ASRock 990fx extreme9: 1. Introduction
1. Introduction: ASRock 990fx extreme9
1. Introduction
Thank you for purchasing ASRock 990FX Extreme9 motherboard, a reliable moth-
erboard produced under ASRock’s consistently stringent quality control. It delivers
excellent performance with robust design conforming to ASRock’s commitment to
quality and endurance.
In this manual, chapter 1 and 2 contain introduction of the motherboard and step-
by-step guide to the hardware installation. Chapter 3 and 4 contain the conguration
guide to BIOS setup and information of the Support CD.
Because the motherboard specications and the BIOS software might
be updated, the content of this manual will be subject to change without
notice. In case any modications of this manual occur, the updated ver-
sion will be available on ASRock website without further notice. You may
nd the latest VGA cards and CPU support lists on ASRock website as
well. ASRock website http://www.asrock.com
If you require technical support related to this motherboard, please visit
our website for specic information about the model you are using.
www.asrock.com/support/index.asp
1.1 Package Contents
ASRock 990FX Extreme9 Motherboard (ATX Form Factor)
ASRock 990FX Extreme9 Quick Installation Guide
ASRock 990FX Extreme9 Support CD
1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_2S Card
1 x ASRock 3-Way SLI-2S1S Bridge Card
6 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional)
2 x Serial ATA (SATA) HDD Power Cables (Optional)
1 x I/O Panel Shield
1 x Front USB 3.0 Panel with 2.5” HDD/SSD Rack
4 x HDD Screws
6 x Chassis Screws
1 x Rear USB 3.0 Bracket
ASRock Reminds You...
®
TM
To get better performance in Windows
8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit / Vista
TM
/ Vista
64-bit, it is recommended to set the BIOS option in Storage
Conguration to AHCI mode.
5
1.2 Specications
Platform - ATX Form Factor
- Premium Gold Capacitor design (100% Japan-made
high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)
- Multiple Filter Cap (MFC) (Filter different noise by 3 different
capacitors: DIP solid cap, POSCAP and MLCC)
CPU - Support for Socket AM3+ processors
TM
- Support for Socket AM3 processors: AMD Phenom
II X6 /
X4 / X3 / X2 (except 920 / 940) / Athlon II X4 / X3 / X2 /
Sempron processors
- Supports 8-Core CPU
- Supports UCC feature (Unlock CPU Core) (see CAUTION 1)
- Digi Power Design
- Advanced 12 + 2 Power Phase Design
- Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM)
- Supports CPU up to 140W
TM
- Supports AMD’s Cool ‘n’ Quiet
Technology
- FSB 2600 MHz (5.2 GT/s)
- Supports Untied Overclocking Technology
- Supports Hyper-Transport 3.0 (HT 3.0) Technology
Chipset - Northbridge: AMD 990FX
- Southbridge: AMD SB950
Memory - Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Technology
- 4 x DDR3 DIMM slots
- Supports DDR3 2450(OC)/2100(OC)/1600/1333/1066
non-ECC, un-buffered memory (see CAUTION 2)
- Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB (see CAUTION 3)
®
- Supports Intel
Extreme Memory Prole (XMP) 1.3 / 1.2
- Supports AMD Memory Prole (AMP)
Expansion Slot - 4 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (PCIE1 @ x16 mode; PCIE3
@ x4 mode; PCIE4/PCIE5: single at x16 (PCIE4) / x8 (PCIE5)
or dual at x8/x8 mode)
- 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot
- 1 x PCI slot
TM
TM
- Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX
, 3-Way CrossFireX
TM
and CrossFireX
®
TM
TM
TM
- Supports NVIDIA
Quad SLI
, 3-Way SLI
and SLI
Audio - 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection
(Realtek ALC898 Audio Codec)
- Premium Blu-ray audio support
6
LAN - PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
®
- Intel
82583V
- Supports Wake-On-LAN
- Supports PXE
Rear Panel I/O I/O Panel
- 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port
- 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
- 1 x Coaxial SPDIF Out Port
- 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
- 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports
- 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 3.0 Ports
- 2 x eSATA3 Connectors
- 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED
LED)
- 1 x IEEE 1394 Port
- 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED
- HD Audio Jack: Side Speaker/Rear Speaker/Central/Bass/
Line in/Front Speaker/Microphone
SATA3 - 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by AMD SB950, support
RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, JBOD and RAID 5),
NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions
- 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by ASMedia ASM1061,
support NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions
USB 3.0 - 4 x Rear USB 3.0 ports by Etron EJ188H, support
USB 1.1/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s
- 2 x Front USB 3.0 headers (support 4 USB 3.0 ports) by
Etron EJ188H, support USB 1.1/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s
Connector - 8 x SATA3 6.0Gb/s connectors
- 1 x IR header
- 1 x CIR header
- 1 x COM port header
- 1 x IEEE 1394 header
- 1 x Power LED header
- 2 x CPU Fan connectors (1 x 4-pin, 1 x 3-pin)
- 3 x Chassis Fan connectors (1 x 4-pin, 2 x 3-pin)
- 1 x Power Fan connector (3-pin)
- 24 pin ATX power connector
- 8 pin 12V power connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
- Front panel audio connector
- 2 x USB 2.0 headers (support 4 USB 2.0 ports)
7
- 2 x USB 3.0 headers (support 4 USB 3.0 ports)
- 1 x Dr. Debug (7-Segment Debug LED)
- 1 x Power Switch with LED
- 1 x Reset Switch with LED
BIOS Feature - 32Mb 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, VCCM, NB, SB Voltage Multi-adjustment
Support CD - Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version),
CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, Google Chrome
Browser and Toolbar
Hardware - CPU Temperature Sensing
Monitor - Chassis Temperature Sensing
- CPU/Chassis/Power Fan Tachometer
- CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan
- CPU/Chassis/Power Fan Multi-Speed Control
- Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, Vcore
®
®
TM
OS - Microsoft
Windows
8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit / Vista
/
TM
Vista
64-bit / XP / XP 64-bit compliant
Certications - FCC, CE, WHQL
- ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)
* For detailed product information, please visit our website: http://www.asrock.com
WARNING
Please realize that there is a certain risk involved with overclocking,
including adjusting the setting in the BIOS, applying Untied Overclocking
Technology, or using third-party overclocking tools. Overclocking may
affect your system’s stability, or even cause damage to the components
and devices of your system. It should be done at your own risk and
expense. We are not responsible for possible damage caused by
overclocking.
8
CAUTION!
1. ASRock UCC (Unlock CPU Core) feature simplies AMD CPU
activation. As long as a simple switch of the UEFI option “AS-
Rock UCC”, you can unlock the extra CPU core to enjoy an
instant performance boost. When UCC feature is enabled, the
dual-core or triple-core CPU will boost to the quad-core CPU,
and some CPU, including quad-core CPU, can also increase L3
cache size up to 6MB, which means you can enjoy the upgrade
CPU performance with a better price. Please be noted that UCC
feature is supported with AM3/AM3+ CPU only, and in addition,
not every AM3/AM3+ CPU can support this function because
some CPU’s hidden core may be malfunctioned.
2. Whether 2450/2100MHz memory speed is supported depends
on the AM3/AM3+ CPU you adopt. If you want to adopt DDR3
2450/2100 memory module on this motherboard, please refer
to the memory support list on our website for the compatible
memory modules.
ASRock website: http://www.asrock.com
3. Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size
may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage un-
®
TM
®
der Windows
8 / 7 / Vista
. For Windows
64-bit OS with 64-
bit CPU, there is no such limitation. You can use ASRock XFast
®
RAM to utilize the memory that Windows
cannot use.
9
1.3 Unique Features
ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU)
ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU) is an all-in-one tool to
ne-tune different system functions in a user-friendly interface,
which includes Hardware Monitor, Fan Control, Overclocking,
OC DNA, IES and XFast RAM. In Hardware Monitor, it shows
the major readings of your system. In Fan Control, it shows the
fan speed and temperature for you to adjust. In Overclocking,
you are allowed to overclock CPU frequency for optimal system
performance. In OC DNA, you can save your OC settings as
a prole and share it with your friends. Your friends then can
load the OC prole to their own system to get the same OC set-
tings. In IES (Intelligent Energy Saver), the voltage regulator
can reduce the number of output phases to improve efciency
when the CPU cores are idle without sacricing computing per-
formance. In XFast RAM, it fully utilizes the memory space that
®
cannot be used under Windows
OS 32-bit CPU.
ASRock Instant Boot
ASRock Instant Boot allows you to turn on your PC in just a few
seconds, provides a much more efcient way to save energy,
time, money, and improves system running speed for your sys-
tem. It leverages the S3 and S4 ACPI features which normally
®
enable the Sleep/Standby and Hibernation modes in Windows
to shorten boot up time. By calling S3 and S4 at specic timing
during the shutdown and startup process, Instant Boot allows
®
you to enter your Windows
desktop in a few seconds.
ASRock Instant Flash
ASRock Instant Flash is a BIOS ash utility embedded in Flash
ROM. This convenient BIOS update tool allows you to update
system BIOS without entering operating systems rst like MS-
®
DOS or Windows
. With this utility, you can press the <F6> key
during the POST or the <F2> key to enter into the BIOS setup
menu to access ASRock Instant Flash. Just launch this tool and
save the new BIOS le to your USB ash drive, oppy disk or
hard drive, then you can update your BIOS only in a few clicks
without preparing an additional oppy diskette or other compli-
cated ash utility. Please be noted that the USB ash drive or
hard drive must use FAT32/16/12 le system.
10
ASRock APP Charger
If you desire a faster, less restricted way of charging your
Apple devices, such as iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, ASRock has
prepared a wonderful solution for you - ASRock APP Charger.
Simply install the APP Charger driver, it makes your iPhone
charge much quickly from your computer and up to 40% faster
than before. ASRock APP Charger allows you to quickly charge
many Apple devices simultaneously and even supports continu-
ous charging when your PC enters into Standby mode (S1),
Suspend to RAM (S3), hibernation mode (S4) or power off (S5).
With APP Charger driver installed, you can easily enjoy the mar-
velous charging experience.
ASRock XFast USB
ASRock XFast USB can boost USB storage device perfor-
mance. The performance may depend on the properties of the
device.
ASRock XFast LAN
ASRock XFast LAN provides a faster internet access, which in-
cludes the benets listed below. LAN Application Prioritization:
You can congure your application’s priority ideally and/or add
new programs. Lower Latency in Game: After setting online
game’s priority higher, it can lower the latency in games. Trafc
Shaping: You can watch Youtube HD videos and download si-
multaneously. Real-Time Analysis of Your Data: With the status
window, you can easily recognize which data streams you are
transferring currently.
ASRock XFast RAM
ASRock XFast RAM is a new function that is included into AS-
Rock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU). It fully utilizes the memory
®
space that cannot be used under Windows
OS 32-bit CPU.
ASRock XFast RAM shortens the loading time of previously
visited websites, making web surfing faster than ever. And it
also boosts the speed of Adobe Photoshop 5 times faster. An-
other advantage of ASRock XFast RAM is that it reduces the
frequency of accessing your SSDs or HDDs in order to extend
their lifespan.
11
ASRock Crashless BIOS
ASRock Crashless BIOS allows users to update their BIOS
without fear of failing. If power loss occurs during the BIOS up-
date process, ASRock Crashless BIOS will automatically nish
the BIOS update procedure after regaining power. Please note
that BIOS les need to be placed in the root directory of your
USB disk. Only USB2.0 ports support this feature.
ASRock OMG (Online Management Guard)
Administrators are able to establish an internet curfew or restrict
internet access at specied times via OMG. You may schedule
the starting and ending hours of internet access granted to other
users. In order to prevent users from bypassing OMG, guest
accounts without permission to modify the system time are re-
quired.
ASRock Internet Flash
ASRock Internet Flash searches for available UEFI firmware
updates from our servers. In other words, the system can auto-
detect the latest UEFI from our servers and ash them without
®
entering Windows
OS.
ASRock UEFI System Browser
ASRock UEFI system browser is a useful tool included in
graphical UEFI. It can detect the devices and configurations
that users are currently using in their PC. With the UEFI system
browser, you can easily examine the current system congura-
tion in UEFI setup.
ASRock Dehumidier Function
Users may prevent motherboard damages due to dampness by
enabling “Dehumidier Function”. When enabling Dehumidier
Function, the computer will power on automatically to dehumidi-
fy the system after entering S4/S5 state.
ASRock Easy RAID Installer
ASRock Easy RAID Installer can help you to copy the RAID
driver from a support CD to your USB storage device. After
copying the RAID driver to your USB storage device, please
change “SATA Mode” to “RAID”, then you can start installing the
OS in RAID mode.
12
ASRock Fast Boot
With ASRock’s exclusive Fast Boot technology, it takes less
®
than 1.5 seconds to logon to Windows
8 from a cold boot. No
more waiting! The speedy boot will completely change your user
experience and behavior.
ASRock X-Boost
ASRock’s X-Boost Technology is a smart auto-overclocking
function and is brilliantly designed to unlock the hidden power of
your CPUs. Simply press “X” when turning on the PC, X-Boost
will automatically overclock the relative components to get up to
15.77% performance boost! With the smart X-Boost, overclock-
ing CPU can become a near one-button process.
* The functionality of “Unlock CPU Cores” feature might vary by
different processors.
ASRock Restart to UEFI
®
Windows
8 brings the ultimate boot up experience. The light-
ning boot up speed makes it hard to access the UEFI setup. AS-
Rock Restart to UEFI technology is designed for those requiring
frequent UEFI access. It allows users to easily enter the UEFI
automatically when turning on the PC next time. Just simply
enable this function; the PC will be assured to access the UEFI
directly in the very beginning.
Turbo 50 / Turbo 60 Overclocking
Simply click the Turbo 50 / Turbo 60 button in UEFI, the system
performance will boost up to 50% or 60% increase by automati-
cally overclocking CPU, Memory frequency and all related volt-
age settings.
ASRock Good Night LED
ASRock Good Night LED technology can offer you a better en-
vironment by extinguishing the unessential LED. By enabling
Good Night LED in BIOS, the Power / HDD / LAN LED will be
switched off when system is on. Not only this, Good night LED
will automatically switch off Power and Keyboard LED when the
system enters into Standby / Hibernation mode as well.
13
1.4 Motherboard Layout
FS B8 00
1 ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V1) 21 Power Switch (PWRBTN)
2 CPU Heatsink Retention Module 22 Reset Switch (RSTBTN)
3 AM3+ CPU Socket 23 Dr. Debug (LED)
4 CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1) 24 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN3)
5 CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN2) 25 USB 2.0 Header (USB6_7)
6 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN2) 26 USB 2.0 Header (USB4_5)
7 2 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slots 27 Consumer Infrared Module Header (CIR1)
(Dual Channel A: DDR3_A1, DDR3_B1) 28 System Panel Header (PANEL1)
8 2 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slots 29 Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRCMOS1)
(Dual Channel B: DDR3_A2, DDR3_B2) 30 Power LED Header (PLED1)
9 Power Fan Connector (PWR_FAN1) 31 Serial Port Connector (COM1)
10 ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1) 32 Infrared Module Header (IR1)
11 USB 3.0 Header (USB3_6_7) 33 Front Panel IEEE 1394 Header
12 USB 3.0 Header (USB3_4_5) (FRONT_1394)
13 Northbridge Controller 34 Front Panel Audio Header (HD_AUDIO1)
14 Southbridge Controller 35 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slot (PCIE5)
15 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_A1_A2) 36 SPI Flash Memory (32Mb)
16 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_5_6) 37 PCI Slot (PCI1)
17 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_3_4) 38 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slot (PCIE4)
18 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_1_2) 39 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slot (PCIE3)
19 Chassis Speaker Header (SPEAKER1) 40 PCI Express 2.0 x1 Slot (PCIE2)
20 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN1) 41 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slot (PCIE1)
14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Key boar d
PS2
Mou se
PS2
CPU_ FAN1
CPU_ FAN2
CHA_ FAN2
PWR_ FAN1
ATX1 2V1
CMO S
Clr
SPDI F
Opti cal
SPDI F
Coax ial
USB 3.0
T: USB 0
B: U SB1
SOCKET AM3b
eSATA
USB 2.0
FS B8 00
T: USB 0
B: U SB1
10
eSATA
IEE E1 394
USB 2.0
T: USB 2
B: U SB3
USB 3. 0
DDR3_A1 ( 64 bit, 2 40- pin mo dul e)
DDR3_A2 ( 64 bit, 2 40- pin mo dul e)
DDR3_B1 ( 64 bit, 2 40- pin mo dul e)
DDR3_B2 ( 64 bit, 2 40- pin mo dul e)
T: USB 2
Top:
B: U SB3
RJ- 45
11
CTR BA SS
Bott om:
REAR S PK
Cent er:
SIDE S PK
Top:
12
MIC IN
Bott om:
FRON T
Cent er:
LINE I N
Top:
LAN
AMD
USB3 _6_7
USB3 _4_5
990FX
CMOS
13
BATTER Y
Chipset
AUDI O
CODE C
PCIE1
41
14
40
PCIE2
990FX Extre me9
AMD
39
PCIE3
SB950
15
SATA3_ A1_A2
Super
Chipset
I/O
16
PCIE4
38
SATA3_ 5_6
17
37
PCI1
SATA3_ 3_4
32M b
Ro HS
36
BIO S
18
CHA_ FAN3
SPEAK ER1
SATA3_ 1_2
35
PCIE5
1
19
HD_A UDIO1
FRON T_1394
COM1
USB4_ 5
Dr.
CHA_ FAN1
IR1
PLED1
PANEL 1
USB6 _7
1
PLED PWR BTN
Debug
PWRB TNRSTB TN
1
11
1
1
1
11
CLRCM OS1
1
HDLED RESE T
1
CIR1
11
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
1.5 I/O Panel
1
2 4
3
5
6
9
7
10
8
11
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
1 PS/2 Mouse Port (Green) 11 Microphone (Pink)
2 Coaxial SPDIF Out Port 12 USB 3.0 Ports (USB3_2_3)
3 USB 2.0 Ports (USB01) 13 IEEE 1394 Port (IEEE 1394)
4 USB 2.0 Port (USB23) *** 14 eSATA3 Connector (ESATA1)
* 5 LAN RJ-45 Port *** 15 eSATA3 Connector (ESATA2)
6 Side Speaker (Gray) 16 USB 3.0 Ports (USB3_0_1)
7 Rear Speaker (Black) 17 Optical SPDIF Out Port
8 Central / Bass (Orange) 18 Clear CMOS Switch (CLRCBTN)
9 Line In (Light Blue) 19 PS/2 Keyboard Port (Purple)
** 10 Front Speaker (Lime)
* There are two LED next to the LAN port. Please refer to the table below for the LAN port LED
indications.
LAN Port LED Indications
ACT/LINK
SPEED
Activity/Link LED SPEED LED
LED
LED
Status Description Status Description
Off No Link Off 10Mbps connection
Blinking Data Activity Orange 100Mbps connection
On Link Green 1Gbps connection
LAN Port
**
If you use 2-channel speaker, please connect the speaker’s plug into “Front Speaker Jack”.
See the table below for connection details in accordance with the type of speaker you use.
TABLE for Audio Output Connection
Audio Output Channels Front Speaker Rear Speaker Central / Bass Side Speaker
(No. 10) (No. 7) (No. 8) (No. 6)
2 V -- -- --
4 V V -- --
6 V V V --
8 V V V V
15
To enable Multi-Streaming function, you need to connect a front panel audio cable to the front
panel audio header. After restarting your computer, you will nd “Mixer” tool on your system.
Please select “Mixer ToolBox” , click “Enable playback multi-streaming”, and click “ok”.
Choose “2CH”, “4CH”, “6CH”, or “8CH” and then you are allowed to select “Realtek HDA Pri-
mary output” to use Rear Speaker, Central/Bass, and Front Speaker, or select “Realtek HDA
Audio 2nd output” to use front panel audio.
*** eSATA3 connector supports SATA Gen3 in cable 1M.
16
