards an hour, which could limit potential sales if everyone went after the OC Formula.

The heatsinks are massive to compensate for the lack of air/water cooling, and for the overclocking element ASRock has included their onboard OC buttons as well as a yellow themed full HD BIOS that lists every option under the sun in a single scrollable menu. I am glad that My Favorites is included so we did not need to scroll down on every reboot during our overclocking tests. The motherboard itself also includes a Killer NIC and PCIe Storage: the SATA Express and M.2 slots share bandwidth however. The M.2 does support drives from 22x30mm to 22x110mm in a PCIe 2.0 x2 arrangement. The PCIe lanes for graphics cards do not use a PLX chip and as a result we can have two-way SLI (x8/x8) or four-way Crossfire (x8/x4/x4 + x4).

ASRock’s use of MultiCore Turbo puts the stock performance near the top but never right at the top. There are a few crucial points to consider however – the Realtek ALC1150 audio comes near the bottom of our testing compared to other ALC1150 solutions, and a 15 second base POST time for Z97 is quite long.

Overclocking performance gave 4.7 GHz at 1.350 volts, which is a mighty fine performance on our middle-of-the-road CPU. There are plenty of automatic overclock options provided, and the 4.6 GHz here would make most sense with our CPU if we had no idea how to overclock manually. Unfortunately there was a snag in our BIOS, and the ‘all core’ overclocking option was not working as intended – using the ‘per core’ option fixed the issue.

Because of ASRock’s desire to push the price point of the Z97 OC Formula down, there is nothing extra in the box beyond some SATA Cables and the HDD Saver cable. Personally I feel that a motherboard like this needs to have something to connect the user to the product, otherwise it just becomes a functional tool rather than a solid experience.

Overall, my conclusion is along the same lines. The OC Formula is a nice $210 functional tool, but there is no sense of fanfare or excitement when using it. There was no time in testing that made me think ‘wow’ beyond the smoother look of the Conformal Coating, and the only thing that might make me remember this board beyond the next review is the fact that the OC Formula line will continue to live on. Any user looking at the OC Formula will enjoy the fact that it performs for sure, but there is not the element of excitement I might have expected from buying a board focused on overclocking.