ASRock Z87 OC Formula Overclocking Motherboard Review

The ASRock Z87 OC Formula I/O panel is quite full.  You will find a single PS/2 keyboard plug below two USB 2.0 ports.  There are a total of eight USB 3.0 ports (blue), a single gigabit Ethernet connection and 8 channel analog audio with digital connections over optical is located in the normal location.  Onboard video is handled by 2x HDMI with no Displayport or DVI present.

Between the USB 3.0 modules you'll find a CMOS reset button, very non-descript and easily accessible either by finger or USB cable given its proximity.

The audio module found on the Z87 OC Formula is very unique and occupies a section of the motherboard that is electrically separated from the rest of the main PCB.  You can see this separation in the PCB layers where the board is devoid of color.  

To further illustrate that the layers are completely separate and to show of the 8-layer PCB construction you'll find a translucent section showing each of the PCB layers.  Layers further dawn are more difficult to read with the topmost layer clearly visible.

We have come to expect more goodies from our high-end motherboards.  The extras help to justify the additional cost and sometimes help pad the parts bin with replacement cables and video card bridges.  ASRock has included everything you see below which includes ten SATA6 cables (with locks), plastic board stands for benching, sata to molex power adaptors, name brand Gelid thermal compound, I/O shield, SLI bridge and a single USB 3.0 breakout.  Sadly no Crossfire bridges but those tend to come with your graphics card anyway.

All of the included cables come in a hefty felt bag with a gold silkscreen logo along the side.  We almost wish all companies would include something like this given that cables tend to get lost once the motherboard box gets put away.  

Installation guides have gotten bigger over the years and the ASRock is no exception.  There are a total of 217 pages in this guide spanning over 14 languages.  Driver disk and software guides rounds out the included documentation.