ASUS ROG Rampage III Extreme

[sholvaco]

http://media.bestofmicro.com/S/G/235600/original/asus_rampage3_small.jpg

:eleph:DAAYUUUUUUM!:eleph:

Sorry about the lack of official details but they are still somewhat sketchy at this point.

It looks like this version comes with a single NF200 and provides quad SLI/CF while retaining a regular ATX form factor. Also comes with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb via the already known PLX solution using the SB PCIe lanes and in turn provides an PCIe x4 2.0 slot feeding off the IOH (ideal for physX while running dual SLI at x16 by x16).

Other obvious stuff would be two 8 pin CPU connectors, two additional molex connectors (I assume for powering PCIe slots), ROG connect and on-board audio this time (understandable given what they are trying to achieve here). PWM solution unknown right now but I think It'd be safe to assume it shares a similar design with the one used on the Maximus III Extreme shown in November last year.

Read "more" about it here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ces-2010-usb-3.0,2529.html:eleph:

[zalbard]

Does it have digital PWM?
And I bet the stock cooler will perform terribly.
Nice PCI-E spacing, though! :up:
What is that flashy add-in card at the network ports? WiFi?

[TONY GAL]

WTF:yepp:tis mobo is very beauty and very strong...
i like that very much:)

[Expat GriZ]

D00D!! Thanks for posting this & the pic! Wondered when it would show up....Looks Devilishly SICK!!!!:up::up:

[Katanai]

This looks really good but come on, 3 extra power connectors? That makes absolutely no sense.

[NightCrawler™]

The amount of power connectors is huge.. Does it need that much juice..?

[Bodkin]

Yay, my new board is here :D

[Expat GriZ]

The extra molex's are there for those of us who are going to hammer this board. Normal use, much like the eVGA 762 & that new Dual Socket monster they are not mandatory. This is an OCing Board!!

[metachronos]

those heatsinks look hideous but that's a minor flaw.

[Etihtsarom]

I doubt the HS will be sufficient. And these added connectors, Probably not necessary at all unless you're loading up 4 cards to bench.

[Necetra]

I bet the heatsinks will be more annoying than they would be helpful.. Linking everything with heatpipes means you can't replace only one part easily.

[AceBaran]

I want to know the pricetag !

[IgoRR]

this MBO is going to spend a lot of current :D:cool:

[Blacky]

Wow it looks verryy good! though whats that shiny thing new solid capacitors near socket & memory area? or how that could help in the OC department?

[To(V)bo Co(V)bo]

Smells like classified:fart:

[N19h7m4r3]

Good board, sadly it looks ugly as sin!

I prefer the old look of the ROG boards far far more.

The spacing is very good though and I really like that it's still ATX and smaller than the previous one.

[Utnorris]

I like the board, except for the molex connectors in the middle of the board. If you do not need them to run Tri-SLI then that's fine, but if they have to be used then running cables to it will destroy the look. I am going to assume that they dropped the LCD display in favor of ROG connect, it's a shame as I liked that feature. The one thing the Classified has is the ability to disable a PCIe slot for trouble shooting or benching purposes and then of course digital PMW's, but otherwise they look very similiar.

[overclocking101]

wait you mentioned maximus 3 extreme where is this?? i have seen no photos or news about that board??

[sholvaco]

Looking at it some more:

-From a tiny glimpse of the CPU power delivery behind the sink, it appears it uses the same type of inductors as the M3R demo boards which supposedly ran a digital PWM. Like there was doubt.

-The "post modern" sinks seem to have a porose texture to them which hints at use of ceramic coating ASUS had been flaunting on occasion. Could be the quality of the shot though... NOT.:p:

-775 mounting holes, yuck. The 1366 has been on the market for over a year. There are enough cooling solutions out there to not have to compromise the PCB structural integrity around the trace overladen socket area.:down:

-It'd be interesting to know how the NF200 is hooked up if there even is one on this particular board. From what I can tell from the photo, the slots seem to run a standard split via digital lane switches of either x16/x1/x16/x1 or x8/x8/x8/x8. Unless... GASP! it uses a single x16 IOH link to run all four slots - very unlikely and stupid if it were true. The blurb of an article I linked in the OP is far too vague.:confused:

Yes, it is heavily influenced by the EVGA Classified line and that's good thing IMHO.:up:

[jfromeo]

Firstly, I was glad that they finally got rid of the IDE port. But then I looked at the molex plugs for PCI-e and i lol'd.

It looks like the Classified, although the heatsinks seem to be too low for such a high-end motherboard.

[Stryder75]

Very nice looking board. Not crazy about the chipset heatsink tho. Where is the integrated water cooling option? Man, this thing is built to take some juice. And that "shiny" thing in the pmw area looks to be some type of LED backlit "bling" readout. If you look closely, it hassome red writing on it. Still a great looking board that will prob go thru some minor changes for launch.

[N19h7m4r3]

Yes, it is heavily influenced by the EVGA Classified line and that's good thing IMHO.:up:

Yes it's good, except for the colour scheme :P

I don't like red and black all that much.

I love MSI's blue and black, hell give me DFI's UV active slots anyday over this. :p:

[HelixPC]

I think someone looks up to eVGA :rolleyes:

[Torphoto]

I like, was going to buy a p6x58D but I might wait for this instead, those 775 holes need to go no point to have them now.

[Sadasius]

Okay now I want this board. USB 3.0 and SATA 6....Yahoo and it looks like the IDE is finally kicked off the damn board. Yay! :banana3:

[Blacky]

Yes it's good, except for the colour scheme :P

I don't like red and black all that much.

I love MSI's blue and black, hell give me DFI's UV active slots anyday over this. :p:

I agree, I like more the blue & black that MSI is doing lately, I must admit the MSI P55 GD80 looks hella sexy with that color scheme, but seems red & black is the color scheme of preference by enthusiasts...

[N19h7m4r3]

I agree, I like more the blue & black that MSI is doing lately, I must admit the MSI P55 GD80 looks hella sexy with that color scheme, but seems red & black is the color scheme of preference by enthusiasts...

When did enthusiast start meaning people with more money though.

I consider en enthusiast someone that can take something and make it as good as something that's more expensive.

All I see is red and black = more expensive for similar cabalilities as other boards.

But there's a market for everyone I guess.

[sholvaco]

How heavily was it influenced by the Classy?

Hehehe... if you look carefully next to the DIMM slots, there are four dip switches, presumably intended to disable individual cards for troubleshooting. Now where have we seen that before?:p:

[Sadasius]

Bah I don't care about the HS colours as they will come off for a water block anyway. But seriously guys who do you think influenced EVGA to begin with. That's right Asus with the ROG boards. This is just Asus taking some ideas from them. Nothing wrong with that at all as this board looks to be very well put together. I hope the price is under $450 though.

[marmott]

more images from PCWorld.fr (http://www.pcworld.fr/2010/01/07/materiel/carte-mere/ces-2010-carte-mere-haut-gamme-asus-rampage-iii-extreme/467871/)

http://wd.ch-img.com/1100781-asus-rampage-iii-extreme.jpg

http://wd.ch-img.com/1100791-asus-rampage-iii-extreme-2.jpg

http://wd.ch-img.com/1100801-asus-rampage-iii-extreme-3.jpg

http://wd.ch-img.com/1100811-asus-rampage-iii-extreme-4.jpg

http://wd.ch-img.com/1100821-asus-rampage-iii-extreme-5.jpg

http://wd.ch-img.com/1100831-asus-rampage-iii-extreme-6.jpg

[Blacky]

When did enthusiast start meaning people with more money though.

I consider en enthusiast someone that can take something and make it as good as something that's more expensive.

All I see is red and black = more expensive for similar cabalilities as other boards.

But there's a market for everyone I guess.

Well these kind of products are oriented for that segment I guess...

[zalbard]

I think someone looks up to eVGA :rolleyes:
Yeah, and since Classified owns ASUS boards so badly, this might be a good idea.
Digital PWM >>>> 30 phase stuff! :D
But if you mean in terms of looks, then yeah, perhaps, I'm all up for more diversity.
And LOL @ iROG chips, won't Apple sue them? :rofl:

[Blacky]

I don't see why people still claiming that Asus took EVGA ideas, judging by that statement, we could say EVGA looked at Foxconn (bloodrage) for their classy :rolleyes:

[Bodkin]

Blutooth for that iphone oc app asus were talking about?

[ChinStrap]

after the (good) luck i have had with R2G and M3G, this might be my next board. i have a softspot for beautiful Asus boards. :)

[Utnorris]

How heavily was it influenced by the Classy?

Hehehe... if you look carefully next to the DIMM slots, there are four dip switches, presumably intended to disable individual cards for troubleshooting. Now where have we seen that before?:p:

Wow, didn't even see that, good eye. Now if it had the LCD readout or bios LED in conjunction with the ROG connect. we might have something.

[G.Foyle]

ASUS, dump this Bluetooth OC crap and bring back the LCD Poster, please.

[sholvaco]

Bah I don't care about the HS colours as they will come off for a water block anyway. But seriously guys who do you think influenced EVGA to begin with. That's right Asus with the ROG boards. This is just Asus taking some ideas from them. Nothing wrong with that at all as this board looks to be very well put together. I hope the price is under $450 though.

Nothing wrong with it as long as they take the good ones and add good ones of their own, not just copy/paste blindly. I'd be damn straight ignorant not to adopt progress just because competition came up with it first and like ASUS sometimes borrows an idea from other manufacturers (the 2oz copper layers from GB for example) so are others influenced by ideas that came from ASUS like their recent SATA6Gb solution now adopted by GB (P55-UD7) and MSI.

This seems like the makings of an awesome product to me. Just hope the rumors were true, that this was spurred by the dismal performance compared to some others on the very edge of the envelope and that this was the main area they've been working to improve upon.

[Utnorris]

Well, if you look at what Andre has been doing with it so far then you would know it will compete with the Classified:

http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3323#post3323

As far as it coping the Classified, who cares as long as we get better products.

[sholvaco]

Yeah, but to be honest that looks like a completely different product; this one is jam packed man! I wonder if an XL-ATX dual NF200 version like Andre's is still incoming?

[Zeus]

Ugh! This looks nothing like the classic Rampage Extreme X48. :( I fell in love with that board from the very first time i saw it. Looking at this board's heatpipe i almost feel like throwing up...

Also the two molex connections will be a nightmare for cablemangement.

On the other hand, i'm sure it will be another fantastic performer like it's predecessors.

[dejanh]

Hmmm...Classified barfed and this came out eh...interesting :rofl:

[pjkenned]

Question: is that only one GigE port? Like if you used this as an everyday overclocked system... you only have one GigE port (unless you spend $30 and use a PCIe slot for an Intel Gigabit card? I just wanted to check since I'm probably missing it somewhere since just about every $200+ X58 I've seen thus far has has dual GigE ports.

Well... then again maybe GigE is legacy now that there is SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0... oh wait...

[Blacky]

Well, if you look at what Andre has been doing with it so far then you would know it will compete with the Classified:

http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3323#post3323

As far as it coping the Classified, who cares as long as we get better products.

though Andre claimed to be XL-ATX (both version non and with NF200's) like classy 762 but judging by pics looks like its going to be a normal E-ATX or i'm seen wrong?? I hope not :D!

[Utnorris]

Yeah, but to be honest that looks like a completely different product; this one is jam packed man! I wonder if an XL-ATX dual NF200 version like Andre's is still incoming?

Look at when Andre first posted that thread, I would imagine it was a pre-prod, anyway, this board should overclock quite well.

[Jamesrt2004]

too many pci-e slots needs 2 pci I think... to cate for people with wireless + 1 sound card :)

[AndreYang]

size is about 13.6" x 10.5"

[Sadasius]

size is about 13.6" x 10.5"

I think that is the exact same size as my Maximus Extreme. So it will be an E-ATX then. Okay correction. My Maximus is 12" X 10.6". Same width pretty much but this RE3 is longer.

[gatecrasherlok]

Looks like a nice feature packed board, although somewhat resembling the looks of another board and some features, tbh if its extra features which are good then I'm all for it. As long as its the good ideas which they take on biard then I dont mind.

[AceBaran]

Andre tell us the release date !

[Torphoto]

I don't think this board is XL-atx, looking at the mounting holes it looks like SSI-CEB, just a bit bigger, so it should fit where an eatx board will, but the last slot in 4x sli/xfire will need a chassis with 8 slots. I could be wrong but it looks just a tad bigger then the p6t7 ws but not as big as the evga 170-BL-E762-A1.

Now the real question is where are the full specs and when can we buy it !!!

[Blacky]

size is about 13.6" x 10.5"

So its confirmed its a XL-ATX form factor, dammit it won't fit in Corsair 800D either :down: thanks for the clarification!

[To(V)bo Co(V)bo]

If you look hard, it has all 4 pin pwm fan connectors also! Nice board no less. I have a bloodrage and this seems very similar.:D Look at all the inspiration the bloodrage has done for x58 boards. I was really getting pist looking at all those sweet P55 boards, X58 is a totally neglected platform. There is very few excellent class x58 boards to choose from. We all know X58 is the true enthusiast platform no questions asked period!

I do believe we need a new connector standard for pcie power, molex just aint cutting it. Maybe they should put a SATA power connector that sits 90deg next to the sata ports, this would be a ideal place and connector.:idea:

[GTi-6]

From the pictures, I can tell the shown motherboard is SSI-CEB just like P6T7. Not an XL-ATX.

[Cool Vibrations]

It better not be an XL-ATX. Personally, I think that was a huge mistake on EVGA's part. Come on, that motherboard fit in only 10~15 cases without any modding. Most of us have E-ATX cases.

[Dami3n]

Nice layout, but crappy heatsink for a board with digital pwm and nf200 :down:

[Blacky]

Nice layout, but crappy heatsink for a board with digital pwm and nf200 :down:

could be equal or worst than classy though, I never understood why such huge cooling heatsink performed horrible...

[zanzabar]

why would it have 1 nf200 chip, that would give it 16x16x8x8 or 16x16x16 so i dont see the point if its for quad. i would rather have none of them but 2 would make alot more sense.

edit affter looking at more picks it looks to have a new plx chip, so dose that mean that it has a plx that can do 32x to 64x or dose it have an nf200 for 16x to 32x and a plx for 16x to 32x

[Chrono Detector]

This board does look good, I like the colour scheme and yes it does look like an EVGA Classified. Though it would be better if it had dual LAN.

[zanzabar]

This board does look good, I like the colour scheme and yes it does look like an EVGA Classified. Though it would be better if it had dual LAN.

affter polling it was shown that people dont use dual lan in large numbers, i would personally rather have a good nic like the intel one

[sholvaco]

So its confirmed its a XL-ATX form factor, dammit it won't fit in Corsair 800D either :down: thanks for the clarification!

It's not. The board shown here is about the same size as the R2E and will fit into an ATX tower as long as there's enough depth clearance towards the hard drive cages/5.25 bays.


I do believe we need a new connector standard for pcie power, molex just aint cutting it. Maybe they should put a SATA power connector that sits 90deg next to the sata ports, this would be a ideal place and connector.:idea:

We have one. It's called the PCIe power connector and comes in either 6-pin or 8-pin forms.:p: The new EVGA dual socket board uses them (on both PCIe and CPU PWM :eek:) and so did the Maximus III Extreme demo board.

The reason they went with molex instead is the usually limited amount of PCIe connectors power supply units come with. This board facilitates four high end GPUs which could mean the use of four 6-pin connectors in addition to four 8-pin connectors in the extreme case, so using a single PSU one might run out of PCIe connectors before being able to hook the board up. I'd say the molexes are a pretty reasonable compromise in this case. Unless you care to inform us of some PSUs that come with unlimited amount of PCIe power connectors?;)


why would it have 1 nf200 chip, that would give it 16x16x8x8 or 16x16x16 so i dont see the point if its for quad. i would rather have none of them but 2 would make alot more sense.

edit affter looking at more picks it looks to have a new plx chip, so dose that mean that it has a plx that can do 32x to 64x or dose it have an nf200 for 16x to 32x and a plx for 16x to 32x

The NF200 is there to make the board quad SLI certified (if there even is one on the model shown here). I don't believe the visible PLX bridge takes care of the "x16" lane routing but rather provides a way to hook up USB 3.0/SATA 6Gb controllers and let the board retain the precious x4 2.0 link. Unless there is something else under that heatsink?:confused:


What is that flashy add-in card at the network ports? WiFi?


Bluetooth for that iphone oc app asus were talking about?

It could be just that: a USB based Bluetooth module.

[GTi-6]

Asus managed to put 2x NF200 on P6T7 WS SC in E-ATX form factor. I hope there are 2x NF200 under the heatsink but not quite possible with that small heatsink, I guess.

[PatRaceTin]

Those stock cooling can't hold NB+SB+PWM+NF200 HEAT!!!

[saaya]

Does it have digital PWM?
nope...

btw, tweaktown have a video of the board on their site.
its in the demo clip about rog connect :)

[zalbard]

nope...
Another fail board then.

btw, tweaktown have a video of the board on their site.
its in the demo clip about rog connect :)
Link?

[AndreYang]

I know 2 NF200 is so stupid, but it's required on 4-Way SLI in the future.

[Blacky]

Those stock cooling can't hold NB+SB+PWM+NF200 HEAT!!!

Well classy can't either (efficiently for such behemoth cooling) :p:, anyways most will replace that stock cooler either with EK or BP WB's like most classy users...including me...

[GTi-6]

@ saaya, are you referring to this video? http://www.youtube.com/camwilmot#p/u/22/c_6THcwIPtE , it's about Maximus III Extreme. I couldn't find any other video about ROG Connect demo on Tweaktown Youtube channel.

@ AndreYang, the shown motherboard in CES 2010 and the motherboard you have, are they the same?

[sholvaco]

nope...

btw, tweaktown have a video of the board on their site.
its in the demo clip about rog connect :)

How can you tell? They were claiming digital with the P55 extreme board and this uses similar components. Source?

[saaya]

How can you tell? They were claiming digital with the P55 extreme board and this uses similar components. Source?

oh, my bad... that was the maximus 3 FORMULA extreme?
sorry, got confused by all the maximus formula II rampage III xtreme stuff ^^
so rampage is 1366 and formula is 1156? but isnt there a formula 1366 board too?

[C3]

hm afaik there is no asus x58 formula board?!

[G.Foyle]

Those stock cooling can't hold NB+SB+PWM+NF200 HEAT!!!
Ever seen a P6T7 WS? It has low profile heatsinks, 2x NF200 and doesnt overheat.

[massman]

Maximus = mainstream
Rampage = high-end

Formula = mainstream
Extreme = high-end
Gene = small-factor

So:

Maximus Formula < Maximus Extreme < Rampage Formula < Rampage Extreme
mainstream mainstream < mainstream high-end < high-end mainstream < high-end high-end

[sholvaco]

Like GTi-6 already stated the board featured in that tweaktown video is the P55 Maximus III Extreme which provides 4 way SLI via NF200, digital PWM, USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb and some other minor details over the regular Maximus III Formula.

The board shown here succeeds the X58 based Rampage II Extreme. No formula as of yet for this platform.

One of my recent rants detailing ASUS ROG naming conventions:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=4181873&postcount=21

[GTi-6]

On Kingpincooling forum Andre stated that there will be two versions. 2x NF200 and non NF200 version. But AFAIK, this has only one NF200 onboard. It's like in the middle of those two. :)

Any more info about this mobo?

[saaya]

Maximus = mainstream
Rampage = high-end

Formula = mainstream
Extreme = high-end
Gene = small-factor

So:

Maximus Formula < Maximus Extreme < Rampage Formula < Rampage Extreme
mainstream mainstream < mainstream high-end < high-end mainstream < high-end high-end

originally formula was ddr2 and extreme was ddr3... right?
and maximus and rampage were different boards... maximus was the first step of improvements over the regular asus boards, and rampage was the second step, with even more features and tweaks.

i thought now they use formula for 1156 and extreme for 1366..
that would make the most sense as thats the same segmentation ddr2 and ddr3 did before for intel chipsets...

man, this is really getting confusing :lol:
i wish theyd just stop the maximus and rampage naming... they could continue with formula and extreme to seperate 1156 and 1366...

according to what you wrote massmann, there are contradictions and double names now.
maximus extreme would be mainstream highend... so which one? :D
and rampage extreme is highend highend... highend highend highend? highend? highend highend! :P

[sholvaco]

^
Intel's mainstream vs high-end chipset i.e P45 and P55 = maximus while X48 and X58 = rampage. Formula and extreme indicate the feature set.

It would be nice if a rep stopped by and gave us a heads up on the whole situation. The reporting thus far has been abysmal... or is this trickle marketing in action?

[JoeBar]

R2E is better looking. Too much Maximus on the new R3E...

[massman]

according to what you wrote massmann, there are contradictions and double names now.
maximus extreme would be mainstream highend... so which one? :D
and rampage extreme is highend highend... highend highend highend? highend? highend highend! :P

Let me put it this way:

Mainstream within mainstream = MF
high-end within mainstream = ME
mainstrean within high-end = RF
high-end within highend = RE

[Utnorris]

So is x58 considered "Highend"? I only ask since there was never a "Formula" within the x58 lineup and only the "Extreme" models. It would have been nice to have seen a ROG "Formula" within the x58 lineup.

[Caladbolg]

what's up with asus going red with their ROG boards? i prefer the good ole color layout
a bit OOT but i dont like their new blue-ish mainstream boards also, i prefer those shiny copper heatsinks just like shown on p5q pro or p6t deluxe :up:

[overclocking101]

the silver chip near the socket is a fujitsu chip same one used on the rampage extreme for the memory. im assuming its used for memory clocking/management here as well but its near the socket because the 1366 chips have the memory controller on board instead of on the northbridge. nice board though I probably wont get it probably get the maximus 3 extreme

[BababooeyHTJ]

Does it have digital PWM?
And I bet the stock cooler will perform terribly.
Nice PCI-E spacing, though! :up:
What is that flashy add-in card at the network ports? WiFi?

Are there any Asus boards that have good chipset cooling? Damn, it's not like copper is expensive.

[Brian y.]

As long as it can handle gulftown like it should that is all I am concerned with.

[Blacky]

As long as it can handle gulftown like it should that is all I am concerned with.

that would be epic fail if doesn't support!

EDIT: Btw in these pics (http://www.xcpus.com/reviews/213-CES-2010-Page-2.aspx) theres a Maximus III Extreme (P55) as well :eek:

[cegras]

the silver chip near the socket is a fujitsu chip same one used on the rampage formula for the memory. im assuming its used for memory clocking/management here as well but its near the socket because the 1366 chips have the memory controller on board instead of on the northbridge. nice board though I probably wont get it probably get the maximus 3 extreme

The silver fujitsu chip is a super capacitor, if I remember correctly.

[Jamesrt2004]

why have a pazillion pcie slots on the new P55 board...

FAIL its only got a x16.. so 2 is enough >_<

[GTi-6]

Maybe it doesn't have the NF200 onboard or they forgot to add the information to card. As Andre stated that there are two versions, maybe this is the Non-NF200 version.

http://www.xcpus.com/Images/Docs/doc213/IMG_0957.JPG

[Blacky]

Maybe it doesn't have the NF200 onboard or they forgot to add the information to card. As Andre stated that there are two versions, maybe this is the Non-NF200 version.



Though Andre if I remember stated that there isn't any difference between non and with NF200's in terms of size...

[GTi-6]

Though Andre if I remember stated that there isn't any difference between non and with NF200's in terms of size...

Maybe the board that Andre had, was an alpha board. After some revisions, Asus shrank it to E-ATX form factor. I do believe that the board shown in CES has NF200 onboard. But I don't know how many.

Also P6T7 has Nf200s and 7 PCI slot just like E762 but in E-ATX format, I believe they tried to keep the same size as P6T7 for the R3E.

[Eastcoasthandle]

So which new board has usb 3.0 support that doesn't include nf200 chip. That's all I want to know ;)

[Fire4Wire]

asus p6x58d premium

[Kinc]

This Rampage III Extreme has no NF200. It uses X58-native 8+8+8+8, 16+8+8 or 16+16. The ideal solution for 2/3/4-way graphic cards configuration.

For those who fear they are going to miss the simple way of on the fly OC with TweakIt and the LCD poster, I can say that you do not need to worry ;)

Size comparison R3E against R2E (identical in size):

[ViViD]

CPU Socket Very Close To Ram Slot Not Good For Higher Ram Sink And Big CPU Cooler !!!

[GTi-6]

@ Kinc, will Asus release a 2x NF200 version of this board?

Also there is nice video about Rampage III Extreme.

http://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=8235

According to JG (Tech Rep of Asus) board will be available in March. :)

[sholvaco]

This Rampage III Extreme has no NF200. It uses X58-native 8+8+8+8, 16+8+8 or 16+16. The ideal solution for 2/3/4-way graphic cards configuration.

For those who fear they are going to miss the simple way of on the fly OC with TweakIt and the LCD poster, I can say that you do not need to worry ;)

Thanks.

Wow that PWM looks toasty. Are switching frequencies adjustable and what are they? (edit: controller spec sheet states 200 kHz - 1000 kHz, correct?)

Could you by any chance test if x16 slots #2 and #4 run at x1 (via PLX?) when IOH set x16 by x16 in BIOS (16+1+16+1)?

[ChinStrap]

Size comparison R3E against R2E (identical in size):

can we please have a picture of the back of the board? :D

[Torphoto]

The more I see this board, the more I wonder if they will release a WS version or do an update to their WS boards, if it hits stores by march this would still be good for me.

[zanzabar]

CPU Socket Very Close To Ram Slot Not Good For Higher Ram Sink And Big CPU Cooler !!!

i dont think that the target user for a 4x graphics card board has air cooling

[thijs]

Yeah they do, no way they made this mobo just for people running watercooling ++

[sholvaco]

Folks who only plan to run 3 sticks are still going to be fine, those who absolutely need 6 are going to have to either settle for normal height dimms or find a heatsink that's narrow enough to allow tall ones (Thermalright MUX-120 or similar).

[bingo13]

Quote:
Originally Posted by zalbard
Does it have digital PWM?


nope...

btw, tweaktown have a video of the board on their site.
its in the demo clip about rog connect :)

This board has a full digital PWM setup from CHiL.

[bingo13]

Are there any Asus boards that have good chipset cooling? Damn, it's not like copper is expensive.

Let me see, Copper is up 253% from last year and this design actually cools better than the typical big block designs used in the past. ;)

[zanzabar]

Yeah they do, no way they made this mobo just for people running watercooling ++

im not saying that its only for liquid but making the board larger to accommodate air cooling when the board is basically for benching. its not like u can run 4 cards on air and get proper cooling


Let me see, Copper is up 253% from last year and this design actually cools better than the typical big block designs used in the past. ;)

didnt aluminum go up too, but i would rather have some shiny aluminum than the painted

[AndreYang]

My R3E is early sample. New R3E size is the same as R2E. I will post some pics and results with final version R3E next week.

[EnJoY]

Gary explained some of the new features of this revision, including a totally new and improved PWM capable of over 260amps power delivery to the CPU. Gary said that number could increase to as high as 300a before launch. Another nice addition was the LN2 switch, which essentially fixes the cold boot issues by forcing the board to run in a base mode that disables all unnecessary features and bumps up voltages just for the boot process. The BIOS is still being tuned at the moment, but Gary is expecting the board to be ready for March/April.

http://www.techreaction.net/2010/01/08/ces-2010-asus-msi-motherboards-eee-keyboard/

[WeeMaan]

http://www.nordichardware.com/news,10568.html


- 8+3 Phase Digital CPU/QPI Power Solution with extreme high grade mosfet (see attached picture).
- ROG Connect/ROG Connect RC Bluetooth
Unlimited OC control and monitor possibilities
Low level BIOS flash, flash without CPU
- Turn on/off PCIex 16X slots for diagnostic purpose
- LN2 mode for best possible environment when running extreme negative temps
- True SATA6 and USB3

[Mk]

Sexy!

[sxs112]

New Ver Rampage III Extreme
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4275803359_33d4141419_b.jpg

[emertX]

Crazy thing!
I ask myself, if bclk's around 230 will be normal with the new boards like X58A and RIIIE and the new evga's and so on!

[KingOfsorroW]

Nice :) I like what I see.)
Kind of reminds me the classified board...

[zalbard]

Crazy thing!
I ask myself, if bclk's around 230 will be normal with the new boards like X58A and RIIIE and the new evga's and so on!
You can get 230 with 'old' X58-Extreme (hard-modded) and Classy with no issues as long as your chip is capable of it. Hard to promise going much higher, though.
Not 100% sure about RIIE.

[emertX]

Privet...
Yeah...but who the hell is going to do the hardmod for me?

[sofos1990]

haha it's same as Classified :p:
Is that a retail package?
Have you already tested the board? :D

[Kondik]

Holy Molly , Look at the quality of the components used to build it. Where was it when I wanted a new Motherboard. Great gaps between slots , Digital phases. Fujitsu capacitors. I'm going to cry If I don't see it here.

[dctokyo]

Hi sxs112,

The pictured you posted shows 1 molex near the PCI-e slots. is this the latest version? I have notice that other pictures show 2 molex

[Russian]

Nice :) I like what I see.)
Kind of reminds me the classified board...

LOTS of similarities... ;)


Holy Molly , Look at the quality of the components used to build it. Where was it when I wanted a new Motherboard. Great gaps between slots , Digital phases. Fujitsu capacitors. I'm going to cry If I don't see it here.

JJ from ASUS said that they will NOT be using a digital pwm, but rather an analog one with low and high switching frequencies.

[zalbard]

JJ from ASUS said that they will NOT be using a digital pwm, but rather an analog one with low and high switching frequencies.
Bleh, did they give a reason?

[Russian]

Bleh, did they give a reason?

I'm not 100% sure. Nothing was really given to me on paper. They said that there was a lot of room to grow with this board. Right now its showing as Digital, which means that i may be wrong...

In all honesty, they had to go with a digital solution on this board. The heatsink doesnt really show anything, so i would say that right now we'd have to guess its a digital. They said the heatsink design and a few layout things aren't final yet. I just remember them talking a lot about all of the diff features on this board.

[jfromeo]

I have read somewhere that it will feature:


- 4 PCIe 16x mechanically
- no NF200 chip

x16/x16/x16/x16 without 2xNF200 or 2xX58? How is that bandwith possible?

[Viss]

Not possible, it wil be 8/8/8/8

[WaterFlex]

This board is for stars...absolutely domanating one...
but i hate the only one thing, its integrated sound...

[sxs112]

Hi sxs112,

The pictured you posted shows 1 molex near the PCS-e slots. is this the latest version? I have notice that other pictures show 2 molex

this is latest version

[GTi-6]

JJ from ASUS said that they will NOT be using a digital pwm, but rather an analog one with low and high switching frequencies.

IIRC, JJ told that board has both analog and digital. He mentioned that it can give low switching freq like analogs and high switching freqs like digitals.

I think Asus canceled the 2x NF200 version for this board.

[Cool Vibrations]

IIRC, JJ told that board has both analog and digital. He mentioned that it can give low switching freq like analogs and high switching freqs like digitals.

I think Asus canceled the 2x NF200 version for this board.

Awesome, that would reduce the cost for the board. Should cost less than the overpriced classifieds.

[GTi-6]

Awesome, that would reduce the cost for the board. Should cost less than the overpriced classifieds.

In the earlier posts, they mentioned that it will be the highest priced ROG board.

[ghost610]

I have read somewhere that it will feature:


- 4 PCIe 16x mechanically
- no NF200 chip

x16/x16/x16/x16 without 2xNF200 or 2xX58? How is that bandwith possible?


I think the feature is told us the PCIE slot is use x16(mechanically) not mean bandwidth.

[tistou77]

drapal

[bingo13]

IIRC, JJ told that board has both analog and digital. He mentioned that it can give low switching freq like analogs and high switching freqs like digitals.

I think Asus canceled the 2x NF200 version for this board.

Maximus III Extreme (P55) is digital/analog hybrid, this board is full digital. We dropped the NF200 on the Rampage III for now. ;)

[bingo13]

I have read somewhere that it will feature:


- 4 PCIe 16x mechanically
- no NF200 chip

x16/x16/x16/x16 without 2xNF200 or 2xX58? How is that bandwith possible?

It is x8/x8/x8/x8 or x16/x16 or x16/x8/x8. There is a mechanical switch operation that will allows you to determine which slots to run x16 when in dual card mode. So, slots 1 and 4 can be set to dual x16 as an example.

[-Sweeper_]

Does it support CrossFire?

[zalbard]

Yeah, of course. :yepp:
Up to QuadFire!

[GTi-6]

Maximus III Extreme (P55) is digital/analog hybrid, this board is full digital. We dropped the NF200 on the Rampage III for now. ;)

I'm looking forward to this board. I hope it won't be delayed to April or a later date. Sooner is better. :)

[Kinc]

Booth M3E and R3E use the same DC/DC transformation solution for the CPU. Only difference is on component level and the layout. The main difference (simplified) between this digital solution and the normal (e.g. volterra) is that it do not circuit thru all "phases". Every phase is generated on its own to allow low switching freq aswell as high, ranging from 250 to 1000kHz. So on that note you can say it is a hybrid since it brings a nice part of analog to a fully digital power solution :)

[resident1509]

its good to see smaller companies like evga having an influence on the big manufacturers when it comes to motherboard design and features! better for all of us. adjustable frequency (although not as high as the classified), pci-e slot disable like the classified, dual 8 pins and digital pwm like the classified, and nice layout (better than the E762 if this is e-atx and not xl-atx) although the lack of dual nf200s would be needed if 300 series can be implemented into 4 way SLI to trick nvidia drivers into thinking its quad-sli similar to current gen. overall looks good :up:

now to see if asus feels the need to make a dual cpu overclocker to keep up! ;)

[Anemic]

Might be old news but:
This board took the world record in 3DMarkV. Swedish OCers Sampsa and Stummerwinter got 47 002 points. Some pics n stuff here (http://www.sweclockers.com/nyhet/10410-varldsrekord_med_rampage_iii_extreme) . They started out with 18 Radeon HD 5870 card and choose the four best for a go at the record =)

[Anemic]

Stupid doubble post...

[GTi-6]

8+3 Phase Digital CPU/QPI Power Solution with extreme high grade MOS+
METAL package allows:
1.3X faster heat dissipation
40% + conductivity
Finer space in freq. interval ranging from 250 to 1000kHz serves all your demand for any condition
New high grade chokes:
New packaged chokes achieve better efficiency
Supports higher rated current up to 40A (10A more)
Better permeability and less loss
ROG Connect/ROG Connect RC Bluetooth
Unlimited OC control and monitor possibilities
Low level BIOS flash, flash without CPU
Improved power design for multiple graphic cards, make it possible to achieve higher overclocks than before
Turn on/off PCIex 16X slots for diagnostic purpose
LN2 mode for best possible environment when running extreme negative temps

More info about R3E. Source: http://www.nordichardware.com/news,10595.html

[zalbard]

Wow, I like some of the new features. Might not be a clone board after all! :up:

[jfromeo]

E760 FS :D

March/April might be the last update to my rig, RIIE (especially because of the USB3.0 and SATA 6gbps features for future proof, I doubt it performs better than the Classified) and 2xGTX380 and I won't invest any $ in it for some years (I hope lol).

[kgtiger]

Fantastic, man am I really glad I didn't buy the R2E last night.
This board looks sweet, well maybe not in colour but most deffenetly in it's hardware.
Really looking forward to the realease date.

[GTi-6]

I guess it will be available in March/April...

[WaterFlex]

It must be available before Gulfies come. February then.

[SCHUMACHER]

Launch time should be sometime around Gulftown, not set yet.
Board isn't final yet, also tweak on thermal module and overclocking ability.
Due to Chinese new year for both Taiwan & China, February timeframe is less likely though.
R3E is aiming for unleashing the potential of Gulftown for sure, it must and will be better than R2E.

[Utnorris]

Now if we can find out the price.

[madmax999]

I like it already even she's not out yet :D

[tistou77]

there is no LCD POSTER with this R3E? :(

[Papagaj]

there is no LCD POSTER with this R3E? :(

For what reason mate? I have never ever used it.... it's just hanging on the wire :D

BTW the board looks awesome And I'm pretty sure that i'll get it when it's released and attach 980X with it;)

[tistou77]

was a question I posed to the LCD Poster ;)

but I do not see the connector on the motherboard to plug it, I suppose there is no :confused:

[Papagaj]

Yes i completly understood you m8 :))) You are sad that you don't see LCD poster and Im asking for what ? :D Don't tell me for OCing purposes hehe:)

[Russian]

ASUS said that they don't need an LCD poster because there are other indications on the board with LEDs that light up in certain areas if there is a problem there. Thats what they said... personally, i live by the things.

[tistou77]

ok, but I liked the LCD POSTER :D

[Papagaj]

well ill be selling my board as soon as III is released so i might send you that LCD poster and you can SLi them :D :D :D

[loops]

So when is Rampage III Extreme coming ?

[CryptiK]

Booth M3E and R3E use the same DC/DC transformation solution for the CPU. Only difference is on component level and the layout. The main difference (simplified) between this digital solution and the normal (e.g. volterra) is that it do not circuit thru all "phases". Every phase is generated on its own to allow low switching freq aswell as high, ranging from 250 to 1000kHz. So on that note you can say it is a hybrid since it brings a nice part of analog to a fully digital power solution :)

But this full digital solution cannot match the switching frequency of the Volterra solution on the classified, as it only goes to 1000 KHz.

[E30M3]

Asus was first with the red / black color, EVGA has just chosen to mimic the Asus.

Can not wait to get my hands on this motherboard

[Utnorris]

Which Asus board was all red/black? I thought the Maximus III was their first without blue and white PCIe slots.

[sholvaco]

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/2955/1313127205eb5.jpg

The very same board that raked up a 10000$ debt (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=183499) with XS alone!:p:

There was also a dual socket AMD board that had predominantly red slots even before the one above.

[[XC] gomeler]

^ eeeeeeeeevvvvviiiilllllllll

[Sampsa]

I got this nice little toy together with Rampage III Extreme :)

http://plaza.fi/s/f/editor/images/20100211asus.jpg

PCB includes LCD display, TweakIt controls, power, reset and clr cmos buttons, bios profile selection, bluetooth support and bios flash option. It will not be bundled with R3E but I like! :up:

[zalbard]

Very nice! Similar to EVBot in a way. Might come handy for some extreme benching. :up:

[Badfastbusa]

that is VERY cool! Might sell my classified for one of these.

[saaya]

that is one crowded board... :D

whats with the super low profile hestsink?
i hope that can be replaced with a better one easily?
cause i highly doubt this will keep the pwm cool when gulftown comes out...
why are there 2 molex connectors on the board? extra pciE slot power? if yes then thats good!
do i spot via onboard sound? :/
2 bios sockets, nice...
whats that weird thing below the last pciE slot?

looks good overall... reminds me a lot of bloodrage with the colors and pciE slots and 775 and 1366 mounting holes... :D

oh and it seems to use the same pwm as bloodrage too! :p:
pak-fet... so no, i dont think its digital...

[dctokyo]

whats that weird thing below the last pciE slot?

from one picture I saw of it it looked like a molex connector

[HelixPC]

Very nice board, but id rather wait for the X68 which should be here later this year.

[weston]

Damn that board looks sick

[eternal_fantasy]

Very nice board, but id rather wait for the X68 which should be here later this year.

Fermi should be here later last year.

[[XC] gomeler]

that is one crowded board... :D

whats with the super low profile hestsink?


pre-release heatsink, retail heatsinks aren't available yet afaik. Check Andre's thread -> http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=243534

[sholvaco]

do i spot via onboard sound? :/

Realtek ALC889


oh and it seems to use the same pwm as bloodrage too! :p:
pak-fet... so no, i dont think its digital...

Happen to know the pwm controller and driver vendors for the Bloodrage? The fets (similar to the ones used here) were digital, right?

R3E digital controller: http://www.chilsemi.com/products/multiphase-buck-controllers/chl8318/
R3E drivers: http://www.chilsemi.com/products/mosfet-drivers/chl8510/ (presumably since there is no clear picture of the board underside where they seem to be located)

[bingo13]

Very nice board, but id rather wait for the X68 which should be here later this year.

You do know that was a made up rumor. :D

[emertX]

When is the board going to be available and what should it cost?

[b0bd0le]

i just bought a rampage II... i wonder if i should return it...

[DavyBoy]

I love this board, I've just had my case powder coated inside in red with black accents, so it looks like this is gonna be my new mobo once they hit the shelves.

It looks like a great piece of kit imo.

Anyone know when they're likely to become available?

[Kensek]

I was told mid-March back on January 9th.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20100109190907312&board_id=1&model=Rampage+II+Extreme&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

[DavyBoy]

Man, I really hope that they do arrive in March, coz I want one!!!

[saaya]

ASUS said that they don't need an LCD poster because there are other indications on the board with LEDs that light up in certain areas if there is a problem there. Thats what they said... personally, i live by the things.
mhhh companies telling us what we need and dont need... dont we just all love it? :D


Asus was first with the red / black color, EVGA has just chosen to mimic the Asus.
Can not wait to get my hands on this motherboard
no, ati and dfi were the first with red and black on their collaborative RD480 ES board that was later sold by sapphire with white pcb and red colors.

asus did black red blue white for a long time, which i dont think was even on purpose as its not much of a color scheme and wasnt particularly pretty... they did one prototype board, the pinot noir, where they ALMOST dropped the blue, and which was a beautiful piece of art but unfortunately never made it to market...

http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/editorial/cebit2008-3/asusmobo1_sm.jpg

after this asus went back to black white red blue...

bloodrage came out with 100% black and red FIRST...
then evga was "inspired" by that and so was asus, jetway and even ecs iirc...


http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/2955/1313127205eb5.jpg

The very same board that raked up a 10000$ debt (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=183499) with XS alone!:p:

There was also a dual socket AMD board that had predominantly red slots even before the one above.
mem slots are black and white
pciE slots are red and white
i see blue and green usb/firewire slots, a babyblue dipswitch console, blue jumpers, silver and purple capacitors and pink and yellow stickers

sorry but if the popular color combo would be black and white or white and red, you would probably claim this board started it as well :P

[zalbard]

This is a bloody rainbow motherboard, it also has a green port and even a pink sticker. No wonder so many of them got smoked! :D

[Bodkin]

bloodrage came out with 100% black and red FIRST...

Wasn't that you design saaya?

[saaya]

Wasn't that you design saaya?
yes, me and zach who had just joined foxconn qf from abit back then :)

he showed me his previous boards from abit that he worked on, and i said i liked the design but thought red and black would be more popular (his boards were black and blue mostly). i told him my favorite boards looks wise were the ati RD480 ES board i got from a friend (thx chris ;)) a long time and used until that date, and the asus pinot noir. i also said that black and blue was very nice and we couldnt decide... so, i did what i always do if im not sure, i go and ask the experts... right here on xs :D

i emailed lots of people, talked on msn... and asked people what board they think had the best design, what colors they liked best, and i made a poll on xs what colors people wanted our boards to be. black and red were both way up in the polls and i always liked red and black (i painted my first bike red and black myself when i was 11 heheh)

so red and black it was, zach agreed, of course others at foxconn disagreed or thought colors didnt matter etc... we both had to fight to push it through, we had to argue and have endless meetings with different people and get way up management involved who had to literally smash the fist on the table during one 3 hour meeting to FINALLY get foxconns component department to make propper red slots instead of orangish, pinkish or purplish red, and to use the same color for all slots and not mix a different kind of red for pciE, pci, floppy, ide, usb and firewire connectors.

not long after BR was kicked off shamino left and went to evga. after he had just switched we met up with randy (who at that time was still at asus) and were hanging out... we had just received a newer prototype at that time which had much better red slots, and i showed shamino a picture of it on my mobile. he said it looked really good... i dont remember 100% if i showed it to randy as well, but im pretty sure i didnt... randy had already left at that time...

some time later i saw the first pics of classified and had to laugh, as i remembered how shamino had asked me what i would think if lets say gigabyte or asus came out with the same color scheme :D

i told him that i thought there was nothing anybody could do about it anyways, and as long as boards look more stylish i was all for it... although it would be a bit sad as all boards using the same color schemes would be boring imo and i hope that more board makers pay more attention on the looks of their boards and make boards look BETTER, not make all boards look alike... :D

anyhow, no idea if asus was "inspired" by BR or classified... either way, they were the last enthusiast board to pick up black and red :P
sorry if i talk so much about this, but this actually means something to me... ill give asus all the credit they deserve for the pinot noir, which was an inspiration for BR and was an awesome looking board... but they didnt start the black and red design :P

[BuBBle.D]

A killer color combo would also be a black PCB with yellow dimm/pci-e slots.

[Wiggy McShades]

A killer color combo would also be a black PCB with yellow dimm/pci-e slots.



didn't dfi do that already? looks pretty crappy on their boards. although every time I look at their boards i relive my dfi 680i experience so i may be bias.

[saaya]

yeah but dfi used neon yellow...
they should have gone for lamborghini yellow ;)
there are a LOT of nice color combos out there... just look at cars for inspiration... its really not that hard to come up with a nice color combo... which makes it even more sad to see how many mainboards end up looking the same or similar or have almost random colors mixed together on the board :(

[N19h7m4r3]

yeah but dfi used neon yellow...
they should have gone for lamborghini yellow ;)
there are a LOT of nice color combos out there... just look at cars for inspiration... its really not that hard to come up with a nice color combo... which makes it even more sad to see how many mainboards end up looking the same or similar or have almost random colors mixed together on the board :(

My Asus K8V Deluxe featured a black PCB with lovely Yellow slots.

It's such a good socket 754 board, I still have mine chugging away with all it's original parts :D

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/N19h7m4r3/asus_via_big.jpg

[anirudh_rocky]

What is the reason for only one lan controller? :confused: another lan port on top of the USB 3.0 would have been nice and full. Voltage measurement option on MSI's Big Bang series much better. :yepp: totally miss the audio card {i know, compensated for the layout}......Looks like every one is doing the red and black colors nowadays....! see how the fan connectors blend into the PCB. Bluetooth for OC'ing.... come on:shrug:

I really like the R3E, but i still believe that every thing works for the first RE(X48) its jus perfect IMO:cool:

[Hannibal Lecter]

Some interesting new infos and short test:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1231/1/

We shouldn't have to wait a lot longer now I guess.:)

[imran7]

:)heatsinks finalized:)

[Bodkin]

:)heatsinks finalized:)

Link?

[p2501]

He was being sarcastic, check #185.

[Bodkin]

^ah, thats disappointing

[p2501]

^ah, thats disappointing

Nah, don't be disappointed. Check this (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=4222967&postcount=51) post, to me it looks like the board generally is ready, maybe they're finalizing the BIOS. :up:

[sholvaco]

Production version PR shots (straight from an ASUS rep (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=238770&page=4)):

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/6035/r3e2d.png

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/3140/r3e3d.png

So yeah, they are finalized or rather were from the get go.

[Sadasius]

Are there any temp probe headers?:confused:

[sholvaco]

Are there any temp probe headers?:confused:

There are some. After a quick scan I found at least three:
- top left corner next to the fan header, the pins are not visible but the print reads OPT_TEMP
- next to the bluetooth module, below another 4-pin fan header there is a 2-pin header also marked OPT_TEMP
- bottom of the board between the red header and the two 4-pin fan headers there's another 2-pin header, not marked though

EDIT: Seems ASUS listened to the enthusiast community and used an Intel NIC on their top of the range board. A nice touch. :up:

[Sam_oslo]

How long does it usually takes for a finalized MB to hit the marked?

[Sadasius]

There are some. After a quick scan I found at least three:
- top left corner next to the fan header, the pins are not visible but the print reads OPT_TEMP
- next to the bluetooth module, below another 4-pin fan header there is a 2-pin header also marked OPT_TEMP
- bottom of the board between the red header and the two 4-pin fan headers there's another 2-pin header, not marked though

EDIT: Seems ASUS listened to the enthusiast community and used an Intel NIC on their top of the range board. A nice touch. :up:

Thanks! :D Couldn't see them.

[Bodkin]

started saving my pennies for this?

[affiliate13]

Does the SATA6.0 have RAID support or just on the SATAII?

[metalop1g]

Onboard molex..? For what!? Srry if this has been discussed before, I have no interest in browsing through the numerous pages!

[sholvaco]

^
Two of them, another at the bottom facing downwards. They provide supplemental power to the PCIe slots to prevent overloading the 24 pin connector when more than two PCIe devices with high power requirement are used.

[imran7]

He was being sarcastic, check #185.
i wasnt being sarcastic i just had a problem posting those pictures shovalco did
asus posted those pictured on facebook so i think they are final

[CryptiK]

Disappointing that Asus has not provided the BIOS options to lock in a specific RTL value for each channel manually. Instead they continue with this 'let the board decide' scenario which causes a lack of repeatability of results, and takes control away from the user. If I spend this much on a board, I want to be able to set things to what I choose. This is the same behaviour the Rampage II Extreme has, and I have raised this exact issue with the Asus rep on this site and nothing has been done to correct it. Interesting to see the legit reviews reviewer of the Rampage III Extreme raise the same point in a negative light.

[imran7]

some cool pics
sorry i didnt attach these in my last post

[3oh6]

Disappointing that Asus has not provided the BIOS options to lock in a specific RTL value for each channel manually.
the BIOS for this board is still being worked on and taking feedback from those testing the board. RTL selection has been changed and now works as you will find on all other boards with direct selection...no more guessing :up:

[Brian y.]

the BIOS for this board is still being worked on and taking feedback from those testing the board.I want a full report on my desk 8am tomorrow morning on your findings.:rofl::D

[imran7]

yet another preview
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/29741-asus-rog-rampage-iii-extreme-lga1366-motherboard-preview.html

[dctokyo]

EDIT: Seems ASUS listened to the enthusiast community and used an Intel NIC on their top of the range board. A nice touch. :up:

Any spec list on this board yet? Would love to know more about the Intel NIC, I agree this is a very nice touch :up:

[zalbard]

I doubt this heatsink will perform good enough... But we'll see I guess.

[dinos22]

I doubt this heatsink will perform good enough... But we'll see I guess.

I swear every time i read your posts no matter what about you are always so negative.............. you need to slap yourself silly every morning and look at the mirror and say the glass is half full today :D

[imran7]

I doubt this heatsink will perform good enough... But we'll see I guess.

these heatsinks have more surface area so i think they would perform better though they look more like a cosmetic touch

[Blacky]

I doubt this heatsink will perform good enough... But we'll see I guess.

Well classy heatsink was HUGE and performance? TERRRIBLE, bigger is not always better...

[CryptiK]

the BIOS for this board is still being worked on and taking feedback from those testing the board. RTL selection has been changed and now works as you will find on all other boards with direct selection...no more guessing :up:

Good to hear.

[SKYMTL]

I doubt this heatsink will perform good enough... But we'll see I guess.

Why would a big heatsink be needed? From what I understand, the partially digital power distribution components run excessively cool :confused:

[TBahre]

Seems like it will run very cool. I can definitly say that my classified heatsink kinda sucks. Any ideas of a round about release date for this thing??

[sholvaco]

Any spec list on this board yet? Would love to know more about the Intel NIC, I agree this is a very nice touch :up:

Sorry I can only go by what's obviously visible on the PR shots. The onboard gigabit NIC really isn't that big of a deal; apart from a few features they are all closely comparable to each other, the true upgrade being one of Intel's PCIe x1 network cards. Still people cry for it come every major board release and ASUS delivered this time.


Why would a big heatsink be needed? From what I understand, the partially digital power distribution components run excessively cool :confused:

He owns a classified, can you blame him? :p:

Seriously though, prior to Tylersburg launch we've been constantly told how the NB is going to run cooler without IMC and it turned out anything but, with boards like MSI eclipse plus nearly cooking themselves at stock settings and heaps of others having similar thermal issues he's justified for being at least a bit paranoid.

[Raja@ASUS]

Thermal resistance of heatsinks used in this size is greater than 1C per watt, so you'll need airflow to bring the figure down (a 20w load on the heatsink will result in a 20 Celsius rise OVER ambient if the heatsink's thermal resistance is 1C per watt. Junction temperature rise will be higher due to thermal resistance of the package, interface materials and heatsink). The heat produced will be proportional to the switching frequency - so 'cooler' temps at lower switching frequencies and higher temps if you shoot for 800KHz+. The Classified supported a minimum 800KHz, which is why you saw temps in the 50's upwards when the board is in a case. Temp reporting varies from board to board too, not all controllers/vendors report FET junction temperature. I think people need to come to terms with the fact that higher switching frequencies on performance oriented boards will result in 15~20 rises over ambient case temp at a minimum, a dash of realism is needed.

[eva2000]

the BIOS for this board is still being worked on and taking feedback from those testing the board. RTL selection has been changed and now works as you will find on all other boards with direct selection...no more guessing :up:

I thought R3E bios had settings for cold bug/boot assistance ? They helped ?

[dpa]

I thought R3E bios had settings for cold bug/boot assistance ? They helped ?

seems to be cpu dependant.. so it works sometimes!

[sholvaco]

Thermal resistance of heatsinks used in this size is greater than 1C per watt, so you'll need airflow to bring the figure down (a 20w load on the heatsink will result in a 20 Celsius rise OVER ambient if the heatsink's thermal resistance is 1C per watt. Junction temperature rise will be higher due to thermal resistance of the package, interface materials and heatsink). The heat produced will be proportional to the switching frequency - so 'cooler' temps at lower switching frequencies and higher temps if you shoot for 800KHz+. The Classified supported a minimum 800KHz, which is why you saw temps in the 50's upwards when the board is in a case. Temp reporting varies from board to board too, not all controllers/vendors report FET junction temperature. I think people need to come to terms with the fact that higher switching frequencies on performance oriented boards will result in 15~20 rises over ambient case temp at a minimum, a dash of realism is needed.

Thanks for the info. I think people are actually used to seeing CPU PWM temps scraping the 100°C mark under heavy load, IOH sitting at above 50°C while idling is a bit harder to swallow on the other hand. One can claim a particular(ly large) chipset cooling assembly as being designed with a fan in mind from the get go, but when another manufacturers simpler, completely passive solution produces lower temps at load (than above stated idle), one can not expect the first solution to go by without as much as a smidgen of criticism.

[illuminatiASUS]

Hello All,


In regards to availability no street date has been set/confirmed additionally pricing has yet to be set or confirmed. Currently we have reached MP (mass production) status on the board but our current focus is to ensure the best 1st release bios as possible). Lastly in regards to the heatsink assembly/design this is always an area of debate depending on end user experience with previous boards, perception and comfort levels specific to temperatures ( just like CPU temps some say x degrees is ok while other says x degrees is too much/hot ). With that noted the design and overall implementation of heatsink for the RIIIE has always had cooling performance and efficiency at the forefront of the ID/Thermal Team mindset and design focus. With that being kept in mind ASUS also wanted to introduce a style and look to the board to continue with the innovative designs ROG boards have set in the past. I think we can all agree that we want enthusiast’s boards to look the part and separate themselves from the normal design queues.

As always if you have any specifics questions, concerns or inquiries please let me know. As always please enjoy the rest of your day.

[ottoyu34]

^ sounds great. can't wait.

Is either the molex connections optional?

[dctokyo]

Sorry I can only go by what's obviously visible on the PR shots. The onboard gigabit NIC really isn't that big of a deal; apart from a few features they are all closely comparable to each other, the true upgrade being one of Intel's PCIe x1 network cards. Still people cry for it come every major board release and ASUS delivered this time.

.

Thanks for the reply, and that is what I have, I own a Intel Pro 1000 PT server card

[JoeBar]

One good thing about the new heatsink (which just follows Maximus III design and nothing more) is that u can still use Swiftech MCW-NBMAX...

[Hazzan]

Take Look...:)

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/3059/81372150.jpg

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/1767/69608641.jpg

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3975/66696972.jpg

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6950/69496190.jpg

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/1194/21790822.jpg

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6242/31848407.jpg

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3751/80044115.jpg

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4923/73127261.jpg

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/8172/39405528.jpg

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/9049/92697485.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/1570/93517578.jpg

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/9453/55774143.jpg

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1613/10811271.jpg

Source :

http://forum.coolaler.com/showthread.php?t=233957

[Ultimation]

Now I want it desperatly! When will it come out. I've heared that it had to be released along with the i7 980x? But I see the Gulfy's but no REX III in stores :(

[dctokyo]

Damn..........:shocked::up: my next board for sure once it hits the Japan market

[ottoyu34]

Lovely features....

Did anyone spot the four 7900GTX alike things at the back of the red mustang??

[sholvaco]

http://forum.coolaler.com/showthread.php?t=233957

http://i39.tinypic.com/s6p16h.jpg

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3751/80044115.jpg

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6950/69496190.jpg

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6242/31848407.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/dnyna9.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/syvzwp.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2a6um3k.jpg

REX the true sequel? (RIIE was more of a side story :p:)

Seems this board takes all the best ideas in enthusiast motherboard development from the previous year and a half (congrats saaya there is actually more BR DNA than classified in it :clap:) and improves on their execution.

Patiently waiting to see what the consumer experience is like.

[affiliate13]

Can anyone confirm if you can RAID the SATA 6.0 ports?

[sholvaco]

Can anyone confirm if you can RAID the SATA 6.0 ports?

From the quoted link above you can see it uses the RAIDable version of the Marvell controller. So, yes.

http://i44.tinypic.com/ifa39i.jpg

[affiliate13]

Ah thanks,
I had heard that it might not be available.
Thanks for confirming. :)

[bingo13]

Can anyone confirm if you can RAID the SATA 6.0 ports?

It is still slower than ICH10R at this point, Marvell is working on another driver drop shortly for improved RAID performance.

[sholvaco]

It is still slower than ICH10R at this point, Marvell is working on another driver drop shortly for improved RAID performance.

It'd be interesting to know where the PCIe link for the Marvell controller comes from on the latest revision. Straight from the X58 or straight from the ICH10R? If it's the latter, it's hardly even worth it.

EDIT: I meant RAID capability, not the controller itself which is still a nice upgrade from the usual JMicron ware.

[affiliate13]

It is still slower than ICH10R at this point, Marvell is working on another driver drop shortly for improved RAID performance.

Yes, i thought with the Crucial C300s it might be ok though.
I would run my X25-Ms off the ICH10R

[Mungri]

I definately want this now after seeing all the info so far, I want it to cost <£300 though :(

[vegettoxp]

I have a Asus Maximus Formula SE as of now and I think this board would be a good upgrade to my current board.

[zanzabar]

from the specs it looks like they actually listened, they put digital pwms, a real NIC, no NF200, switchable 16x16 or 8x8x8x8

[Mungri]

Hmmmm, will an Asus Triton 88 fit onto that board though? The chipset cooling looks a little too close to the CPU socket.

[ottoyu34]

This baby is released!! Go buy it now. hehee

[Kensek]

This baby is released!! Go buy it now. hehee

Where is it listed for sale at?

[AceBaran]

This baby is released!! Go buy it now. hehee

Proof !

[Mungri]

Not for sale anywhere in the UK.

[systemviper]

i want one, it looks like my next high end board, this or the new evga dual cpu board, the x factor will be price difference,

where is it being sold in the usa> :shocked:

[eternal_fantasy]

This baby is released!! Go buy it now. hehee

Well played. :clap::clap:

[Kensek]

http://www.slashgear.com/asus-rampage-iii-extreme-motherboard-gets-official-2278407/

My Contact Asus states this will be on the shelves in early April and the BIOS will not officially support XEONs

[crashmax]

Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kill_a_wat]

REX the true sequel? (RIIE was more of a side story :p:)

Seems this board takes all the best ideas in enthusiast motherboard development from the previous year and a half (congrats saaya there is actually more BR DNA than classified in it :clap:) and improves on their execution.

Patiently waiting to see what the consumer experience is like.

Simply badass! :eek:

[bingo13]

http://www.slashgear.com/asus-rampage-iii-extreme-motherboard-gets-official-2278407/

My Contact Asus states this will be on the shelves in early April and the BIOS will not officially support XEONs

Your contact is wrong. ;)

[anirudh_rocky]

oh yea..! :clap: indeed a true sequel.. Hey guys where is the EL I/O or any backplate for that matter, dint see non in these pics :cool:

[Mungri]

Video review!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA7uQTMK8GA&feature=sub

[Kensek]

Your contact is wrong. ;)

I'm hoping it will support Xeons right from the get go.

It took the R2E almost 9 months before a BIOS supported Xeons.