ASUS MAXIMUS III Formula Review

[sacha35]

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.

 

[sacha35]

Test System
Intel Core i7 LGA-1156 870 CPU Stock Air cooled.
4GB Corsair CMGS2GX3M1A2200C8 ES1 Cas 8 memory running at 2200MHz
ASUS maximus III Formula
ASUS MATRIX GTX285/HTDI/1GD3/A
Samsung HD322HJ
Enermax 1000W PSU
Windows 7 32-bit stock install with no tweaks.

Before running any tests i needed to find out what the system was capibale of give my in regards clocks as only stock air cooled parts are used at this time.

Intel Core i7 LGA-1156 870
Maximum 221 Bclock using Intel's Stock Air cooled heatsink

Maximum CPU 4584MHz using Intel's Stock Air cooled heatsink

4GB Corsair CMGS2GX3M1A2200C8 ES1 Cas 8 memory

Now to see what sort of speeds I could get from the Air cooled memory.
2408MHz Cas 8, not to bad for air cooled sticks

Now for the Tests

• ROG Connect tests ( This is done from another PC or laptop)
• Wprime 1024m and 32m
• PiFast
• Supper PI 32M
• Cinebench
• Everest catch and memory
• 3Dmark 03
• 3Dmark 05
• 3Dmark 06
• 3Dmark Vantage

RC Connect tweakIT

RC Poster display

Wprime 1024m and 32m

PiFast

Supper PI 32M

Cinebench

Everest catch and memory

3Dmark 03

3Dmark 05

3Dmark 06

3Dmark Vantage

Conclusion
What you have with the ROG Maximus III Formula is a board that looks ready to carry the ROG nameplate into the next generation with its sexy looks and full features, as you'd expect from the Asus board, the Maximus III has a superb layout and all the connectors on the board are just where you'd expect to find them, it is full of features with Speeding HDD, GameFirst A unique traffic shaping technology and SupremeFX X-Fi that delivers the most realistic and accurate audio.

The range of ROG motherboards from ASUS has always been a favourite with the extreme overclocker and the Maximus III offers a high degree of overclocking features and the ability to tweak the board using ROG connect, which is the same sort of technology that is used in Formula one teams use to tune their cars so In terms of features the ASUS Maximus III Formula board delivers with CPU Level Up and MemPerfect settings that set it apart from the competition.

the performance is there as well but Just when I thought that things couldn't get any better than my recently reviewed Asus P7P55D Deluxe motherboard, Asus prove me totally wrong with the Maximus III Formula, Not only does the Maximus III have all the best features of every Asus "Republic of Gamers" board before it, but it also adds a multitude of extra BIOS options, tweaking tools and insane voltage selections.

Overall, for the serious overclocker going the P55 route, this is the board to beat, The results in all the tests that I did were better than the P7P55D Deluxe motherboard even when I used a core i5 750 CPU, not by much but every little helps and the overall features and settings are better suited to overclocking, don't get me wrong the P7P55D Deluxe motherboard is a great motherboard that will appeal to many users, but if overclocking is your thing then it has to be the ASUS Maximus III Formula for the reasons stated above.

 

[sacha35]

Bios update available 0801, This version improves “Low voltage on Vcore and IMC”.

0801 Bios Download

 

[sacha35]

None of the P55s seem to have extreme cooling, even at this end of the scale - wouldnt they benefit from it?

I will be testing over the next few days with extreme cooling so should have some info for you all.

 

[sacha35]

Does the Supreme FX card allow you to connect SPDIF to a Nvidia gfx card?

Yes

 

[sacha35]

Today I managed to get the cascade to run a little wormer with some 2P coins used as spacers between the Evap and CPU as -130c was far too cold for i5, the end result was having a Die temp of around -100c give or take a few c.

After playing with a few settings I managed to run Supper PI 32M at 4970Mhz with a final time of 7M 36s which is not that great but considering the Supper Pi was run on a very old windows 7 O/S with no tweaks at all I do think the end result was too bad, but will try a few tweaks on a good OS next time to see what sort of improvements can be made.

Sorry for the black background but as said this was a very old copy of win 7 that needed activating so did not have the option of changing the screen background.

 

[sacha35]

there are presets available but it will not offer you 5Gig as this was done with some extreme cooling, but it will be very easy to hit 4Gig on stock air cooling with this motherboard.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18055026

 

[sacha35]

Max CPUz and supper Pi 1M at the moment, but still playing so more to come.

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=714717

 

[sacha35]

do u get paid to do that?! What temps u running?

No sorry not paid as of yet, but working on it , the temp was around -98c I would think as I had to use copper spacers on my -130c cascade so it is very hard to tell you what temperature I was actually reading.

 

[sacha35]

Ummm.... too much effort for 5ghz o.0

In the world of extreme overclocking we always try to find what any new platform can do, yes 5Gig is not that much when you can easily do 4Gig on air, but I have only just started testing extreme so I would think there is some more in this setup, all the info gained helps gamers alike to overclock there systems, not to these extreme levels as we use extreme cooling.

Anyway just wanted to give you a little insight into the world of extreme.

 

[sacha35]

My only argument with this Big Wayne is that yes you are right in what you are saying but we all have to start somewhere, having one of the cheaper Motherboards can make the whole experience of overclocking a little daunting as they won't have many of the features that are needed.

With the maximus III you have as said that bling factor right away ( Extra cost of cheaper motherboard) but the main point with the Maximus III is the potential to overclock without any limits given CPU performance, the added touch with the ROG connect, having a netbook or another PC to hand will make overclocking so much easier as all overclocking can be done on another PC, all these things make life so much easier than trying to overclock a cheaper brand of board.

With the CPU you are looking at getting I would say 4gig will be a breeze with good air cooling, I had no problem at all with the 870 I tried and could get close to 4.3Gig stable and this was with the stock Intel heatsink so having better cooling will help a great deal.

 

[sacha35]

Test System
Intel Core i7 LGA-1156 870 CPU Stock Air cooled.
4GB Corsair CMGS2GX3M1A2200C8 ES1 Cas 8 memory running at 2200MHz
ASUS maximus III Formula
ASUS MATRIX GTX285/HTDI/1GD3/A
Samsung HD322HJ
Enermax 1000W PSU
Windows 7 32-bit stock install with no tweaks.


Maximum CPU 4584MHz using Intel's Stock Air cooled heatsink

QUOTE]

4.5 MHz on stock HSF? What sort of temps are you getting on this set up?

As there was no load on the CPU at this speed temps were low around the 47c, things did start to get a bit warm though when fully loading this CPU with the Intel stock heatsink around 4000MHz.

 

[sacha35]

Today I used the OC station with the Maximus III and managed to overclock the CPU a little bit better than just using the Bios with this same CPU.

5280Mhz
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=721869

 

[sacha35]

sacha35 i noticed you have done the oc on the Maximus III formula does this mean now there is a bios update that works with the oc station now on this board?

Yes mate i have the Bios and firmware for this system, it should be avalible very soon on the ASUS site.

 

[sacha35]

ah great was waiting for this thanks for the info

No probs mate.

you can find all the info hear
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18055030

 

[sacha35]

Seriously? Is that all I have to do? Just shut down the system, open the plate up and click the OC button on the motherboard?

If so it's simplicity! and AWESOME!!!!

But, I would want to do it manually so I can LEARN and clock it higher to 4GHZ.

If any of you guys want to know anything about this motherboard or how to go about overclocking it then please post and I will gladly help, the board is so easy to overclock anyway and will not be hard to hit 4Gig with air cooling, there are a few profiles within the bios and windows software that will give you stable overclocks instantly with a click of the button, but I always find the best settings comes from a few tweaks within the bios so as said anyone wanting help just post and I will do my best to help out.

 

[sacha35]

How about the Asus Rampage II extreme sacha35? Any change you can give us a hint on how to have a stable 4.0 / 4.2 OC on air? There's a lot of parameters in the bios which seems no one dared touch yet but which I believe could provide a much more effecient OC in terms of voltage/performance troughput.

Yes, I was going to message you on how to overclock whilst using this motherboard. With your support I may be able to gain knowledge and fulfill my needs to overclocking with stability.

I'm currently on stock cooler using the i7 860 with Geil Ultra 4GB ram. I'm new to overclocking so any help or advice will be appreciated.

Give me a few days to put something together, if you want anything pacific please post and I will add it in with some overclock settings.

 

[sacha35]

Hi sacha35!

Any news yet?

Just a few more days please as I have lots of testing to do on other items, I will get this info posted for you all though as soon as I can.

 

[sacha35]

Great review and great clocks Paul.

Got a question though, why do you think that 1m Pi run is as slow as that, given the cpu and ram speed are as fast as they are ? I know the O/S is untweaked, but i would have thought it should be at least sub 8s.

It is slow due to the striped O/S i had on it at the time, XP light is no good for anything outher than loading load and boot fast, also the ram was quite slow as it can easy do 2300 cas8

You will see by my 32m run this is a full xp sp3 run that has been tweaked.

 

[sacha35]

ouch sacha 1.6v! Does the 870 like that or is that just for benching tests?

Only for bench test and being around -90c for this as well, don't take your chips this high on air or it won't be good, I would say for air keep to around 1.35v.