ASRock Z87 Extreme9__ac: Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 1 Introduction: ASRock Z87 Extreme9__ac
Z87 Extreme9/ac
Chapter 1 Introduction
ank you for purchasing ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac motherboard, a reliable
motherboard produced under ASRock’s consistently stringent quality control.
It delivers excellent performance with robust design conforming to ASRock’s
commitment to quality and endurance.
Because the motherboard specications and the BIOS soware might be updated, the
content of this documentation will be subject to change without notice. In case any modi-
cations of this documentation occur, the updated version will be available on ASRock’s
website without further notice. If you require technical support related to this mother-
board, please visit our website for specic information about the model you are using. You
may nd the latest VGA cards and CPU support list on ASRock’s website as well. ASRock
website http://www.asrock.com.
1.1 Package Contents
•
ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac Motherboard (ATX Form Factor)
•
ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac Quick Installation Guide
•
ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac Support CD
•
10 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional)
•
1 x I/O Panel Shield
•
2 x ASRock SLI_Bridge Cards
•
1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_3S Card
•
1 x ASRock 3-Way SLI Bridge Card
•
1 x ASRock Wi-SD Box
•
12 Screws (for Wi-SD Box)
•
1 x USB 3.0 Cable
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1.2 Specications
Platform
•
ATX Form Factor
•
Premium Gold Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-
quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)
•
Multiple Filter Cap (MFC) (Filter dierent noise by 3 dierent
capacitors: DIP solid cap, POSCAP and MLCC)
A-Style
•
Home Cloud
TM
•
Purity Sound
•
802.11ac WiFi
th
TM
CPU
•
Socket LGA1150 to support 4
Gen Intel® Core
Processor
•
Digi Power Design
•
12 Power Phase Design
•
Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM)
®
•
Supports Intel
Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology
®
•
Supports Intel
K-Series unlocked CPUSupports
•
ASRock BCLK Full-range Overclocking
®
Chipset
•
Intel
Z87
Memory
•
Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Technology
•
4 x DDR3 DIMM slots
•
Supports DDR3 2933+(OC)/2800(OC)/2400(OC)/2133(OC)/
1866(OC)/1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buered memory
•
Max. capacity of system memory: 32GB
(see CAUTION)
®
•
Supports Intel
Extreme Memory Prole (XMP)1.3/1.2
•
Distortion-Free Slot
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Expansion
•
5 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (PCIE1/PCIE2/PCIE3/PCIE4/
Slot
PCIE6: single at x16 (PCIE2); dual at x16 (PCIE1) / x16
(PCIE4); triple at x8 (PCIE1) / x8 (PCIE3) / x16 (PCIE4); quad
at x8 (PCIE1) / x8 (PCIE3) / x8 (PCIE4) / x8 (PCIE6))
* PCIE1, PCIE3, PCIE4 and PCIE6 slots will be disabled if
PCIE2 slot is occupied.
•
1 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot
•
1 x mini-PCI Express slot: For WiFi + BT module
•
PLX PEX 8747 and PLX PEX 8608 embedded
TM
TM
•
Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX
, 4-Way CrossFireX
,
TM
TM
3-Way CrossFireX
and CrossFireX
TM
TM
TM
•
Supports NVIDIA® Quad SLI
, 4-Way SLI
, 3-Way SLI
TM
and SLI
Graphics
•
Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visuals and the VGA outputs can
be supported only with processors which are GPU integrated.
•
Supports Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visuals : Intel® Quick
Sync Video with AVC, MVC (S3D) and MPEG-2 Full
HW Encode1, Intel® InTruTM 3D, Intel® Clear Video HD
Technology, Intel® InsiderTM, Intel® HD Graphics 4400/4600
•
Pixel Shader 5.0, DirectX 11.1
•
Max. shared memory 1792MB
•
Two VGA Output options: HDMI and DisplayPort/
underbolt ports
•
Supports Triple Monitors
•
Supports HDMI Technology with max. resolution up to 4K ×
2K (4096x2304) @ 24Hz
•
Supports DisplayPort/underbolt with max. resolution up
to 4K x 2K (4096x2304) @ 24Hz
•
Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and
HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI (Compliant HDMI
monitor is required)
•
Supports HDCP function with HDMI and DisplayPort/
underbolt ports
•
Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with HDMI
and DisplayPort/underbolt ports
•
Supports data transfer rate up to 10Gbps with underbolt
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port
•
Supports Daisy-chain up to 6 underbolt devices
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Audio
•
7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1150
Audio Codec)
•
Premium Blu-ray audio support
•
Supports Purity Sound™
- 115dB SNR DAC with dierential amplier
- TI® NE5532 Premium Headset Amplier (supports up to
600 Ohms headsets)
- Direct Drive Technology
- EMI shielding cover
- PCB isolate shielding
•
Supports DTS Connect
LAN
•
Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
•
1 x Giga PHY Intel® I217V, 1 x GigaLAN Intel® I211AT
•
Supports Intel® Remote Wake Technology (on Intel® I217V)
•
Supports Wake-On-LAN
•
Supports Dual LAN with Teaming
•
Supports Energy Ecient Ethernet 802.3az
•
Supports PXE
Wireless
•
Supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
LAN
•
Supports Dual-Band (2.4/5 GHz)
•
Supports High speed wireless connection up to 867Mbps
•
2 antennas to support 2 (Transmit) x 2 (Receive) diversity
technology
•
Supports Bluetooth 4.0 / 3.0 + High speed class II
Rear Panel
•
1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
I/O
•
1 x HDMI Port
•
1 x DisplayPort Input for underbolt port (TBT1 for test
only)
•
2 x underbolt Ports (support underbolt devices or
DisplayPort Monitors)
•
1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
•
1 x eSATA Connector
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•
2 x USB 2.0 Ports
•
6 x USB 3.0 Ports
•
2 x RJ-45 LAN Ports with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED
LED)
•
1 x Clear CMOS Switch
•
HD Audio Jack: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front
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Storage
•
6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by Intel® Z87, support RAID
(RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel Rapid Storage
Technology 12 and Intel Smart Response Technology), NCQ,
AHCI and Hot Plug
•
4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by ASMedia ASM1061, sup-
port NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug (SATA3_A4 connector is
shared with the eSATA port)
•
1 x eSATA connector by ASMedia ASM1061, supports NCQ,
AHCI, Hot Plug and Port Multiplier
Connector
•
1 x IR header
•
1 x COM port 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)
•
1 x 24 pin ATX power connector
•
2 x 8 pin 12V power connectors
(Hi-Density Power Connectors)
•
1 x SLI/XFire power connector
•
1 x Front panel audio connector
•
3 x USB 2.0 headers (support 6 USB 2.0 ports)
•
1 x Vertical Type A USB 2.0
•
2 x USB 3.0 headers (support 6 USB 3.0 ports)
* Wi-SD Box installation is required to support 6 USB3.0 ports.
•
1 x Dr. Debug with LED
•
1 x Power Switch with LED
•
1 x Reset Switch with LED
•
1 x BIOS Selection Switch
BIOS
•
2 x 64Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with Multilingual GUI sup-
Feature
port (1 x Main BIOS and 1 x Backup BIOS)
•
Supports Secure Backup UEFI Technology
•
ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events
•
SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support
•
CPU, DRAM, PCH 1.05V, PCH 1.5V Voltage Multi-adjust-
ment
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Support
•
Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Soware (Trial Version), Cyber-
CD
Link MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, Google Chrome Browser and
Toolbar, Start8, MeshCentral, Splashtop Streamer
Hardware
•
CPU/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
•
Microso® Windows® 8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit compliant
Certica-
•
FCC, CE, WHQL
tions
•
ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)
* For detailed product information, please visit our website:
http://www.asrock.com
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 aect 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.
Due to limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for sys-
tem usage under Windows® 32-bit operating systems. Windows® 64-bit operating systems
do not have such limitations. You can use ASRock XFast RAM to utilize the memory that
Windows® cannot use.
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1.3 Unique Features
ASRock A-Tuning
A-Tuning is ASRock’s multi purpose soware suite with a new interface, more new
features and improved utilities, including XFast RAM, Dehumidier, Good Night
LED, FAN-Tastic Tuning, OC Tweaker and a whole lot more.
ASRock Instant Flash
ASRock Instant Flash is a BIOS ash utility embedded in Flash ROM. is conve-
nient BIOS update tool allows you to update the system BIOS in a few clicks without
preparing an additional oppy diskette or other complicated ash utility. Just save
the new BIOS le to your USB storage and launch this tool by pressing <F6> or
<F2> during POST to enter the BIOS setup menu to access ASRock Instant Flash.
Please be noted that the USB ash drive or hard drive must use FAT32/16/12 le
system.
ASRock APP Charger
Simply by installing the ASRock APP Charger makes your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch
charge up to 40% faster than before on your computer. 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), Suspend to RAM
(S3), hibernation mode (S4) or power o (S5).
ASRock XFast USB
ASRock XFast USB can boost the performance of your USB storage devices. e
performance may depend on the properties of the device.
ASRock XFast LAN
ASRock XFast LAN provides faster internet access, which includes the benets
listed below. LAN Application Prioritization: You can congure your application’s
priority ideally and add new programs to the list. Lower Latency in Game: Aer
setting online game’s priority higher, it can lower the latency in games. Trac
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 currently transferring.
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ASRock XFast RAM
ASRock XFast RAM is included in A-Tuning. It fully utilizes the memory space
that cannot be used under Windows® 32-bit operating systems. ASRock XFast RAM
shortens the loading time of previously visited websites, making web surng 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 lifespan.
ASRock Crashless BIOS
ASRock Crashless BIOS allows users to update their BIOS without fear of failing. If
power loss occurs during the BIOS updating process, ASRock Crashless BIOS will
automatically nish the BIOS update procedure aer regaining power. Please note
that BIOS les need to be placed in the root directory of your USB disk. Only USB 2.0
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 required.
ASRock Internet Flash
ASRock Internet Flash downloads and updates the latest UEFI rmware version
®
from our servers for you without entering Windows
OS. Please setup network
conguration before using Internet Flash.
ASRock UEFI System Browser
ASRock System Browser shows the overview of your current PC and the devices
connected.
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 dehumidify the system aer entering S4/S5 state.
ASRock Easy RAID Installer
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ASRock Easy RAID Installer can help you to copy the RAID driver from the
support CD to your USB storage device. Aer 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 Easy Driver Installer
For users that don’t have an optical disk drive to install the drivers from our support
CD, Easy Driver Installer is a handy tool in the UEFI that installs the LAN driver
to your system via an USB storage device, then downloads and installs the other
required drivers automatically.
ASRock Interactive UEFI
ASRock Interactive UEFI is a blend of system conguration tools, cool sound eects
and stunning visuals. e unprecedented UEFI provides a more attractive interface
and more amusment.
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! e speedy boot will
completely change your user experience and behavior.
ASRock Restart to UEFI
Windows® 8 brings the ultimate boot up experience. e lightning boot up speed
makes it hard to access the UEFI setup. ASRock Restart to UEFI allows users to
enter the UEFI automatically when turning on the PC. By enabling this function,
the PC will enter the UEFI directly aer you restart.
ASRock Good Night LED
ASRock Good Night LED technology oers you a better sleeping environment by
extinguishing the unessential LEDs. By enabling Good Night LED in the BIOS, the
Power/HDD LEDs will be switched o when the system is powered on. Good Night
LED will automatically switch o the Power and Keyboard LEDs when the system
enters into Standby/Hibernation mode as well.
ASRock USB Key
In a world where time is money, why waste precious time everyday typing
usernames to log in to Windows? Why should we even bother memorizing those
foot long passwords? Just plug in the USB Key and let your computer log in to
windows automatically!
ASRock Home Cloud
is motherboard supports remote wake with the onboard Intel LAN, so you
can connect with your PC from anywhere in the world. You will be able to power
your PC on or turn it o, monitor and take control of it remotely with another
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smartphone, tablet or computer.
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ASRock FAN-Tastic Tuning
ASRock FAN-Tastic Tuning is included in A-Tuning. Congure up to ve dierent
fan speeds using the graph. e fans will automatically shi to the next speed level
when the assigned temperature is met.
ASRock Distortion-Free Slot
ASRock's new pin design for the memory slots may appear to be the same as former
designs, but actually eectively reduces distortion and promotes performance,
because we strive for perfection even in the most trivial details.
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1.4 WiFi + BT Module and ASRock Wi-SD Box
WiFi + BT Module
is motherboard comes with an exclusive WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac + BT v4.0
module that oers support for WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac connectivity standards and
Bluetooth v4.0. WiFi + BT module is an easy-to-use wireless local area network
(WLAN) adapter to support WiFi + BT. Bluetooth v4.0 standard features Smart
Ready technology that adds a whole new class of functionality into the mobile
devices. BT 4.0 also includes Low Energy Technology and ensures extraordinary
low power consumption for PCs. e 2T2R WiFi solution sets a WiFi high speed
standard and oers max link rate up to 867Mbps.
* e transmission speed may vary according to the environment.
* e WiFi + BT module is supported under Windows® 8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit
only.
WiFi + BT Module
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ASRock Wi-SD Box
anks to the excellent placement of antennas, ASRock Wi-SD Box comes with two
invisible antennas (placed in a vertical/horizontal position), hidden inside the front
panel that provides the most stable and unrestricted-direction wireless network
coverage, optimized for maximum broadband network. Additionally, it provides
four Front USB 3.0 ports for easier USB 3.0 device access, 1 SD Card slot and 1 rack
for SSD placement.
D
Wi-
S
ASRock Wi-SD Box
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Installing the ASRock Wi-SD Box
Step 1
Prepare the bundled ASRock Wi-SD Box and
W
i
-
S
D
screws.
Step 2
Plug the Front USB 3.0 cable into the USB 3.0
Wi-SD
header on the Wi-SD Box.
Step 3
If you have 2.5” HDD/SSDs, you may insert up
Wi-SD
to two and secure them in ASRock Wi-SD Box
with screws.
Step4
Install ASRock Wi-SD Box into the drive bay of
the chassis.
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Step 5
Screw ASRock Wi-SD Box to the drive bay
with screws.
U
S
B
3
.
0
U
S
B
3
.
0
Step 6
Attach the cords to the WiFi + BT module
on your motherboard.
Step 8
Plug the Front USB 3.0 cable into the USB
3.0 header on the motherboard.
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