Supporting the new Intel Core i9-9900K, the ASRock Z390 Extreme4 is a mid-range motherboard boasting a strong lineup of features and is ready for Intel 9th Generation Processors.
Product on Review: Z390 Extreme4
Manufacturer & Sponsor: ASRock
Street Price: £170 GBP – $190 USD – $289 AUD
As we find ourselves at the end of another year, a new chipset has arisen over in the Intel camp. On paper little has changed since the previous chipset generation and enthusiasts/gamers should expect an incremental improvement to existing technologies.
What is likely to be the most compelling attraction to this chipset is the support for Intel’s 9th Generation Processors – in this review we’ll be testing/analysing this motherbaord with the new Intel Core i9-9900K.
So, in the spotlight today we have the ASRock Z390 Extreme4. As we come to expect from the Extreme4, this is a mid-range motherboards carrying a good blend of features and performance. Some of these features include, dual M.2 slots, USB 3.0 and 3.1 headers and NVIDIA NVLink, SLI/AMD Crossfire support.
About ASRock
ASRock Inc. is established in 2002, specialized in the field of motherboards. ASRock strives to build up its own brand. With the 3C design concept, “Creativity, Consideration, Cost-effectiveness”, the company explores the limit of motherboards manufacturing while paying attention on the eco issue at the same time, developing products with the consideration of eco-friendly concept.
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.
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
Below are the technical specifications concerning the Z370 Extreme4, all of which is supplied directly by ASRock:
CPU
– Supports next-gen CPUs and 8th Gen Intel® Core™ processors (Socket 1151)
– Digi Power design
– 12 Power Phase design
– Supports Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology
– Supports Intel® K-Series unlocked CPUs
– Supports ASRock BCLK Full-range Overclocking
Chipset
• Intel® Z390 Chipset
Main Memory
• 4 x DDR4 memory slots, support up to 64GB
– Supports DDR4 Up to 4300MHz
• Dual channel memory architecture
• Supports ECC, un-buffered memory
– ECC UDIMM memory (non-ECC mode)
• Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP 2.0)
Slots
• 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (Modes: 16, 8, 4)
• 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slot
• M.2 Socket (Key E), supports type 2230 WiFi/BT module and Intel® CNVi
(Integrated WiFi/BT).
Onboard Graphics
• 1 x D-Sub
• 1 x HDMI™ port (1.4b)
• 1 x Displayport™ port (1.2)
Multi-GPU
– Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX, 3-Way CrossFireX and CrossFireX
– Supports NVIDIA® Quad SLI and SLI
– Supports NVIDIA® NVLink with dual NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX series graphics cards
Storage
• 6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports – Supplied by Intel® Z390 Chipset
• 2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports – Supplied by ASMedia ASM1061
• 2 x M.2 slots (Gen3 x4)
– (Supports Intel Optane Memory)
Audio
– 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
– Premium Blu-ray Audio support
– Supports Surge Protection
– Supports Purity SoundTM 4
– Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps
– 120dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier
– NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier for Front Panel Audio Connector
(Supports up to 600 Ohm headsets)
– Pure Power-In
– Direct Drive Technology
– PCB Isolate Shielding
– Impedance Sensing on Front Out port
– Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
– RGB LED
– 15μ Gold Audio Connector
– Supports DTS Connect
LAN
– Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Giga PHY Intel® I219V
– Supports Wake-On-LAN
– Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
– Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
– Supports PXE
Back Panel I/O Ports
– 1 x Antenna Bracket
– 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
– 1 x D-Sub Port
– 1 x HDMI Port
– 1 x DisplayPort 1.2
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
– 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports (Intel® Z390) (Supports ESD Protection)
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
– HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
Dimension
• 12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )
• ATX Form Factor
– Supports next-gen CPUs and 8th Gen Intel® Core™ processors (Socket 1151)
– Digi Power design
– 12 Power Phase design
– Supports Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology
– Supports Intel® K-Series unlocked CPUs
– Supports ASRock BCLK Full-range Overclocking
Chipset
• Intel® Z390 Chipset
Main Memory
• 4 x DDR4 memory slots, support up to 64GB
– Supports DDR4 Up to 4300MHz
• Dual channel memory architecture
• Supports ECC, un-buffered memory
– ECC UDIMM memory (non-ECC mode)
• Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP 2.0)
Slots
• 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (Modes: 16, 8, 4)
• 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slot
• M.2 Socket (Key E), supports type 2230 WiFi/BT module and Intel® CNVi
(Integrated WiFi/BT).
Onboard Graphics
• 1 x D-Sub
• 1 x HDMI™ port (1.4b)
• 1 x Displayport™ port (1.2)
Multi-GPU
– Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX, 3-Way CrossFireX and CrossFireX
– Supports NVIDIA® Quad SLI and SLI
– Supports NVIDIA® NVLink with dual NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX series graphics cards
Storage
• 6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports – Supplied by Intel® Z390 Chipset
• 2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports – Supplied by ASMedia ASM1061
• 2 x M.2 slots (Gen3 x4)
– (Supports Intel Optane Memory)
Audio
– 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
– Premium Blu-ray Audio support
– Supports Surge Protection
– Supports Purity SoundTM 4
– Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps
– 120dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier
– NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier for Front Panel Audio Connector
(Supports up to 600 Ohm headsets)
– Pure Power-In
– Direct Drive Technology
– PCB Isolate Shielding
– Impedance Sensing on Front Out port
– Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
– RGB LED
– 15μ Gold Audio Connector
– Supports DTS Connect
LAN
– Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Giga PHY Intel® I219V
– Supports Wake-On-LAN
– Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
– Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
– Supports PXE
Back Panel I/O Ports
– 1 x Antenna Bracket
– 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
– 1 x D-Sub Port
– 1 x HDMI Port
– 1 x DisplayPort 1.2
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
– 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports (Intel® Z390) (Supports ESD Protection)
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
– HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
Dimension
• 12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )
• ATX Form Factor
Box, Bundle & First Look
In a similar way to the last generation, the Z390 Extreme4 arrives in a large box which features the distinct accents that ASRock are now using on their mainstream motherboard models. Over on the back of the box we have a diagram of the board, pinpointing significant features and all of the technical specifications.
Within the box there are a large number of bundled accessories which include the following:
– Quick Installation Guide
– Software/Driver CD
– I/O Shield
– 4 x SATA Data Cables
– 1 x ASRock SLI_HB_Bridge_2S Card
– 3 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
Although we receive an SLI bridge with this motherboard, it is only compatible with GTX 10-Series graphics cards – such as the GTX 1070, 1080 and 1080 Ti, since it is a HB Bridge. Therefore, the new NVIDIA RTX 20-series graphic cards are not compatible.
With Z390 Extreme4, ASRock has carried across similar characteristics to that of the previous generation, Z370 Extreme4. We have a matt black PCB with gunmetal heatsinks, black slots and reinforced PCI-e slots. Overall the layout and design is definitely very appealing and one which should match up with other system components very well.
ASRock has also included their own RGB lighting technology on Z390 Extreme4 – ASRock Polychrome SYNC. This can be modified in their software and affects the Z390 heatsink, Rear IO shield and audio section.
Z390 Extreme4 conforms to the ATX form factor, measuring in at 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm.
Closer Look
Next, we’ll move in for a closer look at the features that Extreme4 has to offer, beginning at the CPU socket.
Since we’re dealing with a Z390 motherboard, the socket is LGA1151 – supporting next-Gen Intel CPUs and the current Intel 8th Generation. Covering the VRMs we have two large heatsinks which are not connected but act independently. ASRock are using a 12 phase digital power design which also adopts their Super Alloy feature-set. This consists of components such as XXL Aluminium heatsinks, premium 60A power chokes, premium memory chokes, dual-stack MOSFET (DSM), combo CAPs (Nichicon 12K Black CAPs) and a high-density glass fabric PCB.
Behind the heatsinks we have 8pin + 4pin CPU power sockets – slightly more than we’d usually expect for a motherboard of this calibre. Perhaps this indicates higher TDP for next-generation CPUs?
Also in this region we have a CPU fan header and dedicated water pump header (both 4-pin) – which delivers a maximum of 1.5A of power, helping to deliver the correct power for most liquid coolers on the market.
Memory remains the same for this new chipset – we have four DIMM slots, supporting dual channel DDR4 with XMP 2.0. A total of 64GB can be installed and frequencies of up to DDR 4300+ (OC) are supported.
Also in the memory region we have twin USB 3.0 ports… and a USB 3.1 Gen1 header. It’s great to see a generous amount of headers here and that we have support for 3.1 for newer cases offering this on the front panel.
SATA ports still make an appearance on this motherboard, with a total of eight being present. Six are supplied directly from the Intel Z390 chipset while the other two are provided by ASMedia ASM1061. The Intel Z390 chipset sits immediately behind these ports and features a substantial heatsink over the top of it.
Observing the motherboard from a birdseye perspective, there are a selection of PCI-e slots to make use of. PCI-e functionality consists of the following:
• 3x PCI-e 3.0 x16 slots (Modes: 16, 8, 4)
• 4x PCI-e 3.0 x1 slots
Along with AMD CrossfireX and NVIDIA SLI, NVIDIA® NVLink is also available – giving support for dual NVIDIA GeForce® RTX series graphics cards.
There are three M.2 slots in amongst these PCI-e slots, one of which allows typpe 2230 WiFi/BT modules to be installed for WiFi functionality. The other two M.2 slots (at the top and bottom of the board) are PCI-e Gen4 x4 ready.
The lower M.2 slot features a detachable heatsink/cover. Removing this cover reveals a thermal strip which bonds with the drive – the intension is to help keep M.2 SSD temperatures down. We’ll reveal more on this in the full review.
After removing the plastic cover which conceals the bottom-left edge of Extreme4, we can check out the audio components – the audio solution centres around the Realtek ALC1220 codec and is known as Purity Sound 4.
In this region we also have:
• Nichicon Fine Gold Series audio CAPs
• 120dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier
• NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier for Front Panel Audio Connector
• Pure Power-In
• Direct Drive Technology
• PCB Isolate Shielding
• Impedance Sensing on Front Out port
• Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
• RGB LED
ASRock’s audio quality on motherboards have offered a strong solution in the past and this combination of top-notch componentry is sure to deliver up some excellent sound.
Finally we arrive at the rear IO section of Z390 Extreme4 and this consists of the following (in no particular order):
– 1 x Antenna Bracket
– 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
– 1 x D-Sub Port
– 1 x HDMI Port
– 1 x DisplayPort 1.2
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
– 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports (Intel® Z390) (Supports ESD Protection)
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
– HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
It’s notable that there aren’t many USB ports on this model, which is something of a disappointment. Though we do see USB 2.0 completely phased out.
Test Setup & Methodology
Test Setup
CPU Intel Core i9-9900K
Cooling Corsair H100i GTX
Motherboard ASRock Z390 Extreme4
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz
Graphics AMD Radeon RX480
Storage OCZ Vector 180 240GB SSD
PSU Corsair HX1050 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU
Monitor AOC U2879VF
Capture Device Epiphan AV.iO 4K
Cooling Corsair H100i GTX
Motherboard ASRock Z390 Extreme4
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz
Graphics AMD Radeon RX480
Storage OCZ Vector 180 240GB SSD
PSU Corsair HX1050 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU
Monitor AOC U2879VF
Capture Device Epiphan AV.iO 4K
Benchmarks
Cinebench R15 – CPU/OpenGL Score
x264 HD 4.0 – 1st and 2nd pass encoding
SiSoftware SANDRA – CPU & Memory benchmarks
POV-RAY – CPU benchmarks
TrueCrypt – CPU benchmarks
AIDA64 – CPU benchmarks & Memory
PCMark 8 – Home Suite & Photoshop
3DMark FireStrike – 3D Benchmark
Games – Rise of the Tomb Raider & Total War: WARHAMMER
x264 HD 4.0 – 1st and 2nd pass encoding
SiSoftware SANDRA – CPU & Memory benchmarks
POV-RAY – CPU benchmarks
TrueCrypt – CPU benchmarks
AIDA64 – CPU benchmarks & Memory
PCMark 8 – Home Suite & Photoshop
3DMark FireStrike – 3D Benchmark
Games – Rise of the Tomb Raider & Total War: WARHAMMER
Other Software
Temperature Analysis: Real Temp
Stress Testing Software: AIDA64 Stability Test
CPU Specification Monitoring: CPU-Z
Stress Testing Software: AIDA64 Stability Test
CPU Specification Monitoring: CPU-Z
Overclocking
Like previous generations, the Intel Core i9-9900K is unlocked and also has flexible attributes in terms of the BCLK and ratio/multiplier. This makes the job of overclocking much easier.
Extreme4 was able to reach the 5GHz milestone with the 9900K – to reach this we required 1.35v running through the CPU.
Benchmarks: Power Consumption
It’s interesting to note the power consumption across all motherboards. Although they are using the Z390 chipset, energy results can fluctuate between manufacturers due to the features and specifications that are integrated. First of all, for the idle tests the system is cold booted into Windows and no additional applications are executed – the watts are noted on the external energy monitor we use and then the system is loaded with 3DMark FireStrike – watts are again monitored for the duration of the test and the highest rated wattage result is then noted down. Below are the results of this energy test.
Benchmarks: Cinebench R15
CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus and many more.
Benchmarks: X264 HD
Simply put, this test measures how fast your machine can encode a short, DVD quality MPEG-2 video clip into a high-quality x264 video clip. What’s x264, you ask? It’s more or less the next-generation Xvid/DivX codec. I think it’s ideal for a benchmark because the application (x264.exe) reports fairly accurate compression results (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encoding process, and it uses multi-core processors very efficiently.
Benchmarks: SiSoftware SANDRA
SANDRA isn’t always a benchmark that is included in hardware reviews but we believe it shouldn’t be ignored. SANDRA provides a vigorous package that tests your system in a rather large array of benchmarks. There are many aspects of benchmark that can be executed. We will be considering – CPU and memory tests.
Benchmarks: POV-RAY
Persistence of Vision Raytracer’s PovRay is a free and open source 3D animator application with versions for computers with different operating systems.
This product allows users to build their custom 3D worlds with excellent quality despite their computer’s hardware. It has adjustable options for levels of radiance, refraction, and reflection. Calculation time may vary depending on the computer model, but PovRay can adapt to many computer builds, and is supported by the open source community.
This product allows users to build their custom 3D worlds with excellent quality despite their computer’s hardware. It has adjustable options for levels of radiance, refraction, and reflection. Calculation time may vary depending on the computer model, but PovRay can adapt to many computer builds, and is supported by the open source community.
Benchmarks: TrueCrypt
TrueCrypt is a discontinued source-available freeware utility used for on-the-fly encryption (OTFE). It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file or encrypt a partition or (under Microsoft Windows except Windows 8 with GPT) the entire storage device (pre-boot authentication).
Benchmarks: AIDA64
AIDA64 Product PageThis simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic “Queens problem” on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard. At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores. For example — with HyperThreading disabled — the Intel Northwood core processors get higher scores than the Intel Prescott core based ones due to the 20-step vs 31-step long pipeline. CPU Queen test uses integer MMX, SSE2 and SSSE3 optimizations.
Benchmarks: PCMark 8 & PCMark 10
PCMark 8 combines performance benchmarking with battery life measurement and includes tests based on popular Adobe and Microsoft applications. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 8 will help you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs. It’s the complete PC performance benchmark for home and business.
Benchmarks: PCMark 8 Photoshop
The PCMark 8 Applications benchmark measures system performance using popular applications from the Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office. You can choose which tests to run based on the applications installed on your system. Each test automatically steps through a series of actions such as opening, editing and saving a file. The results are used to calculate the PCMark 8 Applications scores for the system.
Benchmarks: 3DMark FireStrike & TimeSpy
3DMark FireStrike Product PageFire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.
Benchmarks: ROT Tomb Raider & Total War: WARHAMMER
It’s important for us to perform a number of game benchmarks as well as the synthetic tests because gamers will want to know if there are any significant benefits. So here we have two recent gaming titles.
Conclusion
The Extreme4 has been a mainstay in ASRock’s portfolio for many generations and it’s a model which we’ve continued to focus on throughout the years. In the past this model has been synonymous with excellent price-to-performance and we’re pleased to confirm that this concept continues with the Intel Z390 chipset.
Much like many of the motherboards gracing the market at the moment, the Extreme4 settles for a neutral aesthetic – blending together blacks, greys and gunmetal. While we really miss the eye-catching black/gold found on the Z170 Extreme4 – playing it safe with such a design is quite a sensible option as it will merge with other computer hardware easily and avoid locking the system builder into any set theme.
Many of the same features have been carried over from the Z370 Extreme4 to this Z390 model. There are steel reinforced PCI Express slots, support for up to 4300MHz DDR4 and a good mixture of storage functionality with up to eight SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports and twin M.2 slots – one even arrives with a full coverage heatsink.
With the introduction of Z390 motherboards, plenty of manufacturers are now including USB 3.1 headers but ASRock has stepped up front panel connectivity by supplying two USB 3.0 headers and one USB 3.1 header. Although case designers are still concentrating on USB 3.0 ports on the front panel (largely due to few motherboards supporting anything else) this should encourage chassis being designed for 2019 to include USB 3.1 ports.
A careful comparison of other models featuring the Intel Z390 chipset will identify Extreme4 as a good value for money solution. Other motherboards are adorned with the same features and yet cost considerably more.
Against other options available the Extreme4 provides us with some solid performance across the range of tests. The Intel Core i9-9900K leaves a small amount of headroom for overclocking but we were able to modify the clock speed to 5GHz without too much effort.
As has been the story in the past, the Extreme4 under the Z390 chipset delivers up a whole lot of features/performance for considerably less than the competition!
Pros
+ Desirable theme/styling
+ Includes RGB features
+ Excellent performance
+ Good overclocking ability
+ Uses strengthened PCI Express & memory slots
+ Includes five fan headers
+ Includes three RGB headers
+ Includes eight SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports
+ Arrives with two USB 3 headers AND one USB 3.1 header
+ Features dual-M.2 – one with heatsink
+ Good audio capabilities
+ Good value compared to other Z390s
Cons
– We expect more USB ports on rear panel
+ Desirable theme/styling
+ Includes RGB features
+ Excellent performance
+ Good overclocking ability
+ Uses strengthened PCI Express & memory slots
+ Includes five fan headers
+ Includes three RGB headers
+ Includes eight SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports
+ Arrives with two USB 3 headers AND one USB 3.1 header
+ Features dual-M.2 – one with heatsink
+ Good audio capabilities
+ Good value compared to other Z390s
Cons
– We expect more USB ports on rear panel
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