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On the right side of the memory module positions are some clever additions to the Rampage. Ever wanted to disable a graphics card without taking it out of the slot? Asus has added a switch to each PCI-Express slot which allows you to toggle it on and off. Apart from hardcore benchmarkers, We're not sure exactly how useful it will be, but it's a cool feature. Next to this are voltage readout positions for using your voltmeter – again ideal for monitoring droops and peaks without software in the mix. A Q reset compliments the power and reset buttons on the opposite side of the board. To cater for the hardcore guys into Liquid Nitrogen there is a LN2 mode jumper … to avoid cold boot bugs.
There is enough space around the socket to cater for the biggest of CPU heat sink configurations …
… this is a good thing as this is exactly what the target audience demands. All our cooling blocks fitted without a problem so unless you have modded a part of your cars engine into a homebrew CPU cooler then you won't have a problem. Serious overclockers will be happy to know that this board can take any cooling arrangement (Coolermaster V10 owners breathe a sigh of relief!).
The board has 8 SATA ports, located at the bottom right hand side of the layout – at right angles to the axis of the PCB. Think ‘ease of use'.
This is an intentional design to stop physical interference with graphics cards, but it also means that you need a little extra room in the hard drive chassis area for fitting. Two of the connectors are 6Gbps and are powered by the onboard Marvell controller.
This is an intentional design to stop physical interference with graphics cards, but it also means that you need a little extra room in the hard drive chassis area for fitting. Two of the connectors are 6Gbps and are powered by the onboard Marvell controller.
The back of the board offers more connectivity than an international airport. First up, there are 9 (yes 9!) USB ports – alongside Firewire, Gigabit Lan, eSata Port, PS2 keyboard port (rare nowadays) and a range of audio connectors. With future-proofing in mind, two of these USBs are 3.0 capable (NEC chipset). Optical SPDIF is a welcome addition for movie theater lovers and the obligatory surround connectors are present. I was happy to see three buttons on the I/O panel – the first clears the CMOS with the other two handling ROG Bluetooth connection and ROG connect.
In a rather unusual move we noticed that Creative XFI was omitted and when we asked Asus representative Iain Bristow, he said: “Due to the nature of the board and it's focus on extreme overclockers the decision was made to remove the X-FI solution and use a simpler offering. This in turn makes the performance at the highest end, even better”. Fair enough Iain!
As U2 once said… de-si-i-i-i-i-i-rre !
DEAR GOD, is that for real? look at the price, but I still WANT ONE !
DEAR god is that for real? the price is insane but I STILL WANT ONE!
actually, I think id need a new case as it wouldnt take it
Nah it would fit ok, its just a bit bigger than ATX, like 2cm max, should fit ok, just might be tight on the hard drives
ASUS sure as shit know how to make motherboards, no argument there
The price puts me off, but im sick getting crap motherboards and them failing in a few months, maybe if you buy this it would last forever.
The reviews on this site KICK ASS, cant believe this is just up!
Wicked review guys, love the product, been saving up for it for months now, almost there !
I want one, too much money asus !
on Ln2 our team got a 980X to 6.2ghz ! with this very board, love it ±
6.2ghz you are kidding me, any links?
No links but we are talking about it over on xtremesystems. The CPU might be dead though but it was worth it.
love the review, its on my to buy list, didnt know this was out yet. thanks.
Yeah its been out a while but this has made me want to buy it now, I just will get killed by my wife if I fork out the money. maybe I can hide it on the credit card?
Hey Zardon if you are bored with the mobo, fire it over, ill give you £200 for it !
Wow, very pretty board, thanks for the review, really good read, out of stock here. so people are buying them (unless they only made 5)
Yeah its dead for sure. 6.2ghz on the CPU though and the motherboard is still going. time to get another one !
Hey Darth what voltage did you use on the CPU before it popped?
was actually nearer 1.9, we just confirmed. it held up well, and give us insane bench results in superpi, a few seconds.
1.9 volts, fuck me ! im not letting you near my hardware :p
Asus Rampage III Extreme!!!
I like it, I love it, I order it.
up to 24 gb of ram at 1333mhz !
and it takes i7 extreme
just if i had the money