Tuesday, March 6th 2012

ASUS ROG Maximus V Formula Unveiled

by
btarunr
 Discuss (19 Comments)
ASUS unveiled the Republic of Gamers Maximus V Formula motherboard, at CeBIT. Its latest bad boy is based on Intel Z77 chipset, and supports "Ivy Bridge" and "Sandy Bridge" Core processors in the LGA1155 package. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 12-phase Digi+ VRM, which takes power from one 8-pin EPS, and one 4-pin ATX, apart from the 24-pin ATX, and an optional 4-pin Molex. The VRM area of this motherboard is cooled by a heatsink that is embedded with a liquid-cooling channel that lets you plug it to your water-cooling loop. With the Ivy Bridge platform motherboards, it's really just the CPU and CPU VRM that need liquid cooling for extreme overclocking, since the Z77 PCH is just a glorified southbridge that doesn't get hot enough to break your OC.

The CPU is wired to four DDR3-DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2600+ (by OC). Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x8/x8 when both are populated), one open-ended PCI-Express 2.0 x4 (wired to the PCH), one PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4, also wired to the PCH), and three PCI-Express 2.0 x1. ASUS deployed a PLX PCIe 2.0 bridge chip to create more PCIe lanes for onboard devices. The board features ThunderFX audio, which consists of high-grade DAC and AMP circuitry that's ground-isolated from the rest of the motherboard. On the connectivity side, there's gigabit Ethernet and a dual-band WiFi module. Several ROG-exclusive features can also be found.
Source: Lab501.ro

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19 Comments on ASUS ROG Maximus V Formula Unveiled

#1
LAN_deRf_HA
Either this is pure excess or Asus expects Ivy to clock so high on air it ends up using more juice than any SB could. P67 vrms have never needed water cooling for a max air/water clock, and the ambient chill from any extreme clocking takes care of that also.
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#2
Sasqui
LAN_deRf_HAEither this is pure excess or Asus expects Ivy to clock so high on air it ends up using more juice than any SB could. P67 vrms have never needed water cooling for a max air/water clock, and the ambient chill from any extreme clocking takes care of that also.
I think you're right, they're hedging bets. It's marketing for sure, but at the same time who knows the true potential of IB?
btarunrExpansion slots include two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x8/x8 when both are populated)
Really? If I recall from W1z tests, 8x/8x didn't make much difference from 16x/16x, but I'd simply expect two 16x lanes from a board like this. Even my Maximus Formula X48 has 16x/16x.
Posted on Reply
#3
dude12564
SasquiI think you're right, they're hedging bets. It's marketing for sure, but at the same time who knows the true potential of IB?



Really? If I recall from W1z tests, 8x/8x didn't make much difference from 16x/16x, but I'd simply expect two 16x lanes from a board like this. Even my Maximus Formula X48 has 16x/16x.
Yeah, but this is PCIe Gen3, x8 = PCIe gen2 x16
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#4
badtaylorx
Naaaaaaassssssssssteeeeeeeeeeee (in a good way)
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#5
NHKS
LAN_deRf_HAEither this is pure excess or Asus expects Ivy to clock so high on air it ends up using more juice than any SB could. P67 vrms have never needed water cooling for a max air/water clock, and the ambient chill from any extreme clocking takes care of that also.
I believe there is some truth to the overclock capability of IB cpu's. There have been reports showing an i7-3770K(engineering sample) being overclocked to 7.06 GHz (100% overclock) by raising voltage to 1.889 Volts, using 63x multiplier and 112.11 MHz and using dry ice. With the possibility IB of withstanding such high voltages, the VRM cooling feature on this board might make sense.
Posted on Reply
#6
cadaveca
My name is Dave
I don't think it's even about how much heat the VRMs put out.

What I'm interested in is the add-on mSATA/mini-PCIe card.
Posted on Reply
#7
NHKS
cadavecaI don't think it's even about how much heat the VRMs put out.

What I'm interested in is the add-on mSATA/mini-PCIe card.
I guess u are talking about the dual-band wireless networking adapter(Wifi) shown one of the pics(on the I/O side of the MB)... interesting:D
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#8
m1dg3t
Why can't Asus ever move their RAM slot's up 1cm when running a pciex1 in the top slot? :confused:
Posted on Reply
#9
Fitseries3
Eleet Hardware Junkie
not impressed. asus let me down on this one.
Posted on Reply
#10
m1dg3t
Fitseries3not impressed. asus let me down on this one.
Asus has been letting me down for the last 3 - 4 year's :cry:

Some poor design's and absolutely pathetic product support IMO and from my experience's of course :o
Posted on Reply
#11
Steven B
NHKSI believe there is some truth to the overclock capability of IB cpu's. There have been reports showing an i7-3770K(engineering sample) being overclocked to 7.06 GHz (100% overclock) by raising voltage to 1.889 Volts, using 63x multiplier and 112.11 MHz and using dry ice. With the possibility IB of withstanding such high voltages, the VRM cooling feature on this board might make sense.
not really, unless that VRM is made up of old school d-pak fets lol. It is just for looks and those enthusiasts who would do such a thing. Extreme LN2 benchers wont be using water cooling on the VRM LOL, half will remove the heatsinks all together and not put anything on the MOSFETs, and the other half will insulate around the heatsinks.

Take for example bulldozer at 8ghz even, much higher power pull, probably exponential increase in power too at that point, but you see standard 8 phases do the job without any water cooling lol.

In Extreme OC the MOSFETs are cooled through the PCB's copper, that is where the 2oz copper in this PCB and PCb of other high end boards comes into play to some extent.

Cool board, i wonder what its special features are this time around??

Is there going to be an extreme with a PLX bridge for 3-way and 4-way?
Posted on Reply
#12
MeanBruce
Oh my Dear Lawd that water block is the dawg’s drawers! The heat sinks look even better, beefier than the Rampage 4 Extreme. Let’s hope the beautiful photos of the Maximus 5 Extreme are on the way with the same kick-ass water block as the Formula board and maybe even thunderbolt, crossing toes!;)

…those are the best looking Asus heats sinks since the Rampage 3 and the Sabertooth X58.
Posted on Reply
#13
coolhand411
LAN_deRf_HAEither this is pure excess or Asus expects Ivy to clock so high on air it ends up using more juice than any SB could. P67 vrms have never needed water cooling for a max air/water clock, and the ambient chill from any extreme clocking takes care of that also.
in case some of you missed thisandthis
Posted on Reply
#16
micropage7

sad why they dont use normal ATX design?
Posted on Reply
#17
NHKS
Steven Bnot really, unless that VRM is made up of old school d-pak fets lol. It is just for looks and those enthusiasts who would do such a thing. Extreme LN2 benchers wont be using water cooling on the VRM LOL, half will remove the heatsinks all together and not put anything on the MOSFETs, and the other half will insulate around the heatsinks.

Take for example bulldozer at 8ghz even, much higher power pull, probably exponential increase in power too at that point, but you see standard 8 phases do the job without any water cooling lol.

In Extreme OC the MOSFETs are cooled through the PCB's copper, that is where the 2oz copper in this PCB and PCb of other high end boards comes into play to some extent.
----
I get what you are trying to say. Maybe cooling for VRM might not be critical when extreme overclockers use LN2(liquid nitrogen) or Dry Ice. This 'extreme' cooling might indirectly cool the VRM thru the 2oz copper in PCB when the CPU is cooled. Also, direct contact extreme cooling(like LN2) is NOT recommended for todays VRMs.

BUT, I am not convinced enough to say that VRM liquid cooling is just a redundant feature on this board(Asus calls it Fusion Thermo System). There are overclockers who may not use LN / dry ice but still use traditional liquid cooling, in which case VRM cooling is essential. In fact, there are lots of discussions & articles online regarding heatsinks & water-blocks for VRM mosfets .Also, there are manufacturers who sell water blocks for VRM:Heatsink
www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/product_page/product_mosfet_cooler.html

Posted on Reply
#18
MeanBruce
“It’s Beautiful Man!” Tommy Chong voice. Getting excited about the Maximus 5 Extreme, hoping it shares the same radical water block and amazing heat sinks as this Formula board, maybe a larger south bridge sink and please add thunderbolt like the new MSI top Z77 board! Oh man I am thinking the Extreme version might go over $400 maybe even as high as the Rampage 4 Extreme at $459, yikes but it’s worth it, pitching my tent now to be first in line!:D
Posted on Reply
#19
sangzeel
Expecting two models at least

I'm currently using maximus formula 1st(non special edition)lga775 board, I would like to see same with 5 series.A non-special edition motherboard without water cooling blocks on the board(to reduce unwanted feature and the price), 2nd no integrated audio(add removable supreme fx or any good detachable sound card, so that we can use our own sound card(s)), because integrated audio ports at the back of the board looks just ugly, 3nd no integrated display ports at back(really don't want to run on integrated graphics, after purchasing such a high end board, it will cut the cost also. So I just hope asus will do something like this(like the asus maximus formula 1st board) and make it more practical and affordable for the gamers budget.:)

P.S: I only got $300 for ivy bridge board, I'll keep my fingers crossed till they finally launch it or I just have to move from maximus formula to asrock extreme6 or ect board(sadly). Grr..
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