ASUS Unveils ROG Rampage III Formula Motherboard

[btarunr]

ASUS showed of the slightly less expensive ATX sibling of its Republic of Gamers (ROG) Rampage III LGA1366 motherboard series, the Rampage III Formula. The Formula model comes months after the high-end Extreme and M-ATX Gene models, and aims to fill in all the essentials of the ROG series into an overclocker-friendly design. ASUS claims that the Rampage III Formula delivers a "balance of gaming-related features at a superior value." The LGA1366 socket fits all Core i7 processors in the package, including six-core ones out of the box. The CPU is powered by an 8-phase VRM, it is wired to six memory slots for triple-channel DDR3 memory, which are powered by a 4-phase VRM. The board supports DDR3 memory with speeds of up to 2000 MHz.

Expansions slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x16, NC, x16; or x16, x8, x8, depending on how they're populated), two PCI-E x1, and one PCI. 3-way NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX. The ICH10R southbridge gives out six SATA 3 Gb/s ports while an additional controller provides two SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Connectivity includes ASUS SupremeFX X-Fi audio, dual gigabit Ethernet (including one Intel NIC that provides teaming support), two USB 3.0 ports, Bluetooth, and a number of USB 2.0 ports.



ASUS exclusive features include ASUS Gamefirst! Multitasker, a feature that lets you manually allot available network/internet bandwidth and priority between applications and games, ROG Connect, which lets you control the OC settings from a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone, and an overclocker-friendly BIOS. ASUS said that it will roll out its latest creation soon. Probably right after Summer.

Source: TechReport

[btarunr]

Many Thanks to LAN_deRf_HA for the tip.

[Faith[ROG].Anarchy]

Gotta go with the Maximus III one, because I'm a gamer and not overclocking stuff much

[LAN_deRf_HA]

So it's double the name but cheaper? Go figure. I think that's the first time I've seen an intel nic on one of these boards, and that bandwidth management should be nice. One of the reasons I enjoy the killer is the software management.

[TheLostSwede]

The middle x16 slot actually operates in x1 mode when the other two are in x16

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by TheLostSwede

The middle x16 slot actually operates in x1 mode when the other two are in x16

Thanks. I guess I should have looked at the pins under the slots.

[Faith[ROG].Anarchy]

Originally Posted by btarunr

Thanks. I guess I should have looked at the pins under the slots.

How can u guys do that?? I can't barely see it if I don't have a motherboard really close to my eyes

[SteelSix]

Originally Posted by TheLostSwede

The middle x16 slot actually operates in x1 mode when the other two are in x16

Thanks. Nice layout for 480 SLI in that case. Hmm..

[TheMailMan78]

That is one nice looking board!

[Animalpak]

Originally Posted by Faith[ROG].Anarchy

Gotta go with the Maximus III one, because I'm a gamer and not overclocking stuff much

Yes me too, this motherboard is very interesting because the rampage extreme III with that additional double molex is too far too much to bench.

[The Witcher]

Dammit not again....why do they always have to put the PCI slot in the worst place ?

In this motherboard, if I've a sound card (PCI) and 2 GTX460 I'll have to place them next to each other with almost no space for cool air intake for the upper video card which will probably increase it's temperature by 10c+. Are soundcards really that useless that most vendors nowadays don't even think about the PCI slot ? (I'm planning on getting the Asus Xonar ST)

*Off topic*

I'm also planning on getting the Asus Rampage III Extreme, but I was wondering can I run SLI with one card on first slot and the second on the fourth slot ? I mean is there an SLI bridge which is long enough ?

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by Faith[ROG].Anarchy

How can u guys do that?? I can't barely see it if I don't have a motherboard really close to my eyes

Look at these diodes by the pins on the second slot (next to the blue line), compare it to the line of diodes that covers the entire length of the first slot:



It's electric x8. Also look at how the tracks are leading from lanes 9~16 from the third slot to those the second slot's lane 1~8 over the external switches. If the config was [x16, x16/x8, NC/x8], you'd see tracks going south-west from the second slot (from 9~16 of second slot to 1~8 of third).

So it's [x16, NC, x16] or [x16, x8, x8] depending on how they're populated.

[CDdude55]

Looks like a very awesome board.

But the names are starting to confuse me....as they all are starting to sound the same, i thought there was already a Rampage III?, or is that the extreme?, or is that the Maximus III?, to may III's and IV's all over the place lol.

[AsRock]

Am i going blind or do i not see any fan headers on that board ?.

At what point would need to use that 4 pin molex connector or do you have to use it ?.

[cadaveca]

Originally Posted by AsRock

Am i going blind or do i not see any fan headers on that board ?.

At what point would need to use that 4 pin molex connector or do you have to use it ?.

There are many fan connectors there, but they hide well, having black bases. There's two down on the bottom edge, next to the red header, for example. two more by the ram slots, and another apir by the 8-pin connector.


As to the molex connector, anything over 2 VGAs should use it, and maybe even two cards may need it. I know my 24-pin connector can get hot running 3 cards, and we ahve seen in the past how 4 cards can kill a 24-pin connector and PSU both.

[TheLostSwede]

Bigger pictures here http://lab501.ro/stiri/asus-rampage-...ze-in-premiera
It's possible to read the labelling on the board there and the middle slot reads x8/x1 which I read as it being either x8 (shared with the bottom slot) or x1 when it's not shared.

[Kitkat]

i know the Crosshair IV Extreme comes out in 2 months, but im really hoping for a gene announcement. I don't see the point in 2 sets of ROG boards for Intel. Some that over-saturation should be focused on AMD items. Why there is no Crosshair IV GENE is beyond me. They could make so much money. Did i say 2 sets i meant 3 now soon with the hybrid boards (that will already be a part of CSIV Extreme.

[cadaveca]

I'd love a MATX 16x16 (890FX) Crossfire AMD board too.

[Kitkat]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

I'd love a MATX 16x16 (890FX) Crossfire AMD board too.

yep and a sabortooth also... They could make a 890 out of "Military class" items too

I'm really starting to get bored of those stupid designs. Ok, it's an extreme mobo for the 100 dudes out there in the world that would run a 3xGPU configuration, but only 1PCI slot which is useless with even a dual GPU config???? Where or from whom can I buy a performance mobo with AT MOST 2 PCIX-16x and at least 2 normal PCI slots?????

[Faith[ROG].Anarchy]

All right I see it, thanks. Very informative stuff

[Faith[ROG].Anarchy]

Originally Posted by Animalpak

Yes me too, this motherboard is very interesting because the rampage extreme III with that additional double molex is too far too much to bench.

Thumbs up dude. I also love a MicroATX version of the Crosshair IV Formula

[Yellow&Nerdy?]

Hope it's not overpriced... Like all of the other ROG-boards.