ASRock has released possibly the king of all Intel 8 Series motherboards. The ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac has insane specs, including 22 SATA3 (16 SAS-3 12 Gb/s) ports, supports 4-Way Multi-GPU and is equipped with a Thunderbolt 2 port.
ASRock's flagship motherboard boasts a whopping 22 SATA3 ports, including 6 SATA3 ports by Intel Z87 chipset, and another 16 SAS-3 12.0 Gb/s ports from the added LSI SAS 3008 Controller plus 3X24R Expander, which can reach up to 6.1 GB/s transfer speed!
Graphics aficionados shall also be overjoyed by the fact that ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac in no way lacks VGA connectivity. Enhanced with a PLX PEX 8747 chip, it is capable of supporting 4-Way CrossFireX and 4-Way SLI with its solid PCIe 3.0 slots at x8/x8/x8/x8 mode.
The motherboard is also armed with Thunderbolt 2 for up to 20 Gbps high speed data transferring. Besides Daisy Chain which allows the connection of 12 Thunderbolt devices, users may also connect their graphics card to ASRock's exclusive DP-In port on the motherboard using a mini-DP to DP cable, and link Thunderbolt devices and monitors with a Thunderbolt cable.
The ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac also includes Home Cloud for remote wake and remote desktop, the Purity Sound onboard audio solution (115dB SNR) and the 2T2R Dual Band 802.11ac WiFi + Bluetooth v4.0 module, which provides 867 Mbps internet connection, plus it comes with a Wi-SD Box for installing 4 USB 3.0 devices and an SD 3.0 card reader. Other features such as 12 Power Phase design, Dual-Stack MOSFET, Digi Power, Japan made gold capacitors can also be found on this motherboard, making Z87 Extreme 11/ac an enthusiast choice.
ASRock last week also announced two crazy motherboards that support 6 graphics cards for hardcore Bitcoin mining.
The H61 supports up to Ivy Bridge-era Intel Core processors, while the H81 works with the latest Haswell Core chips.
The H81 Pro BTC is specifically tailored for bitcoin mining. It boasts a total of six PCIe slots for multiple mining graphics cards, plus two extra 4 pin power connectors for extra mining power.
The ability to harness the power of graphics processing units is a key component of Bitcoin mining. Prospectors need the power of GPUs to crunch complex mathematical problems that have to be solved in order to create new Bitcoins.
For those not familiar with it, Bitcoin is a digital, peer-to-peer currency gaining popularity in technology circles. Bitcoins are created at a fixed rate and mining for the digital currency will cease after 21 million Bitcoins exist. There are currently about 12 million Bitcoins in existence.
A single Bitcoin currently costs more than $600.
Z87 Extreme11/ac specs
- 22 x SATA3 (16 x SAS-3 12.0 Gb/s + 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s) from LSI SAS 3008 Controller+ 3X24R Expander
- AMD 4-Way CrossFireX and NVIDIA 4-Way SLI™supported by PLX PEX 8747 Bridge
- Supports 4-Channel, Dual-Port Thunderbolt 2 Technology
- Supports 4th Gen Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Xeon / Pentium / Celeron in LGA1150 Package
- Gold Capacitor Design, Digi Power, 12 Power Phase Design, Dual-Stack MOSFET
- Supports Dual Channel DDR3 2933+(OC)
- 4 x PCIe 3.0 x16, 3 x PCIe 2.0 x1, 1 x mini-PCIe
- VGA Output/Input: 1 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort-In, 2 x mini DisplayPort/Thunderbolt 2
- Intel Dual Gigabit LAN with Teaming
- 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec), Supports DTS Connect
- 1 x eSATA, 2 x mSATA, 12 x USB 3.0, 7 x USB 2.0
- 1 x ASRock Wi-SD BOX (Supports 4 USB 3.0 ports and an SD 3.0 card slot)
- WLAN : 1 x 802.11ac + BT v4.0 module
- Supports A-Tuning, XFast 555, Easy Driver Installer, FAN-Tastic Tuning, USB Key
H61 Pro BTC specs
- Supports 3rd and 2nd generation Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Xeon / Pentium / Celeron in LGA1155 package
- 100% All Solid Capacitor design
- Supports Dual Channel DDR3 1600
- 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16, 5 x PCIe 2.0 x1
- Dual VGA Output Options : D-Sub, HDMI
- Realtek Gigabit LAN
- 5.1 CH HD Audio (VIA VT1705 Audio Codec)
- 4 x SATA2, 10 x USB 2.0 (4 Front, 6 Rear)
- Supports XFast 555, Dehumidifier, OMG, Fast, Restart to UEFI
H81 Pro BTC specs
- Supports 4th Gen Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Xeon / Pentium / Celeron in LGA1150 package
- 100% All Solid Capacitor design
- Supports Dual Channel DDR3 1600
- 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16, 5 x PCIe 2.0 x1
- Dual VGA Output Options : D-Sub, HDMI
- Realtek Gigabit LAN
- 5.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC662 Audio Codec)
- 2 x SATA3, 2 x SATA2, 2 x USB 3.0, 6 x USB 2.0 (4 x Front, 2 x Rear)
- Supports A-Tuning, XFast LAN, XFast RAM, Easy Driver Installer, FAN-Tastic Tuning, USB Key