Introduction

Having just checked out the BIOSTAR TZ77EX4 it's time to move on to another Intel Z77 based motherboard with this one coming from ASRock and being part of the popular Fatal1ty series. This is the second ASRock based Z77 motherboard we've looked at with the first one being the ASRock Z77 Extreme6 which did a good job of impressing us.

ASRock have had a great run of motherboards recently and we hope that the Fatal1ty Z77 board we've got on our hands today continues the trend of the strong performing boards that hit at a strong price point. Of course there are a few things we need to do before we get into the performance side.

The first thing we'll do is check out the package to see just what ASRock is offering us here today while we also cover some of the main features. Once we've done that we'll move onto the motherboard itself and look at the layout and cover some of the main standout points.

From there we'll move onto the BIOS before we take a quick look at our testbed, the boards that will also be in our graphs and finally the overclocking side of things before we get into the performance. As we mentioned, though, the first thing we need to do is check out the package to see just what ASRock is offering us inside the box of the Fatal1ty Z77 Professional.

Package

Looking at the front of the box there's not heaps of information on offer with the main highlight being the fact that the board is part of the Fatal1ty series. Turning over, though, we get a look at some of the main features with the big one being the 555 XFast technology with XFast RAM, XFast LAN and XFast USB.

Another big feature that ASRock is pushing is Lucid VirtuMVP which we've tested before. If you're interested in it we highly recommend you read our Lucid Virtu MVP (HyperFormance) Tested with ASRock Z77 and Intel Ivy Bridge article we posted in April. Along with this we've also got Premium Gold Caps, Digi Power, 16 + 8 Power Phase, Fatal1ty Mouse Port and UEFI BIOS.

Moving inside the box we've got a bit of paperwork that highlights the 555 XFast feature along with a Lucid VirtuMVP installation guide and driver CD. In the cable department we've got six SATA cables, SLI Bridge, two Molex to SATA connectors and the I/O backplate.

Along with all that we've also got the added bonus of a USB 3.0 header that can be installed in the front of your case or with the included bracket it can be installed in the back of your case.