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ASUS Maximus II Formula

In its typical fashion, ASUS’ latest Republic of Gamers branded motherboard looks to dominate the P45 market. The Maximus II Formula board performs as well as it looks, and seems to be shaping up to give the other Intel boards a run for their money. Did we mention it is themed in blood red and black? Our favorite.

Introduction

ASUS stands alone among the top tier computer component manufacturers, as one of the best known and well received by enthusiasts worldwide. Their loyal following comes from years of delivering high quality products with the performance to match. ASUS continuously revises its designs and offered features in order to stay on the technological cutting edge, striving to deliver the best product possible to its consumers. Their latest Intel board, as part of their Republic of Gamers (ROG) branding, delivers the design innovation, quality, and performance we’ve all come to expect from an ASUS product.

The ASUS Maximus II Formula motherboard is the latest release in their premium branded Republic of Gamers product line. The board is designed around the Intel P45 chipset, supporting the following technologies: all current Intel LGA 775 processors, DDR2 memory operating in Dual Channel mode up to 1066MHz officially, and dual card CrossFireX graphics mode using matched ATI graphics cards. ASUS created the Maximus II Formula board as a feature complete solution, with the board itself requiring a bare minimum of components to be made operational: an Intel LGA 775 processor, DDR2 memory, a video card, drives, and a PSU. The board itself offers the following onboard integrated devices: 6 SATA II ports (RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5 capable) on the Intel ICH10R controller; 1 ATA-133 IDE port and 1 eSATA port on the Marvell controller; 2 SATA II ports (RAID 0 and 1 equivalent capable) on the Silicon Image controller; 12 USB 2.0 capable ports (6 in rear panel, and 3 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 2 IEEE 1394 capable ports (1 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header); 2 x Marvell Yukon GigE Ethernet ports in the rear panel; ADI 8-channel HD audio codec featuring Creative Labs X-Fi support with S/PDIF optical and component output ports; onboard power and reset buttons; and a PS/2 keyboard port in the rear panel.

Main Specifications Overview:

Detailed Mainboard Specification List:

Packaging

ASUS took the minimalist route with the Maximus II Formula’s box art, adorning the box with the ROG symbol and a shot up target. The board’s supported technologies are listed on the lower portion of the box front. ASUS chose to include the following accessories in with the Maximus II Formula board: ATA-133 and floppy ribbon cables; SATA drive and dual ended power cables; the rear panel shield; a USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 port rear panel bracket; 1 clip-on cooling fan for the integrated heat pipe cooling solution; the Q-Connector modules; the LCD poster device; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers discs. The Q-Connector modules allow for an easy interface for connecting in to the motherboard headers. You simply plug in your front panel jumpers in to the white connector and the USB 2.0 jumpers in to the blue connector block, and then plug both blocks in to the motherboard headers. It makes for a much easier install for those typically hard to reach header areas. The LCD poster device displays easy to read messages concerning system status during startup. The unit can be configured to display monitored voltages, temperatures, or fan speeds via the BIOS during normal system operation.

Board Layout

ASUS pulled out all the stops with this board, with the board’s overall layout and design one of the best I’ve seen. The heat pipe itself was carefully laid out to maximize cooling performance while minimizing its overall footprint and impact on other board devices. Other niceties worth mentioning include the various status LED’s peppered throughout the boards surface, as well as just the overall clean and orderly appearance of the board’s surface. The board’s revision is silk screened on the board in between the primary PCI slot and the Northbridge cooling assembly. The board used in testing was a revision 1.02G model. The board’s serial number is located just below the floppy port connector on a white sticker. To top off ASUS’s carefully orchestrated design, the Maximus II Formula comes standard with aluminum solid-state style capacitors throughout.

While the CPU socket area is packed to the gills with capacitors and other necessary power components, all components used in that area are of a low profile design. In board testing, I found there to be no issues with CPU cooler mounting even with larger cooling mechanisms. The socket uses the standard 4 hole based LGA775 mechanism to affix the cooler to the CPU. The Northbridge chipset is located directly to the left of the CPU socket, covered by a long low profile heat sink. This sink is the middle of the heat pipe cooling loop, with a massive cooling footprint to aid in heat dissipation. Imbedded in the heat sink is an ROG emblem, which is backlit when the board powers on. The CPU power circuitry above and to the right of the CPU socket are covered by large thin-finned heat sinks, which also act as end points for the heat pipe cooler. The 8-pin ATX12V power connector, CHA_FAN3 header, CPU voltage status LEDs, and LCD poster header are located in the upper right corner of the board. The CPU voltage LEDs display based on how much voltage is supplied to the CPU. The 4-pin CPU_FAN header is located to the socket’s lower right.

The Maximus II Formula comes standard with 4 onboard DDR2 DIMM slots, arranged in a bi-colored 2-by-2 configuration. To activate Dual Channel memory mode, you must place DIMM modules in like colored slots across sets. Directly below the DIMM slots are the CHA_FAN1 and PWR_FAN headers, 24-pin ATX power connector, ATA-133 IDE and floppy ports, and chassis intrusion header. To the lower left of the DIMM slots are memory voltage status LEDs, with specific LEDs illuminated based on how much voltage is currently running through the system memory.

The ICH10R Southbridge chipset is located directly below the 2 onboard PCI-Express x16 slots, covered by a massive low-profile heat sink. The sink itself acts a terminating point for the heat pipe cooling solution. To the lower left of the chipset are the 8 onboard SATA-2 ports, with the Silicon Image controlled ports in black colored enclosures. Just above the right most SATA-2 ports is an onboard hard drive status LED, which illuminates when any connected SATA or IDE type devices are accessed. To the upper left of the Southbridge are the Southbridge voltage status LEDs, which act as a real-time indicator for the Southbridge voltage status. The front panel header is located in the lower left corner of the board, with the CHA_FAN2 header, the CMOS reset jumper, 3 USB 2.0 headers and the BIOS flash jumper just above it. The Maximus II Formula is designed with 2 physical BIOS chips, with the secondary chip able to be used for backup purposes. The header controls which BIOS chip the board uses for initialization, with the ability to hard-wire BIOS selection or allow BIOS chip selection via a BIOS enabled mechanism. Just above this jumper is a BIOS status LED, which flashes when a BIOS backup or update procedure is occurring.

The Maximus II Formula comes standard with 2 PCI-Express x16 slots, 3 PCI-Express x1 slots, and 2 PCI slots. The onboard power and reset buttons, as well as the OPT_FAN2 and OPT_TEMP2 headers and the IEEE 1394 header are located along the outer edge of the secondary PCI slot. The OPT_FAN1 and OPT_TEMP1 headers are located in between the primary PCI and primary PCI-Express x1 slots, while the OPT_FAN2 and OPT_TEMP3 headers, the Northbridge LED status LEDs, and the ROG LED header are located above the primary PCI-Express x1 slot. Each of the OPT_FAN headers has an associated OPT_TEMP header, which can be used to plug in external temperature sensors. These sensors can be used to configure fan operation via the BIOS. The Northbridge status LEDs show the current voltage status for the Northbridge chipset.

ASUS integrated the following ports in to the Maximus II Formula’s rear panel: a PS/2 keyboard port; 1 IEEE 1394 port; 6 USB 2.0 ports; 2 Marvel Yukon GigE Ethernet ports; an eSATA device port; and a CMOS reset button. The SupremeFX audio riser card plugs in to one of the PCI-Express x1 ports, offering in build support for the Creative Labs X-Fi functionality, as well as 6 analogue audio ports and S/PDIF optical and component output ports.