ASUS Blitz Extreme and Formula (Intel P35)
Author:
Date: 25.09.2007
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Performance
While determining the starting FSB speed, it turned out that the board overstated it by 1.3 MHz.
In our test setup, we used the following hardware:
Let's first take a look at the results of synthetic benchmarks.
Tests in games.
We have tested the Crosslinx technology and installed two ASUS GeForce 6600GT video cards (based on NVIDIA chips) in the SLI mode. Since Intel's chipsets do not offer official support for the SLI technology, we had to use modified drivers. The result has proved ambiguous - the SLI ran in many applications and provided the anticipated performance gain. However, at Unreal Tournament 2004 the operating speed of the two video video cards was lower than that of the single video card, and the test Quake3 failed to launch.
Clearly, the problem is in the video drivers, and ASUS boards have nothing to complain about. So once enthusiasts have polished the drivers or, which is less likely, NVIDIA shares SLI with Intel, the owners of ASUS Blitz motherboards will be able using both the NVIDIA SLI and AMD Crossfire technologies!
Final Words
Both the Blitz motherboards have left a positive impression. While in the case with the Commando motherboard (also from the Republic of Gamers series; based on Intel P965) it was not quite clear what the extra $100 was paid for, all is much simpler and clearer with Blitz motherboards. First, the retail price is not so high: for instance, ASUS P5K Deluxe sells at about $250-270, and ASUS Blitz Formula - about $280-300. At the same time, Blitz offers a few unique features inaccessible to users of other motherboards. In particular, this applies to the integrated system of water-powered cooling of the chipset (a water block on the north bridge). Secondly, the extended ranges of voltage adjustment, with a more precise increment. Thirdly, this is the Crosslinx technology which provides a symmetrical distribution of PCI Express bus lanes between the two video cards (owing to the additional video chip). Fourthly, the 2-phase power converter for the memory subsystem. In the end, the overclocking capability of Blitz series motherboards is really high. But unfortunately it has not been fully implemented by now. In particular, at the overclocking results, the boards lost to another product by ASUS - P5K3 Premium (at the maximum CPU clock speed: 3.5 GHz versus 3.75 GHz; at the maximum FSB speed - 500/516 MHz versus 556 MHz). However, engineers at ASUS are continuously improving the BIOS and regularly release new versions. By the end of this year, we will certainly come back to Blitz motherboards and once again verify their overclocking results.
If we forget for a while about the overclocking, then Blitz motherboards can boast a rich package bundle, support for various proprietary technologies (LCD Poster, diagnostic LEDs, additional buttons), as well as powerful and well elaborated BIOS features (we especially liked the system monitoring section). As regards the difference between the Blitz Formula and Blitz Extreme boards, there are only two: Formula supports DDR2, and the Extreme - DDR3. Besides, on the Extreme version two additional SerialATA II ports have been implemented.
ASUS Blitz Extreme, ASUS Blitz Formula
Conclusion
Pros of all these boards:
- High stability and performance;
- 8-phase CPU power scheme;
- 2-phase memory power scheme;
- Two PCI Express x16 slots + ASUS Crosslinx technology;
- The Extreme version: Support for SerialATA II/RAID ( 8 lines; ICH8R + JMB363);
- The Formula version: Support for SerialATA II/RAID ( 6 lines; ICH9R);
- Support for one P-ATA link (Extreme - JMB363, Formula - JMB368);
- Two Integrated LAN controllers (Gigabit Ethernet);
- Support for USB2.0 (12 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire, 2 ports);
- A wide selection of ASUS' proprietary technologies (PC Probe II, EZ Flash 2, CrashFree BIOS 3, MyLogo 3, Q-Fan 2, etc.);
- Additional set of AI Proactive features (AI Overclock, N.O.S., AI Net 2, etc.);
- Fluid passive/active system for cooling the chipset and the power supply module;
- Power and Reset buttons;
- Rich package bundle (including the full version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R) and a sensible price.
Cons:
The boards' specific features:
- 8-channel audio subsystem is on the SupremeFX II board;
- The overclocking potentials have not been revealed to the full;
- On the rear panel, there are six USB 2.0 ports and a button to clear the CMOS; no LPT and COM ports, no PS/2 for the mouse;
- The Extreme model: On the rear panel, there are two SerialATA II ports;
- The Extreme model: Support for DDR3-1333 memory;
- The Formula model: Support for DDR2-1066 memory
- Discuss the material in a conference
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