ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3: 1. Introduction

5

ASRock  Z68 Extreme3 Gen3  Motherboard

1. Introduction

Thank you for purchasing ASRock 

Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 

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

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

ASRock 

Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

 Motherboard 

(ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 8.6-in, 30.5 cm x 21.8 cm)

ASRock 

Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

 Quick Installation Guide

ASRock 

Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

 Support CD 

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

1 x 3.5mm Audio Cable (Optional)

1 x I/O Panel Shield 

1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_2S Card

English

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.

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ASRock  Z68 Extreme3 Gen3  Motherboard

English

1.2 Specifications

 Platform

- ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 8.6-in, 30.5 cm x 21.8 cm

- Premium Gold Capacitor design (100% Japan-made 

  high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)

 CPU

- Supports 2nd Generation Intel

®

 Core

TM

 i7 / i5 / i3 in  

  LGA1155 Package    

- Advanced V8 + 4 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)) 

  (PCI Express 3.0 with Intel

®

 Ivy Bridge CPU, PCI Express 2.0 

  with Intel

®

 Sandy Bridge CPU)

- 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots

- 2 x PCI slots

- Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX

TM

 and CrossFireX

TM

- Supports NVIDIA

®

 Quad SLI

TM

 and SLI

TM

 Graphics 

- Supports Intel

®

 HD Graphics Built-in Visuals: Intel

®

 Quick 

  Sync Video, Intel

®

 InTru

TM

 3D, Intel

®

 Clear Video HD 

  Technology, Intel

®

 HD Graphics 2000/3000, Intel

®

 Advanced 

  Vector Extensions (AVX) 

- Pixel Shader 4.1, DirectX 11 with Intel

®

 Ivy Bridge CPU, 

  DirectX 10.1 with Intel

®

 Sandy Bridge CPU

- Max. shared memory 1759MB (see 

CAUTION 5

)

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

  (see 

CAUTION 6

)

- 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

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ASRock  Z68 Extreme3 Gen3  Motherboard

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

  HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI  

  (Compliant HDMI monitor is required) (see 

CAUTION 7

)

- Supports HDCP function with DVI and HDMI 

- 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 PXE

 Rear Panel I/O 

I/O Panel

- 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port

- 1 x D-Sub Port

- 1 x DVI-D Port

- 1 x HDMI Port

- 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port

- 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports

- 1 x eSATA3 Connector

- 2 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 (see 

CAUTION 8

)

 SATA3

- 2 x SATA3 6.0 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 (SATA3_1 connector is shared with eSATA3 port)

 USB3.0

- 2 x USB 3.0 ports by ASMedia ASM1042, support 

  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

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ASRock  Z68 Extreme3 Gen3  Motherboard

English

- 2 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

- CPU/Chassis/Power FAN connector

- 24 pin ATX power connector

- 8 pin 12V power connector

- Front panel audio connector

- 4 x USB 2.0 headers (support 8 USB 2.0 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; ASRock MAGIX 

  Multimedia Suite - OEM)

 Unique Feature

- ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU) (see 

CAUTION 9

)

- ASRock Instant Boot

- ASRock Instant Flash (see 

CAUTION 10

) 

- ASRock APP Charger (see 

CAUTION 11

) 

- ASRock SmartView (see 

CAUTION 12

)

- ASRock XFast USB (see 

CAUTION 13

)  

- ASRock XFast LAN (see 

CAUTION 14

)  

- 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

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ASRock  Z68 Extreme3 Gen3  Motherboard

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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 overclocking 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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ASRock  Z68 Extreme3 Gen3  Motherboard

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CAUTION!

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

60 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 16 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.  The maximum shared memory size is de

fi

 ned by the chipset vendor and 

is subject to change. Please check Intel

®

 website for the latest informa-

tion.

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

HDMI 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 

HDMI port.

7.  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

.

8.  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 3 

for proper connection.

9.  ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU) is an all-in-one tool to 

fi

 ne-tune 

different system functions in a user-friendly interface, which is including 

Hardware Monitor, Fan Control, Overclocking, OC DNA and IES. 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

fi

 le and share with your friends. Your friends then can load the OC 

pro

fi

 le to their own system to get the same OC settings. In IES (Intelligent 

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

phases to improve efficiency when the CPU cores are idle without 

sacrificing computing performance. Please visit our website for the 

operation procedures of ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU).

ASRock website: http://www.asrock.com

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ASRock  Z68 Extreme3 Gen3  Motherboard

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10.  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. 

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

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

solution for you - ASRock APP Charger. Simply installing the APP Char-

ger driver, it makes your iPhone charged much quickly from your com-

puter 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

12.  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 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

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

performance may depend on the property of the device. 

14.  ASRock XFast LAN provides a faster internet access, which includes 

below benefits. LAN Application Prioritization: You can configure your 

application priority ideally and/or add new programs. Lower Latency in 

Game: After setting online game priority higher, it can lower the latency in 

game. Traf

fi

 c Shaping: You can watch Youtube HD video and download 

fi

 les simultaneously. Real-Time Analysis of Your Data: With the status 

window, you can easily recognize which data streams you are currently 

transferring. 

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. 

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ASRock  Z68 Extreme3 Gen3  Motherboard

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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  

motherboard functions properly and unplug the power cord, then plug it 

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

grease between the CPU and the heatsink when you install the PC sys-

tem.

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.