Monday, February 23rd 2009
ASUS Rampage II Gene Motherboard Unboxed
Ahead of release, ASUS Rampage II Gene motherboard just got unboxed. For starters the Rampage II Gene is a micro-ATX motherboard, not what you'd expect from the R.O.G. series, but that's going to be a perfect solution if you want to build a high-end HTPC or a mega powerful small gaming system for LAN events. The Core i7 supporting motherboard is powered by Intel's X58 + ICH10R chip combo, has six DDR3-2000 memory slots, two PCI-Express x16 slots for NVIDIA SLI or ATI CorssFireX multi-GPU setups, one eSATA and seven SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, Gigabit Ethernet and a 7.1 channel Creative X-Fi audio. The board also sports some of the neat features found on R.O.G. motherboards, such as on-board Power and Reset buttons and an external LCD POST debug display. Expect availability some time next month.
Sources:
TechConnect Magazine, xfastest
45 Comments on ASUS Rampage II Gene Motherboard Unboxed
Core i7, 6 ram slots, matx, SLI or crossfire, and inbuilt X-fi.
seriously, this is a great board based on features alone.
I've got to say though, after seeing what trouble a few of our guys on TPU had with the ATX Rampage II Extreme, I'm leery of this board. If they made the DFI mATX x58 UV Orange, I'd be sold on it.
I wonder if this is software/emulated X-Fi or if there's an actual X-Fi processor onboard. The chip next to the audio outputs looks like it's got the realtek crab symbol on it.
On a separtate note...
I wonder if this will be cheaper or more expensive than the REII?
Great that they put the 775 mounting holes in there too! Its a shame they didnt think about that for the original REII!
www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/02/10/asus-matx-republic-of-gamers-gene-series/1
so it sounds like it may just be software/emulated X-Fi??
There's a closer picture here:
www.techpowerup.com/img/09-02-11/45a.jpg
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131352
Given that the Rampage II Extreme is priced at like $400, I wouldn't be surprised if this board cost at least $250, if not more, and higher than DFI's similar offering at $230 with the Lanparty Jr. X58-T3H6:
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136066
As far as features differences between the two motherboards go:
- the specs for this board state 8 phase power whereas DFI's has 6 phase. does anyone know if this really makes a difference?
- possibly better onboard sound with the X-Fi?? it is being reported that it is software driven/emulated though
- DFI has both Coax and Optical SPDIF out, this has Optical only
- additional mounting holes for a Socket 775 heatsink?? (DFI does not have this)
- 2 x 1394a Firewire ports (one on rear I/O, one via onboard header) - DFI has none
- Seven SATA ports, as opposed to 6 on the DFI
- one rear eSATA port (DFI has none)
- 5 fan headers, as opposed to 6 on the DFI
- concerning the fan headers, all of them appear to be 4-pin PWM as opposed to only the CPU fan header on the DFI
- no floppy connector port (DFI has one)
- single PS/2 port for keyboard only (DFI has both keyboard and mouse)
Reposted this info from the thread here:
www.techpowerup.com/84807/ASUS_Developing_ROG_Series_mATX_Motherboard.html