ASRock Fatal1ty x79 Professional Intel 2011 Motherboard

As with choosing any computer hardware these days, picking a Motherboard is a trade-off.  Price vs. Functionality vs. Looks vs. Brand.  This motherboard is no exception: My only complaint about this board is having only 4 ram DIMMS (other boards have 8).  I love the split-DIMM design but would love a fully populated 8 DIMMS (or at least the option to have).  The Price (at time of writing) is $279 putting it just under ASRocks Extreme9 Motherboard but firmly in the middle of the price range for an X79 Board.  Functionality is not a question as I have had 0 problems with this board in terms of stability.  Looks are where this board comes into its own: This board should come with a disclaimer saying it doesn’t belong in a case without a side window.  At first I really wasn’t a fan of having “Endorsed” hardware: it strikes me as being more about the endorser and less about quality.  I stand corrected.  This board is completely aimed at the gamer/power user supporting Quad SLI/Crossfire in (x16, x8, x8, x8) where the Extreme9 only supports in (x8, x8, x8, x8).  So in that respsect it hits its mark.  Of the Cons that I have listed below, the only one that ASRock has any control over is the amount of RAM DIMMS.  The fact that the X79 chipset only supports 2x SATA III ports is more of an Intel “Flaw” than one regarding ASRock.  Still it is something to think about.  With quality, looks, Functionality, Stability, and versitility in mind I have no reservations about awarding the ASRock X79 Fatal1ty Professional Motherboard our Editors choice Award.

• Supreme Crossfire/SLI Support
• Included Software / BIOS
• Looks
• Extremely fast ram support

Cons

• “Only” 4 DIMM Slots
• Only 2 SATA III supported by X79

  Previous Page         1. Introduction2. A Closer Look3. Hardware Features4. Software Features and BIOS5. Benchmarking Pt1: Stock6. Benchmarking Pt2: Overclocked7. Conclusion8. Full Gallery9. View All         Next Page