Introduction
ASUS has always been at the forefront of motherboard innovation and their track record lately certainly speaks for itself being The No1 Motherboard Manufacturer in the World, while they are just as well known for affordable solutions.
I've always been impressed with the features that come on Asus' "Republic of Gamers" motherboards and the Maximus Formula III is certainly no exception to the ROG trademark, Complete with full features such as ROG Connect, MemOK and Probe-It.
In today’s review I will be taking a look at the newest board to be graced with the ROG name (the Maximus III Formula) ASUS have added some nice touches and BIOS refinements plus unique features to this board, the Maximus III Formula gets a load of features that are aimed squarely at the gamer and hardcore enthusiast so Let's take a Look around this board and see what it has to offer.
Features
Republic of Gamers
Green ASUS
Intel LGA 1156 Lynnfield Processor
Intel P55 Express Chipset
SLI/Crossfire On Demand
Dual Channel DDR3 2133 (OC) MHz
PCIe 2.0
ROG Connect
GameFirst
MemPerfect
Speeding HDD
iROG
CPU Level Up
MemOK
Extreme Tweaker
ProbeIt
Voltimeter LED
Component Overheat Protection EX (COP EX)
Loadline Calibration
SupremeFX X-Fi sound card
Noise filter
Onboard switches
Q-Fan Plus
Kapersky Anti-Virus
ASUS EZ DIY
ASUS Q-Shield
ASUS Q-Connector
ASUS OC Profile
ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
ASUS EZ Flash 2
ASUS EPU
ASUS CPR
Click link to see slide show.
Specifications
CPU
Intel Socket 1156 Core™ i7 Processor/Core™ i5 Processor/ Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology Refer to www.asus.com for Intel CPU support list
Chipset
Intel® P55 Express Chipset
Memory
4 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 2133(O.C.)/2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture
Hyper DIMM support is subject to the physical characteristics of individual CPUs.
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
Please refer to www.asus.com or user manual for the Memory QVL(Qualified Vendors List).
Multi-GPU Support
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (red) support single at x16 or dual at x8 mode
1 x PCIe x16 (white) supports at x4 mode
2 x PCIe x1
2 x PCI 2.2
Supports NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology / ATI® CrossFireX™ Technology
Storage
6 xSATA 3.0 Gb/s ports
Intel Matrix Storage Technology Support RAID 0,1,5,10
JMicron® 322 controller and 2 x JMicron® 363 controllers:
2 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (Red) supporting Hardware RAID 0 and 1 (SPD_HDD1 + SPD_HDD2)
1 x External SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go)
2 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (White) - SATA_ODD1 + SATA_ODD2
LAN
Realtek® RTL8110SC Gigabit LAN controller
GameFirst
Audio
SupremeFX X-Fi discrete Audio Card
8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
EAX® Advanced™ HD 4.0
X-Fi CMSS®-3D
X-Fi Crystalizer™
Creative ALchemy
Supports 1 x S/PDIF out header
Supports Coaxial/Optical S/PDIF out ports on rear
Blu-ray support
IEEE 1394
2 x 1394a ports (1 port at back I/O, 1 port onboard)
USB
14 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (5 ports at mid-board, 9 ports at back panel)
Overclocking Features
Extreme Engine Power Design
16-phase CPU power
3-phase VTT power
3-phase Memory power
ROG Connect
CPU Level Up
Memory Level Up
Speeding HDD
iROG
Extreme Tweaker
Loadline Calibration
Intelligent overclocking tools:
ASUS AI Booster Utility
O.C. Profile
Overclocking Protection:
COP EX (Component Overheat Protection - EX)
Voltiminder LED
ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Special Features
MemOK!
MemPerfect
ProbeIt
Onboard Switches: Power / Reset / Clr CMOS (at rear)
Q-Fan Plus
ASUS EPU
ASUS MyLogo3
ASUS Fan Xpert
ASUS EZ Flash 2
ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
ASUS Q-Connector
ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED)
ASUS Q-Slot
ASUS Q-DIMM
Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x External SATA
1 x IEEE 1394a
1 x LAN(RJ45) port
1 x Clr CMOS switch
1 x ROG Connect On/Off switch
1 x PS/2 Keyboard port (purple)
9 x USB 2.0/1.1 (1 port for ROG Connect)
Internal I/O Connectors
3 x USB connectors support additional 5 USB 2.0 ports (1 port reserved for ROG Connect @ rear)
1 x IEEE 1394a connector
10 x SATA connectors: 2 x Speeding HDD SATA connectors (Red) / 2 x SATA_ODD (White) / 6 x standard SATA connectors (Gray)
8 x Fan connectors: 1 x CPU / 1 x PWR / 3 x Chassis / 3 x Optional
3 x thermal sensor connectors
1 x 24-pin ATX Power connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
1 x En/Dis-able Clr CMOS header
5 x ProbeIt measurement points
1 x ROG light connector
1 x Go Button
System panel connector
BIOS
16 Mb Flash ROM , AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.5, ACPI2.0a Multi-Language BIOS
Manageability
WOL by PME,WOR by PME,PXE
Accessories
User's manual
1 x I/O Shield
1 x ROG Connect Cable
1 x SLI Cable
1 x SupremeFX X-Fi Audio Card
1 x 2-in-1 ASUS Q-Connector Kit
3 x 2-in-1 SATA signal cables
1 x 2-port USB2.0 + ESATA module
1 x Cable Ties
1 x ROG theme label
1 x 12-in-1 ROG Cable Label
Support Disc
ASUS PC Probe II
ASUS AI Suite
ASUS Update
Kaspersky® Anti-Virus
Support DVD: Drivers and applications
Sound Blaster X-Fi Utility
ASUS TurboV EVO utility
ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )
Front, inside and rear cover of the packaging that houses the ASUS MAXIMUS III Formula.
Accessories and Extras.
6 SATA Data cables
6 HDD Labels
2 USB port/1 Firewire port bracket
USB Cable
Q-Shield
Q-Connector
SupremeFX Sound card
Driver CD
Crossfire Bridge
User Guide
The ASUS ROG Maximus III is the ROG P55 based motherboards from ASUS is built with the gamer and hardcore enthusiast in mind and includes features that set it apart from the rest of the ASUS P55 series boards.
The first thing we notice is the colour scheme used it is black and red, The Maximus III board includes features you will not see on the non ROG line P7P55D series such as ROG Connect, Game First and the Go button. Stack Cool construction is used on the Maximus using a 2oz copper layer for better electrical conductivity and heat distribution.
On the back side of the board you can see the 1156 socket back plate as well as the fact that the other heatsinks are bolted on to the motherboard.
The Maximus III Formula has rows of low-profile solid-state polymer aluminium capacitors next to the VRM heatsinks on the 16+3 phase power circuit which incorporate various power saving features to increase its efficiency and improve electrical stability when overclocked
The heatsink in the middle lights up when the board is powered up.
ASUS have included four DIMM Slots which can accommodate up to 16GB allowing DDR3-2133 (OC) memory to be installed, the memory controller is on the CPU, meaning that the Core i5 CPU will natively support DDR3-1333MHz. memory, but the board will support much higher clocks when overclocked.
the memory retention method is a bit different from what has been used in the past. On one end the locking mechanism pushes straight down rather than rotating into place
ProbeIt, The side edge of the board has five positions where you can measure voltages using a multi-meter, the voltage measurement points are available in an easy to use location and include check points for the CPU pll volts, PCH volts, the CPU Vcore, Dram and the IMC volts, you will also notice some small LED's to the left, The LEDs are part of the Q LED system that can help with diagnostics.
The Go button automatically overclocks the CPU when in Windows to a given preset with the press of the button.
The heasink over the PCH is massive on the bottom side of the ROG Maximus III Formula
The P55 Express chipset natively support six SATA ports which this board has in the sideways facing orientation. This prevents a large video card from interfering with the SATA ports .
ASUS have also included six further SATA ports, two next to the memory slots
Two Speed HDD SATA ports on the bottom side of the board.
The 1394a Header can be connected to the PCI bracket or case
There are three full-length that supports both ATI Quad-GPU CrossfireX and nVidia Quad-GPU SLI PCI Express 2.0 x16 (red) support single at x16 or dual at x8 mode and PCIe x16 (white) supports at x4 mode slots on the board, The board also has two PCI Express x1 slots and two legacy PCI slots.
Easy access to the power and reset buttons
Onboard sound on the motherboard is provided by a Supreme X-Fi add-in card that is installed in the first slot of the motherboard, The card offers support for Creative Lab’s EAX 4.0 effects, which is more advanced than the 2.0 effects supported by most other onboard audio solutions from Realtek.
The Rear I/O
9 x USB ports, 1 x USB port for the ROG Connect, a Clear CMOS button, a IEEE-1394 port, a RJ-45 jack for the onboard Gigabit LAN, PS/2 keyboard port and an external SATA port.
The Bios
Click link to see slide show.
ASUS has always been at the forefront of motherboard innovation and their track record lately certainly speaks for itself being The No1 Motherboard Manufacturer in the World, while they are just as well known for affordable solutions.
I've always been impressed with the features that come on Asus' "Republic of Gamers" motherboards and the Maximus Formula III is certainly no exception to the ROG trademark, Complete with full features such as ROG Connect, MemOK and Probe-It.
In today’s review I will be taking a look at the newest board to be graced with the ROG name (the Maximus III Formula) ASUS have added some nice touches and BIOS refinements plus unique features to this board, the Maximus III Formula gets a load of features that are aimed squarely at the gamer and hardcore enthusiast so Let's take a Look around this board and see what it has to offer.
Features
Republic of Gamers
Green ASUS
Intel LGA 1156 Lynnfield Processor
Intel P55 Express Chipset
SLI/Crossfire On Demand
Dual Channel DDR3 2133 (OC) MHz
PCIe 2.0
ROG Connect
GameFirst
MemPerfect
Speeding HDD
iROG
CPU Level Up
MemOK
Extreme Tweaker
ProbeIt
Voltimeter LED
Component Overheat Protection EX (COP EX)
Loadline Calibration
SupremeFX X-Fi sound card
Noise filter
Onboard switches
Q-Fan Plus
Kapersky Anti-Virus
ASUS EZ DIY
ASUS Q-Shield
ASUS Q-Connector
ASUS OC Profile
ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
ASUS EZ Flash 2
ASUS EPU
ASUS CPR
Click link to see slide show.
Specifications
CPU
Intel Socket 1156 Core™ i7 Processor/Core™ i5 Processor/ Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology Refer to www.asus.com for Intel CPU support list
Chipset
Intel® P55 Express Chipset
Memory
4 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 2133(O.C.)/2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture
Hyper DIMM support is subject to the physical characteristics of individual CPUs.
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
Please refer to www.asus.com or user manual for the Memory QVL(Qualified Vendors List).
Multi-GPU Support
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (red) support single at x16 or dual at x8 mode
1 x PCIe x16 (white) supports at x4 mode
2 x PCIe x1
2 x PCI 2.2
Supports NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology / ATI® CrossFireX™ Technology
Storage
6 xSATA 3.0 Gb/s ports
Intel Matrix Storage Technology Support RAID 0,1,5,10
JMicron® 322 controller and 2 x JMicron® 363 controllers:
2 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (Red) supporting Hardware RAID 0 and 1 (SPD_HDD1 + SPD_HDD2)
1 x External SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go)
2 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (White) - SATA_ODD1 + SATA_ODD2
LAN
Realtek® RTL8110SC Gigabit LAN controller
GameFirst
Audio
SupremeFX X-Fi discrete Audio Card
8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
EAX® Advanced™ HD 4.0
X-Fi CMSS®-3D
X-Fi Crystalizer™
Creative ALchemy
Supports 1 x S/PDIF out header
Supports Coaxial/Optical S/PDIF out ports on rear
Blu-ray support
IEEE 1394
2 x 1394a ports (1 port at back I/O, 1 port onboard)
USB
14 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (5 ports at mid-board, 9 ports at back panel)
Overclocking Features
Extreme Engine Power Design
16-phase CPU power
3-phase VTT power
3-phase Memory power
ROG Connect
CPU Level Up
Memory Level Up
Speeding HDD
iROG
Extreme Tweaker
Loadline Calibration
Intelligent overclocking tools:
ASUS AI Booster Utility
O.C. Profile
Overclocking Protection:
COP EX (Component Overheat Protection - EX)
Voltiminder LED
ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Special Features
MemOK!
MemPerfect
ProbeIt
Onboard Switches: Power / Reset / Clr CMOS (at rear)
Q-Fan Plus
ASUS EPU
ASUS MyLogo3
ASUS Fan Xpert
ASUS EZ Flash 2
ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
ASUS Q-Connector
ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED)
ASUS Q-Slot
ASUS Q-DIMM
Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x External SATA
1 x IEEE 1394a
1 x LAN(RJ45) port
1 x Clr CMOS switch
1 x ROG Connect On/Off switch
1 x PS/2 Keyboard port (purple)
9 x USB 2.0/1.1 (1 port for ROG Connect)
Internal I/O Connectors
3 x USB connectors support additional 5 USB 2.0 ports (1 port reserved for ROG Connect @ rear)
1 x IEEE 1394a connector
10 x SATA connectors: 2 x Speeding HDD SATA connectors (Red) / 2 x SATA_ODD (White) / 6 x standard SATA connectors (Gray)
8 x Fan connectors: 1 x CPU / 1 x PWR / 3 x Chassis / 3 x Optional
3 x thermal sensor connectors
1 x 24-pin ATX Power connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
1 x En/Dis-able Clr CMOS header
5 x ProbeIt measurement points
1 x ROG light connector
1 x Go Button
System panel connector
BIOS
16 Mb Flash ROM , AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.5, ACPI2.0a Multi-Language BIOS
Manageability
WOL by PME,WOR by PME,PXE
Accessories
User's manual
1 x I/O Shield
1 x ROG Connect Cable
1 x SLI Cable
1 x SupremeFX X-Fi Audio Card
1 x 2-in-1 ASUS Q-Connector Kit
3 x 2-in-1 SATA signal cables
1 x 2-port USB2.0 + ESATA module
1 x Cable Ties
1 x ROG theme label
1 x 12-in-1 ROG Cable Label
Support Disc
ASUS PC Probe II
ASUS AI Suite
ASUS Update
Kaspersky® Anti-Virus
Support DVD: Drivers and applications
Sound Blaster X-Fi Utility
ASUS TurboV EVO utility
ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )
Front, inside and rear cover of the packaging that houses the ASUS MAXIMUS III Formula.
Accessories and Extras.
6 SATA Data cables
6 HDD Labels
2 USB port/1 Firewire port bracket
USB Cable
Q-Shield
Q-Connector
SupremeFX Sound card
Driver CD
Crossfire Bridge
User Guide
The ASUS ROG Maximus III is the ROG P55 based motherboards from ASUS is built with the gamer and hardcore enthusiast in mind and includes features that set it apart from the rest of the ASUS P55 series boards.
The first thing we notice is the colour scheme used it is black and red, The Maximus III board includes features you will not see on the non ROG line P7P55D series such as ROG Connect, Game First and the Go button. Stack Cool construction is used on the Maximus using a 2oz copper layer for better electrical conductivity and heat distribution.
On the back side of the board you can see the 1156 socket back plate as well as the fact that the other heatsinks are bolted on to the motherboard.
The Maximus III Formula has rows of low-profile solid-state polymer aluminium capacitors next to the VRM heatsinks on the 16+3 phase power circuit which incorporate various power saving features to increase its efficiency and improve electrical stability when overclocked
The heatsink in the middle lights up when the board is powered up.
ASUS have included four DIMM Slots which can accommodate up to 16GB allowing DDR3-2133 (OC) memory to be installed, the memory controller is on the CPU, meaning that the Core i5 CPU will natively support DDR3-1333MHz. memory, but the board will support much higher clocks when overclocked.
the memory retention method is a bit different from what has been used in the past. On one end the locking mechanism pushes straight down rather than rotating into place
ProbeIt, The side edge of the board has five positions where you can measure voltages using a multi-meter, the voltage measurement points are available in an easy to use location and include check points for the CPU pll volts, PCH volts, the CPU Vcore, Dram and the IMC volts, you will also notice some small LED's to the left, The LEDs are part of the Q LED system that can help with diagnostics.
The Go button automatically overclocks the CPU when in Windows to a given preset with the press of the button.
The heasink over the PCH is massive on the bottom side of the ROG Maximus III Formula
The P55 Express chipset natively support six SATA ports which this board has in the sideways facing orientation. This prevents a large video card from interfering with the SATA ports .
ASUS have also included six further SATA ports, two next to the memory slots
Two Speed HDD SATA ports on the bottom side of the board.
The 1394a Header can be connected to the PCI bracket or case
There are three full-length that supports both ATI Quad-GPU CrossfireX and nVidia Quad-GPU SLI PCI Express 2.0 x16 (red) support single at x16 or dual at x8 mode and PCIe x16 (white) supports at x4 mode slots on the board, The board also has two PCI Express x1 slots and two legacy PCI slots.
Easy access to the power and reset buttons
Onboard sound on the motherboard is provided by a Supreme X-Fi add-in card that is installed in the first slot of the motherboard, The card offers support for Creative Lab’s EAX 4.0 effects, which is more advanced than the 2.0 effects supported by most other onboard audio solutions from Realtek.
The Rear I/O
9 x USB ports, 1 x USB port for the ROG Connect, a Clear CMOS button, a IEEE-1394 port, a RJ-45 jack for the onboard Gigabit LAN, PS/2 keyboard port and an external SATA port.
The Bios
Click link to see slide show.
