ASRock Fatal1ty X79 Champion and X79 Professional Review: From a Gamer to Gamers
by Ian Cutress on February 9, 2013 10:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- ASRock
- Fatal1ty
- X79
ASRock X79 Fatal1ty Professional Conclusion
The Professional sits between a rock and a hard place in the grand scheme of X79 shootouts. It is cheaper than the Rampage IV Gene, which I would put as its main competition, and has a higher number of all the basic features – SATA ports, USB 3.0 connectivity, four way GPU setup and the like. However, much like the Champion, it lacks finesse – that extra spark that the Gene has.
Sitting at $265 ($280 for the Gene, $360 for the Champion), the Professional outscores the Champion by virtue of the price difference related to the additional features. While the Champion gets Core3D rather than the ALC898, a PCIe layout more beneficial to tri-slot GPU setups, the full array of memory slots and less USB 3.0 on the rear IO, the Professional gets PCI and a better overclock. Is the difference in features really worth almost $100?
In terms of Software and BIOS, the Champion and Professional are essentially identical, except for the mishap of the Professional having PCIe 2.0 rather than PCIe 3.0 set as default. The difference in overclock between the two is astounding, with the Professional only needing an OS load voltage of 1.424 volts to reach 4.7 GHz and getting load temperatures 20C below that of the Champion. However the BIOS of the Professional does implement Load Line Calibration awkwardly, giving higher voltage in the OS than set in the BIOS.
If you sit the Professional next to the Gene, what stands out most is the size (ATX vs. mATX), followed by the number of SATA ports available. ASRock goes for the full on 4-way option, in comparison to the ASUS’ feature set and warranty program. We gave the Gene a Bronze Award when it was reviewed and rightly so. If I was set on the Gene, the X79 Fatal1ty Professional would only tempt me away if I needed more PCIe slots and more storage capacity. The 10% performance difference at stock speeds in favor of the Gene is also something to consider if overclocking is not on the task list, and the inclusion of that many SLI bridges in the Professional package rather than a single 4-way SLI bridge ultimately leads to wondering if the package could have been $5-10 cheaper.
| ASRock X79 Fatal1ty Professional | ASUS Rampage IV Gene | |
| Price | Link | Link |
| Size | ATX | MicroATX |
| CPU Interface | LGA-2011 | LGA2011 |
| Chipset | Intel X79 | Intel X79 |
| Memory Slots |
Four DDR3 DIMM slots Supporting up to 32 GB ECC non-ECC with Xeons Up to Quad Channel 1066-2600 MHz |
Four DDR3 DIMM slots Supporting up to 32 GB Up to Quad Channel DDR3 1066-2400 MHz |
| Onboard LAN | Broadcom BCM57781 | Intel |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC898 | SupremeFX III |
| Expansion Slots |
4 x PCIe 3.0 x16 - x16/x8/x16/- - x16/x8/x8/x8 1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 2 x PCI |
2 x PCIe Gen 3 x16 1 x PCIe Gen 3 x8 1 x PCIe x1 |
| Onboard SATA |
2 x SATA 6 Gbps (Chipset) 4 x SATA 6 Gbps (Marvell SE9172) 4 x SATA 3 Gbps (Chipset) |
2 x SATA 6 Gbps (Chipset) 2 x SATA 6 Gbps (ASMedia) 3 x SATA 3 Gbps (Chipset) |
| USB |
8 x USB 3.0 (Controller) 11 x USB 2.0 (Chipset) 1 x Fatal1ty USB 2.0 Mouse Port |
4 x USB 3.0 (ASMedia) 12 x USB 2.0 (Chipset) |
| Onboard |
6 x SATA 6 Gbps 4 x SATA 3 Gbps 2 x USB 3.0 Headers 2 x USB 2.0 Headers 6 x Fan Headers 1 x COM Port Header 1 x IEEE1394 Header 1 x Front Panel Audio Header 1 x Front Panel Header Power/Reset Buttons Two-Digit Debug LED |
4 x SATA 6 Gbps 3 x SATA 3 Gbps 1 x USB 3.0 Header 2 x USB 2.0 Headers 5 x Fan Headers 1 x SPDIF Out Header 11 x Measurement Points Power/Reset Buttons Clear CMOS Button Go Button |
| Power Connectors |
1 x 24-pin ATX Power Connector 1 x 8-pin CPU Power Connector 1 x 4-pin Molex VGA Power Connector |
24-Pin ATX Power Connector 8-Pin 12V CPU Power Connector |
| Fan Headers |
2 x CPU (4-pin, 3-pin) 3 x CHA (4-pin, 2 x 3-pin) 1 x PWR (4-pin) |
2 x CPU (4-pin) 3 x CHA (4-pin) |
| IO Panel |
4 x USB 3.0 (TI) 6 x USB 2.0 1 x Keyboard PS/2 Port 1 x ClearCMOS Button 1 x Optical SPDIF Output 1 x Coaxial SPDIF Output 1 x FireWire/IEEE1394 Port 1 x Broadcom BCM57781 GbE NIC 2 x eSATA 6 Gbps (Marvell) Audio Jacks |
1 x PS/2 Combination Port 1 x eSATA 3 Gbps 1 x Gigabit Ethernet 2 x USB 3.0 8 x USB 2.0 1 x Optical S/PDIF Output 6 x Audio Jacks 1 x Clear CMOS Button 1 x ROG Connect |
| Warranty Period | 3 Years | 3 Years with ASUS Premium Service |
| Product Page | Link | Link |
The Fatal1ty Range of ASRock Motherboards
ASRock need to decide whether Fatal1ty is here for the long run. The branding has carried over several generations and chipsets now, but as a brand of motherboard it lags behind the user friendly atmosphere of its competitors. It needs to do something different and something focused beyond the normal plethora of motherboard products – there is no point just sticking a lot of everything onto a PCB then applying a red and black color scheme. It is time to question more than one power user about what a gaming product needs, and develop through successful iterations of focused hardware. ASUS had bundled versions of ROG boards with Battlefield 3 – perhaps the next game Fatal1ty is in love with becomes part of the box as well. There are plenty of possibilities in the world of motherboards, and it all has to be coupled with that optimized user experience.
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scaramoosh - Saturday, February 9, 2013 - link
I don't get why they release these, he's done nothing in half a decade and no self respecting person who knows anything about hardware would buy because of a so called Celeb name being put on it. It just acts as a warning sign for me...Tech-Curious - Saturday, February 9, 2013 - link
I admit that I didn't really know who Fatal1ty was before I read this article, apart from a vague recognition that the silly leet-speak moniker belonged to someone in gaming.And I agree with your general point, that such branding on a motherboard is silly.
But all of that said, if the guy really did win $500,000 in gaming competitions, that's a pretty big deal. Now that he's retired, if companies (or, perhaps, their customers) are dumb enough to give him a comfortable living through lame marketing campaigns like ASRock's, then more power to him.
Wouldn't touch the motherboard with a ten foot pole, but I can't blame the endorser for accepting the check.
Nice review.
Beenthere - Saturday, February 9, 2013 - link
The "Fatality" branded mobos are just Asrocks high end models. They are pretty good mobos.The issue is the marketing is dumb as are those who buy products based on this type of marketing. Clearly enough Asrock customers voiced their displeasure with the crap marketing of John Boy all over the place as Asrock removed his image from the BIOS and allows people to disable his face on the boot screen too. Owner reviews in any PC hardware forum show a lot of folks unhappy with the marketing - not the mobos.
Samus - Saturday, February 9, 2013 - link
I've owned a few Fatal1ty products and all of them have been really good quality, especially the headsets and mice.I don't think the guy will put his name on crap. And I don't think companies making crap want his name on their product, since it isn't cheap to put his name on that product and if it backfires, it'll cost them.
Omega215D - Sunday, February 10, 2013 - link
The Creative gaming mice with his name on it weren't all that great performance-wise and were pretty much crap compared to stuff from Logitech in those days. The sound cards weren't anything special as well but cost much more than it should.hp79 - Sunday, February 10, 2013 - link
I had a crap fatality branded geforce 8800gs or something, and it was uber crap. I got this as a repalcement when my 7900gs died. My 8800gs had no fan control, so it was running at 100% all the time. Very loud graphics card. I sold it after couple days.I really don't see a point branding it with a person maybe because I don't even know or care who this dude is.
StevoLincolnite - Sunday, February 10, 2013 - link
I had a Fatal1ty 990FX board in my old AMD rig, was incredibly solid and overclocked like a champ.Unfortunately, I needed more performance and decided to go with a Military themed build so went with the Asus Sabertooth X79 board, which other than slightly noisy motherboard fans is solid too.
aguilpa1 - Tuesday, February 12, 2013 - link
Yea, I still have a Fatal1ty Xfi audio card but I didn't buy because it had his handle on it but because at the time it was the only Xfi model that offered the break out box front panel.JonnyDough - Friday, February 15, 2013 - link
It tells us that it's a high-end board though. Just as it did for Creative and whoever else. It's like putting Ferrari on a monitor....LOLFlunk - Saturday, February 9, 2013 - link
I agree. I refuse to buy anything branded with that name on principle. I'm not paying extra just for branding from someone I don't even respect or care about. Hell, I would rather have a Michael Jordan* branded motherboard than a one of these.*No, I do not like Basketball.