I like the idea of a conformal coating, but ASRock needs to have done its homework thoroughly. Such a coating can actually cause components to fail because the rise and fall of temperatures flexes the component parts and solder joints as the coating literally pulls the components down when the system gets colder. This can happen at relatively normal temperature ranges, bringing board components down to temps they might see with a little spilled LN2 makes it even more critical. That being said, it is probably less of an issue now than it was 30 years ago when I was involved in the testing of conformal coatings on circuit boards. :)
I wouldn't let it stop me from buying the board, as I say I like the idea, but it would be in the back of my mind if I did. It IS a great idea to protect the mainboard from the effects of condensation or a leak in a water cooling system. A +1 in my book for ASRock.
It seems to have been a while since you last looked at conformal coatings. The ONLY artificial coating I know of described as Superhydrophobic is Neverwet, a recent advancement in nanotechnology.
It can be applied to clothing, fabrics, metals, plastics, and a heck of a lot else without the need for restrictive layers like previous coatings. It's more like a paint than a coating.
There are lots of treatments that can be described as "superhydrophobic" other than Neverwet, which is just a brand name. It could be one of several different nano-structures, silicones, or fluorochemicals. Extremely hydrophobic materials are not new
I have to agree, I've only bought two motherboards over $200, one was an ASUS Crosshair 1 that never worked right and the Asrock Z77 OC formula which is in RMA right now. Both of which tech support is almost non-existent. I will certainly think twice before ordering another mobo over $200. I am an enthusiast and modder, but it just doesn't make sense to spend that much money when I've had $100 motherboards that are still in service after 5 years.
+1 So called enthusiast boards are mostly a waste of money. There are few commonly run apps that significantly benefit from CPU or memory overclocking. For that sort of money you'd be better off with a second graphics card or an SSD.
"As a competitive overclocker myself, I find this hobby of mine absolutely fascinating. I have had some mild success personally, hitting near the top of the enthusiast league for several years, achieving success in local competitions and I currently hold a number of UK records. I joined HWBot before I really got into enthusiast hardware, and through HWBot I joined the local UK team and luckily I had a chance encounter at a Gigabyte overclocking event with an AnandTech editor which started my writing career." - Ian Cutress
Out of my three 4770K CPUs I have had in, one fails to do 4.2 GHz at 1.4 volts, and the other two will do 4.6 GHz fairly easily and stable, but require a big voltage push for 4.7 GHz. Out of these two chips however, one was 6C cooler at 4.6 GHz OCCT load. Guess what - I'd kill that 4.2 GHz CPU before it hit 4.6 GHz. It's part of what is called 'the silicon lottery'.
Please post your experiences of auto overclocking vs. manual on your CPUs, so we can provide a reference. What seems to have skipped over heads is that manufacturers are people too, and thus can design automatic overclock settings that are aggressive. ASRock are clearly being aggressive enough with automatic settings for my chips (luckily), and the wide variation in Haswell samples (4.2 GHz to 5.0 GHz air stable) makes it hard to compare different motherboards in terms of 24/7 overclocking - as these OC boards are built for sub-zero, anything air and water is essentially a stroll in the park.
If you have any suggestions rather than blanket statements, I would be amenable to listen to them.
Hi, Ian! Sorry to bump old thread, but someone just told me to never trust Anandtech regarding OCs, so I was naturally curious about this mixup.
Regarding your 4.2GHz @ 1.40V chip, what was your VRIN? Intel themselves recommended to keep it 0.4V above Vcore, so at least 1.80V in this case (as reported by one of Gigabyte's BIOS QA testers). Source: http://www.overclock.net/t/1401976/the-gigabyte-z8...
EDIT: sorry, got them confused. That question applies to THIS review, where your VRIN is too low. I have no idea what it was on that mATX board, though, but am definitely curious.
I thought that I would add that even my cheap Z87 Extreme4 has an on-board USB port, so it's not really something fancy that was added to this board. =P
Also, I'm rather disappointed that if they were going to make this available for water cooling that they went with built-in barbs. That's just lazy. ASUS seems to have it right with the Maximus VI Formula as it uses G1/4 threads. Unfortunately, it's not out yet, but it's supposed to release in a week or two (early August).
ASRock seem to have latched onto it as a useful feature. It is certainly a plus, I wonder what the uptake % is. My father just informed me that his version of Cubase still uses a USB verification dongle.
I haven't read a review anywhere with the HDMI-In actually working with discrete GPU's. For me it just makes my screen flash black.
The Molex GPU power connector is positioned poorly. It's pointed flat against where most power supplys go. Granted, when used as an open air overclocking board this won't be a problem, but Asrock use this connector on many of their high end Z87 boards.
I hate it. My Linux server runs an ASRock board (A75M-HVS) booting via UEFI, but they released a newer firmware that breaks Linux UEFI booting. I emailed their tech support, and instead of getting an email back stating that Linux is unsupported, they just ignored me and I never heard from them. I had to roll back to the older firmware.
Curious about the HDMI in and how useful it really is. Did you really not have a single other device in your house with HDMI output? Does it work with dual monitors? Can it only change one of the screens and not screw up your desktop? Is anyone else offering HDMI also? for less than $200+?
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Sabresiberian - Friday, July 26, 2013 - link
I like the idea of a conformal coating, but ASRock needs to have done its homework thoroughly. Such a coating can actually cause components to fail because the rise and fall of temperatures flexes the component parts and solder joints as the coating literally pulls the components down when the system gets colder. This can happen at relatively normal temperature ranges, bringing board components down to temps they might see with a little spilled LN2 makes it even more critical. That being said, it is probably less of an issue now than it was 30 years ago when I was involved in the testing of conformal coatings on circuit boards. :)I wouldn't let it stop me from buying the board, as I say I like the idea, but it would be in the back of my mind if I did. It IS a great idea to protect the mainboard from the effects of condensation or a leak in a water cooling system. A +1 in my book for ASRock.
GuardianAngel470 - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
It seems to have been a while since you last looked at conformal coatings. The ONLY artificial coating I know of described as Superhydrophobic is Neverwet, a recent advancement in nanotechnology.It can be applied to clothing, fabrics, metals, plastics, and a heck of a lot else without the need for restrictive layers like previous coatings. It's more like a paint than a coating.
owan - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
There are lots of treatments that can be described as "superhydrophobic" other than Neverwet, which is just a brand name. It could be one of several different nano-structures, silicones, or fluorochemicals. Extremely hydrophobic materials are not newzero2dash - Friday, July 26, 2013 - link
Dat LCD....that is some neat stuff. I hope to see Gigabyte do something similar in the future.buzznut - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
I have to agree, I've only bought two motherboards over $200, one was an ASUS Crosshair 1 that never worked right and the Asrock Z77 OC formula which is in RMA right now. Both of which tech support is almost non-existent.I will certainly think twice before ordering another mobo over $200. I am an enthusiast and modder, but it just doesn't make sense to spend that much money when I've had $100 motherboards that are still in service after 5 years.
Hrel - Friday, July 26, 2013 - link
Lol $330. If you spend over 200 on a motherboard you're an idiot.If you spend over 150 you don't care about value.
Competitive overclockers excluded from "idiot" category. It's ok to be frivolous on a hobby.
Slash3 - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
So, what you're saying is that it's priced just fine for the features it delivers?tech6 - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
+1So called enthusiast boards are mostly a waste of money. There are few commonly run apps that significantly benefit from CPU or memory overclocking. For that sort of money you'd be better off with a second graphics card or an SSD.
iTzSnypah - Friday, July 26, 2013 - link
Please please learn to overclock Haswell. You are killing the potential of these reviews with novice overclocking.When an automatic overclock uses the same CPU voltage as your manual overclock to reach 4.6Ghz you know you are doing something wrong.
Razorbak86 - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
"As a competitive overclocker myself, I find this hobby of mine absolutely fascinating. I have had some mild success personally, hitting near the top of the enthusiast league for several years, achieving success in local competitions and I currently hold a number of UK records. I joined HWBot before I really got into enthusiast hardware, and through HWBot I joined the local UK team and luckily I had a chance encounter at a Gigabyte overclocking event with an AnandTech editor which started my writing career." - Ian Cutresshttp://www.anandtech.com/show/7081/competitive-ove...
Just out of curiosity, how many overclocking records do you hold?
IanCutress - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
Out of my three 4770K CPUs I have had in, one fails to do 4.2 GHz at 1.4 volts, and the other two will do 4.6 GHz fairly easily and stable, but require a big voltage push for 4.7 GHz. Out of these two chips however, one was 6C cooler at 4.6 GHz OCCT load. Guess what - I'd kill that 4.2 GHz CPU before it hit 4.6 GHz. It's part of what is called 'the silicon lottery'.Please post your experiences of auto overclocking vs. manual on your CPUs, so we can provide a reference. What seems to have skipped over heads is that manufacturers are people too, and thus can design automatic overclock settings that are aggressive. ASRock are clearly being aggressive enough with automatic settings for my chips (luckily), and the wide variation in Haswell samples (4.2 GHz to 5.0 GHz air stable) makes it hard to compare different motherboards in terms of 24/7 overclocking - as these OC boards are built for sub-zero, anything air and water is essentially a stroll in the park.
If you have any suggestions rather than blanket statements, I would be amenable to listen to them.
Ian
ikjadoon - Sunday, December 1, 2013 - link
Hi, Ian! Sorry to bump old thread, but someone just told me to never trust Anandtech regarding OCs, so I was naturally curious about this mixup.Regarding your 4.2GHz @ 1.40V chip, what was your VRIN? Intel themselves recommended to keep it 0.4V above Vcore, so at least 1.80V in this case (as reported by one of Gigabyte's BIOS QA testers). Source: http://www.overclock.net/t/1401976/the-gigabyte-z8...
The same question applies to this review: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7175/asrock-z87m-oc-...
The VRIN was at 1.650V which is too low for the 1.350V Vcore. Were you able to try a higher VRIN in the review of the mATX board?
ikjadoon - Sunday, December 1, 2013 - link
EDIT: sorry, got them confused. That question applies to THIS review, where your VRIN is too low. I have no idea what it was on that mATX board, though, but am definitely curious.Aikouka - Friday, July 26, 2013 - link
I thought that I would add that even my cheap Z87 Extreme4 has an on-board USB port, so it's not really something fancy that was added to this board. =PAlso, I'm rather disappointed that if they were going to make this available for water cooling that they went with built-in barbs. That's just lazy. ASUS seems to have it right with the Maximus VI Formula as it uses G1/4 threads. Unfortunately, it's not out yet, but it's supposed to release in a week or two (early August).
IanCutress - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
ASRock seem to have latched onto it as a useful feature. It is certainly a plus, I wonder what the uptake % is. My father just informed me that his version of Cubase still uses a USB verification dongle.This Guy - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
I haven't read a review anywhere with the HDMI-In actually working with discrete GPU's. For me it just makes my screen flash black.The Molex GPU power connector is positioned poorly. It's pointed flat against where most power supplys go. Granted, when used as an open air overclocking board this won't be a problem, but Asrock use this connector on many of their high end Z87 boards.
ThortonBe - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
Under the feature overview sections, I believe it should read "Purity Sound" as opposed to "Purity Audio".The LCD screen is a neat addition. I wonder how much it raised the B.O.M.
Gigaplex - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
"I rather like the ASRock BIOS"I hate it. My Linux server runs an ASRock board (A75M-HVS) booting via UEFI, but they released a newer firmware that breaks Linux UEFI booting. I emailed their tech support, and instead of getting an email back stating that Linux is unsupported, they just ignored me and I never heard from them. I had to roll back to the older firmware.
Montago - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Why didn't Asus use THIS colorscheme ???... WHYYYYYBlack & Yellow is awesome...
QChronoD - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Curious about the HDMI in and how useful it really is. Did you really not have a single other device in your house with HDMI output? Does it work with dual monitors? Can it only change one of the screens and not screw up your desktop?Is anyone else offering HDMI also? for less than $200+?
sonci - Monday, August 12, 2013 - link
vowProbably the prettiest motherboard I`ve ever seen,
even the capacitors arranged, pity to put it inside a PC
Amph - Sunday, April 6, 2014 - link
my asrock z87 oc formula don't recognize the gpu in the fourth slot