Asus Formula Maximus Special Edition Motherboard...

[Bucko]

...say that three times fast.

Anyway here's the link:

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=572&l4=0&model=1850&modelmenu=1


I decided at around $90 under retail for a one only at Atomic Live over the weekend I couldn't resist and bought it.
I have plans in my head for it, but now I'm just getting a few parts together.
Like that MoBo if it give you and idea of the quality of parts I'm shooting for...

[khalie]

Great choice m8

[Spawn-Inc]

i really like that built in water block, i wonder how good it is?

[Zephik]

Thats an awesome looking board, seems like it has some pretty good reviews too! Newegg buyers seem to really like it as well, its received five eggs out of twelve reviews so far (only one guy didn't give it five eggs. He gave it one egg, because he's an r-tard).

The only thing I didn't really like on this board is the slot layout. I prefer something in this fashion;

PCI-E x16
PCI-E x1
PCI-E x16
PCI-E x1
PCI
PCI
PCI

In this case, for your board, I would prefer that first PCI slot to be another x1 slot for the sound card. Just seems to give everything plenty of room and looks a lot more clean and neat in my opinion. But the fact that the dual x16's are both at full speed totally makes up for the seemingly aesthetic slot layout (which I'll admit, does look pretty nice).

Glad to see your shooting for high quality building material, I feel the same way lately, just with a whole lot of "I have no money" mixed in. But I've decided that if I'm going to build another computer anytime soon, I'm going to only buy quality. Starting with my dream case, the Nzxt Adamas. Finally, a case that I can't break! ;-P

[Eclecticos]

Thats like the Lamborghini of Motherboards!
I was checking out some of the closeup pictures HERE (http://www.cpu3d.com/content/view/2287/54/1/2/), Amazing!

[J-Roc]

Does that mobo work with no water or is some sort of WC loop required? I'm a litthe sketchy on the fusion block.

And how does that mobo compare to the blitz series?

P.S that Nzxt Adamas case is pretty sweet.

[Spawn-Inc]

its like the OCZ flex ram sticks. you can use water and i think they recommend water if your going to overclock otherwise you don't have to.

[Scotty]

If it's anything like my Blitz you will NEED to watercool it, the NB on this hit about 75*C, hotter then my CPU or GPU has ever been (albeit watercooled) I have seen reports of the blitz hitting 80+
The waterblock (with water) takes it down to about 40*C idle, not sure about load. Thats after passing the OC'd Q6600

I was going to get it over the Blitz but in the end there was no difference really and the Blitz performs great for what i need. Plus it was £30 more and had to wait

[The boy 4rm oz]

Cool looking board, would rather have an after market northbridge water block though, something from Danger Den or Swiftech. I really like that sound card though :).

A bit of topic but did any of you ever see the ASUS board that had inbuilt DDR3, looked cool but gives you no upgrade path.

[khalie]

A bit of topic but did any of you ever see the ASUS board that had inbuilt DDR3, looked cool but gives you no upgrade path.

You think about - P5K3 Premium/WiFi-AP looking very cool witk copper heat pipe on DDR sticks but only 2GB Ram and no upgrade :( but very interesting idea

[J-Roc]

While i was at the NCIX store today, they had a formula maxima board on display. Although it is a cool concept to incorperate a waterblock into the stock NB cooler, the look of it seems dissatisfying. The customer service rep said it will work without water but i assume the temps would be horrible.

I would much rather see a board that came equiped for liquid only. Insted of heat pipes to draw heat to the waterblock, have water tubes that pass to every component. That would be well worth the investment in my eyes.

[Spawn-Inc]

I would much rather see a board that came equiped for liquid only. Insted of heat pipes to draw heat to the waterblock, have water tubes that pass to every component. That would be well worth the investment in my eyes.

Enter the...

the EVGA 680i A1 Black Pearl (http://evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=122-CK-NF69-A1&family=400).

http://resources.vr-zone.com/newspics/Mar07/19/it1.jpg

mix it with a set of EVGA 8800Ultra Black Pearl (http://evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=768-P2-N888-AR&family=19)'s and you got a nice nice setup.

http://www.jpfcomputing.nl/upload/images/768_p2_n888_ar_full_678.jpg


if i had the cash i would pick them up in a heart beat.

[The boy 4rm oz]

An awesome idea but I wouldn't trust any water cooling items from anyone that doesn't specialize in them. The warranty would be a bitch with water cooled ready hardware such as the mobo and GPU from eVGA above.

[Spawn-Inc]

ya thats my only problem with them, then again if i was rish i would go to a machine shop and have all of them re-done in copper and have the base design changed to swiftech's GTX block with all the little copper pins.

plus after reading a couple of reviews you get a hand picked board which has been tested for oc'ing ability.

[The boy 4rm oz]

I like that hand picked PCB idea but I still wouldn't buy the card. I saved babout $200AUS buy buying a normal 8800GTX and getting an after market waterblock instead of getting the Danger Den cooled 8800GTX from BFG Tech.

[Spawn-Inc]

oh, you were talking about the video card, i thought you meant the motherboard. i agree with the video card, and doing that with the motherboard too. but like i said it i was super rich i would buy it for the hand picked thing then get better blocks.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Well yeah kinda. I agree with you though. I would change the blocks on the mobo aswell. I probably wouldn't worry about the north or south bridges but I would change the CPU block over to my Swiftech GTX .

[xRyokenx]

Enter the...

the EVGA 680i A1 Black Pearl (http://evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=122-CK-NF69-A1&family=400).



mix it with a set of EVGA 8800Ultra Black Pearl (http://evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=768-P2-N888-AR&family=19)'s and you got a nice nice setup.




if i had the cash i would pick them up in a heart beat.

:eek: ...can I crap my pants now?

[crenn]

:eek: ...can I crap my pants now?
Permission granted.

[xRyokenx]

Acknowledged.

Proceeding with pants crapping in...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

(Eww)

[J-Roc]

Well that evga mobo is quite impressive to look at. Thats essentially what i was saying. Allthough, it would be nice if they custom made the N/B-S/B and mosfet blocks into a single unit with one set of connectors.

It looks nice now but after you run the tubing, you'll hardly be able to see the board underneath.