ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3 Intel LGA 1155 Motherboard Review

Manufacturer ASRock
Name Z68 Pro3 Gen3
Type / Chipset Intel LGA1155 CPU / Intel Z68 Chipset
Dimensions +++ 15 mm (40 mm radius) around the socket to the next capacitor or other mainboard parts – for further information see Fit for Fan. The space to the next bigger heatsink is approx. 40 mm (60 mm radius). The overall size of this ATX mainboard is 305 x 191 mm.
Slots +++ 2x pci, PCIe 3.0: 1×16 PCIe 2.0: 3×1, 4x DDR3-800 – 1600 (DDR3-2133 OC) max 32GB RAM
Connectors

+++ 2x SATA3 (Z68), 4x SATA2 (Z68), 1x serial (optional), 1x PS/2, 1x IR (optional), 1x CIR (optional), 1x 10/100/1000 Mbps base-T Ethernet (Realtek RTL 8111E), 2x USB 3.0 (Etron EJ168A), 10x USB 2.0 (4x of them internal, slot bracket for additional ports is not included), 8-Channel ALC892 onboard 7.1 sound with 5x 3.5 mm connectors (1x optical S/PDIF out, 1x int. HDMI S/PDIF out, 1x int. Aux, ext. Line in, ext. Mic, ext. Front out, ext. Rear out, ext. Center/Subwoofer) and 5x fan connectors (2x 4-pin and 3x 3-pin).

Vcore ++++ BIOS between -0.100 bis +0.500 Volt in 0.0125 Volt Offset setting (Vcore depends on CPU)
Multiplier ++++ BIOS between 16x and 60x (max. multiplier depends on CPU)
Host Frequency ++ BIOS between 95 and 110 MHz
VIO/VDD ++++ DRAM Voltage (DDR3 voltage) 1.201 – 1.800 Volt, IGPU Offset -0.100 – +0.500 Volt, PCH (Chipset) 0.780 – 1.646 Volt, VTT (VCCIO/QPI/IMC)0.768 – 1.634 Volt, VCCSA (System Agent Voltage) 0.925 – 1.200 Volt, CPU PLL Overvoltage 1.548 – 2.310 Volt, Core Limit IA 50 – 300 mA and Additional Turbo Voltage.
Performance* ++++ Benchmark ratings with some video cards and benchmark tools.

SiSoftware Sandra 2011 Benchmark ratings with Intel Core-i5 2500K processor. SiSoftware Sandra 2011 Arithmetik Processorperformance in Windows 7 RC: 65,81 GOPS SiSoftware Sandra 2011 Multimedia Processorperformance in Windows 7 RC: 184,55 MPixel/s

3DMark11 Entry Benchmark ratings with Intel Core-i5 2500K processor. 1x Sapphire HD6870 1024MB ATI Radeon HD6870 PCIe 2.0 video card: 3DMark11 Entry Test unter Windows 7: E6527 (GPU: 6827 / Physics: 6453 / Combined Score: 5086)

3DMark Vantage Entry Benchmark ratings with Intel Core-i5 2500K processor. 1x Sapphire HD6870 1024MB ATI Radeon HD6870 PCIe 2.0 video card: 3DMark Vantage Entry Test in Windows 7: E38087 (GPU: 61968 / CPU: 17664) 1x Sapphire HD4870 512MB ATI Radeon HD4870 PCIe 2.0 video card: 3DMark Vantage Entry Test in Windows 7: E30065 (GPU: 39743 / CPU: 17373) 1x onBoard Intel HD Graphics 2000 GT2 DX10.1 iGPU: 3DMark Vantage Entry Test in Windows 7: E9689 (GPU: 8448 / CPU: 17326)

3DMark06 Benchmark ratings with Intel Core-i5 2500K processor. 1x Sapphire HD6870 1024MB ATI Radeon HD6870 PCIe 2.0 video card: 3DMark06 in Windows 7: 22803 3DMarks 1x Sapphire HD4870 512MB ATI Radeon HD4870 PCIe 2.0 video card: 3DMark06 in Windows 7: 18070 3DMarks 1x onBoard Intel HD Graphics 2000 GT2 DX10.1 iGPU: 3DMark06 in Windows 7: 4271 3DMarks

3DMark03 Benchmark ratings with Intel Core-i5 2500K processor. 1x Sapphire HD6870 1024MB ATI Radeon HD6870 PCIe 2.0 video card: 3DMark03 in Windows 7: 76149 3DMarks 1x Sapphire HD4870 512MB ATI Radeon HD4870 PCIe 2.0 video card: 3DMark03 in Windows 7: 50154 3DMarks 1x onBoard Intel HD Graphics 2000 GT2 DX10.1 iGPU: 3DMark03 in Windows 7: 10814 3DMarks

Manual and Labeling

+++ Complete and well placed motherboard description and good manual with a lot of tips about topics like AHCI, CPU installation, Surround Display Feature, HDCP function, etc. This mainboard comes with a detailed manual in different languages. ASRock followed our often mentioned suggestion about the missing BIOS section in the manual and now offers a seperated Software Setup Guide with UEFI BIOS Setup section. Additionally a Lucid Virtu guide and an ASRock XFast USB quick reference guide was included.