ASUS Maximus II Formula (Intel P45)

Late in 2007, we tested ASUS Maximus (Intel X38). An in 2008 this manufacturer is offering the next generation of this series: Maximus II. This product is part of the "Republic Of Gamers" line and is positioned in the same way: for overclockers and computer enthusiasts. But what makes Maximus II different is that it is built on the mainstream Intel P45 chipset. Is such a replacement equivalent?

From the viewpoint of expansion options - yes, it is! The thing is, the most recent south bridge ICH10(R) by its specifications meets ICH9(R) installed in the first Maximus. The number of expansion slots has remained unchanged as their configuration. The only fine point is that the X38 chipset allows arranging two PCI Express x16 (v2.0) slots, with 16 bus lanes allocated to each. The P45 also allows symmetrical distribution of the PCI-E bus lanes, but merely 8 lanes are allocated to each slot. In fact, the user is unlikely to see any essential difference in performance of the combination of video cards in the CrossFire mode: the bandwidth of the PCI-E 2.0 bus is twice is much as that of the previous specifications, which is quite enough for modern video cards.

There is no essential difference in the kit of overclocking tools as well as in the overclocking capability. First, engineers at ASUS are quite thoroughly working out such features, and all the high-end boards are fully equipped with them. Secondly, the overclocking capability of P45 is at least no worse than X38. Thirdly, on ASUS boards all the features function quite well.

The latter point is especially important. Perhaps you noticed the conclusions in reviews containing the phrase like "Powerful overclocking tools but middling results". How to interpret that? All is quite simple: to get the topmost overclocking, we need a motherboard built on the "right" chipset, a powerful and good quality power converter for the CPU (north bridge, and the DIMM modules), as well as a complete pack of overclocking tools (a standard set, including adjustable voltage on the CPU, memory, FSB, and the chipset. That is not all - most importantly, all these features ran correctly, and the motherboard itself be factory-tested in the modes of nonstandard frequencies. Unless the latter is done, we get a board in which all the required conditions are met, but the board itself won't run at high frequencies.

For examples, just read an overview of overclocker motherboards by MSI and Gigabyte built on the Intel P45 chipset. Both the boards are based on the perfect Intel P45 chipset, offer a powerful cooling system and well-made power converters. In the BIOS of both the boards, there are all the main overclocking tools, but in practice the Gigabyte's motherboard made the most of the CPU test specimen E6550 (FSB > 560 MHz), while the MSI's board was hardly able to get over the FSB=450 MHz bar.

We are coming back to ASUS Maximus II Formula. At the very start of the tests, we came across some queer hangs and reboots which came up at a strange regularity. Then we noted the very high temperature of the north bridge which in the idle mode was over 70 ° C (while the radiator was cold).

We also note that the north bridge of P45 is manufactured following the 65 nm process technology, unlike X38, X48, and P35 which are manufactured following the 90 nm process. At the same time, the heat emission of P45 is 22W. That is a rather middling factor, lower than that for X48 (26.5W), and higher than that for P35 (16W).

Is that an error in the BIOS? Updates and experiments with various firmware versions did not give any positive result.

Then we noticed that the radiator is loosely fitted to the surface of the chipset.

So we dismantled the nice-looking but faulty cooling system of the Maximus II board and installed two modest radiators. As a result, we attained an absolutely stable operation in both nominal modes and at increased frequencies.

Generally speaking, faulty motherboards are a rare occasion at our test lab. So we can't make any judgments regarding the percentage of faults in motherboards of this model. However, the situation with Maximus II is different: on Internet forums, they actively discuss the faulty cooling systems of this board, and computer enthusiasts have already found out a few workarounds to solving this problem (various spacers under the screws, replacement of thermal paste, replacement (or removal) of rubberized washers). We are also enthusiasts, albeit not to that extent. If we get a motherboard that costs about $280, we absolutely not enthusiastic about polishing it to perfection using a file (but.. if the board cost about $50, then we would "enjoy" ourselves).

Anyway, many buyers point out that there are no issues with overheating the NB. Therefore, we can't say precisely how many boards have a faulty cooling system, or which product lots should be avoided for purchases. All we can recommend is to purchase a motherboard from a trusted shop (as our tests have proved, this board is a really good product) that offers the money-back service.

ASUS Maximus II Formula Specifications

Package

The box with the ASUS Maximus II Formula board is pretty massive and has a handle to carry it around:

One page tips up, and the user can get a brief idea of all ASUS' proprietary technologies. Through the transparent windows, you can see a massive radiator on the chipset, and an additional sound card.

Package bundle

• motherboard;
• User's Manual in English;
• 1x software & drivers DVD;
• one ATA-133 cable, one FDD cable;
• 6x SerialATA cables + a power supply adapter (2 connectors);
• a bracket for 2 additional USB 2.0 and one Firewire ports;
• ASUS corporate logo sticker;
• kit of additional connectors;
• a cap for the rear panel of the housing;
• additional sound card;
• additional fan;
• kit of clamps;
• LCD Poster;

Despite the high retail price and status of the motherboard, the number of standard components is not enough to implement all the features. In particular, the number of power adapters for SerialATA devices (needed are adapters with four connectors) is insufficient, although there are enough SerialATA cables (only six).

Also missing is a pair of brackets for four USB 2.0 ports; the bundle includes only one bracket for two USB and one Firewire ports. On the other hand, there is a special additional connector (Quick Connection Kit) to which all the cables from the housing can be plugged in (the "Power", "Reset" buttons, a cable from the "HDD" indicator, etc.), and then plug them in to the board with a single motion.

The user's manual has nothing to complain about. The bundled DVD contains a complete kit of all the required drivers and ASUS' proprietary utilities (including the drivers for 32- and 64-bit Windows versions, drivers for Linux and MS Vista). Besides, the disk contains Norton Internet Security 2006 (including a version for Vista - 2007.1), InterVideo WinDVD 8 Trial, DVDCopy5, MediaOne Gallery, Ulead PhotoImpact, CyberLink PowerBackup 2, and Corel Snapfire Plus.

Note that the package bundle contains an additional turbine fan which is installed on the radiator of the power supply module. The audio subsystem is located on a separate board which is called SupremeFX X-Fi, with AD2000B used as the codec:

The card provides output of 8-channel HD Audio and offers support for Creative X-Fi, Creative CMSS3D, and Creative Crystalizer.

Finally, the user gets an additional device named LCD Poster. This device is pluggable to the motherboard and upon the system start-up it indicates the current status.

Unfortunately, the package bundle lacks additional thermal sensors with which the user could measure the temperature of any of the system's components. This is a definite shortcoming since such sensors are rarely available in the retail. Moreover, the package bundle lacks a game which used to be a proprietary feature of the 'Republic of Gamers' series. On the whole, we rate the package bundle in view of the retail price (for the moment of tests) as "3 of 5".

ASUS Maximus II Formula: Board Layout and Features

There are no complaints about the board's design: there is no blocking of DIMM slots latches by the PCI Express video card, with the power connectors positioned conveniently over the board's edges: 24-pin - on the bottom edge, with a 8-pin on the right-hand.

Note that the board has retained a backward compatibility to the "old" PSUs and allows using them with 20+4 cables. At the same time, the unused pins of the additional connector are closed with a plastic lid:

Near the CPU socket, there is a 4-pin CPU_FAN connector for a matching cooler.

Besides it, there are seven (!) more 3-pin connectors: CHA_FAN3 - near the rear panel, OPT_FAN1 and OPT_FAN3 - near the north bridge, CHA_FAN1 and PWR_FAN - near the DIMM slots, CHA_FAN2 - near the south bridge, OPT_FAN2 - on the board's left-hand edge.

On the north bridge, there is a massive radiator connected to the radiator on the power supply module with a heat pipe. Also, using the heat pipe the heat from the south bridge is transferred to the north bridge.

Moreover, the cooling efficiency can be improved through installation of an additional turbine fan which is available in the package bundle.

In case of modification of the cooling system, all the operations must be performed thoroughly and neatly. The thing is that the north bridge of P45 don't have a metal heat spreader (like that on X38/X48) and in fact the radiator adjoins the open core. However, that should not scare away the experienced specialists who remember how to work with open cores of AMD SocketA processors.

Under the north bridge, there are four 240-pin DIMM slots for DDR2 memory modules. They are partitioned into two groups with two slots in each. The first two slots refer to the first controller channel, with the other two to the second controller.

The board supports DDR2-667/800/1066/1200 memory, and the maximum memory capacity makes 8 GB. Once voltage is applied to the board, illumination of Power and Reset buttons installed on the left-hand edge of the board lights up.

There are two PCI Express x16 slots onboard (both with latches) which are meant for video cards.

Due to the capabilities of the P45 chipset, 8 lanes of the PCI Express v2.0 bus are allocated to both the slots. Apart from the listed slots, ASUS Maximus II Formula uses two more "regular" PCI slots, as well as three PCI Express x1 slots. The black PCI Express x1 slot is meant for installation of an audio board from the package bundle.

Expansion options

ASUS Maximus II Formula uses the ICH10R south bridge with a radiator. Therefore, the board supports 6 SerialATA II ports and allows merging disks into RAID arrays of levels 0,1,5 and 10.

Besides, the motherboard supports one Parallel ATA link with an additional 88SE6121 controller made by Marvell. The same controller provides support for one more SerialATA link which is brought over to the rear panel. Moreover, there is a dual-channel SerialATA/RAID controller Sil5723 made by Silicon Image. Therefore, as many as 11 hard disks (9 SATA + 2 PATA) altogether can be plugged in to ASUS Maximus II Formula.

Then, the board uses 12 USB2.0 ports: six on the rear panel, with 6 more plugged in with brackets (the board comes bundled with 1 bracket for 2 ports). Besides, the motherboard supports the IEEE1394 ("Firewire"). For that, there is an additional onboard VT6308P controller made by VIA. Therefore, the board offers support for 2 Firewire ports: one mounted on the rear panel, with the other one connected with a plate (available in the package bundle).

A few words on the network support: the board uses two high-speed Marvell 88E8056 (Gigabit Ethernet) controllers connected to the PCI Express (x1) bus. Both the RJ-45 connectors are brought over to the rear panel of the following configuration:

Engineers at ASUS have completely given up support for the LPT and COM ports. Missing is also a PS/2 connector to plug in a mouse. On the other hand, there is abundance of USB2.0 ports, a FireWire port, an eSATA, as well as a button to clear the CMOS settings. Besides, ASUS Maximus II Formula uses a button to power-on and reboot the system:

Traditionally, here is the diagram of components:

Now on to the BIOS settings.

BIOS

The BIOS of ASUS Maximus II Formula is based on the AMI BIOS version, and its capacity is 16 Mbit.

All the memory settings are gathered in the overclocking tools section:

There is also a parameter that affects the performance - setting the memory operating frequency.

The choice of available frequencies is in direct dependence of the selected Strap:

Now move on to the section to do with the system monitoring.

This section is really powerful. First, the board is able monitoring the current temperature of the CPU and the system, as well as three temperatures from three additional thermal sensors. The user gets the unique opportunity to keep track of the temperature of any system component within reach of these sensors (unfortunately, these sensors are missing in the package bundle).

Secondly, the board monitors whatever voltages of the system

Thirdly, the board monitors the speed of all the eight(!) fans which can be plugged in,

and controls their speed using the Q-Fan feature (new name - Fan Xpert).

You can keep track of the monitoring parameters from within Windows as well: with either AI Suite (basic set of parameters) or with PC Probe II (extended set).

The BIOS version can be updated in a number of ways. First, make use of the AFUDOS (DOS) and ASUS Update (Windows) utilities, and in the latter case the POST image can be recorded into the BIOS (for that, there is the MyLogo 3 feature). Secondly, the user can resort to the EZ Flash 2 utility integrated into the BIOS. The file with the new firmware can be located not only on a regular 3" floppy but also on a hard disk or a USB flash disk.

By the way, two BIOS chips are on the motherboard:

and using the BIOS Flashback the user can reverse the firmware versions:

Traditionally for motherboards made by ASUS, the BIOS supports display of the settings in multiple languages (Multilanguages BIOS).

The BIOS also gives access to tuning all the features of modern processors:

In conclusion, we note the OC Profile technology which allows saving all the BIOS settings into memory and loading them on demand. ASUS Maximus II Formula supports two independent profiles:

We also note the option to control the external POST screen where either the current time, or a user-defined line can be displayed:

Overclocking and stability

Prior to moving to overclocking, let's look into the power converter. It uses an 16-phase power scheme in which there are two 270 mkF and ten 560 mkF capacitors.

We also note that the power converter of the north bridge is made based on the 3-phase scheme, and the PWM of the memory subsystem - the 2-phase scheme.

Now on to the overclocking features.

We note straight off that the board lacks the dynamic overclocking (ASUS calls this technology as NOS). Instead of that, there is support for the CPU Level UP.

The "CPU Level UP" offers a fixed set of FSB/MEM frequency values, and for better perception each set meets the specifications of Intel processors.

Anyway, confirmed overclockers prefer tuning all the settings on their own. So, let's list all the respective features in sequence. First off, ASUS Maximus II Formula allows adjusting the system bus speed within 200 to 800 MHz in 1 MHz increments. Of convenience is that you can enter the desired FSB value from the keyboard. Secondly, there is a feature for adjusting the multiplier. In any case, it will be of use for owners of extreme 4-core Intel processors.

Remaining overclocking tools:

Now on to the practical overclocking. To start with, ASUS Maximus II Formula showed fantastic results: a stable operation at FSB=560 MHz with a Conroe processor.

Apart from the listed parameters, the BIOS offers two undocumented features like "Transaction Booster":

and "AI Clock Twister":

As we found out earlier, the "Transaction Booster" and "AI Clock Twister" are able adjusting secondary latency timings and settings. In a word, they can be used for some slight performance gain but only once all the other means have failed. Because raise of FSB by 1-2 MHz (i.e. increase in the CPU and memory frequencies by 10 MHz) results in a grater speed boost than the mentioned features.

Performance tests

When determining the starting FSB speed, it turned out that the board overstated it by 0.3 MHz.

In our test setup, we used the following hardware:

Let's first take a look at the results of synthetic benchmarks.

Now on to the gaming benchmarks

Tests of application software

Video encoding (DivX, Xvid) was measured in seconds, i.e. the less the better.

Data compression (WinRAR) was measured in KB/sec, i.e. the more, the better.

Final Words

As it turned out, it is quite hard to formulate conclusions regarding ASUS Maximus II Formula. From the viewpoint of the buyer who purchases a motherboard with a regular cooling system, this product has absolutely nothing to complain about: it offers superb expansion options, powerful overclocking tools, and a fantastic overclocking capability. However, if the user happens to get a motherboard with a fault in the cooling system, then all the advantages of Maximus II Formula immediately come to naught: the system is unable to run stably. Therefore, we make a conclusion that this motherboard itself is aimed solely at computer enthusiasts who have enough time and drive for making the cooling system perfect or for repeated visits to the shop.

But that’s not all. If we assume that from a certain point all the ASUS Maximus II Formula boards will be warranted against any issues with the cooling system, even in that case we can't recommend this product. ASUS in its assortment offers also the Rampage board based on the Intel X48 chipset, whose retail price is quite close to that of the Maximus II. We'll provide a detailed comparative overview of these boards closer to the end of the year, but for now we have to point out that due to the X48 the Rampage board offers a better implementation of the CrossFire technology, and its package bundle is somehow more abundant.

Regarding the package bundle of Maximus II Formula, we have to say that the marketing people at ASUS switched to really aggressive saving: apart from external thermal sensors, they no longer put a modern 3D game into the box. But the board is part of the Republic of Gamers series, so a popular game would come in handy.

Conclusion

Pros:

• High stability and performance;
• 8-phase CPU power scheme;
• 3-phase power scheme for the north bridge, and 2-phase for the memory;
• Two PCI Express x16 v2.0 slots;
• Support for SerialATA II/RAID (9 links; ICH10R+88SE6121+Sil5723);
• Support for one P-ATA link (88SE6121);
• Two 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, BIOS Flashback, MyLogo 3, Fan Xpert, etc.);
• Additional set of AI Proactive technologies (AI Overclock, OC Profile, AI Net 2, etc.);
• Passive/active system for cooling the chipset and the power supply module;
• Power and Reset buttons; a button to reset the CMOS;

• The package bundle does not match the level of a high-end product;
• The cooling system may have a serious flaw;

• 8-channel audio subsystem is on the SupremeFX X-Fi board;
• No LPT and COM ports on the rear panel, no PS/2 for the mouse;