ASUS Maximus II Formula - new P45 king?

[Datektrader]

the drivers for the audio are soundmax, the creative stuff seems to just be software. it sounds nice though.

[Ender17]

anyone tried out those 2 special SATA ports that do RAID without drivers?

[MnM]

I'll never get over how much price gouging goes on in AU by the distries/suppliers

They want over $400AU for this board,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they've gotta be kidding

A bit cheaper showing on SI now:

http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/...i?q=Maximus+II

Still the range is from AU356 to AU422

[Copenhagen69]

anyone tried out those 2 special SATA ports that do RAID without drivers?

+1 for wanting to know

[ACE76]

the drivers for the audio are soundmax, the creative stuff seems to just be software. it sounds nice though.

I figured that much...still nice to have a dedicated stand-alone PCI-E soundcard included...I was actually going to buy the new PCI-E X-Fi that was released a short while ago..it's $150 at Newegg but now that I have this, I'm gonna save money.

Any new updates with your board yet? I think everyone should manually put their voltages into the board to prevent any accidental high voltage spikes. Usually the first available voltage in the menu is the default value. I've been doing this with Asus boards for a while now as the last 3-4 board always overvolted.

Anyone go for 600fsb yet? With all that copper on the board, I'm wondering how much vnb people will need and how hot the northbridge will get.

[GAR]

Nice board, as long as its not DDR3.....the P5Q3 is a nightmare, memory compatibility issues to the extreme!!

[TheSynth]

I think I'll be waiting for the X48 Rampage Extreme. It's designed almost exaclty the same as this P45. I have a feeling this board will be nearly $350. If it is I think I will pass.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/06...new-features/1

[Datektrader]

I think I'll be waiting for the X48 Rampage Extreme. It's designed almost exaclty the same as this P45. I have a feeling this board will be nearly $350. If it is I think I will pass.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/06...new-features/1

runs between 270 and 300

[pnsdls]

man when it wil be released in europe....

i am from greece and this mobo cant be found anywhere

how faster/slower is than the x48 the p45 chipset equipped with this mobo

[RobotDJX]

X48 Rampage Extreme is DDR 3 I assume?

[TonyL222]

Forgive the following noob question. Does the "Crossfire" support of this board mean that it just offers additional support/advantages for a Crossfire config, or does it means it supports Crossfire ONLY but not SLI? No advantage/disadvantage to a single ATI or nVidia card (I don't plan on Crossfire nor SLI)?

Thanks for the feedback.

[Logos]

Forgive the following noob question. Does the "Crossfire" support of this board mean that it just offers additional support/advantages for a Crossfire config, or does it means it supports Crossfire ONLY but not SLI? No advantage/disadvantage to a single ATI or nVidia card (I don't plan on Crossfire nor SLI)?

Thanks for the feedback.

SLI is only supported on mobos with NVidia chipsets, so this card (Maximus II) which has an Intel chipset, supports only CrossFire. But you can still run a single NVidia card on it, thanks god

Also, considering Maximus II is a P45, and is PCIe 2 x 8 limited, a single graphic card on it might be the best option. This has still to be demonstrated, not enough tests done yet...

[ACE76]

X48 Rampage Extreme is DDR 3 I assume?

Yes, it is DDR3...I believe all of Asus's ROG "Extreme" mobos are DDR3 while the "Formula" mobos are DDR2.

Even though the Asus Rampage Extreme is a nice mobo and looks great, I doubt it will be better than the already available DFI X48 UT T3RS (which uses Thermalright heatsinks). I wonder if they will price the Rampage Extreme competitively against the DFI, which can be bought for $320 or so.

[TonyL222]

SLI is only supported on mobos with NVidia chipsets, so this card (Maximus II) which has an Intel chipset, supports only CrossFire. But you can still run a single NVidia card on it, thanks god

Thanks!!! That's good to know since I already ordered one . Right now I don't see a majore driver for Crossfire (or SLI). Maybe I'll give ATI (and Crossfire) a try down the road, but I'm still a big nVidia Fan Boy.

[BenchZowner]

I doubt it will be better than the already available DFI X48 UT T3RS (which uses Thermalright heatsinks).

Asus has already something better than the DFI board you mentioned, it's called P5E64 WS Evolution.

[humeyboy]

SLI is only supported on mobos with NVidia chipsets, so this card (Maximus II) which has an Intel chipset, supports only CrossFire. But you can still run a single NVidia card on it, thanks god

Also, considering Maximus II is a P45, and is PCIe 2 x 8 limited, a single graphic card on it might be the best option. This has still to be demonstrated, not enough tests done yet...

QUOTED :

" We find ourselves with two physical PCI Express 2.0 16x connectors for graphics boards. These can either be configured as a single sixteen lane slot (with the secondary slot disabled), or for multi-GPU configurations as two eight lane slots. Considering that every lane of a PCI Express 2.0 slot has double the bandwidth of a PCI Express 1.1 slot, this should be ample for almost any real-world situation. "


http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/ind...=585&Itemid=27

[Logos]

QUOTED :

" We find ourselves with two physical PCI Express 2.0 16x connectors for graphics boards. These can either be configured as a single sixteen lane slot (with the secondary slot disabled), or for multi-GPU configurations as two eight lane slots. Considering that every lane of a PCI Express 2.0 slot has double the bandwidth of a PCI Express 1.1 slot, this should be ample for almost any real-world situation. "


http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/ind...=585&Itemid=27

from the same article (that's the conclusion):

"Overall then, the Maximus II Formula is another excellent offering from ASUS which is really quite hard to fault. However, considering that at its core it features Intel's mid-range P45 motherboard chipset, I can't help but wonder if many will balk at the asking price of around £180 in the UK. This is particularly true of anyone looking to run a CrossFire multi-GPU configuration, who would do far better to pick up an Intel X48-based motherboard to enjoy the benefits of its additional PCI Express 2.0 lanes. Indeed, from looking around even ASUS' own Rampage Formula part (sporting DDR2 support on an X48 chipset) is available at a very similar price point, leaving the Maximus II Formula to battle it out on little more than that SoundBlaster MB functionality and a few other new additions introduced alongside P45 parts. Personally, I'm not quite sure that would be enough to tempt me away from an X48-based solution."

nevertheless, and that's not ironic, I still believe that a P45 would probably do as well in a real world environment (gaming) as an X48.

[coo-coo-clocker]

Looks tempting - I'm gonna wait for that awful butt-reaming price to come down some. I swear, with as much help we give these manufacturers with testing, you'd think they wouldn't want to take advantage of the hobbiest...


PUT YOUR NVIDIA TO WORK!!

[Ender17]

finally!!

07/01/2008 4:31 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY

[pmp]

ASUS Maximus II Formula BIOS build 0701
This one improves compatibility with some OCZ, g.skill and Crucial memory modules as well as QFan functions...

[Datektrader]

anyone else using this board at the moment? i could use some help finding stable settings for memory. or more importantly good suggestions for what to change to gain better stability.

[Ender17]

well the Super Speed RAID function is completely worthless IMO
I did some quick tests with Mtron 3000 SSDs and WD 1TB Green Power drives
both times the read speed maxed at 120 MB/s

I gotta decide between this board and a P5Q (have both ATM) and I'm running out of reasons not to go with the P5Q

[dctokyo]

well the Super Speed RAID function is completely worthless IMO
I did some quick tests with Mtron 3000 SSDs and WD 1TB Green Power drives
both times the read speed maxed at 120 MB/s

I gotta decide between this board and a P5Q (have both ATM) and I'm running out of reasons not to go with the P5Q

Thanks for the information, waiting to heard more.

As for me I am debateing with one to get the X48 Rampage Extreme or the ASUS Maximus II Formula

[Logos]

Thanks for the information, waiting to heard more.

As for me I am debateing with one to get the X48 Rampage Extreme or the ASUS Maximus II Formula

any idea rampage extreme ETA anyone?

[ACE76]

Asus has already something better than the DFI board you mentioned, it's called P5E64 WS Evolution.

I'll wait a few BIOS revisions before making such a statement. The Evolution board is fantastic, but the DFI is getting better by the day...beta BIOSes are allowing people to hit 600fsb now too...the thing that sucks is DFI is slow to get new BIOSes out...I probably use beta revisions more than final revisions with DFI.