ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6: 1. Introduction

1. Introduction: ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6

1. Introduction

Thank you for purchasing ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 motherboard, a reliable

motherboard produced under ASRock’s consistently stringent quality control. It

delivers excellent performance with robust design conforming to ASRock’s commit-

ment to quality and endurance.

This Quick Installation Guide contains introduction of the motherboard and step-by-

step installation guide. More detailed information of the motherboard can be found

in the user manual presented in the Support CD.

Because the motherboard specications and the BIOS software might be

updated, the content of this manual will be subject to change without no-

tice. In case any modications of this manual occur, the updated version

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 specic information about the model you are using.

www.asrock.com/support/index.asp

1.1 Package Contents

ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Motherboard (ATX Form Factor)

ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Quick Installation Guide

ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Support CD

4 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional)

1 x I/O Panel Shield

ASRock Reminds You...

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To get better performance in Windows

8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit / Vista

/

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Vista

64-bit, it is recommended to set the BIOS option in Storage Con-

guration to AHCI mode. For the BIOS setup, please refer to the “User

Manual” in our support CD for details.

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ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Motherboard

1.2 Specications

Platform - ATX Form Factor

- Premium Gold Capacitor design (100% Japan-made

high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)

CPU - Support for Socket FM2 100W processors

- Digi Power Design

- 8 + 2 Power Phase Design

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- Supports AMD’s Cool ‘n’ Quiet

Technology

- UMI-Link GEN2

Chipset - AMD A85X (Hudson-D4)

Memory - Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Technology

- 4 x DDR3 DIMM slots

- Support DDR3 2600+(OC)/2400(OC)/2133(OC)/1866/1600/

1333/1066/800 non-ECC, un-buffered memory

(see CAUTION 1)

* 2600+ is only supported with two DIMMs

- Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB (see CAUTION 2)

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- Supports Intel

Extreme Memory Prole (XMP) 1.3 / 1.2

- Supports AMD Memory Prole (AMP)

Expansion Slot - 3 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots

(PCIE2/PCIE4: single at x16 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4), or dual

at x8 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4) ; PCIE5: x4 mode)

- 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots

- 2 x PCI slots

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- Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX

, 3-Way CrossFireX

,

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CrossFireX

and Dual Graphics

Graphics - AMD Radeon HD 7000 graphics

- DirectX 11, Pixel Shader 5.0

- Max. shared memory 2GB

- Four VGA Output options: D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI and

DisplayPort (see CAUTION 3)

- Supports HDMI 1.4a Technology with max. resolution up to

1920x1200 @ 60Hz

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- Supports Dual-link DVI with max. resolution up to

2560x1600 @ 75Hz

- Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 1920x1600 @

60Hz

- Supports DisplayPort 1.2 with max. resolution up to

4096x2160 @ 30Hz

- Supports DP++

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ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Motherboard

- Supports Multi-Streaming

- Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and

HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI (Compliant HDMI

monitor is required) (see CAUTION 4)

- Supports Blu-ray Stereoscopic 3D with HDMI 1.4a

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- Supports AMD Steady Video

2.0: New video post

processing capability for automatic jutter reduction on home/

online video

- Supports HDCP function with DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort

ports

- Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback

with DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort ports

Audio - 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection

(Realtek ALC898 Audio Codec)

- Premium Blu-ray audio support

LAN - PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s

- Realtek RTL8111E

- Supports Wake-On-LAN

- Supports LAN Cable Detection

- Supports Energy Efcient Ethernet 802.3az

- Supports PXE

Rear Panel I/O I/O Panel

- 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port

- 1 x D-Sub Port

- 1 x DVI-D Port

- 1 x HDMI Port

- 1 x DisplayPort

- 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port

- 2 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports

- 1 x eSATA3 Connector

- 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 3.0 Ports

- 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED

LED)

- 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED

- HD Audio Jack: Rear Speaker/Central/Bass/Line in/Front

Speaker/Microphone

SATA3 - 7 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0,

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RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10), NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug”

functions

USB 3.0 - 2 x Rear USB 3.0 ports by AMD A85X (Hudson-D4), support

USB 1.1/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s

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ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Motherboard

- 2 x Rear USB 3.0 ports by ASMedia ASM1042, support USB

1.1/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s

- 1 x Front USB 3.0 header (supports 2 USB 3.0 ports) by

AMD A85X (Hudson-D4), supports USB 1.1/2.0/3.0 up to

5Gb/s

Connector - 7 x SATA3 6.0Gb/s connectors

- 1 x IR header

- 1 x CIR header

- 1 x COM port header

- 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header

- 1 x Power LED header

- 1 x Chassis Intrusion 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

- XFire power connector

- Front panel audio connector

- 3 x USB 2.0 headers (support 6 USB 2.0 ports)

- 1 x USB 3.0 header (supports 2 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 - 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

- DRAM, APU PCIE VDDP, CPU and CPU NB/GFX Voltage

Multi-adjustment

Support CD - Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version),

CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, Google Chrome

Browser and Toolbar

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Hardware - CPU Temperature Sensing

Monitor - Chassis Temperature Sensing

- CPU/Chassis/Power Fan Tachometer

- CPU Quiet Fan

- CPU/Chassis Fan Multi-Speed Control

- CASE OPEN detection

- Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, Vcore

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ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Motherboard

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OS - Microsoft

Windows

8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit / Vista

/

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Vista

64-bit compliant

Certications - 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.

CAUTION!

1. Whether 2600/2400/2133/1866/1600MHz memory speed is

supported depends on the CPU you adopt. If you want to adopt

DDR3 2600/2400/2133/1866/1600 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

2. Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size

may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage un-

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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.

3. You can choose to use three of the four monitors only. D-Sub,

DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort monitors cannot be enabled at

the same time. Besides, with the DVI-to-HDMI adapter, the DVI-

D port can support the same features as HDMIport.

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4. xvYCC and Deep Color are only supported under Windows

8

64-bit / 8 / 7 64-bit / 7. Deep Color mode will be enabled only

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if the display supports 12bpc in EDID. HBR is supported under

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Windows

8 64-bit / 8 / 7 64-bit / 7 / Vista

64-bit / Vista

.

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ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Motherboard

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 prole and share it with your friends. Your friends then can

load the OC prole 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 efciency

when the CPU cores are idle without sacricing computing per-

formance. In XFast RAM, it fully utilizes the memory space that

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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 efcient 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

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enable the Sleep/Standby and Hibernation modes in Windows

to shorten boot up time. By calling S3 and S4 at specic timing

during the shutdown and startup process, Instant Boot allows

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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

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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.

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ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Motherboard

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

includes the benefits listed below. LAN Application Prioritiza-

tion: You can congure 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. Trafc

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

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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

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frequency of accessing your SSDs or HDDs in order to extend

their lifespan.

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ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Motherboard

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 specied 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

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entering Windows

OS. Please note that you must be running

on a DHCP congured computer in order to enable this function.

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 congura-

tion in UEFI setup.

ASRock Dehumidier Function

Users may prevent motherboard damages due to dampness by

enabling Dehumidier Function”. When enabling Dehumidier

Function, the computer will power on automatically to dehumidi-

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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.

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ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Motherboard

ASRock Interactive UEFI

ASRock Interactive UEFI is a blend of system configuration

tools, cool sound effects and stunning visuals. The unprec-

edented UEFI provides a more attractive interface and brings a

lot more amusing.

ASRock Fast Boot

With ASRock’s exclusive Fast Boot technology, it takes less

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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

Brilliantly designed for combo overclocking, ASRock X-Boost

Technology is able to unleash the hidden power of your CPUs.

Simply press “X” when turning on the PC, X-Boost will automati-

cally overclock the relative components to get up to 15.77%

performance boost! With the smart X-Boost, overclocking CPU

can become a near one-button process.

ASRock Restart to UEFI

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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 is included in ASRock’s exclusive all-

in-one AXTU tuning program that 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.

Lucid Virtu Universal MVP

VIRTU Universal MVP includes the base features of Virtu

Universal technology, which virtualizes integrated GPU and

discrete GPU for best of breed functionality. It also features Vir-

tual Vsync™ for no-compromise visual quality. With the added

benets of HyperFormance technology, VIRTU Universal MVP

improves game performance by intelligently reducing redundant

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rendering tasks in the ow between the CPU, GPU and the dis-

play.

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ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Motherboard