Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 Owners Thread

[althaz]

Hi guys, just wondered if anybody knows the difference between the Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 and the Asrock Z77 Extreme 4-M?

I can't see any difference except in the picture (where the -M looks smaller and the regular version appears to have PCI ports I don't need).

Want to get my new PC but my favourite retailer is out of stock of the regular version for close to two weeks . If there's no meaningful differences I'm just gunna grab the -M.

 

[Avalon]

Did any of you guys have to mess with voltage aside from CPU voltage? I'm at 4.1 @ 1.15V and still not stable in prime large FFT yet. Seems like I'm missing something...

 

[Avalon]

Ok so after reading around the web I tweaked a few settings.

LLC is now set to level 4, from auto. PLL voltage at 1.799V from auto (was 1.86V on auto), and VCCSA to 1.079V from I think 1.039V.

Now I'm rock solid at 4.1Ghz @ 1.056V, could possibly go lower on V but am just going to go higher on the clocks instead.

 

[Stochastic]

Hi guys, just wondered if anybody knows the difference between the Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 and the Asrock Z77 Extreme 4-M?

I can't see any difference except in the picture (where the -M looks smaller and the regular version appears to have PCI ports I don't need).

Want to get my new PC but my favourite retailer is out of stock of the regular version for close to two weeks . If there's no meaningful differences I'm just gunna grab the -M.

The M I believe is the microATX version.

 

[althaz]

So the only real difference is that it fits into a smaller case? Might as well just buy it anyway, seeing as it's cheaper and available immediately .

 

[eaconrad]

Hi Guys,

I am a new builder and just finished my system. I am getting error code A2 form Dr Debug and while there are others out there with the same issue I cannot find a resolution, have any of you got this? When I push power the splash screen for ASrock comes up then it goes to a black screen where it shows what my processor is and how much memory I have and prompts me to push delete or f1 to continue, no matter what I press on my keyboard nothing happens. I have attempted to boot without my Graphics card, I have tried connecting my SSD to various SATA ports, I have re positioned my RAM from A1,B1 to A2,B2 still getting error code A2. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here is what I am working with:

ASRock Z77 Extreme4
I5-3570k Ivy Bridge
CZ Agility 3 (SSD)
Thermaltake TR2 RX 750W Bronze
MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus

 

[PrincessWonton]

Sorry if this off topic. I'm considering getting bundle at MC instore. Do I go with the suggested RAM on Asrock site or just buy what is available at MC?

 

[Disconnect]

Hi Guys,

I am a new builder and just finished my system. I am getting error code A2 form Dr Debug and while there are others out there with the same issue I cannot find a resolution, have any of you got this? When I push power the splash screen for ASrock comes up then it goes to a black screen where it shows what my processor is and how much memory I have and prompts me to push delete or f1 to continue, no matter what I press on my keyboard nothing happens. I have attempted to boot without my Graphics card, I have tried connecting my SSD to various SATA ports, I have re positioned my RAM from A1,B1 to A2,B2 still getting error code A2. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

According to this, it's caused by the video card not being properly seated, but that's probably not it if you saw the splash screen.

Sorry if this off topic. I'm considering getting bundle at MC instore. Do I go with the suggested RAM on Asrock site or just buy what is available at MC?

Check out Samsung MV-3V4G3D/US. It's cheap and getting a lot of good reviews. A lot are getting 2133MHz+.

 

[Rvenger]

Is it just me or is this board extra flimsy?

 

[marvinudy]

I've paired a z77extreme 4 with an I-7-2600k, 16Gb GSkill low voltage(1.25) ram, Gforce9500Gt PCIe, 3 spin drives, Hyper 212+(push/pull fans), and a Crucial 64Gb SSD drive. Upgraded the BIOS to v-1.30. Currently set at auto over clock to 4.4 with absolutely no problems. Running Linux Mint 12.0-64. Win 7.0-64 ultimate runs fine in Virtualbox.

Depending on ambient temperatures, core temps reach max of 70C running full out.

Only minor install issue was the need to up the ram voltage from 1.25 to 1.30 when all 16Gb was installed.

Question: Does the auto over clock just have an effect at full processor load or is it non variable irrespective of the processor load?


Update:May 19, 2012

(1)After more research and experimenting, I got the answer to my own questions. The increased ram voltage is an artifact of using all 4 memory slots and has nothing to do with the ram or motherboard. More ram power draw requires a higher voltage.

(2) Proper settings in the UEFI resulted in a constant 4.4 Ghz CPU operation. Once I close up the case and run BONIC full out, I'll post the CPU/GPU temperature settings(min-max-current) as reported by the Linux psensor program along with the pertinent manual settings in the UEFI.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I've paired a z77extreme 4 with an I-7-2600k, 16Gb GSkill low voltage(1.25) ram, Gforce9500Gt PCIe, 3 spin drives, Hyper 212+(push/pull fans), and a Crucial 64Gb SSD drive. Upgraded the BIOS to v-1.30. Currently set at auto over clock to 4.4 with absolutely no problems. Running Linux Mint 12.0-64. Win 7.0-64 ultimate runs fine in Virtualbox.

Depending on ambient temperatures, core temps reach max of 70C running full out.

Only minor install issue was the need to up the ram voltage from 1.25 to 1.30 when all 16Gb was installed.

Question: Does the auto over clock just have an effect at full processor load or is it non variable irrespective of the processor load?

Autooverclock sends wayyyyyy too much voltage to the CPU!

 

[marvinudy]

T_Yamamoto,

Based on your reply I set my over clocking values at the settings reported by LOL_Wut_Axel: 4.4Ghz, cpu voltage at 1.280 and LLC=level 2.

Ram voltage remains at 1.30v.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll load up the processor this evening and see what the temperature does.

Best regards,

marvinudy

 

[Homer Simpson]

ive been running my extreme4 since sunday with a 3570k and really liking it. not had any major problems with it. did have to be careful plugging the atx power in due to the board flexing without that 3rd row of mobo studs to support it.

does it take forever to put the system to sleep for anyone else? i press sleep and my display turns off then it just sits there for a while (~45sec) before eventually going to sleep. im not hibernating. i cant find any settings that differ from what i had before the upgrade when it took maybe 10 seconds to go to sleep.

so i had to install some intel management crap from asrock's drivers site to address the pci simple communications controller in device manager. yesterday some installer started to run for intel management firmware recovery update or something like that. wtf is that?? i chose not to run it. anyone else see that? im also curious what background task was running to initiate that. i do have the intel storage raid tool thing running but i dont think this was related to that (im not at home, sorry about the name guessing).

lastly, ive put zero effort into overclocking to the max but i did a simple jump to 41x and it runs like a champ at stock voltage. looking forward to pushing it a little more when i get some time.

 

[Piospi]

Hi guys, I ordered Extreme4 and 3570K. I have for you a few questions: - someone tested XFast Lan ? - what do you recommend to install the software from the Asrock and Intel site ? Intel® USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver, Intel® Rapid Storage Technology - I need it ? Greetings

 

[Twinpeaksr]

So I just put together a system on the Z77 Extreme4, not really having good luck. Paired it with an i3 2120T trying to build a power efficient server, but I found that 1. Linux does not have support for the Z77 yet it seems (I would be happy to be wrong on this), so I thought it is probably an upgrade from my old Core2 Duo (especially with 2x the RAM) and I would install Windows 7.

That has not worked well so far. After trying 3 different hard drives, I have yet to get past "Setup is starting". I know it has to do with the SATA controller, I just have not found what it is yet and am hoping others may have ideas. Tried IDE mode, ACPI mode, disabled the SATA3 controller, tried almost all the ports, and updated the BIOS to 1.40 all with the same results.

Any thoughts from the up-to-date knowledge base to help an aging custom system builder out?

Thanks!

 

[Twinpeaksr]

So I just put together a system on the Z77 Extreme4, not really having good luck. Paired it with an i3 2120T trying to build a power efficient server, but I found that 1. Linux does not have support for the Z77 yet it seems (I would be happy to be wrong on this), so I thought it is probably an upgrade from my old Core2 Duo (especially with 2x the RAM) and I would install Windows 7.

That has not worked well so far. After trying 3 different hard drives, I have yet to get past "Setup is starting". I know it has to do with the SATA controller, I just have not found what it is yet and am hoping others may have ideas. Tried IDE mode, ACPI mode, disabled the SATA3 controller, tried almost all the ports, and updated the BIOS to 1.40 all with the same results.

Any thoughts from the up-to-date knowledge base to help an aging custom system builder out?

Thanks!

So I put the HD from my previous system in again, and this time it booted, installed new drivers and is now up and running. Not sure what happened, but have worked around it for now. Still curious if any has some insight though.

thanks!

 

[ElFenix]

does it take forever to put the system to sleep for anyone else? i press sleep and my display turns off then it just sits there for a while (~45sec) before eventually going to sleep. im not hibernating. i cant find any settings that differ from what i had before the upgrade when it took maybe 10 seconds to go to sleep.

if you have hybrid sleep on it is going through the hibernation process just in case power fails, it can recover.

 

[weeber]

Guys, I also did the MC deal with this board and built a 3750 system over the weekend. My power supply only offers the 4-pin ATX power for the CPU and this board has the 8-pin connector. I actually read the manual, and saw it was OK to use a 4-pin connector at the proper pins.

However, am I running a long-term risk by doing this? The computer is fast and stable right now. I know IB doesn't take much power, but if I need a new PS or molex to 8-pin adapter I'd like to know now. What about overclocking? Nothing extreme (my dinky TX-3 cooler limits me). Can I still o/c with the 4-pin power connector OK?

 

[iniquiTrance]

Anyone upgrade to the new BIOS version 1.60? My default BCLK now shows as 100.5 MHz in CPU-Z, even though it's 100.0 in the BIOS. This is with a 2600k.

EDIT: I'm now getting rounding errors after ~4 hours of Prime95 blend. I'm guessing this is because the RAM is slightly OC'd now because of the higher BCLK. Gonna try downclocking the RAM to 1333 MHz.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Guys, I also did the MC deal with this board and built a 3750 system over the weekend. My power supply only offers the 4-pin ATX power for the CPU and this board has the 8-pin connector. I actually read the manual, and saw it was OK to use a 4-pin connector at the proper pins.

However, am I running a long-term risk by doing this? The computer is fast and stable right now. I know IB doesn't take much power, but if I need a new PS or molex to 8-pin adapter I'd like to know now. What about overclocking? Nothing extreme (my dinky TX-3 cooler limits me). Can I still o/c with the 4-pin power connector OK?

You can overclock but won't obtain the max stability at really high overclocks. That's about all there is to worry about.

 

[imagoon]

I might be the abnormal one here but... does the onboard video provide any support for DVI? IE to they toss you a connector or anything? I was looking at this board for an ESXi test bed. I won't be using a video card on it. Price is right though so I am considering buying a pair to build a new rig.


--edit--

I am an idiot and realized the board has dvi. herp derp. I was looking at Intel boards also that only had display port / hdmi also so got them cross wired in my brain.

 

[Homer Simpson]

Anyone upgrade to the new BIOS version 1.60? My default BCLK now shows as 100.5 MHz in CPU-Z, even though it's 100.0 in the BIOS. This is with a 2600k.

EDIT: I'm now getting rounding errors after ~4 hours of Prime95 blend. I'm guessing this is because the RAM is slightly OC'd now because of the higher BCLK. Gonna try downclocking the RAM to 1333 MHz.

1.60 just came out yesterday and it looks like 1.50 the day before. the notes for 1.50 say "Improve 3D performance when using multi-VGA cards." i wonder if that means SLI improvements? in anand's review of this board, it was a few fps lower on the sli tests than the other z77 boards. its tempting to update but then again, my system is running good right now...

 

[Homer Simpson]

so i was feeling adventurous and updated to 1.60. the internet update ability still doesnt work. it sees the updated bios, but if you select it, i get an "internet error". loaded via usb stick instead. set everything back up including my multi to 41x and all is well. ran intel burn test and no problems. i can aslo confirm that cpuz and eleet show the bclk at 100.5 even tho the bios is set to 100. so my ram is running 803mhz (1606ddr). didnt seem to affect my stability any. no voltage tweaks, everything at defaults.

 

[Emo]

They definitely did some changes to the voltage feeds with 1.60, I had to dial back the offset by -.025 to stay at the same voltage as before.

 

[K1llrzzZ]

I have a problem...My RAM Settings was on auto so 1 change it to XMP 1.2 Profile 1: My problem is that I can't change the Memory Voltage from Auto to 1.655V becouse my PC does not boots in.I heard that If i leave it on auto it can kill the IMC(Integrated Memory Controller) in my CPU,causing the death of my CPU(My RAMs are running on 1.65V).Any suggestions?This is how my settings looks like.
CPU Offset Voltage: +0.015V
IGPU Offset Voltage: +0.120V
DRAM Voltage: 1.650V - Auto
VTT Voltage: 1.169V
PCH Voltage: 1.059V
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.709V
VCCSA Voltage: 0.925V
Here is a shot of my XMP Config.