ASROCK X79 Extreme9 User manual

1
ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
English
Copyright Notice:
No part of this installation guide may be reproduced, transcribed, transmitted, or trans-
lated in any language, in any form or by any means, except duplication of documentation
by the purchaser for backup purpose, without written consent of ASRock Inc.
Products and corporate names appearing in this guide may or may not be registered
trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies, and are used only for identifica-
tion or explanation and to the owners’ benefit, without intent to infringe.
Disclaimer:
Specifications and information contained in this guide are furnished for informational use
only and subject to change without notice, and should not be constructed as a commit-
ment by ASRock. ASRock assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions that may
appear in this guide.
With respect to the contents of this guide, ASRock does not provide warranty of any kind,
either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties or condi-
tions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall ASRock, its
directors, officers, employees, or agents be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, or
consequential damages (including damages for loss of profits, loss of business, loss of
data, interruption of business and the like), even if ASRock has been advised of the pos-
sibility of such damages arising from any defect or error in the guide or product.
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following
two conditions:
(1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that
may cause undesired operation.
CALIFORNIA, USA ONLY
The Lithium battery adopted on this motherboard contains Perchlorate, a toxic substance
controlled in Perchlorate Best Management Practices (BMP) regulations passed by the
California Legislature. When you discard the Lithium battery in California, USA, please
follow the related regulations in advance.
“Perchlorate Material-special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlorate”
ASRock Website: http://www.asrock.com
Published October 2011
Copyright©2011 ASRock INC. All rights reserved.

2ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
English
Motherboard Layout
1 Power Fan Connector (PWR_FAN1) 27 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN2)
2 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slot (DDR3_A1, Black) 28 Reset Switch (RSTBTN)
3 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slot (DDR3_A2, Black) 29 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN3)
4 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slot (DDR3_B1, Black) 30 Power Switch (PWRBTN)
5 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slot (DDR3_B2, Black) 31 Power LED Header (PLED1)
6 ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V2) 32 System Panel Header (PANEL1, Black)
7 ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V1) 33 Chassis Speaker Header (SPEAKER1, Black)
8 2011-Pin CPU Socket 34 USB 2.0 Header (USB_12_13, Black)
9 CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1) 35 SPI Flash Memory (64Mb)
10 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slot (DDR3_D2, Black) 36 USB 2.0 Header (USB_10_11, Black)
11 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slot (DDR3_D1, Black) 37 Intel X79 Chipset
12 CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN2) 38 Consumer Infrared Module Header
13 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slot (DDR3_C2, Black) (CIR1, Gray)
14 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slot (DDR3_C1, Black) 39 USB 2.0 Header (USB_8_9, Black)
15 ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1) 40 Infrared Module Header (IR1)
16 SB Fan Connector (SB_FAN1) 41 Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRCMOS1)
17 USB 3.0 Header (USB3_6_7, Black) 42 COM Port Header (COM1)
18 USB 3.0 Header (USB3_4_5, Black) 43 Front Panel IEEE 1394 Header
19 SATA2 Connectors (SATA2_2_3, Black) (FRONT_1394, Black)
20 SATA2Connectors (SATA2_0_1, Black) 44 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slot (PCIE6, Black)
21 SATA3 Connectors (SATA3_0_1, Gray) 45 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slot (PCIE5, Black)
22 SATA3 Connectors (SATA3_M4_M5, Gray) 46 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slot (PCIE4, Black)
23 SATA3 Connectors (SATA3_M2_M3, Gray) 47 PCI Express 2.0 x1 Slot (PCIE3, Black)
24 SATA3 Connectors (SATA3_M0_M1, Gray) 48 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slot (PCIE2, Black)
25 Dr. Debug 49 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slot (PCIE1, Black)
26 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN1) 50 SLI / XFIRE Power Connector
DDR3_A1 (64 bit, 240-pin module)
DDR3_A2 (64 bit, 240-pin module)
ATX12V2
PS2
Keyboard
Clr
CMOS
USB 2.0
T:USB2
B: USB3
Top:
RJ-45
USB 3.0
T:USB0
B: USB1
USB 3.0 T: US B2 B: USB3
eSATA3
IEEE 1394
SLI/XFIRE_PWR1
ATXPWR1
PWR_FAN1 CPU_FAN1
CPU_FAN2
CHA_FAN1
1
USB3_6_7
CHA_FAN3
Intel
X79
PCIE1
Super
I/O
LAN
PHY
CMOS
Battery
SATA3_M0_M1
64Mb
BIOS
24.4cm (9.6 in)
30.5cm (12.0 in)
Dr.
Debug
PWRBTN1
RSTBTN1
HDLED RESET
PLED PWRBTN
PANEL1
1
1
SPEAKER1
PLED1
1
SB_FAN1
CLRCMOS1
1
CHA_FAN2
FRONT_1394
1
IR1
1
COM1
1
USB_8_9
1
CIR1
1
USB_12_13
1
USB_10_11
1
Designed in Taipei
4 Channels DDR3
SATA3 6Gb/s
Front USB 3.0
ErP/EuP Ready
1394a
USB 3.0
3-Way SLI
RoHS
X79 Extreme9
1 2 345678910 11 12 13 14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
333435
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
X Fast USB
2 oz Copper PCB
PCIE2
X Fast LAN
DDR3_B1 (64 bit, 240-pin module)
SATA3_M2_M3 SATA3_M4_M5 SATA3_0_1 SATA2_0_1
DDR3 2400+
USB 2.0
T: US B4
B: USB5
1
USB3_4_5
45
46
47
48
PCI Express 3.0 Ready
49
PCIE3
PCIE4
PCIE5
PCIE6
SATA2_2_3
ATX12V1
DDR3_B2 (64 bit, 240-pin module)
DDR3_D2 (64 bit, 240-pin module)
DDR3_D1 (64 bit, 240-pin module)
DDR3_C2 (64 bit, 240-pin module)
DDR3_C1 (64 bit, 240-pin module)
USB 2.0
T:USB0
B: USB1
eSATA3
50

3
ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
English
I/O Panel
* There are two LED next to the LAN port. Please refer to the table below for the LAN port LED
indications.
LAN Port LED Indications
Activity/Link LED SPEED LED
Status Description Status Description
Off No Link Off 10Mbps connection
Blinking Data Activity Orange 100Mbps connection
On Link Green 1Gbps connection
1 USB 2.0 Ports (USB01) 6 USB 3.0 Ports (USB3_01)
2 IEEE 1394 Port (IEEE 1394) 7 USB 2.0 Ports (USB45)
* 3 LAN RJ-45 Port 8 USB 2.0 Ports (USB23)
4 USB 3.0 Ports (USB23) 9 Clear CMOS Switch (CLRCBTN)
** 5 eSATA3 Connectors 10 PS/2 Keyboard Port (Purple)
ACT/LINK
LED
SPEED
LED
LAN Port
1234
10 5
6
7
89
** eSATA3 connector supports SATA Gen3 in cable 1M.

4ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
English
ASRock Game Blaster
ASRock Game Blaster is packed with the new earthshattering Creative Sound
Core3D quad-core sound and voice processor. It is designed to deliver sound and
voice with unbeatable quality and accurate 3D positional audio. It also boosts gam-
ing performance, enables dual LAN with teaming function, and allows users to
morph their voice into miscellaneous characters which is amusingly funny.
*** HDMI_SPDIF Header
** Front Panel Audio Header
* LAN RJ-45 Port
Coaxial SPDIF Out Port
Optical SPDIF Out Port
4 x 1/8” Mini Jacks
PCIE Gold Fingers

5
ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
English
* There are two LEDs next to the LAN port. Please refer to the table below for the LAN port LED
indications.
LAN Port LED Indications
Activity/Link LED SPEED LED
Status Description Status Description
Off No Link Off 10Mbps connection
Blinking Data Activity Green 100Mbps connection
On Link Green 1Gbps connection
** Front Panel Audio Header
(9-pin F_AUDIO1)
ACT/LINK
LED
SPEED
LED
LAN Port
J_SENSE
OUT2_L
1
MIC_RET
PRESENCE#
GND
OUT2_R
MIC2_R
MIC2_L
OUT_RET
*** HDMI_SPDIF Header
(3-pin HDMI_SPDIF1)
1
DUMMY
SPDIF OUT
GND

6
ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
English
Specifications
Platform - Size: 4.3-in x 3.0-in, 11.0 cm x 7.5 cm
- Premium Gold Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-
quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)
Chipset - Creative Sound Core3D quad-core sound and voice
processor
- Powerful 32-bit 200Mhz QUAD-Processor SIMD DSP
- 102dB 24-bit DAC
- 101dB 24-bit ADC
Output Features - Supports Stereo / 2.1 Speakers / 5.1 Surround / 7.1
Surround-EX / Headphones
- Front Panel Headphone Out with built-in amplifier (shared
with jack 4)
- Coaxial SPDIF Out Port
- Optical SPDIF Out Port
Input Features - Line in / Microphone in shared with 1/8" mini jack (jack 3)
- Front Panel Microphone In
Audio - Supports THX TruStudioTM PRO
- Supports CrystalVoice
- Supports EAX1.0 to EAX5.0
- Supports Full Blu-ray Profile 2.0 Audio Decoder
- Supports Blu-ray Audio
- Supports AES-128 Encryption/Decryption Engine
LAN - Broadcom BCM57781
- PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
- Supports Wake-On-LAN
- Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
- Supports Dual LAN with Teaming function (for motherboards
with Broadcom LAN)
- Supports PXE
Rear Panel I/O I/O Panel
- 1 x Coaxial SPDIF Out Port
- 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
- 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED
LED)
- 4 x 1/8" mini jacks
Connector - 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header
- 1 x Front panel audio connector
OS - Microsoft®Windows®7 / 7 64-bit / VistaTM / VistaTM 64-bit
compliant

7
ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
1. Introduction
Thank you for purchasing ASRock X79 Extreme9 motherboard, a reliable moth-
erboard produced under ASRock’s consistently stringent quality control. It delivers
excellent performance with robust design conforming to ASRock’s commitment to
quality and endurance.
This Quick Installation Guide contains introduction of the motherboard and step-by-
step installation guide. More detailed information of the motherboard can be found
in the user manual presented in the Support CD.
Because the motherboard specifications and the BIOS software might be
updated, the content of this manual will be subject to change without no-
tice. In case any modifications of this manual occur, the updated version
will be available on ASRock website without further notice. You may find
the latest VGA cards and CPU support lists on ASRock website as well.
ASRock website http://www.asrock.com
If you require technical support related to this motherboard, please visit
our website for specific information about the model you are using.
www.asrock.com/support/index.asp
1.1 Package Contents
ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
(ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm)
ASRock X79 Extreme9 Quick Installation Guide
ASRock X79 Extreme9 Support CD
6 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional)
2 x Serial ATA (SATA) HDD Power Cables (Optional)
1 x 3.5mm Audio Cable (Optional)
1 x I/O Panel Shield
1 x Front USB 3.0 Panel
4 x HDD Screws
6 x Chassis Screws
1 x Rear USB 3.0 Bracket
1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_2S Card
1 x ASRock 3-Way SLI-2S1S Bridge Card
1 x ASRock Game Blaster
English
ASRock Reminds You...
To get better performance in Windows® 7 / 7 64-bit / VistaTM / VistaTM 64-
bit, it is recommended to set the BIOS option in Storage Configuration to
AHCI mode. For the BIOS setup, please refer to the “User Manual” in our
support CD for details.

8ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
English
1.2 Specifications
Platform - ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
- Premium Gold Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-
quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)
CPU - Supports Intel®CoreTM i7 processor family for the LGA 2011
Socket
- Digi Power Design
- Advanced V16 + 2 Power Phase Design
- Supports Intel®Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology
- Supports Hyper-Threading Technology (see CAUTION 1)
- Supports Untied Overclocking Technology
Chipset - Intel®X79
Memory - Quad Channel DDR3 Memory Technology (see CAUTION 2)
- 8 x DDR3 DIMM slots (see CAUTION 3)
- Supports DDR3 2400+(OC)/2133(OC)/1866(OC)/1600/1333/
1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
- Supports DDR3 ECC, un-buffered memory with Intel®
Workstation 1S Xeon®processors E5 16xx/26xx/46xx series
in socket LGA 2011
- Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB (see CAUTION 4)
- Supports Intel®Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)1.3/1.2
Expansion Slot - 5 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (PCIE1/PCIE2/PCIE4/PCIE5:
x8/8/8/8 mode or x16/0/16/0 mode; PCIE6: x8 mode)
(see CAUTION 5)
- 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot
- Supports AMDTM Quad CrossFireXTM, 3-Way CrossFireXTM
and CrossFireXTM
- Supports NVIDIA®Quad SLITM, 3-Way SLITM and SLITM
Audio - Supported by the bundled ASRock Game Blaster
- Creative Sound Core3D quad-core sound and voice
processor
- Supports THX TruStudioTM PRO
- Supports CrystalVoice
- Supports EAX1.0 to EAX5.0
LAN - PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
- Broadcom BCM57781
- Supports Wake-On-LAN
- Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
- Supports Dual LAN with Teaming function with the bundled
ASRock Game Blaster

9
ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
English
- Supports PXE
Rear Panel I/O I/O Panel
- 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
- 6 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports
- 2 x eSATA3 Connectors
- 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 3.0 Ports
- 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED
LED)
- 1 x IEEE 1394 Port
- 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED
SATA3 - 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by Intel®X79, support RAID
(RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and Intel Rapid
Storage 3.0), NCQ, AHCI and "Hot Plug" functions
- 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by Marvell SE9220, support
RAID (RAID 0 and RAID 1), NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug”
functions
- 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors by Marvell SE9172, support
RAID (RAID 0 and RAID 1), NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug”
functions
USB3.0 - 4 x Rear USB 3.0 ports by TI®, support USB 1.0/2.0/3.0 up
to 5Gb/s
- 2 x Front USB 3.0 headers (support 4 USB 3.0 ports) by TI®,
supports USB 1.0/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s
Connector - 4 x SATA2 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0,
RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and Intel Rapid Storage 3.0),
NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug functions
- 8 x SATA3 6.0Gb/s connectors
- 1 x IR header
- 1 x CIR header
- 1 x COM port header
- 1 x IEEE 1394 header
- 1 x Power LED header
- CPU/Chassis/Power/SB FAN connector
- 24 pin ATX power connector
- 2 x 8 pin 12V power connectors
- SLI/XFire power connector
- 3 x USB 2.0 headers (support 6 USB 2.0 ports)
- 2 x USB 3.0 headers (support 4 USB 3.0 ports)
- 1 x Dr. Debug with LED
Smart Switch - 1 x Clear CMOS Switch with LED
- 1 x Power Switch with LED

10 ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
English
- 1 x Reset Switch with LED
BIOS Feature - 64Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support
- Supports “Plug and Play”
- ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events
- Supports jumperfree
- SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support
- CPU, VCCSA, DRAM, VTT, CPU PLL, PCH1.1V, PCH1.5V
Voltage Multi-adjustment
Support CD - Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version),
CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, ASRock Software Suite
(ASRock MAGIX Multimedia Suite - OEM)
Unique Feature - ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU) (see CAUTION 6)
- ASRock Instant Boot
- ASRock Instant Flash (see CAUTION 7)
- ASRock APP Charger (see CAUTION 8)
- ASRock SmartView (see CAUTION 9)
- ASRock XFast USB (see CAUTION 10)
- ASRock XFast LAN (see CAUTION 11)
- ASRock XFast Charger (see CAUTION 12)
- ASRock XFast RAM (see CAUTION 13)
- ASRock X-FAN (see CAUTION 14)
- ASRock Crashless BIOS (see CAUTION 15)
- Hybrid Booster:
- CPU Frequency Stepless Control (see CAUTION 16)
- ASRock U-COP (see CAUTION 17)
- Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.)
- Good Night LED
Hardware - CPU Temperature Sensing
Monitor - Chassis Temperature Sensing
- CPU/Chassis/Power/SB Fan Tachometer
- CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan (Allows Chassis Fan Speed Auto-
Adjust by CPU Temperature)
- CPU/Chassis/SB Fan Multi-Speed Control
- Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore
OS - Microsoft® Windows® 7 / 7 64-bit / VistaTM / VistaTM 64-bit
/ XP / XP 64-bit compliant (see CAUTION 18)
Certifications - FCC, CE, WHQL
- ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)
(see CAUTION 19)
* For detailed product information, please visit our website: http://www.asrock.com