ASRock Game Blaster audio card unveiled

ASRock cooperated with Creative to introduce the Game Blaster, a new audio card with Broadcom Gigabit LAN. It's a proprietary product though, it's only supported by ASRock's X79 based motherboards. Pricing and availability is unknown.

World's top 3 motherboard manufacturer, ASRock Inc., specially partners with Creative Technology Ltd, the worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for the personal computer, to introduce the most trusted sound card in mobo industry - Game Blaster!

Gamers need so much more from their rigs. ASRock Game Blaster was designed to exceed the expectations of even the most dedicated gamer. It is the first sound card coming with both Creative 7.1 CH HD Sound Core3D Audio and Broadcom Gigabit LAN in the world.

Creative Sound Core3D 7.1 CH HD Audio
Powered by Sound Core3D� quad-core audio and voice processor, the revolutionary Game Blaster delivers the first-class sound experience to extreme gamers! This breakthrough audio chip even brings some exciting features, allowing gamers to enjoy pure gaming audio, such as THX TruStudio PRO� sound technologies, CrystalVoice� and EAX 1.0 to 5.0 solid sound technologies.

Scout Mode�
Designed for performance gaming, ASRock Game Blaster also supports the state-of-the-art Scout Mode� technology. It is a proprietary technology that allows you to hear your enemies from further away, giving you a distinct tactical advantage in combat. With Scout Mode�, ASRock Game Blaster facilitates faster access in the heart of battle and allows gamers to get precise control to elevate their games. Can't wait to enjoy this exciting technology? Simply download the latest driver from ASRock website, and experience this amazing tool right now.(http://asrock.com/mb/spec/card.asp?Model=Game Blaster&cat=Beta)

Broadcom Gigabit LAN
ASRock Game Blaster was unprecedentedly equipped with a Broadcom Gigabit LAN. Broadcom Gigabit LAN not only focuses on high performance, but also ensures extremely low power consumption to enhance eco-friendly environment. Coupled with Game Blaster and ASRock motherboard, serious gamers will get benefits of 2 LAN supports. Connected 2 LANs together, users can enjoy Dual PCIE Gigabit LAN feature with teaming function effortlessly.

ASRock Game Blaster is setting a whole new standard for gaming audio. It's been designed for incredible sound experience and precise accuracy. The ASRock Game Blaster has lots intelligent features including Creative Sound Core3D single audio chip with Scout Mode� and Broadcom Gigabit LAN. It's aimed to unleash the maximum gaming performance.

For more product information, please visit: http://www.asrock.com/mb/spec/Card.asp?Model=Game%20Blaster

ASRock Game Blaster audio card unveiled - More news at DV Hardware

ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 (Intel Z68) Motherboard Review

Introduction

Well, hasn't this whole "Gen3" PCIe 3.0 thing caused uproar with the smack being clearly laid down by MSI and ASRock letting people know that they are the only companies to offer "true" PCIe 3.0 support for the next generation of LGA 1155 processors.

Already we've looked at a couple of PCIe 3.0 boards; the first was the ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 and that's the big brother to the board we're looking at today. The other was the MSI Z68A-GD80-G3. While both are great boards in their own right, the problem at the moment is that nothing can really make use of the PCIe 3.0 capabilities on offer from these boards. Saying that, though, one would argue that if you're interesting in making use of the next generation LGA 1155 chips from Intel and a PCIe 3.0 video card in the future, it's almost silly to buy a non "Gen3" motherboard.

If you want to get in on the "Gen3" action at a good price, though, the MSI and Extreme7 offering might be a little too expensive for you. The Extreme4 on the other hand could be just the board for you. Coming in at a strong price point, it might be the perfect board to get you on the PCIe 3.0 bandwagon and be ready for when PCIe 3.0 capable devices come to the market.

Of course, before we get into the performance side of things, the first thing we need to do is check out the package. Once that's done we'll take the time to have a closer look at the board itself to see exactly what's on offer before we get into the BIOS and check out the overclocking capabilities of the board. Once all that's done, it's time to get into the performance side of things and see what the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 can bring to the table.

The Package

Unlike the Extreme7, the Extreme4 has a little bit of a smaller box; the front gives us the model number and the normal rundown of logos. The back gives us the main details regarding the board itself and a rundown on some of the main features that are on offer.

Getting into the package, we've got a fairly standard ASRock setup which includes the normal line-up of paperwork, driver CD, AUX cable, four SATA cables, two Molex to SATA power connectors, floppy connector, SLI bridge and I/O back plate.

Along with the normal goodies, we've also got a dual USB 3.0 header that can be used at the front of your case or with the included backplane can be used at the back of your case. It just depends on where you want to install it.

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ASRock X79 Extreme7 teaser

VR Zone received a teaser shot of ASRock's upcoming X79 Extreme7 motherboard.

To begin with, this board seems to have six DDR3 DIMM slots. That's an odd number, considering the Sandy Bridge-E processor embeds four DDR3 memory channels, and so motherboards should ideally either have four slots (one per channel), or eight (two per channel). As with all LGA2011 boards, the memory slots are arranged on either sides of the large 2011-pin socket.

The CPU seems to be powered by at least an 8-phase VRM. We're able to count just one row of chokes on the VRM area north of the socket, there could be more rows. Interestingly, the FETs of the memory VRM seem to be cooled by heatsinks, as well. The last time we saw heatsinks over memory VRM was with Foxconn QuantumForce X58 boards...

ASRock X79 Extreme7 teaser - More news at DV Hardware

ASRock Z68 Pro3-M (Intel Z68) Motherboard Review

Introduction

I'm a really big fan of the mATX platform, even more so over the last few years as we've seen that moving to the mATX platform doesn't mean you need to sacrifice the power that most full size ATX boards bring.

The release of the new Z68 chipset means a bunch of new boards from companies and today we'll be looking at our first mATX version of the new chipset. The Z68 Pro3-M from ASRock carries a very similar name to a board we've already looked at, the ASRock Z68 Pro3. Of course, the M in this case means we're dealing with an mATX version.

So, does moving to a smaller board mean we're going to see less performance? What are we missing with the move to a smaller board? Well, to answer that and more, read on. Let's start by looking at the package ASRock have put together; from then we'll move into the motherboard itself before looking at the BIOS. Once that's done we'll discuss how we went with overclocking before getting into the actual performance side of things to see just what exactly this mATX board from ASRock is able to bring to the table.

Fingers crossed we'll enjoy the same strong performance as the Pro3 version we looked at. Before we find out, though, let's get into the package.

The Package

As far as the box size goes, this is the smallest box we've seen so far when compared to other Z68 boards. That's of course due to the smaller stature of the board itself. Inside the package there's not a whole lot going on; we've got software and motherboard guide, driver CD, two SATA cables and our back I/O plate. As far as what's in the box, it's exactly the same as what we saw in the non -M Z68 Pro3.

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