# ASUS Rampage III Extreme Smiles for the Camera



## btarunr (Jan 9, 2010)

One of ASUS' premier offers for this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event is a new high-end socket LGA-1366 motherboard, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Rampage III Extreme. The board succeeds the Rampage II Extreme which launched over an year ago along with Intel's then new Core i7 series processors. The new model based on the Intel X58 Express + ICH10R chipset, comes with four well spaced out PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, a new set of overclocking enhancements such as the ROG connect which lets you control the motherboard's overclocking from any Bluetooth and Java enabled mobile phone, SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 connectivity using ASUS' innovative PCI-Express 2.0 bridge implementation, and a more powerful CPU VRM to keep the board stable with bleeding-edge settings. 

The board features an enhanced CPU VRM which is now powered by two 8-pin ATX connectors apart from two 4-pin Molex connectors. Some of these could be redundant and needed only for electrical stability. The CPU and memory power circuitry makes use of super-ML capacitors for cleaner power delivery. Voltage readouts are located next to the DIMM slots for accessibility. The motherboard makes use of slimmer component heatsinks that look to be made of the ceramic composite which the TUF Sabertooth P55 motherboard uses. 






Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x16, NC, x16, NC; or x8, x8, x8, x8) depending on how they are populated, and one each of PCI-Express 2.0 x4 and PCI. A PLX ExpressLane PEX 8613 bridge chip is used to give out up to 12 PCI-Express 2.0 lanes (using three ports) connecting to the southbridge using its PCI-Express 1.1 x4 link, so that any PCI-E 2.0 device can make use of that amount of bandwidth. Devices connected to it include a Marvell 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s controller, and an NEC 2-port USB 3.0 controller. Connectivity includes 8-channel audio with optical SPDIF output, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, eSATA, USB 2.0 and 3.0. The Rampage III Extreme should come out in Q1, just in time for Intel's 32 nm Core i7 980X six-core processor based on the Westmere architecture.

*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## cool_recep (Jan 9, 2010)

I saw dual BIOS chips


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## CDdude55 (Jan 9, 2010)

I bet the rich people are having an orgy over this.

Looks like a great mobo with tons of nice new features.


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## DrPepper (Jan 9, 2010)

It has two 8 pin cpu power connectors  and two molex connectors


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

I don't like the look of it.


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## Mussels (Jan 9, 2010)

DrPepper said:


> It has two 8 pin cpu power connectors  and two molex connectors



i hope it doesnt REQUIRE both 8 pins to work.


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## overclocking101 (Jan 9, 2010)

yeah its going to costway to much and then when prices start to drop become obsolete just like the R2E and the RE


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## Mussels (Jan 9, 2010)

ooh, built in bluetooth.

i want to see that become standard.


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## theubersmurf (Jan 9, 2010)

Bluetooth overclocking? (Facepalm) I can't imagine wanting to overclock remotely using your phone. Seriously, does anyone see any real value to that feature? To me that strikes me as sort of Frankenstein-ish a feature. Technologies built and put together for the wrong reason...


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

Mussels said:


> i hope it doesnt REQUIRE both 8 pins to work.




To be honest, I don't see the point of an extra cable in the first place, sure the power is more evenly distributed ( supposedly) but presuming you've got a non shit psu you should be golden with 1 connection always.

to put an additional one on, AND two molex power connection just screams MARKETING to me.

" LOOK AT ME AND MY POWER"


I'm finding a lot of motherboards boring recently, getting bigger and flashier rather then working on the things that matter.

Component layout for example D:


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## assaulter_99 (Jan 9, 2010)

Mussels said:


> ooh, built in bluetooth.
> 
> i want to see that become standard.



+1 And I'd love to see wifi come a standard too!


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

theubersmurf said:


> Bluetooth overclocking? (Facepalm) I can't imagine wanting to overclock remotely using your phone. Seriously, does anyone see any real value to that feature? To me that strikes me as sort of Frankenstein-ish a feature. Technologies built and put together for the wrong reason...





I agree with this too, why use your phone, you have a freaken keyboard infront of you, and guess what's easier to use chaps


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## btarunr (Jan 9, 2010)

theubersmurf said:


> Bluetooth overclocking? (Facepalm) I can't imagine wanting to overclock remotely using your phone. Seriously, does anyone see any real value to that feature? To me that strikes me as sort of Frankenstein-ish a feature. Technologies built and put together for the wrong reason...



There's tons of value to that. It's better than EVBot or the OC Palm, is wireless, and relatively cheaper (OC Palm or EVBot add to the motherboard's cost).


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## Mussels (Jan 9, 2010)

assaulter_99 said:


> +1 And I'd love to see wifi come a standard too!



when i see a board with:

2x  PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots with decent spacing
4x USB 2.0 ports
2x SATA - III ports
Built in wireless N
Built in Bluetooth
2x E-sata
SLI support
Crossfire support

Then i will upgrade


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

btarunr said:


> There's tons of value to that. It's better than EVBot or the OC Palm, is wireless, and relatively cheaper (OC Palm or EVBot add to the motherboard's cost).





Yes but what benefit does it have over you know, bios and keyboard?



The only thing I can see is on the fly clocking whilst your in the OS, but I don't like doing that, things tend to crash.


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## btarunr (Jan 9, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> Yes but what benefit does it have over you know, bios and keyboard?
> 
> 
> 
> The only thing I can see is on the fly clocking whilst your in the OS, but I don't like doing that, things tend to crash.



In the middle of a game or benchmark, you can overclock your VGA, CPU, and memory. No, on-the-fly overclocking has been around for years, more often it doesn't crash the machine if you know what you're doing.


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

Still seems gimmicky to me, if others find it useful how ever good for them I guess : ]


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## btarunr (Jan 9, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> Still seems gimmicky to me, if others find it useful how ever good for them I guess : ]



Evidently, you're not the target consumer of this motherboard.


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

btarunr said:


> Evidently, you're not the target consumer of this motherboard.





Obviously, I was only sharing my opinion, we are after all on a public forum, its what they're for I imagined


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## douglatins (Jan 9, 2010)

Concerned about those skinny heatsinks


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## uro (Jan 9, 2010)

*rampage?*

Two things i would like to point out, it seems to be missing a Pci-e x1 slot? 
and i hope there would be a gene version for this as well.


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

douglatins said:


> Concerned about those skinny heatsinks




Another thing I don't like on knew motherboards, especially the new heatsinks Asus are using.

The chipsets are becoming hotter yet they use stupid coloured aluminium in silly inefficient shapes.


Why can't they go back to p5q type designs of copper heatsinks in sensible shapes.



You can plug a pci-e 1 card into a pci-e x16 slot can't you?


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## btarunr (Jan 9, 2010)

For X58+ICH10R, that heatsink is more than sufficient. The chipset no longer houses the memory controller, so you'll almost never be playing with its voltages.


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

btarunr said:


> For X58+ICH10R, that heatsink is more than sufficient. The chipset no longer houses the memory controller, so you'll almost never be playing with its voltages.



Didn't know that, I never got round to playing with my x58 so never got round to finding out about it : [

Thanks.


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## trt740 (Jan 9, 2010)

overclocking101 said:


> yeah its going to costway to much and then when prices start to drop become obsolete just like the R2E and the RE



Nothing obsolete about any of the boards you mentioned and they are some of the best overclockers made. I like this motherboard and the Rogue series is not about what you need it's all about overkill and I love overkill.


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## Fitseries3 (Jan 9, 2010)




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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

Thank you for the better pics!

Glad to see they have 775 mounting holes and 1336, MORE boards need to do this.

Infact no idea why intel bothered to make the mounting holes different on 1336 in the first place.


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## Fitseries3 (Jan 9, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> Infact no idea why intel bothered to make the mounting holes different on 1336 in the first place.



1366 requires more mounting pressure than 775 due to larger surface area of the IHS.


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

How does that apply more pressure?


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## Chicken Patty (Jan 9, 2010)

The boar def. looks very sexy


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## Fitseries3 (Jan 9, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> How does that apply more pressure?



larger mounting area can provide more pressure and spread it accross a larger area.

think of this...

take a nail and push it into the ground with 1000pounds of pressure. what happens? 

now take a 3inch round cylinder and do the same. 

the smaller one sinks right into the ground but the larger one spreads pressure evenly.

idk if i explained that properly but you may get what im saying.


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

I don't think that's right fit, after all your bolting the sink down most of the time, and you do those bolts up all the way they go ( or I do with my stuff) so they would reach the same level of pressure regardless of mounting hole position)


Also from your explanation the wider hole spacing would apply less pressure to a single point, which is what you don't want, you want a lot of pressure just on the CPU, which makes the closest holes the optimal choice, means you have more room for components.



I tested both sets on the blooodrage before I killed it, on my 3503 it made no difference in idle or load.


Any one willing to test this out on their board with 2 sets of mount holes?


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## Kantastic (Jan 9, 2010)

Fitseries3 said:


> larger mounting area can provide more pressure and spread it accross a larger area.
> 
> think of this...
> 
> ...



I didn't get any of that, maybe I'm retarded but it just doesn't make any sense to me.


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## Animalpak (Jan 9, 2010)

This time is very overclocking addicted, all in dual extra power connectors to the cpu and mainboard, sure those are not the final heatsinks.


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## Chicken Patty (Jan 9, 2010)

Kantastic said:


> I didn't get any of that, maybe I'm retarded but it just doesn't make any sense to me.



I get what FIT is trying to say, I am just not sure if it applies to what we were talking about the larger IHS and more spread out mounting holes.


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

I fixed my post as it was hard to read before.

Make sense now guys?


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## Jstn7477 (Jan 9, 2010)

Fitseries3 said:


> http://wd.ch-img.com/1100781-asus-rampage-iii-extreme.jpg
> 
> http://wd.ch-img.com/1100791-asus-rampage-iii-extreme-2.jpg
> 
> ...



There's a THIRD Molex connector on the bottom edge. 

Also, the amount of supplementary chips on this board is ridiculous. I counted 13 in the lower half, not including the BIOS chips, the chipset and the 10 PCIe switches and whatever else I missed.


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## Kantastic (Jan 9, 2010)

So much for cable management .


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## theubersmurf (Jan 9, 2010)

btarunr said:


> There's tons of value to that. It's better than EVBot or the OC Palm, is wireless, and relatively cheaper (OC Palm or EVBot add to the motherboard's cost).


Maybe, I'm not one to use devices like that anyway, I tend to overclock directly in the BIOS via the keyboard. But I guess if you go in for that kind of thing, maybe it's useful, being that there's no specialty instrument manufactured I suppose that's less expensive. It still seems to me gimmicky and honestly pretty silly. Can these devices be used to adjust speed/voltages while the OS is running? I guess if the answer is yes than it may be pretty useful.


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## Assassin48 (Jan 9, 2010)

theubersmurf said:


> Maybe, I'm not one to use devices like that anyway, I tend to overclock directly in the BIOS via the keyboard. But I guess if you go in for that kind of thing, maybe it's useful, being that there's no specialty instrument manufactured I suppose that's less expensive. It still seems to me gimmicky and honestly pretty silly. Can these devices be used to adjust speed/voltages while the OS is running? I guess if the answer is yes than it may be pretty useful.



the evbot is real-time overclocking if i remember correctly, same with the Asus Rog controller thing.

I can see this being useful like when doing 3d benching


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## DRDNA (Jan 9, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> To be honest, I don't see the point of an extra cable in the first place, sure the power is more evenly distributed ( supposedly) but presuming you've got a non shit psu you should be golden with 1 connection always.
> 
> to put an additional one on, AND two molex power connection just screams MARKETING to me.
> 
> ...





This is an overclocking and benching board....not for just any ole desktop.


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

DRDNA said:


> This is an overclocking and benching board....not for just any ole desktop.





I know but a single 8 pin cable supplies enough power, and THEN some even to a heavily over clocked CPU, I sincerely doubt this will make any major difference.

Unless they plan on running 5 volts through a cpu at once.


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## InnocentCriminal (Jan 9, 2010)

As always I like the red & black colour scheme. However, I fuckin' hate 4 pin Molex as it is, last thing I would want to do is plug several of them into my stylish new motherboard.

I really hope the 4 pin Molex connector dies.

:shadedshu


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

You don't have to IC, you use either the 8 pin "regular" connection or the other, its if you don't have a psu with two sets of mobo power cable.

I had a 939 board that had the same, only with 1 of each, not 2 of each.


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## Fitseries3 (Jan 9, 2010)

InnocentCriminal said:


> As always I like the red & black colour scheme. However, I fuckin' hate 4 pin Molex as it is, last thing I would want to do is plug several of them into my stylish new motherboard.
> 
> I really hope the 4 pin Molex connector dies.
> 
> :shadedshu



+1

everything needs to switch to sata power connectors


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## SummerDays (Jan 9, 2010)

bta, can you please clarify, does the mother board support two x16 slots or four?


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## btarunr (Jan 9, 2010)

SummerDays said:


> bta, can you please clarify, does the mother board support two x16 slots or four?



Two x16 or four x8. 

Contrary to some reports on the internet, it doesn't look like there's an nForce 200 chip to me. There are two sets of external PCI-E lane switches.


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## btarunr (Jan 9, 2010)

theubersmurf said:


> Can these devices be used to adjust speed/voltages while the OS is running? I guess if the answer is yes than it may be pretty useful.



The whole idea behind on-the-fly overclocking is letting you handle clock speeds, voltages, and fan speeds with the OS running. The idea behind devices such as the ASUS OC Palm and EVGA EVBot is letting you do that right in the middle of a game / benchmark.

This is not gimmicky because all it takes for the manufacturer is to add a Bluetooth module and necessary hardware, and give you a Java app for your phone. So unlike OC Palm which shot the price of the P6T Deluxe by $50+ or the EVBot (which costs like $75), this isn't coming at a premium. If your phone has Bluetooth and can run Opera Mini (which is a Java app), then it can run the ROG Connect app.


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## SteelSix (Jan 9, 2010)

I like the PCI-E retention tab, looks like it's fingertip accessible from above or below an installed card (if not blocked by a cooler).

I have a Rampage II Extreme, no plans to upgrade but man that's a nice board. The low profile heatsinks are very sexy.


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## adam99leit (Jan 9, 2010)

Fitseries3 said:


> larger mounting area can provide more pressure and spread it accross a larger area.
> 
> think of this...
> 
> ...





i get what your saying ill explain it very very dumbly so people can get it easy ok think of it like this basically you have a cooler on your cpu with 4 levers extruding from it now since the 1366 chip and socket is so much bigger than the 775 chip and socket the cooler is also bigger so if you still used the 775 holes you would be reducing the size of the lever shorter lever=less tension so to compensate for that 1366 has wider mounting holes so that you keep the same size lever to keep correct amount of pressure on the chip hope that explains it better or at least in a different way hope it helps


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## InnocentCriminal (Jan 9, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> You don't have to IC, you use either the 8 pin "regular" connection or the other, its if you don't have a psu with two sets of mobo power cable.
> 
> I had a 939 board that had the same, only with 1 of each, not 2 of each.



I know, but it's the fact if I needed to use them.


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## SteelSix (Jan 9, 2010)

InnocentCriminal said:


> As always I like the red & black colour scheme. However, I fuckin' hate 4 pin Molex as it is, last thing I would want to do is plug several of them into my stylish new motherboard.
> 
> I really hope the 4 pin Molex connector dies.
> 
> :shadedshu



They're in a nice location for dual 120mm exaust fans found on many cases; but I'm with you.. not connecting them to my mobo..


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## pantherx12 (Jan 9, 2010)

They're not for connecting fans guys.

They're for supplying power to the mobo.


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## Mescalamba (Jan 9, 2010)

Bloodrage or Classified? I can´t decide which design they stolen, can you?  It seems quite ok, desing is definetly not best I saw (probably due wrong copying with "improvements from ASUS"). Well, I´ll wait and see how it performs.. and then I´ll buy another mobo, cause nothing from ASUS will enter my domain. 

Long live eVGA.


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## SummerDays (Jan 9, 2010)

Mescalamba said:


> Bloodrage or Classified? I can´t decide which design they stolen, can you?  It seems quite ok, desing is definetly not best I saw (probably due wrong copying with "improvements from ASUS"). Well, I´ll wait and see how it performs.. and then I´ll buy another mobo, cause nothing from ASUS will enter my domain.
> 
> Long live eVGA.



Stop smoking crack!


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## stock (Jan 9, 2010)

Aren't those molex for supplying supplemetry power to the PCI-e lanes?


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## DrPepper (Jan 9, 2010)

stock said:


> Aren't those molex for supplying supplemetry power to the PCI-e lanes?



That's what I'd think but there are other boards that don't use them and have as many PCI-E lanes.


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## Wile E (Jan 9, 2010)

Mescalamba said:


> Bloodrage or Classified? I can´t decide which design they stolen, can you?  It seems quite ok, desing is definetly not best I saw (probably due wrong copying with "improvements from ASUS"). Well, I´ll wait and see how it performs.. and then I´ll buy another mobo, cause nothing from ASUS will enter my domain.
> 
> Long live eVGA.



I was wondering why it took so long for someone to mention the resemblance to the Classified boards.

At any rate, I'm unimpressed by this board. Asus has been overhyped in the past couple of generations in my book. I think Gigabyte and EVGA have been doing a much better job.


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## SummerDays (Jan 9, 2010)

This board has pretty much everything you ask for in an i7 mother board, and it's backed with a top end warranty from Asus.

Throw some waterblocks on it, overclock an i7 980, hooked up three watercooled 5870s, 24 GB of ram (someone check on this), and you're ready to go.

There are two SPDIF coax and optical to hook it up to your stereo system.  USB 3.0 and Sata 6

Plus it's got a ton of quality capacitors that aren't cheap.

What else do you need?  lol


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## Wile E (Jan 9, 2010)

SummerDays said:


> This board has pretty much everything you ask for in an i7 mother board, and it's backed with a top end warranty from Asus.
> 
> Throw some waterblocks on it, overclock an i7 980, hooked up three watercooled 5870s, 24 GB of ram (someone check on this), and you're ready to go.
> 
> ...



Spdif is useless for me, as any on-board audio junk just gets disabled by me anyway.

Sorry, but there are better choices for my money. I'd much rather have the EVGA or GB boards.


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## mtosev (Jan 9, 2010)

asus does it again


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## SteelSix (Jan 9, 2010)

stock said:


> Aren't those molex for supplying supplemetry power to the PCI-e lanes?



My bad, yes they are. In that case, they must be smokin the same stuff I was when I thought they were fans..


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## PP Mguire (Jan 10, 2010)

Guys, if your bitching about extra power for stability then this deff isnt targeted toward you. When i was overclocking my i5 under phase if i unplugged the second 8pin power cable my 4.6ghz clock was unstable as hell. If i had 2 4pin molex for more powah i would most deff get a higher OC. If you see no need for extra connectors like that then this board isnt for you hence you should click the back button.

As for the bluetooth on the fly support, same thing. I would love to be able to NOT use the aging old crap bios to overclock my cpu and change voltages. 

And sorry guys, but Asus has been doing the red and black color scene before eVGA decided to make "Classified" BS.


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## Wile E (Jan 10, 2010)

No they haven't been doing red and black. The only full red and black themed Asus boards are this and the Maximus III boards. EVGA and Biostar both beat them to that punch.


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## PP Mguire (Jan 10, 2010)

Yea "full" red and black. But Asus has been doing red and black much longer since they started doing the whole "ROG" thing.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jan 10, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> To be honest, I don't see the point of an extra cable in the first place, sure the power is more evenly distributed ( supposedly) but presuming you've got a non shit psu you should be golden with 1 connection always.
> 
> to put an additional one on, AND two molex power connection just screams MARKETING to me.
> 
> ...



The molex connectors could be an output? If so I could see tons of applications for them. Pretty cool IMO.


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Jan 10, 2010)

This would seem like ASUS's attempt to compete with the classified for sheer OC'ing power, but imo too little too late.


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## Disparia (Jan 10, 2010)

Someone bring back silver and purple! (Soyo)


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## trt740 (Jan 10, 2010)

Wile E said:


> I was wondering why it took so long for someone to mention the resemblance to the Classified boards.
> 
> At any rate, I'm unimpressed by this board. Asus has been overhyped in the past couple of generations in my book. I think Gigabyte and EVGA have been doing a much better job.



WilE I love ya man but your flat out wrong my Rampage Extreme II is a total beast it took Asus a while but the bugs are gone. Bios 1504 and 1639 have unleashed the Rampage Extreme II. This should be a very good board. You are correct in saying Gigabyte and Evga make good boards aswell. I have always liked the Classified but to tell you the truth you would hard pressed to find a bad x58 board. I also like Gigabytes higher end boards, well to tell ya the truth I like just about every board they make, right down to the 50.00 boards. I have built several AMD systems for family and friends and they are the Toyota's of motherboards. However, Asus really can present a decent solid quality item aswell. Sorry to disagree because when it comes to computers you know your stuff.


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## btarunr (Jan 10, 2010)

Actually, Foxconn has been doing the red+black scheme well before EVGA. EVGA was a wee little player in the motherboard industry (it is even now) relying on NVIDIA's reference designs to sell motherboards. Even its first X58 SLI board continued looking like an NVIDIA board. Foxconn had its BloodRage around that time, it even had various other QuantumForce series boards before X58 that used red+black. So just as you call this a Classified ripoff, you can call Classified a BloodRage ripoff.

Besides EVGA's product availability and service network sucks outside North America. ASUS on the other hand, can service a Rampage III Extreme even in any Indian city with 10,000 population.


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## PP Mguire (Jan 10, 2010)

Jizzler said:


> Someone bring back silver and purple! (Soyo)



Soyo Dragon Ultra Platinum Edition FTW!


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## PCpraiser100 (Jan 10, 2010)

Shall we begin clapping people, or is it too soon?


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## SummerDays (Jan 10, 2010)

Having owned an Asus Rampage II Extreme for over a year, it's kind of like a birthday to see photos of the III.  lol

Excellent board.  Highly Recommended!


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## Mussels (Jan 10, 2010)

Wile E said:


> Spdif is useless for me, as any on-board audio junk just gets disabled by me anyway.
> 
> Sorry, but there are better choices for my money. I'd much rather have the EVGA or GB boards.



when using SPDIF, onboard vs dedicated becomes moot - quality is determined by speakers alone.


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## Mussels (Jan 10, 2010)

TheMailMan78 said:


> The molex connectors could be an output? If so I could see tons of applications for them. Pretty cool IMO.



they're facing the wrong way to be meant as an output


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## btarunr (Jan 10, 2010)

Mussels said:


> they're facing the wrong way to be meant as an output



That plug is facing downwards, otherwise it would get blocked by the video-card in the 4th PCI-E slot.


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## Mussels (Jan 10, 2010)

btarunr said:


> That plug is facing downwards, otherwise it would get blocked by the video-card in the 4th PCI-E slot.



not what i meant.








^ it'd look like that, if stuff were meant to be connected to it


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## Super XP (Jan 10, 2010)

Why can't ASUS release some nice AMD motherboards just like this one with the cool RED theme & features?


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## SummerDays (Jan 10, 2010)

Or you could buy an i7.


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## Chicken Patty (Jan 10, 2010)

SummerDays said:


> Or you could buy an i7.



Or ASUS should just release a AMD board with the cool red and block theme


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## SummerDays (Jan 10, 2010)

Chicken Patty said:


> Or ASUS should just release a AMD board with the cool red and block theme



No, no, no.  You don't get a cool Red and Black theme until you're as fast as an i7.  

If AMD wants to zoom ahead, they can have one and then maybe Intel users will have to wait for one.


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## Chicken Patty (Jan 10, 2010)

SummerDays said:


> No, no, no.  You don't get a cool Red and Black theme until you're as fast as an i7.
> 
> If AMD wants to zoom ahead, they can have one and then maybe Intel users will have to wait for one.



But I had an i7 and I never got one?  I haz a sad.

proof that I had an i7

I figured the board had a dead RAM slot afterwards, notice it's running single channel


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## btarunr (Jan 10, 2010)

Mussels said:


> not what i meant.
> 
> 
> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Molex_female_connector.jpg
> ...



This section would protrude out:






..which is why it's angled downwards.


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## Hayder_Master (Jan 10, 2010)

cool_recep said:


> I saw dual BIOS chips



at last they do gigabyte idea 



DrPepper said:


> It has two 8 pin cpu power connectors  and two molex connectors





Mussels said:


> i hope it doesnt REQUIRE both 8 pins to work.




i think one it work and booth of them better , more power=more stability+more overclocking


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## TAViX (Jan 10, 2010)

I thought ASUS declared that they will stop soon the mobo manuf. ... 

Regarding the board is nice, but only 1 PCI slot? COMMON!!!!!!!

What happen if you have a TV tuner, a SCSI card and/or an internal Wireless adapter, all on PCI????


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Jan 10, 2010)

TAViX said:


> I thought ASUS declared that they will stop soon the mobo manuf. ...
> 
> Regarding the board is nice, but only 1 PCI slot? COMMON!!!!!!!
> 
> What happen if you have a TV tuner, a SCSI card and/or an internal Wireless adapter, all on PCI????



Then this board is not for you, I can see the relevance of a wireless card, I can kinda understand the SCSI card (but really why?), but why would you want/ have/ need a TV tuner on a board of this kind? Seriously with parts as stupid cheap as they are now, why would you run a TV tuner on a enthusiast/ gaming part like this, that's just dumb. That's what god made secondary/download boxes for.


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## Mussels (Jan 10, 2010)

btarunr said:


> This section would protrude out:
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/100110/bta027.jpg
> 
> ..which is why it's angled downwards.



i think we're talking about different things.

People were discussing using them to power fans and such, and my comment was that since they're a socket and not a plug, they're obviously meant for power INput, not output.

nothing about the angle of the plug.


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## Wile E (Jan 10, 2010)

trt740 said:


> WilE I love ya man but your flat out wrong my Rampage Extreme II is a total beast it took Asus a while but the bugs are gone. Bios 1504 and 1639 have unleashed the Rampage Extreme II. This should be a very good board. You are correct in saying Gigabyte and Evga make good boards aswell. I have always liked the Classified but to tell you the truth you would hard pressed to find a bad x58 board. I also like Gigabytes higher end boards, well to tell ya the truth I like just about every board they make, right down to the 50.00 boards. I have built several AMD systems for family and friends and they are the Toyota's of motherboards. However, Asus really can present a decent solid quality item aswell. Sorry to disagree because when it comes to computers you know your stuff.



We've been thru this. I build a lot of systems for others, and GB has been kicking Asus's ass for a couple gens now in terms of build quality, layout, and OCability. This isn't even taking into account my crappy clocking Maximus (because we all know you get the occasional dud, even in the best of hardware). I do agree that Asus is a good builder, and well above average in build quality. The EVGA and GB baords are just better. And for the price this will go for, I want the better board.



Mussels said:


> when using SPDIF, onboard vs dedicated becomes moot - quality is determined by speakers alone.



Nope. Still has to encode non-compatible outputs to spdif. Try it yourself. A sound card still sounds better over on-board, even thru spdif.


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## Mussels (Jan 10, 2010)

Wile E said:


> We've been thru this. I build a lot of systems for others, and GB has been kicking Asus's ass for a couple gens now in terms of build quality, layout, and OCability. This isn't even taking into account my crappy clocking Maximus (because we all know you get the occasional dud, even in the best of hardware). I do agree that Asus is a good builder, and well above average in build quality. The EVGA and GB baords are just better. And for the price this will go for, I want the better board.
> 
> 
> 
> Nope. Still has to encode non-compatible outputs to spdif. Try it yourself. A sound card still sounds better over on-board, even thru spdif.



my bad, for a moment there i was thinking purely for media use. i use lots of pre-encoded movies, and as such - there is no difference there.


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## TAViX (Jan 10, 2010)

[H]@RD5TUFF said:


> Then this board is not for you, I can see the relevance of a wireless card, I can kinda understand the SCSI card (but really why?), but why would you want/ have/ need a TV tuner on a board of this kind? Seriously with parts as stupid cheap as they are now, why would you run a TV tuner on a enthusiast/ gaming part like this, *that's just dumb*. That's what god made secondary/download boxes for.



You're jocking right??  What's wrong with wanting to keep my old TV tuner which works flawlessly??? I don't get it. Why is dumb to watch TV on your PC????

P.S. Can you enlighten me pls, what's a  "secondary/download box"  ??


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## Mussels (Jan 10, 2010)

TAViX said:


> You're jocking right??  What's wrong with wanting to keep my old TV tuner which works flawlessly??? I don't get it. Why is dumb to watch TV on your PC????
> 
> P.S. Can you enlighten me pls, what's a  "secondary/download box"  ??



he's saying that this motherboard is designed for high end benching rigs, and gamers with too much money.

It would be ridiculous to watch TV on a system with the massive overclocks this board is desigend for in multi GPU setups, and anyone who buys this to run it at stock with one GPU is dumb for wasting the money.

He's saying use a second PC for the TV/media purposes. One that wont chew 500W at idle.


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## douglatins (Jan 10, 2010)

RAWR, those skinny heatsinks will overheat, every passive board needs some help with airflow, eve the classified with those massive hs. I know that asus may have hidden a small 50mm fan in one of those, but still wtf, those mosfet hs is just stupid


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## Mussels (Jan 10, 2010)

douglatins said:


> RAWR, those skinny heatsinks will overheat, every passive board needs some help with airflow, eve the classified with those massive hs. I know that asus may have hidden a small 50mm fan in one of those, but still wtf, those mosfet hs is just stupid



perhaps the board runs very cool?

It was already discussed that the x58 chipset runs relatively cool and heat doesnt increase with OCing, VRM's may be another case - but we wont know til OC'ers get their hands on the board


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## pantherx12 (Jan 10, 2010)

My blood rage idled at 40, and MK had stuck on one of those pure copper enzotech nb sinks.

X58 runs hoter then x45 or x48


( compared to most of my other boards idling at 30 or so)


With the stock sinks the blood rage idled at 60 or something insane.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jan 10, 2010)

Mussels said:


> i think we're talking about different things.
> 
> People were discussing using them to power fans and such, and my comment was that since they're a socket and not a plug, they're obviously meant for power INput, not output.
> 
> nothing about the angle of the plug.



It doesn't matter if the plug is male or female. I plug fans in all the time using both. Its a power connection. If its meant to draw power it will. If its meant to produce power it will. I have no idea what these do but the style of plug it no way to tell.


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## Mescalamba (Jan 10, 2010)

btarunr said:


> Actually, Foxconn has been doing the red+black scheme well before EVGA. EVGA was a wee little player in the motherboard industry (it is even now) relying on NVIDIA's reference designs to sell motherboards. Even its first X58 SLI board continued looking like an NVIDIA board. Foxconn had its BloodRage around that time, it even had various other QuantumForce series boards before X58 that used red+black. So just as you call this a Classified ripoff, you can call Classified a BloodRage ripoff.
> 
> Besides EVGA's product availability and service network sucks outside North America. ASUS on the other hand, can service a Rampage III Extreme even in any Indian city with 10,000 population.



Actually reason why BloodRage and Classified shares same "Red'n'Black" design is cause both were designed with Shamino in constructing team (BloodRage first, then he left Foxconn and joined eVGA and used similar desing on Classified). Its not ripoff.. they just have few things in common. Plus they are great mobos.. 

But ofc ASUS doesn´t have anything in common, which means ASUS is ripoff.  And pretty poor. Compared to Classy or BloodRage design, its just pathetic.. last good mobo from ASUS was their WS, which is pretty interesting mobo. It even has quite ok design/colors.


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## SummerDays (Jan 10, 2010)

Chicken Patty said:


> But I had an i7 and I never got one?  I haz a sad.
> 
> proof that I had an i7
> 
> ...



lol  I was joking around that AMD doesn't get a nice board until they develop faster chips.


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## Mescalamba (Jan 10, 2010)

SummerDays said:


> lol  I was joking around that AMD doesn't get a nice board until they develop faster chips.



It has more to do with fact that ASUS and Intel are very "close" to each other..


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## Chicken Patty (Jan 10, 2010)

SummerDays said:


> lol  I was joking around that AMD doesn't get a nice board until they develop faster chips.



I know you were, no biggy


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## Super XP (Jan 11, 2010)

SummerDays said:


> Or you could buy an i7.


I was thinking about that the other day, but right now my Phenom II does a great job gaming with my HD 4870 Crossfire setup. But oh, where to find nice looking RED AMD mobo's


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## trt740 (Jan 11, 2010)

Wile E said:


> We've been thru this. I build a lot of systems for others, and GB has been kicking Asus's ass for a couple gens now in terms of build quality, layout, and OCability. This isn't even taking into account my crappy clocking Maximus (because we all know you get the occasional dud, even in the best of hardware). I do agree that Asus is a good builder, and well above average in build quality. The EVGA and GB baords are just better. And for the price this will go for, I want the better board.
> 
> 
> 
> Nope. Still has to encode non-compatible outputs to spdif. Try it yourself. A sound card still sounds better over on-board, even thru spdif.



ahh ya still wrong!!!


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## PP Mguire (Jan 11, 2010)

Super XP said:


> I was thinking about that the other day, but right now my Phenom II does a great job gaming with my HD 4870 Crossfire setup. But oh, where to find nice looking RED AMD mobo's



My 4850 does excelent with my i5


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## kylzer (Jan 11, 2010)

rawr i like this mobo though its price is probably £300 plus


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## Super XP (Jan 11, 2010)

Good looking mobo but CPU Magazine rated it a 3 out of 5.


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## Initialised (Jan 11, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> To be honest, I don't see the point of an extra cable in the first place, sure the power is more evenly distributed ( supposedly) but presuming you've got a non shit psu you should be golden with 1 connection always.
> 
> to put an additional one on, AND two molex power connection just screams MARKETING to me.
> 
> ...


While I was testing a Gulftown on P6T Deluxe V2 the VRMs were getting very hot (you could smell them) so no I don't think two 8 pin and 2 molex is overkill.


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## =TWP=WOLF (Jan 18, 2010)

*ASUSTek! Thank you for coming ASUS Rampage III Extreme*

With all respect to whatever people say about ASUS Rampage III Extreme!

ASUS Rampage III Extreme are more then welcome in to my world 

Thank you ASUSTek! 

6/10 -2010 UpDate: ASUS ROG RAMPAGE III EXTREME EDITION is now in my ownership 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Here's some pictures on WOLFs High Performance Computer that I recently built, but still fine tuning as we speak.






WOLF.


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