![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Wednesday, December 05, 2007
- Author:
- Daniel Dobrowolski
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS Maximus Formula
ASUS brings us Intel’s X38 chipset in the form of the ASUS Maximus Formula. This is also ASUS’ latest in the Republic of Gamers lineup. ASUS touts the Maximus Formula as “The Top of Game Board Today.”
BIOS
The Maximus Formula SE uses an American Megatrends Inc. BIOS. Version 0205 was used for testing.
The CMOS is typical ASUS. They’ve chosen the AMI BIOS for the ASUS Maximus Formula. The BIOS is basically laid out in tabs. The top left most tab is the MAIN tab followed by Extreme Tweaker, Advanced, Power, Boot, Tools and Exit. The main tab screen has the usual time and date settings as well as basic SATA configuration. There is a SATA Configuration sub menu as well as another sub menu that strictly displays the system information.
At the top of the Extreme Tweaker menu tab is a phrase that’s grayed out providing some basic instructions for one of the settings. It reads, “You can OC manually based on OC By CPU Level Up.” The first setting that’s adjustable is the AI Overclock Tuner. It can be set for Auto or Manual. The next setting is OC By CPU Level Up. This setting is a first for any motherboard I’ve ever worked with. It just lists several processor models starting from the E6400 on up. According to ASUS all you have to do is set the processor clock speed by model number using this setting and the motherboard will automatically handle the rest and alter the necessary settings required to reach your goal. This is a unique overclocking tool and although welcome, the hardcore enthusiasts will probably ignore this setting. After that there are the usual CPU Ratio settings, FSB Frequency settings, FSB Strap to North Bridge, PCIe frequency, DRAM Frequency, DRAM Timing Control, CAS Latency settings and so on. There are quite a few settings here for memory tuning which is of course a good thing. Below all the memory settings you’ll find the CPU, North Bridge, and South Bridge voltage control settings. Compared to ASUS’ previous boards there is a major improvement in the BIOS interface. The voltages, memory timing, and CPU/FSB settings are all finally in one place.
On the Advanced Tab you’ll find several items that all lead to additional sub menus. Here you have CPU Configuration, Chipset, Onboard Devices Configuration, USB Configuration, and PCIPnP. Under CPU Configuration you’ll find CPU Ratio Control (which seems to be duplicated in the Extreme Tweaker tab), C1E Support, CPU TM Function, Vanderpool Configuration, Execute Disable Bit, and Max CPUID Value Limit. Under Chipset Configuration you’ll find a North Bridge Configuration sub menu. I have no idea why ASUS keeps doing this. The second step to reach the settings doesn’t make any sense. It makes about as much sense as Gigabyte’s Ctrl-F1 combination to reach the more advanced settings. Under the North Bridge Configuration menu you’ll find the Memory Remap Feature, Initiate Graphic Adapter, PEG Port Control, and PEG Port Force x1. Under Onboard Device Configuration you’ll find the typical HD Audio setting, front panel audio configuration, and various hardware enabling and disabling features. Here you can turn off the LAN Boot ROMs and setup the backlight settings for the LCD Poster. Next we have USB Configuration which has all the legacy settings and EHCI hand off settings. Advanced PCI/PnP settings only has a Plug and Play O/S setting.
The Power Tab has all of the typical suspend and ACPI settings as well as an APM Configuration sub menu along with the Hardware Monitor sub menu. The CPU Temperature, MB, NB, and SB Temperature zones are all monitored here. The temperatures are displayed next to each zone in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. Below the temperature readouts are the fan speed settings and Chipset Thermal Shutdown Temp settings. Next is the Boot Tab which contains boot priority settings and Boot Device Security settings. The Tools Tab has the ASUS EZ Flash 2 utility for flashing the system BIOS and ASUS O.C. Profile settings for storing overclocking profiles and the AI Net 2 network testing utility. The ASUS EZ Flash utility allows you to browse the hard drive or a removable device for a BIOS file for updating the BIOS. It’s relatively easy to use but a bit sluggish. Also the O.C. Profile setting allows you to create overclock profiles which store CMOS settings that you’ve specified. You can save, load or delete these profiles from the O.C. Profile screen.