Asus Maximus II Formula - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 29th Sep 2008, 11:13

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...s-ii-formula/1

Asus Maximus II Formula prepares to separate the men from the boys in this latest, feature filled Republic of Gamer motherboard. We dissect Asus' new creation to discover if its genetics are truly that of a Roman Warrior.

The boy 4rm oz · 29th Sep 2008, 12:32

Looks like another quality board from ASUS. The price of their ROG boards can't be justified in my book IMHO. I like how they have made part of their heat pipe array removable so you can add your own water blocks if need be. A much better idea that having those crappy Fuzion blocks as standard.

Tim S · 29th Sep 2008, 14:49

I'm almost tempted myself, but I don't think I'm going to bother upgrading til Nehalem now... maybe Q209 will be the right time for me.

ChaosDefinesOrder · 29th Sep 2008, 15:33

Asus should stick with this styling (maybe, as said by many people many times before, with red and black/grey slots) as they're definitely onto a winner! Stunning looking board, however P45 isn't worth the money when compared to X48. Then again, I suppose if you are only looking for a single GPU solution (or single card in the case of X2's) then it's all you really need...

I still want to see a set of FlexXLC II plugged into this board - almost identical heatsink fin design would fit right in! Do you have them lying around still? Just for a photograph's sake? ;-)

spoon.uk · 29th Sep 2008, 15:38

Looks good and solid

Cupboard · 29th Sep 2008, 17:45

I appear to have missed something - what has happened to abit?

naokaji · 29th Sep 2008, 18:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim S

but I don't think I'm going to bother upgrading til Nehalem now...

+1

If you allready have a decent computer its not really worth it atm with nehalem being so close.

Tim S · 29th Sep 2008, 18:12

I'm still running a 965 board at home in my gaming machine.

Bindibadgi · 29th Sep 2008, 18:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cupboard

I appear to have missed something - what has happened to abit?

They quietly exited the performance mobo market earlier this month, although there was no "announcement" so to speak but we've heard it coming for a while.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaosDefinesOrder

I still want to see a set of FlexXLC II plugged into this board - almost identical heatsink fin design would fit right in! Do you have them lying around still? Just for a photograph's sake? ;-)

I don't actually, OCZ took them back and actually found them faulty

and we haven't yet got replacements.

I disagree about P45 versus X48 unless you're 4870 X2 X2ing, in which £140 is cheap

or I'd probably go for the DFI LT then although that's a completely different kettle of fish. You can always overclock the PCIe bus to make up for some of the bandwidth loss.

fathazza · 29th Sep 2008, 18:52

"however after this it was about as functional as a taxidermied dog: it just sat there with a faux attention, and didn't want to play any more"
that made me chortle!
<pedant mode> but taxidermy isn't the stem for a verb... </pedant mode>

looks like a tasty board tho

Bindibadgi · 29th Sep 2008, 18:53

what's the past tense verb then?

bhanja_trinanjan · 29th Sep 2008, 19:30

One interesting stability question: Does this board remain stable with 2 HD 4800/4500/3800 Radeons in crossfire? bit-tech has noted repeatedly in the past that Radeon cards in crossfire tend to crash on several of the newer Intel chipsets. If I remember right, such a crash has been reproduced on an AMD chipset as well. Why did bit-tech skip this particular aspect of stability...?

fathazza · 29th Sep 2008, 19:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

what's the past tense verb then?

try stuffed

taxidermy is a noun

metarinka · 29th Sep 2008, 20:32

I still can't justify spending this much on a mobo, I feel the price difference would be better spent on a graphics card, cpu, or mobo and then buying a $100 mobo. sure they might not over clock quite as nice but the performance differnce will be in the stock parts

still, seems like a nice board!

Bindibadgi · 29th Sep 2008, 20:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by fathazza

try stuffed

taxidermy is a noun

stuffed is so... unimaginative. Taxidermy is the art of stuffing and putting animals into lifelike poses. It's something someone does

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhanja_trinanjan

One interesting stability question: Does this board remain stable with 2 HD 4800/4500/3800 Radeons in crossfire? bit-tech has noted repeatedly in the past that Radeon cards in crossfire tend to crash on several of the newer Intel chipsets. If I remember right, such a crash has been reproduced on an AMD chipset as well. Why did bit-tech skip this particular aspect of stability...?

Time. I was up stil 1:30am last night finishing the review for this morning and stability testing simply takes days to do. I will give it a go shortly though.

Jipa · 30th Sep 2008, 05:27

Pr0n ^^ seems like one very nice board in every possible way.

bob_lewis · 30th Sep 2008, 14:26

In these days of 64-bit operating systems, it would be awfully nice if you also tested stability with, for example, 8Gb of RAM (4x2Gb).

leexgx · 30th Sep 2008, 17:16

i just got the rampage formula (not had an crash yet with 4gb 2x2gb), what does this motehrboard have of that one

on my list i could only get that one due to the other ones being ddr3 motherboards

Jojii · 1st Oct 2008, 00:00

that $186 price sucks cause it's an open box mobo so you get none of the goodies or wires (cause people steal that stuff) and the board has been "touched" by people and possible used and returned (cause they messed it up i would bet). its $269 for the retail "virgin." That's a large increase in price.

lifer · 2nd Jan 2009, 20:09

Hi, I have just got this mobo and a E8500. Using the settings in this article I have only been able to get to 400MHz fsb stable in prime 95, a long way from the incredible 535MHz you achived. What am I doing wrong? Any help much appericated, cheers.

29th Sep 2008, 11:13	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Asus Maximus II Formula http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...s-ii-formula/1 Asus Maximus II Formula prepares to separate the men from the boys in this latest, feature filled Republic of Gamer motherboard. We dissect Asus' new creation to discover if its genetics are truly that of a Roman Warrior. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

29th Sep 2008, 14:49	#3
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	I'm almost tempted myself, but I don't think I'm going to bother upgrading til Nehalem now... maybe Q209 will be the right time for me. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

29th Sep 2008, 15:33	#4
ChaosDefinesOrder Vapourmodder Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 365	Asus should stick with this styling (maybe, as said by many people many times before, with red and black/grey slots) as they're definitely onto a winner! Stunning looking board, however P45 isn't worth the money when compared to X48. Then again, I suppose if you are only looking for a single GPU solution (or single card in the case of X2's) then it's all you really need... I still want to see a set of FlexXLC II plugged into this board - almost identical heatsink fin design would fit right in! Do you have them lying around still? Just for a photograph's sake? ;-) __________________ Current setup: Hiper Osiris \| Core i7 920 (Cooled by Noctua NH-U12P) \| Foxconn Renaissance \| 2x GTX280 \| Cooler Master UCP \| Corsair Dominator 3GB (soon to be 9GB) \| Creative X-Fi Titanium \| Vista Home Premium x64 \| OS Drive: WD Velociraptor 300GB. Storage: 1x 160GB, 1x 250GB, 1x 300GB, 1x500GB (incremental additions over the years! All Maxtor) \| Monitor: Dell 2709W

29th Sep 2008, 17:45	#6
Cupboard I'm not a modder. Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bury St Edmunds/Durham Uni Posts: 1,842	I appear to have missed something - what has happened to abit? __________________ i7 920, 8800GTS 512, 6GB Corsair all in an Intel DX58SO; 3*320GB RAID5; CM Stacker Samsung Q45.

29th Sep 2008, 18:12	#8
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	I'm still running a 965 board at home in my gaming machine. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

29th Sep 2008, 15:38	#5
spoon.uk Frag Me Bitch! Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: London Posts: 61	Looks good and solid

29th Sep 2008, 18:52	#10
fathazza Freed on Probation Join Date: May 2002 Location: Gloucestershire Posts: 3,110	"however after this it was about as functional as a taxidermied dog: it just sat there with a faux attention, and didn't want to play any more" that made me chortle! <pedant mode> but taxidermy isn't the stem for a verb... </pedant mode> looks like a tasty board tho __________________ I may be fat but at least I am not Ginger "The President is no longer a cross-eyed Texan warmonger, unelected, inarticulate, who epitomises the arrogance of American foreign policy" - Boris Johnson

29th Sep 2008, 18:53	#11
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,247	what's the past tense verb then? __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

29th Sep 2008, 19:30	#12
bhanja_trinanjan What's a Dremel? Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 13	One interesting stability question: Does this board remain stable with 2 HD 4800/4500/3800 Radeons in crossfire? bit-tech has noted repeatedly in the past that Radeon cards in crossfire tend to crash on several of the newer Intel chipsets. If I remember right, such a crash has been reproduced on an AMD chipset as well. Why did bit-tech skip this particular aspect of stability...?

29th Sep 2008, 20:32	#14
metarinka I am a Dremel Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,621	I still can't justify spending this much on a mobo, I feel the price difference would be better spent on a graphics card, cpu, or mobo and then buying a $100 mobo. sure they might not over clock quite as nice but the performance differnce will be in the stock parts still, seems like a nice board! __________________ project: Orbitoid project: Orbitoid discussion Project: Angry-9 the WWII radio

30th Sep 2008, 05:27	#16
Jipa Licenced idiot. Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Tampere, Finland Posts: 3,059	Pr0n ^^ seems like one very nice board in every possible way. __________________ Abit IP35 - E6750 - 8800GT 1024 MB - 2 GB 800 MHz - enough HDDs - 750 W Silverstone - CM Storm Sniper Asus P5Q-VM - Q9450 - 4 GB - 400 W Silverstone - Fortress FT01 AllTheMods - MetkuMods - LedCalc

30th Sep 2008, 14:26	#17
bob_lewis A natural, like Tyrone. Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Sweden Posts: 4	In these days of 64-bit operating systems, it would be awfully nice if you also tested stability with, for example, 8Gb of RAM (4x2Gb).

30th Sep 2008, 17:16	#18
leexgx CPC hang out zone (i Fix pcs i do ) Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: uk Posts: 568	i just got the rampage formula (not had an crash yet with 4gb 2x2gb), what does this motehrboard have of that one on my list i could only get that one due to the other ones being ddr3 motherboards __________________ Qx6850 (OC 3.3Ghz) <> 120 extreme<> rampage forumla <> 9800GX2 <> 8gb 4x2gb (2x gell / 2x adata)<> SSD powered Corsair S128 / WD Black 1TB <> Crative X-fi FalTy FPS <> TK 1000w Toughpower <win7 x64> Click me for folding stats greenfrog.biz / 35947

1st Oct 2008, 00:00	#19
Jojii hardware freak Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Nevada, USA Posts: 121	that $186 price sucks cause it's an open box mobo so you get none of the goodies or wires (cause people steal that stuff) and the board has been "touched" by people and possible used and returned (cause they messed it up i would bet). its $269 for the retail "virgin." That's a large increase in price.

2nd Jan 2009, 20:09	#20
lifer What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 5	Hi, I have just got this mobo and a E8500. Using the settings in this article I have only been able to get to 400MHz fsb stable in prime 95, a long way from the incredible 535MHz you achived. What am I doing wrong? Any help much appericated, cheers.