ASUS Launches Striker II Formula Motherboard

[Jimmy 2004]

ASUS today released the Striker II Formula motherboard. This cutting-edge motherboard is the latest in ASUS´ Republic of Gamers line and takes full advantage of the NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI MCP (Media Communications Processor). To deliver the most immersive PC gaming experience, the new Striker II Formula motherboard provides support for 3-way SLI technology, resulting in amazingly fast game-play.



Republic of Gamers (ROG)
The Republic of Gamers is for the best of the best. Sporting the best hardware engineering, the fastest performance, and the most innovative ideas, we welcome the best gamers to join. Extending the ROG tradition, the new Striker II Formula features superb overclocking capability and a rich feature set that includes the SupremeFX II audio card.

A Future-Proof Gaming Platform
The Striker II Formula supports the latest Intel Core2 processors, including the next generation 45nm multi-core processors with Front Side Bus (FSB) up to 1600MHz.

Today´s games demand the most powerful graphics solutions available. Able to run up to three graphics cards in 3-way SLI, the Striker II Formula is the perfect motherboard for hardcore gaming enthusiasts who demand the most from their rigs. NVIDIA’s 3-Way SLI technology takes advantage of the increased bandwidth of the PCI Express 2.0 bus and features intelligent hardware and software solutions allowing up to three graphics cards to work together seamlessly. This results in performance that´s both scalable while offering more than twice the performance of a single GPU system.

Overclocking Taken to the Next Level
To allow maximum overclocking without system crashes, the ASUS exclusive Extreme Tweaker technology lets users adjust the north bridge (NB), south bridge (SB), and DRAM voltages in 0.02v increments. By adjusting the voltages in smaller increments, users can safely achieve the highest voltage the system supports, resulting in the best overclocking performance possible.

COP EX (Component Overheat Protection - EX)
Overclock with confidence. The COP EX allows overclockers to increase chipset voltages without having to worry about overheating. It can also be used to monitor and in extreme cases, save an overheating graphics card. The ASUS COP EX gives enthusiasts more freedom to overclock with fewer constraints.

Voltiminder LED
When overclocking, over-voltage adjustments are crucial, but they can be risky. Similar to a tachometer´s "red zone", the Voltiminder LED displays the voltage status for the CPU, NB, SB, and memory in an intuitive color-coded fashion.

ASUS C.P.R. (CPU Parameter Recall)
In the unfortunate instance that the system crashes due to an overclocking failure, the days of having to open the computer case to clear CMOS data are in the past. Just restart the system, the BIOS will show the previous setting and users can simply adjust the CPU settings again to restart the PC.

Extreme Tweaker
Extreme Tweakers is the one stop shop to fine-tune your system for optimal performance. Frequency adjustments, over-voltage options, and memory timing settings can all be adjusted in one easy place.

ASUS EPU (Energy Processing Unit)
The ASUS EPU utilizes innovative technology to digitally monitor and tune the CPU power supply with improved VR responses in heavy or light loadings. It automatically provides power for higher performance and can improve efficiency by 7% when the PC is running low intensity applications. Working together with AI Gear 3, this can help you attain the best possible power efficiency, resulting in energy savings of close to 60%.

World Exclusive Hottest DX10 Game Bundle: Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is the next installment in this highly-rated strategy franchise, delivering an unprecedented level of realism all the while revealing a darker, more brutal war. Boasting enhanced lighting effects, mission persistence, improved vehicle and soldier AI, as well as enhanced physics and a dynamic weather system, this game will set new standards in visual realism for the RTS genre as a whole.

Source: ASUS

[btarunr]

I wonder what those wires that go into the ROG plate on the NB heatsink are for.

Nice package, all in all but lack of ESA compliancy....wouldn't that pinch the whole NTune features thing?

$270~$320 or bust.

good. my next M/B.....

[The "GEEK"]

Originally Posted by btarunr

I wonder what those wires that go into the ROG plate on the NB heatsink are for.

Nice package, all in all but lack of ESA compliancy....wouldn't that pinch the whole NTune features thing?

$270~$320 or bust.

Probably a thermal sensor wire.?!

[asb2106]

thats a sweet looking mobo, I really like what ASUS has done with the Striker series, and this is no disapointment! Congrats all Nvidia fans, enjoy!

[intel igent]

Originally Posted by btarunr

I wonder what those wires that go into the ROG plate on the NB heatsink are for.

Nice package, all in all but lack of ESA compliancy....wouldn't that pinch the whole NTune features thing?

$270~$320 or bust.

prolly for a fan for the ppl who will NOT b L/C th n/b

nice looking board prolly gonna b expensive as hell

[asb2106]

Originally Posted by intel igent

I like the pic of the posts, thats pretty funny

[intel igent]

Originally Posted by asb2106

I like the pic of the posts, thats pretty funny

keep it up and youll be giving pancho a run for his money

[zekrahminator]

The real fun talking happens in General Nonsense guys, this thread is flying off the handle like the little girls in the picture.

[asb2106]

Originally Posted by zekrahminator

The real fun talking happens in General Nonsense guys, this thread is flying off the handle like the little girls in the picture.

it is, my apoligy, and that pic is hilarious!

[zekrahminator]

I'm glad you like it .


Anyone who has the urge to slide off topic, please do so in this thread. It demands posts .

[Live OR Die]

Thats one ugly board spec's are good though

[qwerty_lesh]

arent the formula series boards from asus ddr3?
why is their no mention, of have i somehow missed it

off topic (dat post pic RAWKS!)

[asb2106]

Originally Posted by qwerty_lesh

arent the formula series boards from asus ddr3?
why is their no mention, of have i somehow missed it

off topic (dat post pic RAWKS!)

formula is DDR2 and extreme is DDR3

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by btarunr

I wonder what those wires that go into the ROG plate on the NB heatsink are for.

Nice package, all in all but lack of ESA compliancy....wouldn't that pinch the whole NTune features thing?

$270~$320 or bust.

Knowing ASUS and their ub3r-1337 motherboard lineup . . . I'd expect $350-$400.

no other company has the nads to price their 1337 motherboards that high, but then again . . . no other 1337 motherboard compares to ASUS'

[qwerty_lesh]

ta asb

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by imperialreign

Knowing ASUS and their ub3r-1337 motherboard lineup . . . I'd expect $350-$400.

no other company has the nads to price their 1337 motherboards that high, but then again . . . no other 1337 motherboard compares to ASUS'

Gigabyte does, their X38 chipset lineup is close to perfect:

You've got a GA-X38-DS4 which gives everything, just 1 ethernet port and 6 internal SATA ports in all for $199.

You've got the 1337 GA-X38-DQ6 that's a close to complete design for $270, $20 more and you have the DDR3 variant of the same board, the GA-X38T-DQ6 it's just with the fusion block thing, etc otherwise this board performs on-par/better than the ASUS X38 lineup.

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by btarunr

Gigabyte does, their X38 chipset lineup is close to perfect:

You've got a GA-X38-DS4 which gives everything, just 1 ethernet port and 6 internal SATA ports in all for $199.

You've got the 1337 GA-X38-DQ6 that's a close to complete design for $270, $20 more and you have the DDR3 variant of the same board, the GA-X38T-DQ6 it's just with the fusion block thing, etc otherwise this board performs on-par/better than the ASUS X38 lineup.

I don't doubt it - Giga is another enthusiast oriented company. IDK, though, from years of experience, though, ASUS has always came out better in my eyes. But they charge an arm and a leg for it.

I will say, though, my biggest gripe with ASUS over the years (aside from their Sony-like pricing) is how often they spit out firmware updates. Granted, it's great to see a company fork over a new BIOS every 1.5 months, but it can also be a little aggrivating try to keep up with it, too.

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

Having this snug inside the case will surely give a sense of awe and leetness.. no doubt the same feel I got when I scored my Striker X way back. Sure, it does not overclock as good as intel's 12th grader overclocking platforms.. making this a more challenging board to conquer.. ergo making it my favorite platform. .. (680s that is)

[tzitzibp]

Originally Posted by asb2106

thats a sweet looking mobo, I really like what ASUS has done with the Striker series, and this is no disapointment! Congrats all Nvidia fans, enjoy!

sweet mobo.... just hope it overclocks as well as p35 or x38, gives better sli results than 680i, and keeps temps low !!!

[Live OR Die]

Originally Posted by asb2106

formula is DDR2 and extreme is DDR3

yes and 780i DDR2 and 790i DDR3

[NympH]

Originally Posted by btarunr

I wonder what those wires that go into the ROG plate on the NB heatsink are for.

There's a LED behind the ROG plate.

[patz]

is Transcend AxeRam 1200mhz compatible with the Asus Striker II Formula??
is it auto detected or it must be oc-ed first in bios?

Will the 1200mhz be read at that same speed...with sli-ready-memory?

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

yep it will. you have to OC it.

[Master_of_Time]

I see thread is deadq but I'll reply anyway. The wires that go into the N/B heatsink are for the LEDs under the ROG logo. Sorry, no temp probe. I have tried it with a OCZ@1200 that i got for a few days from a friend. It DID detect them which surprised me, I too expected they'll need OC. About OCing the CPU - with the Q6600 G0 i got up to 350FSB and that's it. Other than that the board is great, but I would expect more from something that cost me 400$... when you rase the N/B voltage it get's extremely hotq even if it's a really small OC. I got both the fans that came with the M/B. They say that they're supposed to be used ONLY with water cooling... But wait 'till you see your N/B going around 80C. I got them directly on top of the N/B with some tape and that lowered the temp by around 15-20C. Alsoq when I installed WinXP I installed nVidia's RAID drivers. If you don't have two HDD's DO NOT do this. The drivers keep looking for a second HDD and the system crashes even before you're in Win.
I hope i was helpful, just think about it before you go spending 300-400$ on this thing... If you want SLI with small OCs with quads, the board is ok then, with dual core CPUs I've got as high as 460FSB. So that's all I have to say about the board, I'm happy with it, but I expected more.