Installation
I didn’t encounter any issues with installation. Everything slotted-in nicely. If you have a PCIE 4.0 Gen4 Nvme SSD, make sure you install this on the Hyper M.2 slot. We highly recommend you use a decent AIO CPU cooler, especially if you’re running an Intel Rocket Lake processor … these chips run HOT!
BIOS
At the time of testing we used BIOS version 1.11E. There’s a new BIOS available which you can download from ASRock’s website, which will offer better memory XMP profile compatibility. As you know, I always use the ‘Easy Mode’ for quick setup and configuration. This page shows current motherboard and CPU settings including temperatures, voltages, fan speeds and memory speeds.
If you want more options you can select the ‘Advance Mode’, which will allow you to adjust a variety of settings including CPU ratios, memory speeds, voltages and more. I was able to run our Patriot Viper Steel memory using XMP profile 2.0 at DDR4-4400 speeds.
There’s plenty options for CPU overclocking … you can adjust the multipliers, voltages, ratios and more. I decided not to overclock on this motherboard, why? …. Well, I’m running an Intel Core i9-11990K … which is currently Intel’s flagship 11th Gen processor with a Turbo Boost of up to 5.3 GHz (default is 3.5 GHz). Now that’s more than fast enough for me.
