ASUS Rampage IV Extreme BF3 Review

The ASUS Rampage IV Extreme is touted as the ‘choice of champions’. We have it on the test bed today to put that claim to the test…

Product on review: ASUS ROG Rampage IV Extreme Battlefield 3

Manufacturer: ASUS
Street Price: £399.98 inc. VAT

The ASUS Rampage range of motherboard have been extremely popular among enthusiasts thanks to the fantastic looks of the mainboards. The Rampage range of motherboards were one of the first motherboard ranges to implement a colour scheme which has evolved over the years from red white and blue to the red and black theme we see today. This colour scheme is immidiatley identifiable as being part of the ROG (Republic Of Gamers) which incorporates not only motherboards but graphics cards, notebooks and a peripheral range. Beauty of course is only skin deep and only when you get past the skin and bones of the rampage range do you come to realise just what is meant by the analogy ‘choice of champions’ because the Rampage range not only look the business but they have overclocking prowess to match.

The Rampage range of motherboards, specifically the ‘Extreme’ variants have proven very popular with overclocking gurus breaking world record after world record thanks to the user friendly yet very expansive BIOS the ASUS boards use. It should also go without saying that being a ‘Gamers’ motherboard, the Rampage motherboards also offer compatabality for multiple graphics cards configurations regardless of whether your preference is AMD or NVIDIA.

So then, great looking, extremely configurable and technologically advanced all wrapped up in a class leading package. It should certainly be a contender for the top spot among our X79 motherboard range we have reviewed thus far. As is always the case though, if you want the best then you usually have to pay the price and at just short of £400, the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme is anything but a budget motherboard. You do however get quite a lot for the money as we will see over the next few pages. Whether that will be enough to tempt you damage the bank balance only you can decide so sit back and have a read through the next few pages before making that decision as we take you through what is one of the finest motherboards to grace the halls of Vortez…

About ASUS Republic Of Gamers

For years since its establishment, ASUS aimed to put an ever-greater emphasis on PC gaming. This process resulted in the 2006 founding of the Republic of Gamers brand (ROG), formed for the sole purpose of delivering the most innovative hardcore hardware for truly dedicated gamers.

Since then, the efforts of the ROG team have led to a constant flow of PC gaming technology that has become legendary among enthusiasts for its performance. ROG is more than just hardware, though – we take an active part in the global gaming community, helping develop the industry by sponsoring events such as QuakeCon, BlizzCon and Dreamhack. Worldwide media have recognized ROG as a leader in PC gaming, with many of our products winning awards and gaining very positive feedback from hardware pros.

With this great response from gamers and the industry, ROG has all the resources it needs to keep working on enabling even better experiences – technology never sleeps, nor should the action!

Specification & Features

One of the main attractions to the X79 chipset is the huge bandwidth available courtesy of 8 DIMM slots capable of delivering up to 128GB. Couple this with PCIe Gen 3, 6Gb/s SATA and USB 3.0 along with the usual array of multimedia connectivity and X79 becomes a very complete proposition.

Intel X79 Express Chipset Block Diagram

Below are the specifications of today’s review sample, the ASUS X79 Rampage IV Extreme:

Specifications

CPU
Intel® Socket 2011 for 2nd Generation Core™ i7 Processors
Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2
* Refer to www.asus.com for CPU support list

Chipset
Intel® X79

Memory
4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 2400(O.C.)/2200(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066 MHz Memory
Quad Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
* Hyper DIMM support is subject to the physical characteristics of individual CPUs.

Multi-GPU Support
Supports NVIDIA® 4-Way SLI™ Technology *1
Supports AMD 4-Way CrossFireX Technology

Expansion Slots
4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16; x16/x16; x16/x8/x16 and x16/x8/x8/x8, red) *2
2 x PCIe 2.0 x1

Storage
Intel® X79 chipset :
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), red
4 x SATA 3Gb/s port(s), black
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
ASMedia® ASM1061 controller :
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), red
2 x Power eSATA 6Gb/s port(s), red

LAN
Intel®, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s)

Audio
SupremeFX III built-in 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
– Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): 110 dB
– Output THD+N at 1kHz: 95 dB
– Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
Audio Feature :
– SupremeFX Shielding™ Technology
– 1500 uF Audio Power Capacitor
– Gold-plated jacks
– X-Fi® Xtreme Fidelity™
– EAX® Advanced™ HD 5.0
– THX® TruStudio PRO™
– Creative ALchemy
– Blu-ray audio layer Content Protection
– Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel

USB Ports
ASMedia® USB 3.0 controller :
6 x USB 3.0 port(s) (4 at back panel, blue, 2 at mid-board)
Intel® X79 chipset :
12 x USB 2.0 port(s) (6 at back panel, black+white, 6 at mid-board)

Back I/O Ports
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s)
2 x eSATA 6Gb/s
1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)
4 x USB 3.0
6 x USB 2.0 (one port can be switched to ROG Connect)
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
6 x Audio jack(s)
1 x Clear CMOS button(s)
1 x ROG Connect On/ Off switch(es)

Internal I/O Ports
1 x USB 3.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.0 port(s)
3 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 6 USB 2.0 port(s)
4 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s)
4 x SATA 3Gb/s connector(s)
2 x CPU Fan connector(s)
3 x Chassis Fan connector(s)
3 x Optional Fan connector(s)
1 x S/PDIF out header(s)
1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s)
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s)
1 x Front panel audio connector(s) (AAFP)
1 x System panel(s)
1 x Slow Mode switch(es)
8 x ProbeIt Measurement Points
3 x Thermal sensor connector(s)
1 x EZ Plug connector(s) (4-pin Molex power connector)
1 x Power-on button(s)
1 x Reset button(s)
1 x LN2 Mode switch(es)
1 x Go Button(s)

BIOS
2 x 64Mb UEFI AMI BIOSs, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.5, ACPI2.0a Multi-Language BIOS

Form Factor
ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )

Features

Overclocking Features
ROG Connect :
– RC Diagram
– RC Remote
– RC Poster
– GPU TweakIt

Extreme Engine Digi+ II :
– 8 -phase CPU power design
– 3 -phase VCCSA power design
– 2 + 2 phase DRAM power design

ROG Extreme OC kit :
– Slow Mode
– LN2 Mode
– PCIe x16 Lane Switch
– Q Reset
– EZ Plug
ProbeIt

UEFI BIOS features :
– ROG BIOS Print
– GPU.DIMM Post

GameFirst
iROG
Extreme Tweaker
Loadline Calibration
USB BIOS Flashback

Overclocking Protection :
– COP EX (Component Overheat Protection – EX)
– Voltiminder LED II
– ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)

Special Features
ASUS EPU :
– EPU
CPU Level Up

ASUS Exclusive Features :
– MemOK!
– Onboard Button : Power/Reset/Clr CMOS (at back IO)

ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution :
– ASUS Fan Xpert

ASUS EZ DIY :
– ASUS O.C. Profile
– ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
– ASUS EZ Flash 2
– ASUS MyLogo 2

ASUS Q-Design :
– ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED)
– ASUS Q-Slot
– ASUS Q-DIMM
– ASUS Q-Connector

Let’s compare against another leading motherboard and the one which it will be measured against today, the MSI X79 Big Bang XPower2…

Flagship Comparison

Compared to the specification of our last four motherboard subjects based on the X79 chipset, the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme looks to hit the sweet spot managing to balance features with powerful on-board components with little compromise. Below is a comparison shot between the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme and it’s closest competitor, the MSI X79 Big Bang XPower II:

Straight away we see that the ASUS motherboard is dwarfed by the MSI. ASUS have managed to cram a huge array of features and a quite impressive specification (below) into a standard motherboard design which conforms to ATX standards rather than the XL size of the MSI. The MSI has double the size voltage regulation module (22 phase vs 11) while both motherboards retain quad channel memory.

The MSI mainboard has 7 PCIe ports whereas the ASUS board has 5. In fairness to ASUS though, the liklihood of all seven slots on the MSI being used are extremely slim considering that most mid-high end graphics cards today are double size meaning each GPU would take up two PCIe slots. That said more and more add-on cards are becomming available that use the PCIe bus and thus the MSI does have that extra appeal.

Also worthy of note is that the ASUS has a fan on the X79 chipset cooler but has smaller heatsinks than the MSI so rather than opt for a large passive design, ASUS have trimmed back on the use of metal and gone with an active cooling design. We will investigate this further later in the review.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and while the MSI certainly looks oppresive, the ASUS traditional red/black theme i sure to appeal to the masses even if it is starting to look a little ‘same old same-old’.

Packaging & Accessories

Box Front

As this is the Battlefield 3 edition of the Rampage IV Extreme, the front of the box is dominated by the Battlefield 3 product design which any gamer worth their salt will be very familiar with. as suggested on the front of the package, the retail edition will come bnundled with a free copy of EA’s latest and greats first person shooter. The Rampage IV Extreme is also available at a reduced cost for those not needing the game though and this package is the all too familiar red/black/grey design used with previous ROG motherboards.

The front of the box also has a window hidden behind a Velcro sealed flap showing the mainboard in all its glory with the mainboards features printed on the inside of the window shutter.

Box Rear

The rear of the box goes on to display the main specifications of the motherboard and also display a line drawing of the I/O backplate.

Box inner

ASUS have leave no stone unturned with regards to packaging which I’m pleased to say has continued with the Rampage IV Extreme. Inside the box you will find a further two boxes. A windowed frame holds the mainboard securely in place in one box while the other (pictured above) is a compartmentalised unit holding all manner of accessories.

Manuals and Guides

Aside from the accessories below, ASUS supply a good range of manuals and guides that cover pretty much all you need to know about the mainboard. A driver CD with extensive motherboard utilities is also included, some of which are very useful.

Accessories

ASUS have thrown the budget out of the window for this package as there is everything but the kitchen sink included in the accessory list:
I/O Shield
4 x SATA 3Gb/s cable(s)
4 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
1 x 3-Way SLI bridge(s)
1 x SLI bridge(s)
1 x CrossFire cable(s)
1 x Q-connector(s) (2 in 1)
1 x ROG Connect cable(s)
1 x ROG theme label(s)
1 x 12 in 1 ROG Cable Label(s)
1 x X-Socket pad(s)
1 x ROG Door Hanger(s)
1 x BATTLEFIELD 3 Key Code
1 x BATTLEFIELD 3 Lanyard

Of notable interest in the OC Key (pictured centre). This neat little device allows a heads-up-display to be displayed over the main screen not only in a windows environment but all through the boot process. It isn’t just for monitoring either but it can be used to overclock the system in real-time.

It’s also worth noting that the Rampage IV Extreme allows the use of previous generation CPU coolers (skt 1366). With the cost of CPU coolers spiralling, this switchable backplate could save you quite a lot of money, offsetting some of the cost of this motherboard.

So, strike one to the ASUS. An extremely well present package that not only looks great but has almost everything you could want in terms of accessories. It even includes a top drawer game which is a first for a motherboard that I am aware. My only regret is that ASUS apparently do not provide a 4-way SLI bridge although it was included in our sample. They do however state that this can be purchased separately.

Let’s take a look at the motherboard itself shall we?

First Look

Mainboard Front

The ASUS Rampage IV Extreme looks near identical to the former Rampage Extreme motherboard that proved so popular among X58 followers. This time around though the ROG mainboard features 8 DIMM slots, a redesigned heatsink assembly and a slightly different PCIe configuration. The aesthetics look as good as they always have and lovers of this colour scheeme will be happy to see it’s return. I do however feel the scheme is beginning to become a little tired or perhaps overused. How could it be improved? Well apart from the overall colour scheme, the white tabs do tend to spoil the whole red/black look somewhat so it wouldn’t be too much to ask for black port retention clips would it?

Mainboard Rear

At the rear of the mainboard we can see that the backplate is a little different from what we are used to seeing and the PCIe layout has the main 16x slots in position 1 (top) and four which should ensure plenty of ventilation is afforded for those looking at an SLI/Crossfire setup.

CPU Socket Area

At first glance the CPU socket appears to be a little more cramped that we are used to seeing with a MOSFET heatsink both above and below the socket area with a further heatsink adjacent to the leftmost DIMM slots. There are a few random Solid caps spoiling what could have been a very neat socket area but lovers of extreme cooling should have little problems insulating this area regardless.

Quad Channel Memory

Once again we see a return of the single clip memory slots enabling installation/removal of DIMM’s very easy with just a single clasp holding the memory modules in place rather than the two we are used to. This is especially useful for when you would want to remove or install memory with a GPU already in position.

PCIe Area

The Rampage IV features 4x PCIe Gen 3 slots capable of x16, x16/x16, x16/x8/x16 or 16/x8/x8/x8 in either SLI or Crossfire configurations. Previously the NVIDIA NF200 chip was required for quad SLI but thanks to the additional 8 lanes oprovided by the X79 chipset, quad sli is now a reality without the expensive NVIDIA component. IT would have been nice to find a legacy PCI slot thrown into the mix as some people still use this connector type.

Closer Look

SATA Ports

The mainboard has 8 SATA ports 6 on the X79 chipset with a further two controlled by the ASMedia ASM1061 chip. Four of these ports are specified SATA 6Gb/s (2x X79, 2x ASMedia) which are designated by their red colour while the remaining four black ports are 3GB/s controlled via the X79 chipset. The square block at the right next to the SATA ports is the Sub-Zero Sense controller. This controller has two Type-K digital thermometers on-board allowing for digital temp monitoring on the fly without the need for a separate (expensive) digital thermometer.

I/O Area

The I/O area is as full featured as we have seen thus far from an X79 offering. From left to right we have a PS2 Mouse keyboard combo port with twin USB 2.0 ports beneath. The two buttons next to this are the CLR CMOS button and ROG Connect which enables the OC KEY heads up display. A further 4x USB 2.0 ports are then joined by a Bluetooth module, 2 more USB 2.0 ports and an e-SATA port. Next to this we see the RJ-45 Ethernet port with 2x USB 3.0 ports beneath adjacent to a further e-SATA ports and yet another set of twin USB 3.0 ports. Finally we see the audio module consisting of 5x 3.5mm jacks (7.1 surround capability via Realtek Audio and an optical S/PDIFF out port.

Power Ports

Unlike most high end motherboards which make use of twin 8pin 12v power ports, the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme only requires a 8+4 configuration. There is also a 6pin PCIe power port above the primary PCIe x16 slot to give the PCIe slots a bump in power should it be needed by extreme overclocking (multiple GPU configurations).

On-Board Sound

For a motherboard of this price I was surprised ASUS did not include their XONAR chipset. The sound however is provided via the popular REALTEC ALC898 Codec which is capable of 8+2 channel audio.

Dual BIOS

As with most high end board, the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme features a dual BIOS system capable of flashing over the primary BIOS should a bad flash occur. This is nothing new but a feature which is no less important to those who want piece of mind while flashing the BIOS which incidently can be done via the BIOS (automated under DOS environment) or via Windows. As always, the former method is recommended.

OC Functionality

There are many buttons on this high end board as you would expect but the main area that will receive the most use is the above section. Bottom most are the voltage measuring ports of which adaptors are provided for ease of use. Upper left we see the GO buttons which will reboot the system while retaining the overclocked settings. Only the memory configurations will be restored to default settings. Next to this there is a PCIe disabler allowing the isolation of various PCIe ports which is an ideal tool for trouble shooting multiple GPU configurations, especially when watercooling. Next we find the main start and reset buttons which need little introduction other than they light up white and red respectively when operated. The LN2 mode switch allows the system to boot under extreme cold temperatures, effectively eradicating colg bug issues with this mainboard. Last of all we come to the overclockers/system builders favourite, the LED debug readout, a God send for trouble shooting pc configurations.

X79 Heatisnk

Unusually, ASUS have opted to use a small fan on the main X79 heatsink. We have also seen ASRock use this design while MSI and GIGABYTE decided against such an extravagance. While I have yet to see X79 temperatures reach anywhere near dangerous levels, even under high stress, MOSFFET temperatures do seem to effect overclocking so with the whole heatsink on this mainboard being connected by a single heatpipe it does make sense to use as much cooling as possible. I do however worry about the noise this little fan will produce.

MOSFET Heatisnk

The centre of the mainboard is dominated by the ROG emblem on one of the three MOSFET heatsinks. Sadly, this heatsink is not illuminated in anyway unlike previous ROG motherboards which was a shame but understandable given the smaller size.

Let’s see what is hidden beneath the heatsink shall we?

Closer Look Pt.2

Choke Contact

Before removing the heatsink I noticed that the heatsink did not cover the chokes in their entirety. Not that chokes need excessive cooling you understand but it was strange that ASUS felt the need to cool some of them yet not all.

Heatsink Assembly

The heatsink on the RIVE is a single piece affair with three MOSfet coolers and the X79 chipset (Active) heatsink all being linked together by a 6mm heatpipe. I’m not normally a fan of linking all of the components together as this can prove troublesome for watercoolers who wish to cool either the VRM or chipset but with a design such as this everything must be watercooled or not at all. There is however method to this madness because with the X79 heatsink having active cooling, this small fan will assist the disipation of heat carried along the heatpipe from the hot VRM area saving ASUS from attaching huge VRM heatsinks in order to keep temperatures under control.

Voltage Regulation

Rather than opt for a huge VRM setup the ASUS makes use of a digital 11 phase design as opposed to the MSI Big Bangs 22 phase hybrid digital design.

Choke Contact

Finally we arrive at the heart of the mainboard, the X79 chipset itself. Strangely, the ASUS Rampage IV has a metal IHS protecting the silicon core – the first time we have seen this. The application of the integrated heatspreader is bizarre though as it is far from flat having a convex appearance.

Rampage IV Extreme Overview

Overall then, the Rampage IV retains it’s fantastic looks from previous generations but has recived numerous updates to bring it up to speed with the latest Intel generation chipset features. There can be no doubting that this board will have some serious firepower able to, if not conquer the best motherboards currently available and with looks, packaging and features to match it’s very high specification it is surely a contender for top spot among our previously reviewed X79 motherboards.

Test Setup

When we decided to put the test bench together for X79 we wanted a system that would not only perform well but also last the test of time given that X58 has been around for some 3 years now so we saw no reason to believe that its successor, X79 would not be able to do the same.

Some of the components for our test bench were kindly donated by CORSAIR who provided the majority of components without whom we would not have been able to bring you this review so a big thanks to them. Thanks also go to MSI who donated their NVIDIA GTX560Ti.

Motherboards on test:

ASUS Rampage IV Extreme

MSI X79 Big Bang XPower II
ASRock X79 Extreme4-M
GIGABYTE X79-UD5
MSI X79A-GD65(8 D)

X79 Test Setup
CPU: Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX560Ti
RAM – 16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance (Red) DDR3 @ 1866MHz 9-10-9-27
Power Supply – Corsair TX750M 750W
Hard Drive – Hitachi SATA II 250GB
Samsung F3 1TB
Cooler – Corsair H100

Benchmarks

Cinebench 11.5 – CPU Score
x264 HD 4.0 – 1st and 2nd pass encoding
SiSoftware SANDRA 2011 – CPU benchmarks
AIDA64 – CPU benchmarks
CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 – Convert 145MB MP4 to avi
PCMark 7 – System Benchmark
3DMark 11 – Performance and Extreme preset Overall and Physics Score
Games – Crysis 2, DiRT3, Metro 2033

Other Software
Core Temp 0.99.5
LinX stress Test
CPUID HWMonitor

Overclocking

The ASUS Rampage Extreme uses a BIOS that is perhaps one of the best we have seen yet. Being UEFI is has a very attractive GUI which is both intuitive and despite the huge array of options, not initially overwhelming. I say not initially as once you get past the basics, which in the face of it are more advanced than many standard motherboard BIOS systems, the Rampage BIOS soon opens up a wealth of options enough for the most extreme of tweakers.

The BIOS is controlled by the mouse, keyboard or a combination of the two. Each option requiring a numerical value can be entered manually with the keyboard or can be adjusted using the mouse buttons and scroll wheel. You would think that setting up the BIOS is a very simple affair then. For the most part this is true as most of the options allow for an AUTO option so for people new to overclocking or those just wanting a simple overclock, the ASUS engineers have done all of the hard work for you. However, if you begin to stray too far from the path, ASUS have also given you a reminder that you are increasing voltages to dangerous levels by colour coding the values, black, yellow purple and red – black being safe through to red being the most dangerous. I must stress at this point that the voltage ranges on many of the options with the Rampage extreme are so varied that one can easily destroy a component if they are not careful despite the safety reminders ASUS have implemented after, this is an ‘Extreme’ motherboard.

If you are the more advanced/experienced overclocker then dare I say you too will be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options available. While the standard layout of controls will be familiar, many of the options bring up a sub menu of options that are simply mind blowing and will no doubt have overclocking forums discussing and deciphering for months. That said, ASUS do afford a basic description of many of the new overclocking options in the sidebar, particularly the voltage adjustment options in Digi-Power which are very useful for extracting the very last drop of performance from the CPU/mainboard. The manual too will become dog-eared as it will no doubt be used for a reference guide during those head scratching moments of frustration when you seemingly ‘hit the wall’.

Once you have BIOS setup just how you want and your tuned overclock dialled in the fun does not stop there as when you get into a windows operating environment ASUS allow further adjustments using the much improved AI Suite:

The AI suite offers many of the BIOS options but this very useful utility allows for fine tuning ‘on-the-fly’ as the settings are adjusted in real time and do not require a reboot save for memory/cpu strap adjustments. The GUI is once again very easy to follow but I would advise caution in believing some of the unrealistic CPU temperature readouts as the ASUS PC Probe software reported temperatures that were 8c lower than both Core Temp and Real Temp utilities. I did find however that the tool allowed me to get a little further in Windows with my overclock than I could with the BIOS alone and because it requires no reboot, a lot of testing can be done without having to wait for the system to boot to find an overclock that is both efficient and powerful, striking a balance between power consumption and performance.

At default settings (Turbo enabled), the ASUS Rampage clocks the CPU up to 3.9GHz which is great for those looking for a boost in power and I would certainly recommend having Turbo enabled as it gives you the power when you need it and the voltage reduction (cost saving) when you don’t. However, as we like to keep things on the level playing field, for our run of benchmarks we disable Turbo and run the CPU at a constant 3.3GHz to ensure there are no anomalies in our results.

We now know that our CPU is capable of breaking the 5GHz barrier and it can be stabalised at this speed with our favourite overclocking motherboard, the MSI Big Bang XPower II so the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme has quite big boots to fill if it is to compete.

…and fill them it does! Reaching the exact same overclock as the BIG Bang XPower II, using the exact same voltage, the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme equals our best overclocking result on the X79 chipset. Initially, the CPU did not like the 50x multiplier but thanks to the varied amount of options offered by the ASUS BIOS, forcing the CPU to play ball was actually an enjoyable affair as some options helped the overclock, some made matters worse but rather than being frustrated by the lack of progress, I was intrigued by the wealth of options and there effect they had on the CPU overclock. 5GHz is a phenomenal result in anyone’s books and I was very pleased but I couldn’t help feeling there was a little more left in the tank so to achieve the 5.075GHz screenshot above, AI Suite’s TurboV EVO tool was employed which allowed me to nudge the baseclock up in increments of 0.1MHz. This fine tuning allowed our very maximum overclock to be achieved.

Overall then the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme is an overclocking delight. A motherboard that has all of the tools you could ever want to extract the ultimate in performance from your CPU. Believe me when I say that if you cannot get the maximum from your CPU with this mainboard, then you will not get it with any other. Sure this motherboard has many options available and this will tempt you to tweak more than you normally may but isn’t that part of the fun? Isn’t it better to have those options available? How many times have you sat reading overclocking forums wishing your motherboard had that CPU strap option or you wish you could adjust that particular voltage. This motherboard will have many users who do not have this mainboard very, very jealous!

Power Consumption

To test for power consumption we use the same basic components for each motherboard on test. Readings are then taken from the wall both in stock (Optimised defaults loaded) and maximum overclocked (Voltages may vary).

The ASUS Rampage IV Extreme was found wanting in this area I’m afraid. Being an Extreme motherboard power consumption appears to have come second to outright performance as the ASUS board consumed more power at idle and load on average than any of the motherboards on test. This is exemplified even more by the idle and load conditions when overclocked as the RIVE consumed noticeably more power. Perhaps this was as a result of tweaking (increasing) more of the voltage settings than the other motherboards had available but nevertheless, more power consumption equates to being more expensive to run which is not great for the average consumer. Overclockers will however care little for power consumption as long as the highest overclock is attained so for the most part, ASUS can be forgiven for this.

While power consumption is high on the agenda in today’s current climate, there is often a trade of between power consumption and performance and because of the numerous additional voltage tweaks ASUS afford the user, increasing these additional voltage options will also increase the power consumption of the mainboard so in this respect, ASUS are a victim of their own success.

Let’s see how the motherboard performs in our suite of benchmarks…

Sisoft Sandra 2012

SANDRA isn’t always a benchmark that is included in hardware reviews but I believe it shouldn’t be ignored. SANDRA provides a vigorous package that tests your system in a rather large array of benchmarks. There are many aspects of benchmark that can be executed. We will be considering – CPU and memory tests.

AIDA64

This simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic “Queens problem” on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard. At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores. For example — with HyperThreading disabled — the Intel Northwood core processors get higher scores than the Intel Prescott core based ones due to the 20-step vs 31-step long pipeline. CPU Queen test uses integer MMX, SSE2 and SSSE3 optimizations.

x264 HD V4.0

Simply put, this test measures how fast your machine can encode a short, DVD quality MPEG-2 video clip into a high-quality x264 video clip. What’s x264, you ask? It’s more or less the next-generation Xvid/DivX codec. I think it’s ideal for a benchmark because the application (x264.exe) reports fairly accurate compression results (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encoding process, and it uses multi-core processors very efficiently. The test uses multiple cores efficiently to give a good representation of real world performance.

Cinebench 11.5

Based on the MAXON animation software CINEMA 4D, Cinebench is a test suite that uses the system’s processing power to render a photorealistic 3D scene. This makes it an excellent benchmark to measure CPU and motherboard performances.

CINEBENCH can measure systems with up to 64 processor threads. This test scene contains approximately 2,000 objects which in turn contain more than 300,000 polygons in total, and uses sharp and blurred reflections, area lights, shadows, procedural shaders, antialiasing, and much more. The result is displayed in points (pts). The higher the number, the faster your processor.

Futuremark: 3DMark 2011

Designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

Futuremark PCMark 7

PCMark 7 is a tool provided by FutureMark that tests the PCs ability in general office and everyday use. It produces a number that reflects the all-round performance of the PC and is useful to compare between differing setups. For more information, visit the FutureMark website.

Gaming Benchmarks

Crysis 2
Crytek took an internet beating from its loyal fans due to the fact that they pandered to the console masses and dumbed down the graphics to DirectX 9. Fortunately, fans of the PC version of Crysis managed to force Cryteks hand and they have since developed a DX11 patch and have also enhanced the textures with added tesselation. It is for this reason that we have decided to include it in our suite of benchmarks.

DiRT3
As players race to elevate their global standing, DiRT 3 is back delivering mud, sweat and gears world over: from the intense weather-beaten rally stages of Europe, Africa and the US, to executing performance driving showcases and career challenges where car control is pushed to spectacular limits.

Metro 2033
Based on the novel by the same name, Metro 2033 is a first person shooter with elements of survival horror. As Artyom, you trawl through the mutant infested metro systems of post-apocalyptic Moscow. The game delivers presents a grim ambience that reflects on the overall atmosphere of the underground setting. Metro 2033 uses the setting as a back drop to showcase some of the best visuals of any games out now, making it the ideal benchmark for those looking for the best graphics card.

Conclusion

There are so many expletives that could be used to describe the motherboard we have reviewed today but I think ASUS got it bang on the money with ‘Extreme’ because the 4th incarnation of the ASUS Rampage motherboard has everything you could ever want for a foundation to a top of the line PC system. The motherboard performed in the top echelons during our suite of benchmarks proving that it’s stunning looks are indeed matched by awesome performance. This performance was mirrored by it’s overclocking prowess because at 5.075GHz, the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme was capable of wringing every lost drop of performance from our poor CPU.

It’s not only the performance of the mainboard that deserves praise though, the packaging and included components that come bundled with the motherboard are some of the best we have seen thus far with a motherboard, regardless of the chipset. The OC Key is a great peripheral for overclockers and tweakers alike as the heads-up display allows the monitoring your systems every need regardless of what you may be doing. ASUS not only include a no1 best selling PC game in the guise of the hugely popular Battlefied 3 but also throw in a matching lanyard. The usual accessories haven’t been overlooked either, rather they have been expanded to include not one, two or even three SLI bridge but all four are available. There really is everything but the kitchen sink included and if transportation wasn’t an issue, I’m sure that ASUS would not just have included a kitchen sink but a whole new fitted kitchen!

The UEFI BIOS of the ASUS motherboard was a delight to use and there were no discernible bugs present that we could detect unlike our previous X79 mainboards. The included software while bloated had some very useful utilities and were very polished throughout which is representative of the ASUS ethos. All too often you see, we have come across exceptional products that are let down by one or two oversights that can be interpreted as an afterthought rather than given any detailed attention. Not so with the ASUS Rampage Extreme. Everything is well thought out and exceptionally designed. The mainboard has all the buttons in the right place, the BIOS is intuitive and the software very good looking which is takes us full circle back to the aesthetics of the motherboard. The red/black theme the ROG design has is identifiable as a brand so ASUS can be forgiven for sticking to the tried and tested colour scheme. Personally, owning a rampage III Extreme I was hoping for something a little different because even though I like the colour, at first glance it is very similar to the older designs. That said it cannot be described as being ugly – far from it as the theme works very well.

Unfortunately, the superior packaging, design and indeed performance will cost you a pretty penny, no less than £399.99 to be precise which is far and away the most expensive mainboard on test. This is perhaps the chink in the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme’s vast armoury because at this price, during the current economic climate, few people can afford such extravagances. The Ferrari of motherboards this may well be but what use is a Ferrari if you have to run it on part worn tyres? A motherboard is only as good as the components you add into the system and I would be hesitant to sacrifice £150 from a GPU in order to get this motherboard if you think it will get you a greater amount of FPS because it won’t. To get the very best from this motherboard, like any motherboard, you need a balanced system and here in lies the problem because at £400 for the mainboard alone you will require some serious money to outfit it with components worthy of such a motherboard, especially if you wish to take advantage of its quad SLI/Crossfire capabilities.

My other major problem with the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme is the heatsink fan. While it’s great ASUS have considered cooling the on-board components down, doing so with a noisy fan makes the motherboard less appealing for those looking for silence as well as performance. The ASRock motherboard we reviewed also had a fan but as it was not used to cool the VRM, was barely audible while the ASUS fan, as good as the cooling is, it is noticeable even when idle which is a shame. Another caveat to the Rampage success story we have witnessed today is the motherboards power consumption. Being the most hungry motherboard on test, the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme will not only cost you most to initially purchase but also cost the most to run which could equate to many pounds over the years of service an investment like this should provide.

Overall then, ASUS have produced a motherboard which is expensive to buy, expensive to run and expensive to fill. If cost means little in your quest for performance then the ASUS motherboard is the very best motherboard available. It has everything an overclocker could want and then some. It is capable of multi GPU configuration, quad channel support, 6GB/s SATA a plethora of connectivity all wrapped up in a class leading package. If you have the disposable income to buy one I would heartedly recommend you do so because price aside, this is one truly awesome piece of hardware that will make you the envy of the overclocking and gaming fraternity.

Pros:
+ Best UEFI BIOS so far
+ Amazing overclocking features
+ Great aesthetics
+ Bountiful on-board Features
+ 4-way SLI/Crossfire
+ Class leading packaging
+ Included Battlefield 3 Game

Cons:
– Noisy Fan
– Power Hungry
– Very Expensive