CrossFire Compadre



This one comes as an overclocker’s delight. The ASUS Maximus Formula is based on Intel’s new X38 chipset, sporting an ICH9R Southbridge. This is a limited edition, and features hand-picked components for extreme overclockability.

There is support for Penryn and 1600 MHz FSB, and dual x16 slots that officially support CrossFire. Incidentally, the PCI-E slots support the new PCI-E 2.0 standard too—more future-proofing for you. ASUS drops in their fusion block system as well—basically a heat-pipe solution that integrates a water block on the Northbridge chipset for proper cooling. The entire board has a very intricate heat-pipe system that remained cool no matter how hard we thrashed it.

Some nifty little additions will appeal to overclockers: the CMOS, Power and Reset buttons, and colour-coded LEDs on the PCB that will display the status (whether overvolted or not) of components including CPU, memory, Northbridge, and FSB. There’s also an inbuilt sensor that will warn you if GPU temperatures exceed a set threshold—a boon for users with the latest thermal monsters from NVIDIA and ATI. ASUS has also incorporated a 2-phase memory voltage termination for better voltage regulation even while overclocking—this should filter noise and RF interference for better performance under stress. The BIOS is full of overclocking options and tweaks—newbies and enthusiasts alike will feel
at home.

The Maximus Formula SE also has a more-than-sufficient number of SATA, and USB ports.

With a PC Mark 2005 score of 10,572, the Maximus Formula isn’t bottlenecking the QX6850 (3.0 GHz) in any way. With a graphics score of 18,299 in 3D Mark 2005 (using an 8800GTX), this board is definitely free of the early hiccups that plague most platforms. We did get our E6550 (2.33 GHz) to run along happily at 3.15 GHz (the FSB being overclocked from a default 333 MHz to 450 MHz)—a very good result.

Rs 16,800 may seem high, but it’s plenty of board for that much. ASUS includes a rich bundle too. Highly recommended for those looking at a high-end, stable platform in general, or CrossFire in particular.

Specifications
Intel X38 chipset; ICH9R Southbridge; DDR2 1200 MHz and 1600 MHz FSB support;
6 x rear USB ports; 6 x SATA
2.0 ports

Contact : Asustek Computer Inc 
Phone : 022-67668800
E-mail : media_india@asus.com
Web site : http://in.asus.com
Price : Rs 16,800