When it comes to looking for an AMD motherboard with the 990FX chipset, there are few new options right now. The 990FX chipset from AMD has been around for more then a few years now and we have recently only seen manufacturers doing revisions to the existing chipset boards. We are unsure on when the launch of a possible new chipset will be for AMD so for now it looks like it will remain at the top. Today we will take a look at one of the newest of these current top-tier motherboards, the ASRock 990FX Extreme 9. ASRock's previous top motherboard was the Fatal1ty 990FX Professional. How will this board stack up with today's new FX series processors and the piledriver architecture? We will put that to the test.

Industry leading companies are not just born. They take time to mature, and as they evolve they slowly rise to the top. Take some of the auto manufacturers like Honda or even more currently, Hyundai, as an example. When both companies were in their infancy, they made rather mediocre looking products, yet they represented a great bang for your buck at the time. Today, Honda is now an industry leader and Hyundai manufactures some really great looking quality products. In relation, ASRock developed their company with a much similiar strategy. Only a few years back, many looked only at Asus and Gigabyte to fill their technological needs, and dismissed ASRock as a secondary company. ASRock made a very good product but they just lacked the marketing hype and reputation. They were missing that extra "thump." Over the past few years, ASRock has changed the game and is now considered by many to be one of the "Big Three" motherboard companies. In this time frame, Pure Overclock watched ASRock's products and company evolve. Not only have the aesthetics changed from yesteryear, but the quality of the components and overall package has also improved. Now, ASRock brings cutting edge & very innovative features as we recently saw with the X79 Extreme 11. Simply said, ASRock's products are now outstanding.

The full array of Z77 motherboards has been introduced throughout the industry and Ivy Bridge is now a mainstay for Intel. With all the hype and migration, many have forgotten about another viable, and arguably better, computing platform. Yes, the X79 platform is still alive and so are Sandy Bridge "E" processors. The Sandy Bridge "E" processors have more computing power over "vanilla" Sandy Bridge and Ivy bridge due to the increased L3 cache. With that said, Ivy Bridge "E" processors are due to arrive 4th quarter 2012. The Ivy Bridge "E" series will carry the same architecture with a die shrink and more transistor density than it's little brother version of Ivy Bridge did. The transistors are Intel's new 3D Tri-Gate Transistors which operate more efficiently and Ivy Bridge "E" still uses socket 2011.

Great features and performance for both gamers and enthusiasts.

Stealthy Z77 motherboard that is waiting for Ivy Bridge's release.

Excellent combination of aesthetics, features, and performance.