Looking to future-proof your Intel Z68 upgrade with Gen 3 PCI Express 3.0? Jonathan ‘Fatal1ty’ Wendel is back with a new gaming motherboard.
Product on Review : Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3Manufacturer and Sponsor : ASRock
Street Price: £200 inc. VAT (GBP)
ASRock have been causing quite a stir with their new line of Gen3 ready motherboards. The Extreme4 Gen3 we took a look at last month has featured on many enthusiast community forum, generating plenty of discussion – and rightly so, it is one of the best value for money Z68 offerings currently available.
A month on and we are taking a look at yet another ASRock Z68 Gen3 offering. This time it’s the turn of the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3. As the name suggests, this motherboard is the out workings and involvement with gaming sensation Jonathan ‘Fatal1ty’ Wendel. Fatal1ty has been working with ASRock for some time now and this latest release is the result of arduous planning on both sides.
As with all ASRock Gen3 motherboards, the Fatl1ty Z68 Professional is laden with gold solid CAP bling, a colour-scheme to revere and a feature-set to certainly get excited about so let’s begin our analysis right away.
About ASRock
ASRock has been growing fast and become world third largest motherboard brand with headquarter in Taipei, Taiwan and branches in Europe and the USA. The young and vibrant company targets from mainstream to enthusiast MB segments for different kinds of users, owning reputation around the world market with its reliability and proficiency.
Technical Specifications
Features
• Premium Gold Caps (2.5 x longer life time), 100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors
• Digi PWM Design, Advanced V12 + 6 Power Phase Design
• Supports Dual Channel DDR3 2133(OC)
• Integrated PLX PEX8608 chip onboard to offer sufficient PCI-E lanes
• 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots
• Supports ATI™ Quad CrossFireX™, 3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™
• Supports NVIDIA® Quad SLI™ and SLI™
• Dual PCIE GLAN with Teaming function
• Dr. Debug, Smart Switch Design: Power/Reset/Clear CMOS Switch with LED
• Supports Fatal1ty XFast USB, XFast LAN Technologies
• Supports Graphical UEFI, Lucid Virtu, Intel® Smart Response Technology
• Supports Fatal1ty F-Stream, On/Off Play Technology, APP Charger, SmartView
• 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec), THX TruStudio™
• Free Bundle : 1 x 3.5mm Audio Cable, 1 x Front USB 3.0 Panel, CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, ASRock MAGIX Multimedia Suite
CPU
– Supports 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 / i5 / i3 in LGA1155 Package
– Advanced V12 + 6 Power Phase Design
– Supports Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology
– Supports Intel® K-Series unlocked CPU
– Supports Hyper-Threading Technology
Chipset
– Intel® Z68
Memory
– Dual Channel DDR3 memory technology
– 4 x DDR3 DIMM slots
– Supports DDR3 2133(OC)/1866(OC)/1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
– Max. capacity of system memory: 32GB*
– Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
BIOS
– 64Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support
– Supports “Plug and Play”
– ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events
– Supports jumperfree
– SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support
– CPU Core, IGPU, DRAM, PCH, CPU PLL, VTT, VCCSA Voltage Multi-adjustment Audio, Video and Networking
Graphics
– Supports Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visuals : Intel® Quick Sync Video, Intel® InTru™ 3D, Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, Intel® HD Graphics 2000/3000, Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
– Pixel Shader 4.1, DirectX 10.1
– Max. shared memory 1759MB
– Multi VGA Output options: one D-Sub port, two HDMI ports and one DVI-D port by the bundled HDMI to DVI adapter
– Supports HDMI 1.4a Technology with max. resolution up to 1920×1200 @ 60Hz
– Supports DVI with max. resolution up to 1920×1200 @ 60Hz
– Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 2048×1536 @ 75Hz
– Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI (Compliant HDMI monitor is required)
– Supports HDCP function with DVI and HDMI ports
– Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback with DVI and HDMI ports
Audio
– 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)
– Premium Blu-ray audio support
– Supports THX TruStudio™
LAN
– PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Realtek RTL8111E
– Supports Wake-On-LAN
– Supports LAN Cable Detection
– Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
– Supports Dual LAN with Teaming function
– Supports PXE
Expansion / Connectivity
Slots
– 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (PCIE2/PCIE4: single at x16 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4) or dual at x8/x8 mode)
– 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (PCIE5: x4 mode)
– 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots
– 2 x PCI slots
– Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX™ , 3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™
– Supports NVIDIA® Quad SLI™ and SLI™
SATA3
– 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by Intel® Z68, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, Intel® Rapid Storage and Intel® Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions
– 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by ASMedia ASM1061, support NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions (SATA3_A4 connector is shared with eSATA3 port)
USB 3.0 – 4 x Rear USB 3.0 ports by ASMedia ASM1042, support USB 1.0/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s
– 1 x Front USB 3.0 header (supports 2 USB 3.0 ports) by ASMedia ASM1042, supports USB 1.0/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s
Connector
– 4 x SATA2 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, Intel® Rapid Storage and Intel® Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug functions
– 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors
– 1 x ATA133 IDE connector (supports 2 x IDE devices)
– 1 x Floppy connector
– 1 x IR header
– 1 x COM port header
– 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header
– 1 x IEEE 1394 header
– 1 x Power LED header
– CPU/Chassis/Power FAN connector
– 24 pin ATX power connector
– 8 pin 12V power connector
– CD in header
– Front panel audio connector
– 2 x USB 2.0 headers (support 4 USB 2.0 ports)
– 1 x USB 3.0 header (supports 2 USB 3.0 ports)
– 1 x Dr. Debug with LED
I/O Panel
– 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
– 1 x VGA/D-Sub Port
– 2 x HDMI Ports
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 3 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports
– 1 x Fatal1ty Mouse Port (USB 2.0)
– 1 x eSATA3 Connector
– 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 3.0 Ports
– 2 x RJ-45 LAN Ports with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
– 1 x IEEE 1394 Port
– 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED
– HD Audio Jack: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
Unique Feature
– F-Stream
– ASRock Instant Boot
– ASRock Instant Flash
– ASRock APP Charger
– ASRock SmartView
– ASRock XFast USB
– ASRock XFast LAN
– Lucid Virtu
– ASRock On/Off Play Technology
– Hybrid Booster:
– CPU Frequency Stepless Control
– ASRock U-COP
– Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.)
– Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.)
– Good Night LED
Smart Switch
– 1 x Power Switch with LED
– 1 x Reset Switch with LED
– 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED
Support CD
– Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, ASRock Software Suite
(CyberLink DVD Suite – OEM and Trial; ASRock MAGIX Multimedia Suite – OEM)
Accessories
– 1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_2S Card
– Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
– Floppy/ATA 133 Cables
– 6 x SATA Data Cables (optional)
– 2 x SATA 1 to 1 Power Cables (optional)
– 1 x 3.5mm Audio Cable (optional)
– 1 x Front USB 3.0 Panel
– 4 x HDD Screws
– 6 x Chassis Screws
– 1 x Rear USB 3.0 Bracket
– 1 x HDMI to DVI Adapter
Hardware Monitor
– CPU Temperature Sensing
– Chassis Temperature Sensing
– CPU/Chassis/Power Fan Tachometer
– CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan (Allow Chassis Fan Speed Auto-Adjust by CPU Temperature)
– CPU/Chassis Fan Multi-Speed Control
– Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore
Form Factor
– ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
– All Solid Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)
OS
– Microsoft® Windows® 7 / 7 64-bit / Vista™ / Vista™ 64-bit / XP / XP 64-bit compliant
Certifications
– FCC, CE, WHQL
– ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)
Packaging & First Look
Having the Fatal1ty branding – the packaging and items inside have the Jonathan Wendel insignia printed on them. The packaging opens out to give consumers more information on the “Fatal1ty Story” and other key features such as Digital PWM Design and 12+6 Phase Power Design. Not only do we have more information though, there is also a window given a first glimpse of the actual motherboard within the packaging.
The Fatal1ty packaging certainly catches the eye
A sneak preview of the treasure inside
Within the packaging we have 2 boxes. One box has the accessories bundle and the other the motherboard itself. Included in the accessories bundle we have:
• 4x SATA 3Gbps Cables
• 4x SATA 6Gbps Cables
• 3.5mm Audio Cable
• DVI to HDMI Adapter
• Molex to SATA Adapter
• IDE & Floppy Cables
• USB 3.0 Front Panel – 2x USB 3.0 ports
• Rigid SLI Bridge (2 cards)
• Driver CD
• Documentation – User Manual/Installation Guide
The included items within the bundle
The other box, as mentioned features the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 motherboard with a plastic lid. A brief first glimpse reveals a very eye-catching motherboard. Overall the packaging for this product has been very well thought out and as with the moniker, is delivered in a very professional manner.
The motherboard within its own box and clear lid
With the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 out of its packaging we can finally take a good look at this motherboard. Being endorsed by Jonathan ‘Fatal1ty’ Wendel we have the customary black and red colour-scheme and of course being Gen3 we have the gold solid CAPs. We’ve seen the written specifications of this board and now it’s time to take a closer look at these features.
An overview of Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3
Closer Look
Beginning at the CPU socket we can see there are plenty of gold solid CAPs around this region. A 12+6 CPU Phase Power Design is present on the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3. The entire heatsink design that covers the MOSFETs has a thick heatpipe that stretches as far as the Z68 chip also. The EATX requires 8-pin power from the PSU – based on the Phase Power Design, heatsinks and EATX power in theory we should be looking to aim high with overclocking performance.
Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 has dual CPU coolers mounting holes for LGA775 and LGA1155/1156 coolers.
12+6 Phase Power Design and 8-pin EATX CPU Power
Moving to the memory slots we have 2x dual channel options. These slots support DDR3 and Intel XMP. We can also use memory kits that run from 1066MHz up to 2133MHz (OC).
ASRock have chosen to support older devices that make use of IDE on the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3. This is a strange move since SATA has pretty much superseded IDE now. Sure, some may still use IDE but those individuals will be few and far between this standard is much slower than SATA.
Next to the IDE slot there is a USB 3.0 header for connecting to the USB 3.0 ports on the front of the case.
Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Slots (1066MHz to 2133MHz)
Moving to the SATA ports we have an abundance of options here. Up to 6x SATA 3 (6Gbps) ports and 4x SATA 2 (3Gbps). 2 of the SATA 3 ports are supplied via Intel Z68 and the other 4 ports are supplied via ASMedia ASM1061.
Plenty of options for SATA storage
Beside the SATA ports there are some other great features that we come to expect from premium high-end motherboards. In the corner of the motherboard we have on-board power and reset buttons. These buttons illuminate red when the system is running – this feature is extremely useful for system builders and particularly those who have their system setup on a test bench.
We also have a Dr Debug display panel for diagnosing any issues on POST. Again this is a very handy feature to have on the motherboard as it can assist with eliminating any issues you may have getting the system booted.
On-board power/reset buttons and Dr Debug LED display
In terms of graphics compatibility we have 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (PCIE2/PCIE4: single at x16 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4) or dual at x8/x8 mode) and 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (PCIE5: x4 mode). We also have 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots and 2 x PCI slots. Available via these slots we have support for AMD Quad CrossFireX™ , 3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™ and on NVIDIA side – Quad SLI™ and SLI™.
PCI-Express 3.0 compatibility for next-gen graphics
Lastly the I/O panel on the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 from left to right has:
• Dual USB 2.0 ports
• PS2 Keyboard
• Dual HDMI and VGA port
• Clear CMOS Button
• Gigabit LAN (RJ45)
• 2x USB 3.0 ports
• 2x USB 2.0 ports (Top – Fatal1ty Mouse Port)
• IEEE 1394 Port
• eSATA3 port
• Gigabit LAN (RJ45)
• 2x USB 3.0 ports
• 6 Channel HD Audio Jacks with Optical SPDIF
The top USB 2.0 port acts as the Fatal1ty Mouse Port. This mouse port offers gamers the chance of seeing Fata1lty’s personally preferred settings. It also allows gamers to completely customise their mouse settings giving plenty of flexibility- all via bundled software of course.
The I/O Panel on Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3
Lucid VIRTU
The Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 takes advantage of Lucid’s VIRTU since it uses the Intel Z68 chipset. VIRTU is designed for the Sandy Bridge platform and assigns tasks to best available graphics resource based power, performance, and features.
As most would know, Intel Z68 takes advantage of a key feature that is found from the Intel H67 chipset – video outputs. Since the Intel 2nd Generation processors have an iGPU built-in some may want to use this as an option and also use a discrete graphics solution. What VIRTU does is – it allows the user to utilise both discrete GPU and Intel’s iGPU (built in graphics on the CPU) without the need to change hardware or switch the outputs.
VIRTU brings in many unique features, a great deal of them are associated with power management – relating to heat, fan speed, and other useful elements. There are two different modes to use when considering VIRTU:
i-Mode
This provides the user with Intel features and power saving options when not being used for 3D gaming. Display must be connected to video output on the motherboard to use this feature.
d-Mode
This mode allows gamers to enhance their 3D experience and performance – combining a discrete graphics solution and the iGPU. In this mode we can use VIRTU to assist with things like transcoding and media encoding in general. The overriding thought on this is that even entry level AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards have their own technologies for handling media encoding such as AMD Stream and NVIDIA CUDA – both of these technologies are deemed as being exceptional alternatives and don’t offer any real advantage over VIRTU using iGPU for these types of task.
Display drivers for discreet graphics card must be installed prior to VIRTU drivers.
For more information on VIRTU please go to: Lucidlogix virtu
Test Setup & Overclocking
CPU Intel Core i5 2500K (3.3GHz)
Motherboards
– ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3
– GIGABYTE Z68XP-UD3P
– GIGABYTE G1 Sniper 2
– ASRock Extreme4 Gen3
– MSI Big Bang Marshal
– ASUS Maximus IV Extreme
– GIGABYTE Z68-UD4
– Foxconn Rattler P67
– ASUS Sabertooth P67
– ASUS P8P67 (LGA1155)
– Foxconn P67A-S
– ECS P67H2-A (Black Extreme)
Memory 4GB Kingston HyperX Genesis CL9 1600MHz
CPU Cooler Noctua NH-D14
Graphics ZOTAC GTX 460
PSU OCZ Fatal1ty 750W
All P67 Sandy Bridge motherboards will be benchmarked against each other using the Intel Core i5 2500K. The maximum overclock will also be included within the proceeding benchmark tests to identify performance gains as a result of tweaking CPU clock speed via the multiplier.
Overclocking
As previously mentioned in our Intel Core i5 Sandy Bridge Roundup – overclocking is achieved by altering the multiplier rather than the BCLK. So the BCLK stays at 100MHz and the multiplier is modified. So if we have 100MHz on the BCLK and 40 for the multiplier this will obviously output 4GHz. We chose to use the Intel Core i5 2500K across each of the motherboard tests and indeed for the overclocking due to its unlocked multiplier.
With overclocking simplified on Sandy Bridge, this means that achieving the best overclock couldn’t be easier. CPU voltage and multiplier just need to be modified accordingly. The ultimate milestone is 5GHz on air cooling for the Intel Core i5 2500K and so I didn’t hang about, nudging the BCLK up to 50 I soon came up against a brick wall at 1.3v – so I began modifying the voltage to cater for the large overclock until at last when I hit 1.45v the system would boot into Windows and was verified as being stable after an adequate amount of passes within LinX.
5GHz was attainable with 1.45v – a significant milestone and an impressive result for the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3.
Power Consumption
For a motherboard of its calibre and features we have some good power efficiency results at idle and load states.
Synthetic Benchmarks: AIDA64
Get your copy of AIDA64 here!CPU Queen
CPU Photoworrx
Synthetic Benchmarks: x264 HD
x264 HD gives results for 2 passes when compressing an MPEG-2 clip into x264. It presents 4 separate results for each pass giving a total of 8 – all results are given in FPS. For each pass I have averaged out the results.
The Fatal1ty motherboard does an extremely good job in this department. Certainly when looking at the 1st pass results you can see that the motherboard is a step above the rest.
Synthetic Benchmarks: Cinebench 11.5
Though our motherboard isn’t the best at stock speed if you check the difference between the top 4 there isn’t much to separate them. Overclocking gives those extra points!
Synthetic Benchmarks: SiSoftware SANDRA 2011
Processor tests – The Fatal1ty motherboard falls behind in these tests slightly. Although efficiency is good other motherboards appear to offer superior results. Overclocking changes this though and we see a distinct advantage.
Memory tests– Though we see with these results the difference is nominal between each contender an overclock puts the Fatal1ty offering in high favour.
Synthetic Benchmarks: 3DMark 11
3DMark 11 was released at the end of last year and needs little introduction. For the test settings both Performance and Extreme presets are run with ‘benchmark only’ being selected. This provides good analysis. Many will only test the performance preset, using the extreme mode we can examine the board under much more severe stressing.
There isn’t much to separate the motherboards in both our performance and extreme 3DMark 11 benchmarks. The Fatal1ty motherbaord still keeps up with the competition though and offers solid performance in Futuremark’s benchmarking tool.
Game Benchmarks: DIRT 2, Call of Duty Black Ops, Metro 2033. UT3
Gaming performance across each of the motherboards is marginal, nevertheless this still indicates that it is a strong performer
Conclusion
Bearing the Fata1lty name means that the product in question has higher expectations, the real question is then – does the Fata1lty Z68 Professional Gen3 live up to these expectations?
Being a gaming orientated motherboard I was pleased to find plenty of features to satisfy those needs. Having the Gen3 moniker we have PCI-Express 3.0 support, although we are yet to see these graphics cards hit the market it makes good sense to those who are looking to invest in a new system to opt for a Gen3 Z68 motherboard than go with something that doesn’t support it. SATA ports come in abundance on our Fatal1ty offering – up to 6x SATA3 6G and 4x SATA 2 3G will keep those with plenty of drives content. Having the Z68 chipset we have the display ports on the I/O panel that correspond to Intel’s 2nd Generation chip that has an iGPU. We don’t just have one port here either – dual HDMI and a VGA will give you multiple monitor possibilities. Though those who have chosen the Fat1lty offering would probably be heading towards a discreet graphics solution – the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 has support for 3-Way SLI and CrossfireX. We could go on and on about the features as there are plenty more to speak of – DrMos Led Debug and on-board power/reset buttons are also present and give the motherboard that edge over other options in the same price-range.
Furthermore Overclocking is something to be pleased about also. Entering the UEFI BIOS with just a few modifications we can be well on our way to that 5GHz milestone which as we have reported results in beneficial performance gains across a wide range of uses.
Though there are many wonderful aspects to this motherboard there are also some strange inclusions and omissions. We have an IDE slot for older device support which in my mind is a strange move – almost all the motherboards I have come to have experience with this year have completely phased this feature out of their motherboards as there is no market for it. SATA has superseded. If you are planning to use IDE with this motherboard then I would urge you to either upgrade your drive or look for a motherboard in the bargain bin. I would have liked to see a dedicated audio chip on the Fata1lty motherboard we have looked at today – being marketed as a professional gaming solution it ought to really be there especially as other motherboards that are in the same class have made arrangements for such a feature.
Priced at just over £200 inc. VAT (GBP) the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 is a good option for those needing a solid, good looking, future-proofed Z68 motherboard. Though I would urge you to consider the Extreme4 Gen3 if you don’t need those added SATA ports, HDMI and 3-way graphics. It costs less and still offers rock solid performance.
The bottom line is ASRock’s Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 is a great looking motherboard that delivers some interesting performance results. It overclocks well, has lots of storage capabilities and many other useful features.
+ Looks great
+ Offers good performance
+ Overclocks very well
+ Lots of storage options
+ Multiple on-board monitor support
Cons
– IDE should be redundant
– Gaming professional motherboard should have dedicated audio chip
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
