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Phuncz
2[H]4U
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- Apr 12, 2009
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This motherboard will be upon us soon and I'd like to start this topic, since I was a large fan of the Z87E-ITX and have planned to buy this Z97 version.
So let's start with the basic specs !
Specifications
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97E-ITXac/?cat=Specifications
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What's new ?
Drivers and Firmware
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97E-ITXac/?cat=Download
NGFF and the M.2 socket
A member contacted me about the M.2 socket and it's compatibility.
This is indeed confusing stuff and I'll try to make it clearer.
You can also check ASRock's own Support List for compatibility: link, but at the time of writing, it only had one pathetic 32GB SSD.
Everything relevant to this motherboard has been colored orange to be easily found.
M.2: Connectors
(source)
M.2 SSD's has "keys", the gaps between the pins, to differentiate compatibility. The cards themselves have the gaps, the sockets have protrusions to fit in those gaps. This physically prevents a card from fitting if it is not electrically supported. The motherboards have the sockets.
Socket 2 ► PCIe x2 + SATA 6Gb/s + USB etc. supported
Socket 3 ► PCIe x4 + SATA 6Gb/s supported
B-key ► PCIe x2 + SATA 6Gb/s + USB etc. supported
M-key ► PCIe x4 + SATA 6Gb/s supported
Socket 2 ► fits B-key and B+M-key M.2
Socket 3 ► fits M-key and B+M-key M.2
The ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac has Socket 3 according to the manual, although it only supports PCIe x2 + SATA 6Gb/s, which would be Socket 2, if logic would have been used. But it's most likely Socket 2 is only used for non-storage slots like WWAN or WLAN cards, as apparently, PCIe x2 can be used on Socket 3 without issue, like a PCIe x4 card fits and works in a PCIe x8 or x16 slot. I assume that no manufacturer uses Socket 2 for M.2 SSD support because of the USB and Audio support associated with this.
More confusion comes when the SSD's has both keys:
(source) Intel 530 series 180GB M.2 SSD (uses SATA 6Gb/s)
You'd think since it can connect at PCIe x2 and x4, it will be PCIe x4 and downwards compatible with PCIe x2, but it's not in this case. It uses SATA 6Gb/s in this example.
(source) Plextor M6e 512GB SSD (uses PCIe x2)
This has the same notches as the Intel but uses PCIe x2, meaning it's not limited by the 570MB/s practical bus speed of SATA 6Gb/s. This specific SSD can achieve over 700MB/s transfer speed. Mind you, you won't feel this in everyday usage, but PCIe also allows for lower latency than SATA, although not on this specific SSD. The B+M keys limit the connection to PCIe x2, which means a maximum throughput of 10Gb/s.
I expect that in the near future most SSD's will have B+M keys, just to maximize compatibility with motherboards. But you should make sure you know how it communicates:
M-keyed ► PCIe x4 (20Gb/s)
B-keyed ► PCIe x2 (10Gb/s) or SATA (6Gb/s)
B+M-keyed ► PCIe x2 (10Gb/s) or SATA (6Gb/s)
Note: the PCIe max throughput can double with the use of PCIe 3.0, see M.2: PCIe Version below for more info.
Don't forget that a higher theoretical limit doesn't guarantee better performance.
The Samsung XP941, which is PCIe x4 and is M-keyed, could fit in the socket on this motherboard but it won't fit on the board physically because it's Type 2280 (see below).
The Plextor M6e, Intel 530 series and Crucial M500/M550 are all B+M, although the Intel and Crucial SSD's both use SATA instead of PCIe x2.
M.2: Size
There is another factor that determines compatibility and it is the size of the M.2 cards. To quote Wikipedia:
The ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac supports Type 2230 and 2242, meaning 22mm wide and 30mm or 42mm long.
M.2: PCIe Version
There are two versions of PCIe currently supported by Haswell and the Z87/Z97 chipset, namely PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 3.0. With the Haswell chip, there is a PCIe 3.0 x16 bus meant for the GPU which connects straight to the CPU. The Z97 chipset allows an additional PCIe 2.0 x8 bus for peripherals, like LAN, audio, WiFi, ... And in the example of the ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac it has PCIe 2.0 x2 lanes for the M.2 socket.
PCIe 2.0 has 5Gbit per lane, which is about 500MB/sec per lane max theoretical.
PCIe 3.0 has 10Gbit per lane, which is about 1000MB/sec per lane max theoretical.
Since it has version 2.0 for the Z97E-ITX/ac and uses 2 lanes, it's 500MB x 2, totalling 1000MB/sec max theoretical. Mind the overhead, this will be less but at the moment I don't know how much.
On some motherboards like the ASUS ROG Impact VII, the PCIe 3.0 x16 is split into PCIe 3.0 x8 for the GPU and PCIe 3.0 x4 for the SSD. This means it could theoretically support up to 4GB/sec but there is no SSD at time of writing that even hits 2GB/sec on a M.2 stick.
M.2: Other issues
And if you thought you figured it out, be wary for another potential problem: booting from an M.2 SSD isn't as clear-cut as with SATA nowadays. The Samsung XP941 appears to be one of those that has issues booting. These mainly revolve around the BIOS supporting booting from PCIe and using drivers where needed during installation.
So let's start with the basic specs !
Specifications
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97E-ITXac/?cat=Specifications
- ASRock Super Alloy
- Premium 60A CPU Choke
- Premium Memory Alloy Choke (Reduces 70% core loss compared to iron powder choke)
- Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM)
- NexFET™ MOSFET
- 12K Platinum Caps (100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors)
- Sapphire Black PCB
- Intel® Z97 - Supports 5th Generation, New 4th and 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7/i5/i3/Pentium®/Celeron® Processors (Socket 1150)
- Digi Power - 6 Power Phase design
- Supports Dual Channel DDR3 3200+(OC), 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots
- 1 PCIe 3.0 x16, 1 mini-PCIe for WiFi + BT Module, 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1)
- VGA Output/Input Options: DVI-I, HDMI, HDMI-In, DisplayPort
- 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec), Supports DTS Connect
- TI® NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier
- Intel® Gigabit LAN - Intel® I218V
- 1 SATA Express, 6 SATA3, 1 M.2 (Gen2 x2/SATA), 6 USB 3.0 (2 Front, 4 Rear), 6 USB 2.0 (4 Front, 2 Rear)
- WLAN: 1 x 2T2R Dual Band 802.11ac WiFi + BT v4.0 Module (Broadcom), 1 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5 GHz Antenna
- Supports ASRock Full Spike Protection, ASRock Cloud, APP Shop, A-Tuning, Full HD UEFI
What's new ?
- ASRock "Super Alloy", which seems to mean long-life power components
- M.2 socket for PCIe 2.0 x2 (or SATA-600) bandwidth for SSD's for up to 10Gb/s (SATA = 6Gb/s)
- SATA Express (shared with SATA3_4, SATA3_5 and M.2 Socket)
- HDMI-in to passthrough to the HDMI-out (no capturing what I can tell)
- Nichicon Fine Gold Audio Caps (lower noise level)
Drivers and Firmware
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97E-ITXac/?cat=Download
- Firmware 1.00 (5/6/2014)
1. First released.
- Firmware 1.10 (5/8/2014)
1. Improve memory compatibility.
2. Modify install SATA Express HDD,the HDD info display in M.2.
3. Improve SATA Express compatibility.
- Firmware 1.30 (6/3/2014)
1. Update VBIOS.
2. Add i7-4790K, i5-4690K, Pentium Anniversary G3258 EZ- OC table.
3. Update CPU code.
NGFF and the M.2 socket
A member contacted me about the M.2 socket and it's compatibility.
This is indeed confusing stuff and I'll try to make it clearer.
You can also check ASRock's own Support List for compatibility: link, but at the time of writing, it only had one pathetic 32GB SSD.
Everything relevant to this motherboard has been colored orange to be easily found.
M.2: Connectors
(source)
M.2 SSD's has "keys", the gaps between the pins, to differentiate compatibility. The cards themselves have the gaps, the sockets have protrusions to fit in those gaps. This physically prevents a card from fitting if it is not electrically supported. The motherboards have the sockets.
Socket 2 ► PCIe x2 + SATA 6Gb/s + USB etc. supported
Socket 3 ► PCIe x4 + SATA 6Gb/s supported
B-key ► PCIe x2 + SATA 6Gb/s + USB etc. supported
M-key ► PCIe x4 + SATA 6Gb/s supported
Socket 2 ► fits B-key and B+M-key M.2
Socket 3 ► fits M-key and B+M-key M.2
The ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac has Socket 3 according to the manual, although it only supports PCIe x2 + SATA 6Gb/s, which would be Socket 2, if logic would have been used. But it's most likely Socket 2 is only used for non-storage slots like WWAN or WLAN cards, as apparently, PCIe x2 can be used on Socket 3 without issue, like a PCIe x4 card fits and works in a PCIe x8 or x16 slot. I assume that no manufacturer uses Socket 2 for M.2 SSD support because of the USB and Audio support associated with this.
More confusion comes when the SSD's has both keys:
(source) Intel 530 series 180GB M.2 SSD (uses SATA 6Gb/s)
You'd think since it can connect at PCIe x2 and x4, it will be PCIe x4 and downwards compatible with PCIe x2, but it's not in this case. It uses SATA 6Gb/s in this example.
(source) Plextor M6e 512GB SSD (uses PCIe x2)
This has the same notches as the Intel but uses PCIe x2, meaning it's not limited by the 570MB/s practical bus speed of SATA 6Gb/s. This specific SSD can achieve over 700MB/s transfer speed. Mind you, you won't feel this in everyday usage, but PCIe also allows for lower latency than SATA, although not on this specific SSD. The B+M keys limit the connection to PCIe x2, which means a maximum throughput of 10Gb/s.
I expect that in the near future most SSD's will have B+M keys, just to maximize compatibility with motherboards. But you should make sure you know how it communicates:
M-keyed ► PCIe x4 (20Gb/s)
B-keyed ► PCIe x2 (10Gb/s) or SATA (6Gb/s)
B+M-keyed ► PCIe x2 (10Gb/s) or SATA (6Gb/s)
Note: the PCIe max throughput can double with the use of PCIe 3.0, see M.2: PCIe Version below for more info.
Don't forget that a higher theoretical limit doesn't guarantee better performance.
The Samsung XP941, which is PCIe x4 and is M-keyed, could fit in the socket on this motherboard but it won't fit on the board physically because it's Type 2280 (see below).
The Plextor M6e, Intel 530 series and Crucial M500/M550 are all B+M, although the Intel and Crucial SSD's both use SATA instead of PCIe x2.
M.2: Size
There is another factor that determines compatibility and it is the size of the M.2 cards. To quote Wikipedia:
These are identified like this: "Type xxyy", where xx is the width of the card and yy is the length of the card. There is also a thickness factor that determines the thickness of the components on either side, but we'll probably won't see anything else then "both sides 1.5mm" commercially. So 2242 means an M.2 card 22mm wide and 42mm long. According to a review website, the 256GB Plextor M6e is type 2260 (or possibly also 2280), but the 512GB is type 2280. For the moment, we should expect Type 2280 to become the most popular format. I think all M.2 SSD's for the foreseable future are going to be 22mm wide. Many ATX and mATX boards place these M.2 connectors between two PCIe slots, meaning wider will be massively incompatible and narrower makes no sense when it's already tight for a handful of NAND packages.
The ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac supports Type 2230 and 2242, meaning 22mm wide and 30mm or 42mm long.
M.2: PCIe Version
There are two versions of PCIe currently supported by Haswell and the Z87/Z97 chipset, namely PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 3.0. With the Haswell chip, there is a PCIe 3.0 x16 bus meant for the GPU which connects straight to the CPU. The Z97 chipset allows an additional PCIe 2.0 x8 bus for peripherals, like LAN, audio, WiFi, ... And in the example of the ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac it has PCIe 2.0 x2 lanes for the M.2 socket.
PCIe 2.0 has 5Gbit per lane, which is about 500MB/sec per lane max theoretical.
PCIe 3.0 has 10Gbit per lane, which is about 1000MB/sec per lane max theoretical.
Since it has version 2.0 for the Z97E-ITX/ac and uses 2 lanes, it's 500MB x 2, totalling 1000MB/sec max theoretical. Mind the overhead, this will be less but at the moment I don't know how much.
On some motherboards like the ASUS ROG Impact VII, the PCIe 3.0 x16 is split into PCIe 3.0 x8 for the GPU and PCIe 3.0 x4 for the SSD. This means it could theoretically support up to 4GB/sec but there is no SSD at time of writing that even hits 2GB/sec on a M.2 stick.
M.2: Other issues
And if you thought you figured it out, be wary for another potential problem: booting from an M.2 SSD isn't as clear-cut as with SATA nowadays. The Samsung XP941 appears to be one of those that has issues booting. These mainly revolve around the BIOS supporting booting from PCIe and using drivers where needed during installation.
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