At first I would like to thank ASRock for offering me a sample of their Z77 OC Formula Motherboard for review.

 

About ASRock:

"ASRock Inc., established in 2002, target at entry to mainstream segment MB business, is an energetic company with the combination of technology and humanity. Devoting efforts to bring customers the innovative and reliable motherboards with the design concept of 3C, "Creative, Considerate, Cost-effective", ASRock has successfully established a well-known leading brand of the best price-performance motherboard in the industry. ASRock products' high recognition stems from company’s devotion to bring the most cost-performance products to users.

Besides creative features and solid products, ASRock engineers also pay special attention to EMI, thermal, acoustics and details to achieve complete customer satisfaction. In addition to price-performance, creative and considerate features, ASRock also pay special on the issue of eco-environmental protection with the released of ROHS products and energy saving functions to save the environment.

To succeed in this ultra-competitive industry, ASRock provides great products with speed-to-market, cost and service to customers.

Facing the constantly changing technologies of motherboard, ASRock will always keep the vision of the future and develop future-proof products upon our 3C design concept to our customers.

It is the commitment to our customers and products, like the spirit presented in our maxim:

"Motherboard, We Master It!" "

12 + 4 Power Phase Design

 

ASRock Z77 OC Formula is designed with a 12 + 4 Power Phase design. It features sturdy components and completely smooth power delivery to the CPU. Plus, it offers unmatched overclocking capability and enhanced performance with the lowest temperature for advanced gamers as well.

 

Premium Alloy Choke (PAC)

 

Compared to iron powder choke, the new Premium Alloy Choke technology on ASRock OC Formula Motherboard Series highlights a special alloy formula which is able to reduce up to 70% core loss. The revolutionary choke construction features a highly-magnetic and heat-resistant design, increasing the board’s lifespan as well.

 

Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM)

 

DSM is an innovative new design of MOSFETs. The silicon die area is increased by stacking two dies into a MOSFET. The larger the die area, the lower Rds(on). Compared to traditional discrete MOSFET, DSM can provide larger die area and lower Rds(on), so the power supply for CPU Vcore is more efficient.

 

Digi Power

 

Z77 OC Formula is equipped with CHIL 8328 silicon which features a new digital PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) design, providing CPU Vcore voltage more efficiently and smoothly.

 

Multiple Filter Cap (MFC)

 

The ASRock Z77 OC Formula features a new capacitor design called MFC (Multiple Filter Cap), which includes a combination of highly conductive MLCC, DIP caps and POSCAP. MFC helps the system filter noise from high-freq, mid-freq to low-freq noise, delivering enhanced and higher current to the CPU. With the combined power of three capacitors, MFC allows users to overclock their PC rig to extreme levels without worrying about the hardware components.

 

Twin-Power Cooling

 

Twin-Power Cooling combines active air cooling with water cooling. The ultimate heatpipe cooling design maximizes the system’s convection to expel hot air out, providing great air flow and faster heat dissipation.

 

8 Layer PCB, 4 x 2oz Copper

 

Brilliantly designed to boost performance with the lowest temperature, ASRock Z77 OC Formula is built on an 8-layer-PCB design. It comes with 4 sets of 2 ounces copper inner layers, using only carefully selected copper materials for PCB layers, delivering lower temperature and higher energy efficiency for overclocking.

 

GELID Solutions GC-Extreme Thermal Compound

 

GELID Solutions GC-Extreme Thermal Compound is an added bonus included in ASRock Z77 OC Formula which allows overclockers to stabilize the CPU’s temperature. Created for extreme users on highest level, the GC-Extreme Thermal Compound achieves the best heat conductivity from your CPU, VGA or even Chipset to your cooler. Not only keeping your rig cool, the GELID GC-Extreme can also make the compound non-freezing even at low temperatures when doing LN2 extreme overclocking.

 

Hi-Density Power Connector

 

Hi-Density Power Connector features a solid square-pin design. ASRock Z77 OC Formula is equipped with two High-Density Power Connectors, one for the CPU Power connector, and one for the 24-pin ATX power connector. The optimized design supplies current to the power more efficiently and achieves better electric conduction. Overall, Hi-Density Power Connector can reduce 23% power loss and decrease power connector temperature up to 22?.

 

15μ Gold Finger

 

ASRock has embedded 15μ Gold Finger for both CPU sockets and DRAM slots. Compared to other boards that come with only 3-4μ, ASRock Z77 OC Formula provides 15μgold components within the sockets, delivering triple performance than usual. With the unprecedented 15μ gold-inside design, overclocking the CPU and memory is easier than ever.

 

NickShih’s OC Profile

 

Have you ever wondered how the global OC champion overclocks his motherboards? Now you’ve got a chance to learn a few tricks from the champion with NickShih’s OC Profile. It doesn’t matter whether you’re using a K-Series or No-K Series CPU, NickShih’s OC Profile will automatically detect your CPU and offer you different levels of overclocking. Have a taste of Nick’s secret recipe for overclocking this motherboard instantly.

 

Formula Drive

 

ASRock Formula Drive is an all-in-one software to fine-tune different features in an user-friendly interface, which includes Hardware Monitor, FAN-tastic Tuning, Overclocking, OC DNA, IES, XFast RAM and Multi Thermal Sensor.

 

Multi Thermal Sensor

 

Multi Thermal Sensor is a new feature specially designed for ASRock Z77 OC Formula. It provides users the temperature of various parts of the motherboard graphically in ASRock UEFI Setup Utility, so that users may precisely keep track and control of the temperature of each parts of their motherboard when overclocking.

 

Rapid OC – Quick & Fast Adjust OC Frequency

 

The onboard Rapid OC button allows novice overclockers to manually raise and lower the CPU ratio, BCLK frequency and CPU VCore voltage, while serious OC enthusiasts can use it to get the highest level of overclocking performance from their system and find their CPU’s best margin.

 

FAN-Tastic Tuning

 

FAN-Tastic Tuning offers the flexibility to adjust the fan speed (RPM) relative to the system temperature. Users are able to adjust the setting by clicking the "+/-" and confirm by "APPLY" afterwards.

 

PCIe ON/OFF

 

For those who constantly need to remove then reinstall their PCIe cards back into the PCIe slots and fear of damaging the motherboard and its components, ASRock has added three PCIe ON/OFF switches to enable or disable the PCIe slots in a flick of your finger.

 

Fine-Tuning V-Controller

 

Fine-Tuning V-Controller is a new collection of voltage fine tuning options in ASRock UEFI Setup Utility. It provides more than enough voltage configuration options for overclockers who wish to pursuit extremes.

 

V-Probe™

 

V-Probe™ is a 7-set of detection points laid on this motherboard. It allows overclockers to easily and quickly get the accurate voltage readings via the multitester.

 

Timing Configurator

 

Timing Configurator is a fast and easy tool that provides users with an abundant collection of subtle DRAM settings for professional tweaking. You won’t even have to waste time on entering into the UEFI or restarting the system, Timing Configurator is an independent application that runs under Windows® OS and your changes will take effect immediately.

 

OC Stands

 

Free gift includes 10 pcs of OC Stands. Those small, portable OC Stands help overclockers to easily setup an OC Formula system without chassis. Plus, it ensures greater airflow for extreme overclocking as well.

 

Interactive UEFI

 

ASRock Interactive UEFI is a blend of system configuration tools, cool sound effects and stunning visuals. The unprecedented UEFI provides a more attractive interface and brings a lot more amusing.

 

Virtu Universal MVP - Uncompromised Game Response Performance

 

ASRock motherboard support Lucid Virtu Universal MVP technology that improves your PC’s visuals, with faster response times, improved video processing and smoother media playback, all with low power consumption. Brilliantly designed for gaming, Virtu Universal MVP™ switchable graphics software assigns tasks dynamically to the best graphics resource and features two exciting techniques – HyperFormance™ and Virtual Vsync™.

 

Dehumidifier

 

Users may prevent motherboard damages due to dampness by enabling “Dehumidifier Function”. When enabling Dehumidifier Function, the computer will power on automatically to dehumidify the system after entering S4/S5 state.

 

ASRock OMG (Online Management Guard)

 

Fast, Easy and Free – ASRock OMG technology allows you to establish an internet curfew or restrict internet access at specified times. Administrators are able to schedule the starting and ending hours of internet access granted to other users. Normally, ISPs (Internet Service Provider) will charge for internet curfew service. The service controls “all” the PCs connected at home through network remotely but all the PCs in that network will be restricted to access the internet at pre-setup times. However, ASRock OMG is a free tool for controlling internet access of each single PC. Parents can easily control internet access through BIOS setup to protect their kids from using Internet at inappropriate time, and meanwhile, enjoy their own internet space.

 

Internet Flash

 

Internet Flash searches for available UEFI firmware updates from ASRock servers. System can auto-detect the latest UEFI from our servers and flash them within UEFI setup without entering Windows® OS.

 

Free Bundle - Cyberlink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial

 

CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 trial now supports hardware transcoding and is optimized to accelerate conversion of all your favorite media files for your favorite portable players. Now you can easily display your favorite movies, songs and photos on iPhone, iPad, PSP, Xbox, Youtube, Facebook etc. Compile, convert and enjoy images and songs as much as you want and enhance your videos to new levels with TrueTheater Technology. Try it today!

 

MAGIX Multimedia Suite

 

The ultimate solutions to enhance your media experience. From music management, music creation, video editing to photo management. Simply do more with your media than you ever thought possible.

 

The Z77 OC Formula mainboard from ASRock takes part from their high performance product series and comes shipped inside a large cardboard box, sporting the same color scheme as the product itself. On the front side of the box we can see the logos of the supported technologies along with a drawing of a Lamborghini, which could represent the high speeds that can be achieved when overclocking with extreme cooling solutions:

 

 

 

On the lateral sides we can see more product specifications listed; here we can also find out that the product does not come with the regular ATX format, but CEB, which is an acronym for the Compact Electronics Bay Specification. This format was initially proposed for value servers, as well as workstations based on the XEON CPU. The dimensions of the motherboard are 305mm x 267mm:

 

 

 

 

On the back side of the box we can see a drawing resembling a dashboard which describes in a modern way some of the motherboard features:

 

 

 

The top side of the box opens like a book and here we can find out more details about the features of the product:

 

 

 

 

By lifting the top side of the motherboard, we will reveal the motherboard, which is surrounded by protective foam material:

 

 

 

The rest of the bundle is held in a separate cardboard box:

 

 

 

Here we will find one DVD with software and drivers, the Users’ Guide, one Software Setup Guide, the I/O shield, one SLI_Bridge_2S card, 10 OC Stands, a tube of Gelid GC-Extreme Thermal Compound and two extra leaflets, one for the VIRTU MVP tech and the other for ASRock 555:

 

 

 

Inside the User Guide we will find everything that we need to set up the hardware installation:

 

 

 

The Software Setup Guide will instruct us on how to use the UEFI interface:

 

 

 

The motherboard also comes with an additional goodies bag:

 

 

 

Here we’ll find the Front USB 3.0 Panel with the USB 3.0 bracket, 2x SATA HDD power adapters, 6x SATA Data cables and one sticker:

 

 

 

 

Z77 OC Formula comes with a black/yellow color scheme which looks quite good and features some massive heatsinks on the VRM area. We are glad that the legacy components are finally gone like Floppy, IDE or PCI buses; this move also frees a lot of space on the PCB:

 

 

 

On the top left side of the board we will find not one, but two ATX 12V Power Connectors:

 

 

 

Between the I/O connectors and the VRM heatsink we can spot one EtronTech EJ188H USB 3.0 controller which holds 4 ports:

 

 

 

As we have seen on the earlier X58 Extreme 3 motherboard, this one is also equipped with a small fan for improved cooling:

 

 

 

Also nearby we will find two fan headers, one being already in-use:

 

 

 

Moving further down, we will discover the Realtek ALC 898 codec:

 

 

 

One catchy feature is the representation of the 8-layer PCB on the left side of the board:

 

 

 

The SuperIO chip on the board is a Nuvoton NCT6776D which is seconded by another Nuvoton NCT7904D monitoring chip:

 

 

 

 

Near the secondary PCI-Express X16 slot we can find the CMOS battery along with the jumper:

 

 

 

One PLX PEX8605 chip is used for switching purposes of the PCI-Express lanes to the necessary devices:

 

 

 

Now let’s go a little to the bottom side of the board and check out the headers (from left to right):

 

-Front Panel Audio Header

-COM Port Header

-SLI/XFire Power Connector

-Infrared Module Header

-Chassis Fan Connector

-Consumer Infrared Module Header

-USB 2.0 header

 

 

 

Next, we have:

 

-USB 2.0 header

-Chassis Fan Connector

-BIOS Selection Jumper

-USB 2.0 Header

-2x64Mb SPI Flash Memory (Main & Backup BIOS)

-Reset Switch

-Power Switch

-System Panel Header

-Power LED Header

-Chassis Speaker Header

 

 

 

The two Marvell 88SE9172 controllers provide a total of four SATA 6Gbps ports:

 

 

 

 

The SATA ports are also colored differently so we can differentiate easily between the SATA II ones and the SATA III. SATA3_M0/M1/M2/M3 ports are made available by the controllers and the rest are made available by the Z77 chipset:

 

 

 

Next to the right we have two additional fan headers along with the USB 3.0 header:

 

 

 

Next, we have the 24-pin ATX power header along with the V-Probe:

 

 

 

With V-Probe, the users are able to monitor the onboard components voltages with a multimeter, including VCCM, VCCSA, VTT1, VTT2, VCORE, DMI_COMP, PCH2 and so on. Nearby we have a separare row of status LEDs:

 

 

 

In the top right corner we will see the Dr. Debug LED display, the switches for enabling/disabling the PCI-Express slots and the Rapid OC buttons for allowing users to quickly and easily adjust OC frequency

 

 

 

The CPU Fan headers are to be found near the VRM heatsink:

 

 

 

The VRM heatsink is big but should not cause problems when installing large CPU coolers (we have used the D14 and everything went fine); the heatsink is also a water block:

 

 

 

 

 

The DIMM slots are color coded so we can properly identify the channels:

 

 

 

On the bottom side of the motherboard we can see a blackplate which ensures that the PCB won’t bend due to the weight:

 

 

 

The motherboard comes with the following I/O Shield connectors/ports:

 

-PS/2 keyboard/mouse port

-6x USB 3.0 ports

-Clear CMOS button

-HDMI port

-LAN RJ45 port

-4x USB 2.0 ports

-Audio ports

 

 

 

Even if the UEFI from the Z77 OC Formula layout has remained the same, we can see a completely changed artwork compared to the previously tested motherboards from ASRock. On the Main tab we can see the current system information and an option that permits us to set which tab will open at start:

 

 

The OC Tweaker menu holds most of the options we need for altering the system performance; here we will see some OC profiles that we can enable in a snap, additional options like OC Tweaking, LN2 Mode or SuperPI 32M Tweak. The CPU frequency can be set by adjusting both BCLK and multiplier:

 

 

During overclocking we can also set some power limits, set the DRAM parameters or simply set a pre-programmed XMP profile:

 

 

All necessary voltages can be adjusted from the same menu:

 

 

Inside the DRAM Configuration sub-menu we can see the SPD timings for each module and can also adjust all possible timings:

 

 

As on the previous models, the Advanced menu holds multiple sub-menus like CPU Configuration, NB Configuration and so on:

 

 

The CPU Configuration sub-menu will let us modify some CPU power states, adjust the Thermal Throttling option, enable or disable the Virtualization technology and so on:

 

 

The NorthBridge Configuration section will allow us to set the primary VGA adapter, set the speeds of the PCI-E slots and also adjust some options regarding the integrated graphics adapter. Altering these will also influence the Virtu functionality:

 

 

The SouthBridge Configuration section will leave us enable or disable the onboard adapters for LAN, sound and we can also adjust the functionality of the LEDs:

 

 

 

The Storage Configuration sub-menu will let us adjust the modes for the SATA controllers (Z77 chipset along with the Marvell controllers):

 

 

 

Intel Rapid Start and Smart Connect can be enabled from the next menus:

 

 

 

 

The SuperIO Configuration menu lets us configure the Serial and Infrared ports:

 

 

 

ACPI Configuration section will let us adjust the regular system power management options:

 

 

 

Inside the USB Configuration menu, we will be able to enable or disable the specific controllers:

 

 

 

The Tool Menu holds the Dehumidifier function, the option to enable or disable the sound effects in BIOS, the System Browser, MTS and OMG. Here we can also adjust the UEFI Update Utility options:

 

 

 

The H/W Monitor screen comes with the live monitoring results regarding temperatures, fan speeds, voltages. This board also features a very high number of thermal sensors all over the board:

 

 

 

 

The Boot menu contains necessary options for adjusting the priorities of the devices, boot from LAN, set the Full Screen Logo or enable/disable the Boot Failure Guard:

 

 

 

The Security menu will allow us to set passwords for both Supervisor and User accounts:

 

 

 

Finally, we have the Exit menu, where we can save, discard or load default settings:

 

 

 

Test Setup

 

CPU: Intel I5 3570K Retail

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 OC Formula

RAM: GeIL Black Dragon 2x4GB DDR2133 (@1600)

Video: Sparkle X560 Calibre

Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

 

Stability at 4.7GHz could be obtained with a 1.290V value inside the UEFI and LLC Level 1:

 

 

 

With the latest version of AIDA64 utility, we can reveal more information regarding the motherboard, the CPU IMC and the Z77 chipset:

 

Motherboard

 

 

 

Ivy Bridge IMC

 

 

 

Z77 Chipset

 

 

 

The ASRock main software utility has been renamed “OC Formula Drive” and contains multiple options that we can set, along with monitoring reports from the hardware sensors. The Hardware Monitor tab allows us to see the current CPU clock speeds, fan speeds and system temperatures, but also the voltages:

 

 

 

The utility that takes care of the fan speed setting is named Fan-tastic Tuning:

 

 

 

From the Overclocking tab we are able to modify the CPU Ratio and BCLK Frequency on the fly, along with the voltages for each component:

 

 

 

OC DNA will let us save on the HDD the currently saved profiles from the UEFI:

 

 

 

The Intelligent Energy Saver function will only work when OC mode is disabled:

 

 

 

With the Multi Thermal Sensor tab we can see the temperatures on the board in 13 different areas:

 

 

 

XFast RAM lets us create a new partition using spare RAM, where we can offload the temp files, IE Cache Files, FF Cache files, the Pagefile or the user temp files:

 

 

 

From the options menu, we can choose which program options should be enabled:

 

 

 

As a separate utility, we will get an advanced Timing Configurator:

 

 

 

Rapid OC function is also accompanied by an application:

 

 

 

Synthetic

 

AIDA64 CPU Queen

AIDA64 PhotoWorxx

AIDA64 Zlib

AIDA64 AES

AIDA64 CPU Hash

AIDA64 FPU VP8

AIDA64 FPU Julia

AIDA64 FPU Mandel

AIDA64 FPU SinJulia

Cinebench R10 CPU Score

Cinebench R11.5 CPU Score

CrystalMark

PCMark05 System Suite

PCMark Vantage Suite

PCMark 7

3DMark 2001 Default Run

3DMark 2003 CPU Score

3DMark 2005 CPU Score

3DMark 2006 CPU Score

3DMark Vantage CPU Score

3DMark 11 Performance Score

PerformanceTest 7 CPU

SuperPI 1.5 XS 2MB

wPrime 32M

x264 Encoding

Games

Crysis

Street Fighter 4

Far Cry 2

Dirt 3

Just Cause 2

The board supports the Virtu MVP technology; to download the latest version of the application, we can go ahead and navigate to the Lucid website. The interface has multiple tabs and in the Main one, we can disable or enable the GPU Virtualization feature and set the location/behavior of the In-Game icon:

 

 

 

Virtu MVP is based on two technologies: HyperFormance and Virtual Vsync which can be enabled or disabled from the interface. HyperFormance is meant to remove redundant rendering tasks within the graphics pipeline for improving the overall game performance and frame rate; Virtual Vsync enables us to run the games at higher FPS, with no image tearing artifacts:

 

 

 

The next tab shows us the compatible applications with Virtu MVP; if a game/benchmark is not listed, we can introduce it manually into the list, by clicking on the Add button:

 

 

 

In the About tab, we can see the currently installed application version:

 

 

 

While the monitor was connected to the dedicated VGA card, we have performed some benchmarks to see the performance differences in all available modes:

 

Run 1= HyperFormance Off , Virtual Vsync Off

Run 2= HyperFormance On, Virtual Vsync Off

Run 3= HyperFormance Off, Virtual Vsync On

Run 4= HyperFormance On, Virtual Vsync On

3DMark Vantage

3DMark 11

Crysis

Street Fighter 4

Dirt 3

 

 

With the new Z77 OC Formula, ASRock is trying to detach from the older, regular motherboard designs and step-up by proposing a build on a new layout, with many of the legacy components removed and an UEFI interface with a lot of options available.

 

Under the massive heatsinks which also act as waterblocks we will find a 12 + 4 VRM design; the premium alloy chokes that are nearby are able to reduce up to 70% core loss and their construction is more durable (magnetic and heat-resistant).

The 8-layer PCB succeeds to deliver lower temperatures and higher energy efficiency when overclocking.

 

The board was designed in collaboration with the well-known overclocker, Nick Shih and thanks to that, we can choose from the specially designed automatic OC profiles inside the UEFI, no matter if we are using either a K-series or non-K CPU.

 

As we have seen with the Fatal1ty motherboards, the main ASRock overclocking utility has been re-skinned and now comes with the Formula Drive name. The functions it includes are many: Hardware Monitor, FAN-tastic Tuning, Overclocking, OC DNA, IES, XFast RAM or Multi-Thermal Sensor. Speaking of the Multi-Thermal sensor, the board contains not one, but two hardware monitoring chips and a great amount of thermal sensors, so we are able to monitor the temperature in 13 more areas.

A new software tool is the Timing configuration, which gives us access to all subtle RAM timings, without the need to reboot and enter the UEFI.

 

The board is also equipped with Rapid OC buttons, which allow manual setting of the CPU Ratio, BCLK frequency and CPU voltage. The PCI-E slots can be also disabled manually by simply working with the switches located on the top right side of the motherboard. This is not all, ASRock has also included a set of 7 detection points on the motherboard for acquiring live voltage readings with the multimeter.

 

The manufacturer has also included 10 plastic stands that we can use to test or work with the motherboard without installing it into a case.

 

Regarding the board performance, we can see clearly that ASRock has continued to optimize the system software, especially the UEFI, so we have received very good test scores and thanks to the beefy VRM we could set a stable 4.7GHz frequency, with a much lower voltage than the previous Extreme6 motherboard.

 

The board can be found online for about 209 Euros, about 20 more than the Z77 Fatal1ty Professional.

 

ASRock Z77 OC Formula Motherboard Recommended For:

 

 

I would like to thank again to ASRock for making this review possible!