ASRock X79 Extreme11 Intel LGA 2011 Review

Over the past several weeks I have reviewed many products from ASRock, covering both Intel X79 and Intel Z77 chipsets. My first impression of their products has been pretty good, and I now understand why so many people have requested that TPU cover ASRock products. It was very easy to recognize, right from the get-go, that one of the biggest things setting ASRock apart from other board makers is the software package; one that really appeals to me on a personal level. I have also found overall performance and overclocking to be similar to what other board makers offer, although different in ASRock's own way. Delving deeper into the hardware side of things, I've found that many board-level components ASRock uses are quite different from what other OEMs offer, including the majority of high-end ASRock products sporting Creative Audio CODECs. When it comes to the highest of the high-end, however, ASRock definitely does do some things differently.

While speaking to my ASRock rep about the hardware I reviewed recently, my rep sent me a special package containing none other than the ASRock X79 Extreme11. The ASRock X79 Extreme11 is a high-end halo product with a high price tag, incorporating some technologies purely meant to show off ASRock's engineering skill. Technologies here include an LSI RAID card built right into the board, and multiple PLX PCIe bridge chips, raising offered X79 Express PCIe bandwidth to out-of-this-world levels. Few have the need for such technology, but I have spoken to many users with large data libraries spanning across many disks, and there has been a unanimous cry for more SATA ports, especially for workstation-focused builds. Being a multi-gpu user myself, PCIe bandwidth is something I am keen for in a board. Is the ASRock X79 Extreme11 the board that finally meets all my needs?