ASUS Rampage IV Extreme ? Overclocking with Ivy Bridge-E (i7 4930K)
Introduction:
2013 is very important for PC market. There are more and more tech products coming this year. One of the most anticipated bits of silicon this year is the Intel?s Ivy Bridge Extreme processors. In this review I will be taking a look at the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme (RIVE), to pair with the IB-E based processor, i7 4930K. The RIVE has been added some nice touches and BIOS refinements to support the latest Intel?s processors. This board packs a lot of features that are aimed directly at the hardcore gamers and overclocking enthusiasts.
Specifications:
Full specifications of RIVE can be obtained HERE
Overview of RIVE:
The Motherboard:
Now, meet the motherboard that is really EXTREME?
The RIVE comes with a black and red theme. The LGA2011 CPU socket supports Intel Sandy Bridge Extreme (SB-E) and Ivy Bridge Extreme (IB-E) processors. The PCB form factor size is Extended-ATX (EATX) with a dimension of (30.5 x 27.2) cm.
As you can see here, the RIVE is powered by intelligent Extreme Engine Digi+ II 8+3+2+2 Phase Power Design with premium components to handle extreme overclocking. There are eight memory slots that support up to 64GB of DDR3 memory. The quad-channel DDR3 architecture doubles the bandwidth of system memory to boost the overall system performance. Also spotted, onboard Power and Reset buttons, Slow Mode switch, LN2 mode jumper, ASUS ProbeIt measuring points, VGA Hotwire connectors, GO button, PCIe Lane switch and debug LED.
There are whopping five PCIe 3.0 16x slots supporting up to 4-way SLI/CF @ x16/x8/x8/x8, as well as:
3-way @ x16/x8/x16
2-way @ x16/x16
1-way @ x16
The RIVE also has a single PCIe 2.0 x1 slot.
SATA ports are consisted of:
Intel X79 chipset controller: 2 x SATA3 + 4 x SATA2
ASMedia PCIe SATA controller: 2 x SATA3
The rear I/O panel includes:
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port
1 x Bluetooth module
2 x eSATA3
1 x LAN (RJ45) port
4 x USB 3.0
8 x USB 2.0 (one port can be switched to ROG Connect)
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
5 x Audio jacks
1 x Clear CMOS button
1 x ROG Connect On/ Off switch
Back side of the motherboard is very simple. Backplate is used to provide retention to the VRM coolers on the top of the board. The CPU socket area is supported by LOTES bracket and backplate.
Test Setup:
CPU: Intel Core i7 4930K
MB: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme
DRAM: G.Skill TridentX 2800 C11 2 X 4GB, Corsair Dominator Platinum 2800MHz C11 2 X 4GB, G.Skill TridentX 2666MHz C10 2 X 4GB, G.Skill TridentX 2600MHz C10 2 X 4GB, Corsair DominatorGT GTX4 2533MHz C9 2 X 2GB and G.Skill RipjawsX 2133MHz C8 4 X 2GB
GPU: Gigabyte HD7970, MSI's special BIOS, Driver Catalyst 13.8 beta
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB
ODD: LiteON DVD-RW
PSU: Corsair AX1200
Cooling: Custom watercooling - EK Supreme HF plate #6 CPU waterblock, 2x XSPC RX360 radiator, Swiftech MCP655 pump, EK FC7970 GPU waterblock, EK Multioption X2 Advanced reservoir, XSPC 1/2" ID 3/4" OD white tubing, 12x Scythe GT AP-15 1850rpm 120mm fan + Aerocool Shark 120mm fan, Coolaboratory Liquid Pro thermalpaste etc.
Casing: DimasTech Easy Dual V2.5 Test Bench
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
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