![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Sunday , March 07, 2010
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS Maximus III Extreme Motherboard Review
The Maximus III Extreme is the newest member of ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers) product line, with the board squarely aimed at the high end enthusiast market. With the stiff competition in the Intel arena currently, this board definitely has its work cut out for it. We take a good look at what the MIIIE can do for the air and water cooling overclockers.
BIOS
In designing the BIOS for the Maximus III Extreme motherboard, ASUS chose to use an AMIBIOS style design. The BIOS used for testing and shown below is version 0504.
The Extreme Tweaker menu contains all settings and submenus for manipulating the various board performance related settings. The Ai Overclock Tuner option configures how much control the user has over system performance configuration, with settings for BIOS controlled and manually controlled overclocking available. With this option set to Auto, the mutually exclusive settings CPU Level Up and Memory Level up display. These settings allow for selection of preconfigured speed options for either the CPU speed or memory speed, with voltage and bus speed settings configured automatically on selection.
The XMP setting within the Ai Overclock Tuner option forces the eXtreme Memory Profile setting to display, which sets memory speed, timing, and voltage settings automatically by a manufacturer configured hardware profile.
All available settings become user configurable with this option set to Manual. The CPU Ratio Setting option configures CPU multiplier, which is used in determining the physical CPU speed when multiplied by the setting of the BCLK Frequency option. The BCLK Frequency option controls the board base clock frequency, with a maximum setting of 500MHz. Note that most other component frequencies are determined by the BCLK setting. The PCI-Express bus frequency can be set to a maximum of 200MHz through the PCIE Frequency setting. The DRAM Frequency option controls the memory module speed through the use of predetermined ratios based on the current BCLK Frequency speed setting, with the speeds shown resulting from the static ratios built in to the settings. The QPI Frequency setting controls the speed of the QuickPath Interconnect bus, which is similar in function to the HyperTransport bus found on other boards. The QPI Frequency settings shown vary based on the BCLK Frequency setting selected, with the options shown representative of static BIOS controlled ratios.
The CPU Clock Amplitude setting controls the CPU base clock driving control voltage, with a 1000mV maximum setting allowed. The PCH Clock Amplitude settings configures the PCI clock driving control voltage, also with a 1000mV maximum. The CPU Clock Skew option sets the CPU base clock delay and the PCH Clock Skew sets the PCI clock delay, both allowing for a maximum delay of 1500ps. The Digi+ PWR Mode determines the operational mode of the CPU power circuitry, with the X-Power setting forcing more rigorous performance specifications. The PWM Volt. Control setting controls the CPU MOSFET driving voltage, with a maximum setting of 10V allowed. The Load-Line Calibration option controls CPU VDroop regulation, with the Full Calibration setting allowing for full automated control of this voltage. The CPU Voltage OCP option controls the state for the CPU over current protection circuitry. The operating speed of the CPU power circuitry is configured through the CPU PWM Frequency option, with a maximum frequency of 1000KHz settable. The Sync Mode setting configures the ability to synchronize the BIOS settings with a remote device, using the Bluetooth connection module, the OC Station device, or a remote system connected via the ROG connect cable. The Extreme OV option enhances the upper limit for many of the board voltages. Note that all voltages shown and discussed are with this option enabled.
The CPU voltage can be set to a 2.00V maximum using the CPU Voltage option. The CPU PLL setting controls the power supplied to the CPU power regulation circuitry, with a 2.50425V maximum. The IMC Voltage option controls the voltage supplied to the CPU's internal memory controller, with a 2.00075V ceiling allowed. The chipset voltage is configured via the PCH Voltage setting, with a 1.35150V maximum. The memory voltage, set via the DRAM Voltage option, can be configured for a 2.50425V maximum. The DRAM DATA REF Voltage and DRAM CTRL REF Voltage options control the memory reference voltage settings for the board on a per channel basis, with the settings shown as added or subtracted values from the default voltage amount. For all DRAM reference voltage settings, the maximum additive voltage settable is +200.0mV. The IMC Voltage OCP controls the over current protection circuitry for the CPU's internal memory controller, while the DRAM's circuitry is configured via the DRAM Voltage OCP setting. The IMC PWM Frequency and DRAM PWM Frequency options configure the operational speed for the power circuitry feeding the CPU's internal memory controller and the system memory, with both settable to a 1.33X ratio maximum.
The CPU Configuration submenu contains real-time statistics on the in-use CPU, as well as internal CPU function settings. The user configurable CPU functions include the following: CPU multiplier (CPU Ratio Setting), C1E support, hardware prefetcher support, adjacent cache line prefetch support, CPUID max val limit, Intel virtualization technology, CPU Thermal Module function (CPU TM Function), Execute Disable Bit, core operational controls (Active Processing Cores), A20M support, Intel SpeedStep support, Intel Turbo Mode support, and CPU idle C-state support. The Intel Turbo Mode Tech setting allows for the use a multiplier +1 over the default CPU multiplier when enabled. So if your CPU base multiplier is 20x, enabling this setting gives you access to a 21X multiplier setting.
Accessed via the DRAM Timing Control link from within the Extreme Tweaker menu, the DRAM Timing Control submenu contains all configurable memory timing related settings, including the following: CAS latency; RAS to CAS delay; RAS precharge delay; active to precharge delay (DRAM RAS# ACT Time); RAS to RAS delay; row refresh cycle delay; write recovery delay; read to precharge delay; four activate window delay; CAS to CAS delay (Back-To-Back CAS# Delay); command rate (DRAM Timing Mode); per channel latency; write to read delay across DIMMs; read to write delay across DIMMS; read to read delay across DIMMS; and write to write delay across DIMMS. The write to read delay across DIMMs, read to write delay across DIMMS, read to read delay across DIMMS, and write to write delay across DIMMS settings are broken in to three distinct categories: different DIMM modules (DD); same memory chip placement between modules (SR); and different memory chip placement between modules (DR).
The O.C. Profile Configuration submenu, accessed via the ASUS O.C. Profile link at the bottom of the Extreme Tweaker page, allows for storage of up to 8 BIOS profiles, which are full snapshots of all BIOS settings at the time of profile creation. These profiles can be custom named, and then saved or loaded. The Start O.C. Profile option from within the submenu allows for file based storage of the current BIOS settings for storage. The interface is very similar in design to the EZ Flash 2 interface, with access to all attached system storage devices for save and load operations, including attached USB 2.0 devices.
The Storage Configuration submenu, accessed from Storage Configuration link within the Main menu, contains configuration settings for the onboard Intel P55 controlled SATA 2 ports. The SATA Configuration option works in conjunction with the Configure SATA as setting to configure the SATA port operational mode. With the Compatible mode setting selected from within the SATA Configuration option, the system is restricted to accessing to a total of 4 SATA 2 devices. The Enhanced mode setting allows for use of all SATA 6 ports in standalone IDE, AHCI, or RAID mode. These operation modes are configured via the Configure SATA as setting. This option becomes user configurable with the SATA Configuration option set to Enhanced. Note that the Intel RAID boot BIOS will only show on startup with drives connected to the onboard Intel P55 controlled SATA 2 ports.
The System Information submenu, accessed via a link from the Main menu as well, displays read-only information about the current BIOS revision, CPU, and memory related settings.
The Advanced menu contains submenus for configuring the onboard integrated devices. Note that the CPU Configuration submenu contains the same screen shown when the CPU Configuration submenu is selected from the Extreme Tweaker page.
The Onboard Devices Configuration submenu contains configuration options for the integrated devices, which include the JMicron SATA/eSATA controller, the Marvell SATA 3 controller, the Realtek GigE LAN controllers, the USB 3.0 controller, and the VIA HD audio subsystem.
The USB Configuration submenu contains settings for configuring the onboard USB 2.0 ports and devices. The USB Mass Storage Device Configuration link shows with a USB or USB 2.0 device connected to the system. This submenu allows you to configure device specific options, including the device emulation settings.
The LED Control submenu contains configuration settings for the various onboard LED displays. Note that the CPU LED display can be configured to display voltage warnings for one of three CPU related systems.
The ROG Connect submenu contains settings for enabling the ROG Connect functionality, allowing control of the local system settings from a remotely connected system.
The Hardware Monitor submenu, accessed via a link from within the Power menu, contains submenus for monitoring and controlling the various BIOS monitored device settings.
The Voltage Monitor submenu displays voltage statistics for all system monitored device voltages. The Temperature Monitor submenu displays temperature statistics for system monitored devices, as well as allowing for user setting of thresholds for the BIOS triggered overheat protection protocol (system shutdown). The Fan Speed Monitor submenu displays statistics on all monitored fan headers, with speeds listed for headers with fans attached.
The Fan Speed Control submenu allows for user configuration of the fan header operational state. All onboard fan headers can be configured for static or variable fan speed control, with the variable speed control based on user configured temperature thresholds.
The Hard Disk Drives submenu, located from a link within the Boot menu, displays all hard drive type devices connected to the system at system initialization time including properly detected USB 2.0 type devices.
The Tools menu is a centralized repository for all of the ASUS proprietary BIOS utilities, including the EZFlash2 BIOS update utility, a BIOS profile storage mechanism, the Go Button configuration settings, and the BIOS Flashback dual BIOS configuration settings. Note that the ASUS O.C. Profile submenu contains the same screens and settings shown ASUS O.C. Profile submenu is selected from the Extreme Tweaker page.
The Go Button submenu contains a list of current configuration settings tied to the Go Button, and a list of configurable frequency and voltage settings that can be used to configure the Go Button settings. Note that the saved settings for the Go Button take effect when the Go Button on the motherboard is pressed, which is the red button just under the board memory slots.
The ASUS EZ Flash 2 utility is accessed via the ASUS EZ Flash 2 link in the Tools menu. The application allows you to update the system BIOS from any connected drive device, including properly detected USB 2.0 devices.