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 Champion Conclusion
The Champion is a hard product to fathom out. Sitting at $360 at the time of review, it is within striking distance of the ASUS Rampage IV Formula ($370), a motherboard that crosses the boundary between gaming and overclocking. The Champion is designed (and endorsed) by users specifically for gaming, and so we would expect the Champion to deal a better hand on that front.
Going by PCIe configuration, the Champion wins – the odd combination of five full length PCIe slots allows users of triple-slot GPUs to use up to three onboard without PCIe risers, whereby the Formula will have to resort with two. The Champion also wins on memory configuration, having access to all eight memory slots, whereas the Formula has only four (although anecdotal evidence would suggest that those gamers that use more than four tend to go big and high end anyway).
Looking through the specifications, the Champion gets the nod over the Formula in onboard SATA 6 Gbps ports (6 vs. 4), USB 3.0 ports (12 vs. 6), network ports (2 vs. 1), and IEEE1394 connectivity. The Formula takes the upper hand on NIC branding (Intel vs. Broadcom), and fan headers (8 vs. 6). While the Champion gets a Creative Core3D audio chip, the Formula also gets improved audio via the SupremeFX III (an actively enhanced ALC898). In terms of Software and BIOS, we would have to give that to the Formula, on the basis of the automatic overclock settings, depth of fan control, memory compatibility and ease of use which the Champion does not have.
In terms of our performance testing, the Champion is 10% down on the Formula in multithreaded benchmarks at stock, due to no implementation of MultiCore Turbo, although this point is moot given that both systems are likely to see an overclock. For overclocking, our Champion sample had a rough time with our processor, as it required 1.525 volts in the BIOS (1.520 volts at load) just to hit 4.7 GHz, which gave 90C at load.
| ASRock X79 Fatal1ty Champion | ASUS Rampage IV Formula | |
| Price | Link | Link to Newegg |
| Size | ATX | ATX |
| CPU Interface | LGA-2011 | LGA2011 |
| Chipset | Intel X79 | Intel X79 |
| Memory Slots |
Eight DDR3 DIMM slots Supporting up to 64GB ECC+non-ECC Up to Quad Channel, 1066-2500 MHz |
Four DDR3 DIMM slots Supporting up to 32 GB Up to Quad Channel DDR3, 1066-2400 MHz |
| Onboard LAN | 2 x Broadcom BCM57781 | Intel |
| Onboard Audio | Creative Sound Core3D | SupremeFX III |
| Expansion Slots |
5 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots - 1/5: x16/16 - 1/3/5: x16/8/16 - 1/4/7: x16/8/8 - 1/3/5/7: x16/8/8/8 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 |
2 x PCIe 3.0 x16/x8 2 x PCIe 3.0 x8 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 |
| Onboard SATA |
2 x SATA 6 Gbps (Chipset) 4 x SATA 6 Gbps (Marvell SE9230) 4 x SATA 3 Gbps (Chipset) |
2 x SATA 6 Gbps (Chipset) 2 x SATA 6 Gbps (ASMedia) 4 x SATA 3 Gbps (Chipset) |
| USB |
12 x USB 3.0 (Controller) 7 x USB 2.0 (Chipset) 1 x USB 2.0 Fatal1ty Mouse Port |
6 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 3 x USB 2.0 Headers 1 x COM Port Header 1 x HDMI_SPDIF Header 1 x IEEE1394 Header 7 x V-Probe Connectors 6 x Fan Headers Power/Reset Buttons Two-Digit Debug LED Post Status Checker LEDs |
4 x SATA 6 Gbps 4 x SATA 3 Gbps 1 x USB 3.0 Header 3 x USB 2.0 Headers 8 x Fan Headers 1 x SPDIF Output Header 1 x SlowMode switch 8 x Measurement Points Power/Reset Buttons LN2 Mode Switch Go Button |
| Power Connectors |
1 x 24-pin ATX Power Connector 1 x 8-pin CPU Power Connector 1 x 4-pin Molex Power Connector |
1 x 24-Pin ATX Power Connector 1 x 8-Pin CPU 12V Power Connector 1 x 4-Pin Molex PCIe Power Connector |
| Fan Headers |
2 x CPU (4-pin, 3-pin) 3 x CHA (4-pin, 2x3-pin) 1 x PWR (3-pin) |
2 x CPU (4-pin) 3 x Chassis (4-pin) 3 x Optional (4-pin) |
| IO Panel |
8 x USB 3.0 Ports (TI Controllers) 2 x USB 2.0 Ports 2 x Broadcom BCM57781 GbE NICs 2 x eSATA 6 Gbps (Marvell 9172) 1 x Keyboard PS/2 Port 1 x ClearCMOS Button 1 x IEEE1394 Port Optical SPDIF Output Audio Jacks |
4 x USB 3.0 (ASMedia) 6 x USB 2.0 1 x Gigabit Ethernet (Intel) 2 x eSATA 6 Gbps (ASMedia) 1 x PS/2 Combination Port 1 x Clear CMOS Button 1 x ROG Connect Button Optical SPDIF Output Audio Jacks |
| Warranty Period | 3 Years | 3 Years with ASUS Premium Service |
| Product Page | Link | Link |
The battle between the Champion and the Formula is more of a direct face off than the Professional and the Gene, primarily by virtue of board size. It is a tough decision – almost all that the Formula has, the Champion has more, but the execution is better on the Formula. XFast is a core feature of any ASRock product, but this has competition with the fan controls, features like USB BIOS Flashback and automatic overclock settings on the Formula. Not to mention the ROG board also offers ASUS Premium Service as part of the warranty package.
The Champion technically gets more ‘stuff’ for your money, whereas the Formula will give you a better user experience. How much that is worth is up to what you really want from an X79 product if your budget is near $360.
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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.