ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3: 1. Introduction

7

Fatal1ty  Z68 Professional Gen3 Series  Motherboard

1. Introduction

Thank you for purchasing 

Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 Series 

motherboard, a 

reliable motherboard produced under ASRock’s consistently stringent quality con-

trol. It delivers excellent performance with robust design conforming to ASRock’s 

commitment 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

fi

 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

fi

 cations of this manual occur, the updated version 

will be available on ASRock website without further notice. You may 

fi

 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

fi

 c information about the model you are using.

www.asrock.com/support/index.asp

1.1 Package Contents

Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 Series

 Motherboard 

(ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm)

Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 Series

 Quick Installation Guide

Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 Series

 Support CD 

1 x 80-conductor Ultra ATA 66/100/133 IDE Ribbon Cable

1 x Ribbon Cable for a 3.5-in Floppy Drive

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

2 x Serial ATA (SATA) HDD Power Cables (Optional)

1 x 3.5mm Audio Cable (Optional)

1 x I/O Panel Shield 

1 x Front USB 3.0 Panel

4 x HDD Screws

6 x Chassis Screws

1 x Rear USB 3.0 Bracket

1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_2S Card

1 x HDMI to DVI Adapter

ASRock Reminds You...

To get better performance in Windows

® 

7 / 7 64-bit / Vista

TM 

/ Vista

TM

 64-

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

fi

 guration to 

AHCI mode. For the BIOS setup, please refer to the “User Manual” in our 

support CD for details.

English

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Fatal1ty  Z68 Professional Gen3 Series  Motherboard

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1.2  Specifications

 Platform

- 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)

 CPU

- Supports 2nd Generation Intel

®

 Core

TM

 i7 / i5 / i3 in  

  LGA1155 Package    

- Advanced V12+6 Power Phase Design

- Supports Intel

®

 Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology 

- Supports K-Series unlocked CPU

- Supports Hyper-Threading Technology (see 

CAUTION 1

)

 Chipset 

- Intel

®

 Z68

 Memory 

- Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Technology (see 

CAUTION 2

)    

- 4 x DDR3 DIMM slots  

- Supports DDR3 2133(OC)/1866(OC)/1600/1333/1066 

  non-ECC, un-buffered memory (see 

CAUTION 3

)  

- Max. capacity of system memory: 32GB (see 

CAUTION 4

)

- Supports Intel

®

 Extreme Memory Pro

fi

 le (XMP) 

 Expansion Slot 

- 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (PCIE2/PCIE4: single at

  x16 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4) or dual at x8 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4)

  mode) (see 

CAUTION 5

)

- 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

TM

 Quad CrossFireX

TM

, 3-Way CrossFireX

TM

  and CrossFireX

TM

- Supports NVIDIA

®

 Quad SLI

TM

 and SLI

TM

 Graphics * 

* Requires Processor with Intel

®

 Graphics Technology

 - 

Intel

®

 HD Graphics 2000/3000

- Pixel Shader 4.1, DirectX 10.1

- Max. shared memory 1759MB (see 

CAUTION 6

)

- Four VGA Output options: one D-Sub port, two HDMI ports 

  and one DVI-D port by the bundled HDMI to DVI adpater 

  (see 

CAUTION 7

)

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

  1920x1200 @ 60Hz

- Supports DVI with max. resolution up to 1920x1200 @ 60Hz

- Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 2048x1536 @  

  75Hz

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

  HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI  

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Fatal1ty  Z68 Professional Gen3 Series  Motherboard

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  (Compliant HDMI monitor is required) (see 

CAUTION 8

)

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

- 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

TM

 LAN 

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

- Realtek RTL8111E

- Supports Wake-On-LAN

- Supports LAN Cable Detection

- Supports Energy Ef

fi

 cient Ethernet 802.3az

- Supports Dual LAN with Teaming function

- Supports PXE

 Rear Panel I/O 

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 (USB2.0)

- 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 (see 

CAUTION 9

)

 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)

 USB3.0

- 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  

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Fatal1ty  Z68 Professional Gen3 Series  Motherboard

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  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 6.0Gb/s connectors

- 1x 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 (7-Segment Debug LED) 

Smart Switch

- 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED 

- 1 x Power Switch with LED

- 1 x Reset Switch with LED

BIOS Feature

- 64Mb AMI BIOS

- 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

 Support CD 

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

  CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, ASRock Software Suite 

  (CyberLink DVD Suite - OEM and Trial)

 Unique Feature

- F-Stream (see 

CAUTION 10

)

- ASRock Instant Boot

- ASRock Instant Flash (see 

CAUTION 11

) 

- ASRock APP Charger (see 

CAUTION 12

) 

- ASRock SmartView (see 

CAUTION 13

)

- ASRock XFast USB (see 

CAUTION 14

)  

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Fatal1ty  Z68 Professional Gen3 Series  Motherboard

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- Lucid Virtu (see 

CAUTION 15

) 

- ASRock On/Off Play Technology (see 

CAUTION 16

) 

- Hybrid Booster:

    - CPU Frequency Stepless Control (see 

CAUTION 17

) 

    - ASRock U-COP (see 

CAUTION 18

)

    - Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.)

- Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.) (see 

CAUTION 19

)

- Good Night LED

Hardware 

- CPU Temperature Sensing

Monitor

- 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 

 OS

 - 

Microsoft

® 

Windows

® 

7 / 7 64-bit / Vista

TM 

/ Vista

TM

 64-bit    

  / XP / XP 64-bit compliant

 Certi

fi

 cations

- FCC, CE, WHQL

- ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required) 

  (see 

CAUTION 20

)

 * 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 the third-party over-

clocking tools. Overclocking may affect your system 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.

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Fatal1ty  Z68 Professional Gen3 Series  Motherboard

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CAUTION!

1.  About the setting of “Hyper Threading Technology”, please check page 

71 of “User Manual” in the support CD.

2.  This motherboard supports Dual Channel Memory Technology. Before 

you implement Dual Channel Memory Technology, make sure to read the  

installation guide of memory modules on page 18 for proper installation.

3.  DDR3 frequency options may depend on the processor. Only K-Series 

CPU can support DDR3 overclock to 2133 and 1866. 

4.  Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be 

less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows

®

 7 / 

Vista

TM

 / XP. For Windows

®

 OS with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limita-

tion. 

5. 

To run the PCI Express in Gen 3 speed, please must install the Ivy Bridge 

CPU which supports PCI Express Gen3. If you install the Sandy Bridge 

CPU, the PCI Express will run only at PCI Express Gen 2 speed.

6.  The maximum shared memory size is defi ned by the chipset vendor and 

is subject to change. Please check Intel

®

 website for the latest informa-

tion.

7.  You can choose to use two of the four monitors only. D-Sub, DVI-D, and 

HDMI monitors cannot be enabled at the same time. Besides, with the 

HDMI to DVI adapter, the HDMI port can support the same features as 

DVI-D port.

8.  xvYCC and Deep Color are only supported under Windows

®

 7 64-bit / 

7. Deep Color mode will be enabled only if the display supports 12bpc 

in EDID. HBR is supported under Windows

®

 7 64-bit / 7 / Vista

TM

 64-bit / 

Vista

TM

.

9.  For microphone input, this motherboard supports both stereo and mono 

modes. For audio output, this motherboard supports 2-channel, 4-chan-

nel, 6-channel, and 8-channel modes. Please check the table on page 5 

for proper connection.

10.  F-Stream is an all-in-one tool to fi ne-tune different system functions in a 

user-friendly interface, which currently includes Hardware Monitor, Fan 

Control, Overclocking, OC DNA, Mouse Polling and IES. In the Hardware 

Monitor mode, F-Stream shows the major readings of your system. In 

Fan Control mode, F-Stream shows the fan speed and temperature for 

you to adjust. In Overclocking Control mode, F-Stream allows you to 

overclock the CPU frequency for optimal system performance. In OC 

DNA mode, you can save your OC settings as a profi le and share them 

with your friends. Your friends can then load the OC profi le in to their own 

system to get the same OC settings. In Mouse Polling mode, F-Stream 

allows you to adjust the mouse polling rate of the Fatal1ty Mouse port to 

add a professional level mouse confi guration. In IES (Intelligent Energy 

Saver) mode, the voltage regulator can reduce the number of output 

phases to improve effi ciency when the CPU cores are idle without sacri-

fi cing computing performance.

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Fatal1ty  Z68 Professional Gen3 Series  Motherboard

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11.  ASRock Instant Flash is a BIOS 

fl

 ash utility embedded in Flash ROM. 

This convenient BIOS update tool allows you to update system BIOS 

without entering operating systems 

fi

 rst like MS-DOS or Windows

®

. With 

this utility, you can press <F6> key during the POST or press <F2> key to 

BIOS setup menu to access ASRock Instant Flash. Just launch this tool 

and save the new BIOS 

fi

 le to your USB 

fl

 ash drive, 

fl

 oppy disk or hard 

drive, then you can update your BIOS only in a few clicks without prepar-

ing an additional 

fl

 oppy diskette or other complicated 

fl

 ash utility. Please 

be noted that the USB 

fl

 ash drive or hard drive must use FAT32/16/12 

fi

 le 

system. 

12.  If you desire a faster, less restricted way of charging your Apple devices, 

such as iPhone/iPod/iPad Touch, ASRock has prepared a wonderful so-

lution for you - ASRock APP Charger. Simply installing the APP Charger 

driver, it makes your iPhone charged 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 

continuous charging when your PC enters into Standby mode (S1), Sus-

pend to RAM (S3), hibernation mode (S4) or power off (S5). With APP 

Charger driver installed, you can easily enjoy the marvelous charging 

experience than ever.

ASRock website: http://www.asrock.com/Feature/AppCharger/index.asp

13.  ASRock  SmartView, a new function of internet browser, is the smart 

start page for IE that combines your most visited web sites, your history, 

your Facebook friends and your real-time newsfeed into an enhanced 

view for a more personal Internet experience. ASRock motherboards are 

exclusively equipped with the SmartView utility that helps you keep in 

touch with friends on-the-go. To use ASRock SmartView feature, please 

make sure your OS version is Windows

®

 7 / 7 64 bit / Vista

TM

 / Vista

TM

 64 

bit, and your browser version is IE8. 

ASRock website: http://www.asrock.com/Feature/SmartView/index.asp

14.  ASRock XFast USB can boost USB storage device performance. The 

performance may depend on the property of the device. 

15.  With Lucid Virtu technology, you can enjoy bene

fi

 ts from both 3D perfor-

mance of the discrete GPU and advanced media features of Intel

®

 HD 

graphics. 

16.  ASRock On/Off Play Technology allows users to enjoy the great audio ex-

perience from the portable audio devices, such like MP3 player or mobile 

phone to your PC, even when the PC is turned off (or in ACPI S5 mode)! 

This motherboard also provides a free 3.5mm audio cable (optional) that 

ensures users the most convenient computing environment.

17.  Although this motherboard offers stepless control, it is not recommended 

to perform over-clocking. Frequencies other than the recommended CPU 

bus frequencies may cause the instability of the system or damage the 

CPU.   

18.  While CPU overheat is detected, the system will automatically shutdown.

Before you resume the system, please check if the CPU fan on the moth-

erboard functions properly and unplug the power cord, then plug it back 

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Fatal1ty  Z68 Professional Gen3 Series  Motherboard

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again. To improve heat dissipation, remember to spray thermal grease 

between the CPU and the heatsink when you install the PC system.

19.  Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.) provides the 

fl

 exible option to adopt three 

different CPU cooler types, Socket LGA 775, LGA 1155 and LGA 1156. 

Please be noticed that not all the 775 and 1156 CPU Fan can be used. 

20.  EuP, stands for Energy Using Product, was a provision regulated by Eu-

ropean Union to de

fi

 ne the power consumption for the completed system. 

According to EuP, the total AC power of the completed system shall be 

under 1.00W in off mode condition. To meet EuP standard, an EuP ready 

motherboard and an EuP ready power supply are required. According to 

Intel’s suggestion, the EuP ready power supply must meet the standard 

of 5v standby power ef

fi

 ciency is higher than 50% under 100 mA current 

consumption. For EuP ready power supply selection, we recommend you 

checking with the power supply manufacturer for more details.