ASRock has unveiled their latest A88X chipset based FM2A88X Extreme6+ and FM2A88X Extreme4+ boards for next generation Kaveri APUs. ASRock is the third manufacturer to officially unveil their A88X and FM2+ socket motherboards followed by Gigabyte and ASUS.
ASRock Unveils A88X Chipset Based FM2A88X Extreme6+ and Extreme4+
ASRock has unveiled two motherboards, the A88X chipset based FM2A88X Extreme6+ which is going to end up as their flagship followed by the FM2A88X Extreme4+ which is a cheaper offering. Both motherboards feature A88X chipset and FM2+ socket which allows backward compatibility with Richland and Trinity along with the upcoming Kaveri APUs which are going to arrive in Q1 2014 for retail.
The ASRock FM2A88X Extreme6+ features an 8+2 Phase Digital PWM design featuring premium gold capacitors and high grade components. The socket is supplied power through an 8-Pin connector allowing support for 95/65 and 100W APUs. The PCH and PWM supply are cooled off by two aluminum heatsinks which offer cooling under normal and overclocked load. The motherboard features four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting memory clocked at 2600 MHz (OC+) in 64 GB Capacity. Expansion slots include 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16, 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1, 2 x PCI supporting Dual Graphics, CrossFireX and Quad CrossFireX. Storage is provided through 7 x SATA3, 1 x eSATA, while I/O includes 6 USB 3.0, 8 USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, DVI, Displayport, PS/2, Gigabit Ethernet and a 7.1 Channel Audio jack powered with Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec. The product page can be found here.
The ASRock FM2A88X Extreme4+ features a less powerful 6-Phase Digital PWM design featuring standard capacitors and high grade components. The socket is supplied power through an 8-Pin connector allowing support for 95/65 and 100W APUs. Only the PCH is cooled off by an aluminum heatsinks which offers cooling under normal and overclocked load. The motherboard features four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting memory clocked at 2600 MHz (OC+) in 64 GB Capacity. Expansion slots include 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16, 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1, 2 x PCI supporting Dual Graphics, CrossFireX and Quad CrossFireX. Storage is provided through 8 x SATA3, 1 x eSATA, while I/O includes 4 USB 3.0, 10 USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, DVI, PS/2, Gigabit Ethernet and a 7.1 Channel Audio jack powered with Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec. The product page can be found here.
Both motherboards are backed by ASRock's A-Style features which include A-Tuning, XFast 555, X-Boost, Easy driver installer, FAN-Tastic Tuning, USB key. The Purity Sound design offers premium sound quality while utilities such as UEFI system browser deliver ease of accessibility. Both motherboards are expected to hit retail around fourth quarter for a price range around sub-$150 US. Expect to see more details and motherboard's in ASRock's A88X chipset lineup soon.