ASRock Z77 Extreme4: 1. Introduction

1. Introduction: ASRock Z77 Extreme4

1. Introduction

Thank you for purchasing ASRock Z77 Extreme4 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.

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 Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard

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

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Quick Installation Guide

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Support CD

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

1 x I/O Panel Shield

1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_2S Card

ASRock Reminds You...

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To get better performance in Windows

7 / 7 64-bit / Vista

/ 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 Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard

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)

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CPU - Supports 3

and 2

Generation Intel

Core

i7 / i5 / i3 in

LGA1155 Package

- Digi Power Design

- 8 + 4 Power Phase Design

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- Supports Intel

Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology

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- Supports Intel

K-Series unlocked CPU

- Supports Hyper-Threading Technology (see CAUTION 1)

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- Supports Intel

Rapid Start Technology and Smart Connect

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Technology with Intel

Ivy Bridge CPU

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Chipset - Intel

Z77

Memory - Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Technology (see CAUTION 2)

- 4 x DDR3 DIMM slots

- Supports DDR3 2800+(OC)/2400(OC)/2133(OC)/1866(OC)/

1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory

- Max. capacity of system memory: 32GB (see CAUTION 3)

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- Supports Intel

Extreme Memory Prole (XMP)1.3/1.2

Expansion Slot - 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (PCIE2/PCIE3: single at x16

(PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE3) or dual at x8/x8 mode)

(see CAUTION 4)

®

* PCIE 3.0 is only supported with Intel

Ivy Bridge CPU. With

®

Intel

Sandy Bridge CPU, it only supports PCIE 2.0.

- 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x 1 slots

- 2 x PCI slots

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- Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX

and CrossFireX

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- Supports NVIDIA

Quad SLI

and SLI

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Graphics * Intel

HD Graphics Built-in Visuals and the VGA outputs can

be supported only with processors which are GPU

integrated.

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- Supports Intel

HD Graphics Built-in Visuals: Intel

Quick

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TM

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Sync Video, Intel

InTru

3D, Intel

Clear Video HD

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Technology, Intel

Insider

, Intel

HD Graphics 2500/4000,

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Intel

Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)

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- Pixel Shader 5.0, DirectX 11 with Intel

Ivy Bridge CPU.

®

Pixel Shader 4.1, DirectX 10.1 with Intel

Sandy Bridge

CPU.

- Max. shared memory 1760MB (see CAUTION 5)

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ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard

- 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

- 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 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 ALC898 Audio Codec)

- Premium Blu-ray audio support

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

- Broadcom BCM57781

- Supports Wake-On-LAN

- Supports Energy Efcient Ethernet 802.3az

- Supports PXE

Rear Panel I/O I/O Panel

- 1 x PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Port

- 1 x D-Sub Port

- 1 x DVI-D Port

- 1 x HDMI Port

- 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 (see CAUTION 8)

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SATA3 - 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by Intel

Z77, support RAID

(RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel Rapid Storage and

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Intel Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and Hot

Plug functions

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ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard

- 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by ASMedia ASM1061,

support NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions (SATA3_A1

connector is shared with eSATA3 port)

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USB3.0 - 2 x Rear USB 3.0 ports by Intel

Z77, support USB 1.0/2.0/3.0

up to 5Gb/s

- 2 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 by Intel

Z77 (supports 2 USB 3.0

ports), 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 5, RAID 10, Intel Rapid Storage and Intel

Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug

functions

- 4 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

- 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 with 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 UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support

- Supports “Plug and Play”

- ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events

- Supports jumperfree

- SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support

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- CPU Core, IGPU, DRAM, 1.8V PLL, VTT, VCCSA Voltage

Multi-adjustment

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

CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, ASRock MAGIX

Multimedia Suite - OEM

Unique Feature - ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU) (see CAUTION 9)

- ASRock Instant Boot

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ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard

- 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)

- ASRock XFast RAM (see CAUTION 15)

- ASRock Crashless BIOS (see CAUTION 16)

- Lucid Virtu Universal MVP (see CAUTION 17)

* Lucid Virtu Universal MVP can be supported only with

processors which are GPU integrated.

- Hybrid Booster:

- CPU Frequency Stepless Control (see CAUTION 18)

- ASRock U-COP (see CAUTION 19)

- Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.)

- Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.) (see CAUTION 20)

- Good Night LED

Hardware - CPU Temperature Sensing

Monitor - Chassis Temperature Sensing

- CPU/Chassis/Power Fan Tachometer

- CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan (Allows Chassis Fan Speed Auto-

Adjust by CPU Temperature)

- CPU/Chassis Fan Multi-Speed Control

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

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OS - Microsoft

Windows

7 / 7 64-bit / Vista

/ Vista

64-bit /

XP / XP 64-bit compliant (see CAUTION 21)

Certications - FCC, CE, WHQL

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

(see CAUTION 22)

* 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.

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ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard

CAUTION!

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

60 of the “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 17 for proper installation.

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

®

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

7 /

TM

®

Vista

/ XP. For Windows

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

tion. You can use ASRock XFast RAM to utilize the memory that Win-

®

dows

cannot use.

4. Only PCIE2 and PCIE3 slots support Gen 3 speed. To run the PCI Ex-

press in Gen 3 speed, please install an Ivy Bridge CPU. If you install a

Sandy Bridge CPU, the PCI Express will run only at PCI Express Gen 2

speed.

5. The maximum shared memory size is de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

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TM

in EDID. HBR is supported under Windows

7 64-bit / 7 / Vista

64-bit /

TM

Vista

.

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 ne-tune dif-

ferent system functions in a user-friendly interface, which includes Hard-

ware 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 per-

formance. In OC DNA, you can save your OC settings as a prole and

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share it with your friends. Your friends then can load the OC pro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 efciency when the CPU cores are idle without sacricing

computing performance. Please visit our website for the operation proce-

dures of ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU).

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

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ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard

10. 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 complicated

ash utility. Please be noted that the USB ash drive or hard drive must

use FAT32/16/12 le system.

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

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

lution 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

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.

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

12. ASRock SmartView, a new function for internet browsers, 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 ASRock SmartView utility that helps you

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

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TM

please make sure your OS version is Windows

7 / 7 64 bit / Vista

/

TM

Vista

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 properties of the device.

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

the benets listed below. LAN Application Prioritization: You can cong-

ure 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 simultaneously. Real-Time Analysis of Your Data: With

the status window, you can easily recognize which data streams you are

transferring currently.

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ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard

15. ASRock XFast RAM is a new function that is included into ASRock Ex-

treme 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 surng faster

than ever. And it also boosts the speed of Adobe Photoshop 5 times

faster. Another advantage of ASRock XFast RAM is that it reduces the

frequency of accessing your SSDs or HDDs in order to extend their lifes-

pan.

16. ASRock Crashless BIOS allows users to update their BIOS without fear

of failing. If power loss occurs during the BIOS update 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.

17. 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 Virtual Vsync™ for no-compromise

visual quality. With the added benefits of HyperFormance technology,

VIRTU Universal MVP improves game performance by intelligently reduc-

ing redundant rendering tasks in the ow between the CPU, GPU and the

display.

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

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

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

19. 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

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

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

20. Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.) provides the 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.

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®

21. ASRock XFast RAM is not supported by Microsoft

Windows

XP / XP

®

®

64-bit. Intel

Smart Connect Technology and Intel

USB 3.0 ports are not

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®

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supported by Microsoft

Windows

Vista

/ Vista

64-bit / XP / XP 64-

bit.

22. EuP stands for Energy Using Product, was a provision regulated by the

European Union to define the power consumption for the completed

system. According to EuP, the total AC power of the completed system

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should be under 1.00W in off mode condition. To meet EuP standards,

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, and the standby power efciency should be higher

than 50% under 100 mA current consumption. For EuP ready power sup-

ply selection, we recommend you to check with the power supply manu-

facturer for more details.

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ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard