ASUS Maximus III Gene P55

[cadaveca]

The ASUS Maximus III Gene is a reasonably priced microATX motherboard that has loads of features for both normal users and overclockers. It was designed with overclockers in mind which is visible in the board design, the included software, BIOS options and performance that can be reached by some tweaking.

Show full review

 

[W1zzard]

feeedback please which features you'd like to see in future tpu motherboard reviews

 

[WhiteLotus]

How easy was it to cable up? If using a large air cooler would it cover any plugs for CPU power making it a bit tricky for example.

 

[Bo$$]

any pictures of the leds on?

 

[ZeppMan217]

Are you using memtest for stability check? How many runs?
Also, would love to see some more MBs reviews (AM3, specifically).

 

[blibba]

Nice thorough review, but now is a really bad time to buy an LGA1156 board, so I'd have to say that I disagree with the high score given.

 

[PaulieG]

Really nice review Cadaveca! The only thing I'd like to see is a few more performance tests for overclocking. Otherwise, I'm impressed!

 

[heky]

Nice review, but it would be nice if in the future reviewers included the settings at which the highest stable overclock is achieved. And i mean all the settings. Vcore, pll, memory voltage, etc...

 

[Easy Rhino]

Nice review, but it would be nice if in the future reviewers included the settings at which the highest stable overclock is achieved. And i mean all the settings. Vcore, pll, memory voltage, etc...

wouldn't a lot of those be cpu dependent?

also, great review!

 

[PaulieG]

wouldn't a lot of those be cpu dependent?

also, great review!

Agreed. The only thing that would be applicable here with the motherboard is whether the voltages are "true and stable".

 

[cadaveca]

How easy was it to cable up? If using a large air cooler would it cover any plugs for CPU power making it a bit tricky for example.

I will be using a Noctua NH-C14 for future reviews. I am using on old CM690 to test in, and with that cooler mounted on THIS board, I had no issues installing the board into the case with the cooler mounted, nor connecting any cables. Even screwing the board into the chassis was no problem...just needed a long screwdriver(10cm from handle to tip) to clear the heatsink

any pictures of the leds on?

Sure! I'll upload one for you in a bit.

Are you using memtest for stability check? How many runs?
Also, would love to see some more MBs reviews (AM3, specifically).

Memtest is only just the start. For me to consider a system stable, it must be able to pass ANY TEST. That means Prime95, IntelBurnTest, OCCT, and anything else you want. Talking to other reviewers from other websites, my testing routine is one of the most extensive, albeit time consuming.

Really nice review Cadaveca! The only ting I'd like to see is a few more performance tests for overclocking. Otherwise, I'm impressed!

I partially agree, however, because overclocked results are more dependant on the other components(cpu/mem/vga), it didn't seem practical except to prove the platform stable.

That said though, this is the first review, and I look forward to bringing everyone what they want to see, so I will definitely keep this in mind as the format matures.

Nice review, but it would be nice if in the future reviewers included the settings at which the highest stable overclock is achieved. And i mean all the settings. Vcore, pll, memory voltage, etc...

I am almost always on the forums whne I'm awake, so please feel free to ask me any direct questions, and I'll gladly give you the answers.

The 4.2ghz overclock required 1.3 V on the cpu, 1.9 V on the pll, 1.69 V on memory, and 1.39 V on the IMC/QPI. I was easily able to run 4 sticks @ 2110 MHz 8-8-8-24, before running into the cpu's limit.

Changing the sticks to ones based on PSC ICs allowed a max of 2408 MHz 8-11-8, but this wasn't fully stable, again due to cpu limitations. Of course, this also required a different cpu, an i7 870, in order to gain access to the higher divider not available to the i5 760.

Nice thorough review, but now is a really bad time to buy an LGA1156 board, so I'd have to say that I disagree with the high score given.

I understand your perspective here, but keep in mind that when reviewing a product, I am very focused on the product's merits on it's own, in comparison to it's direct competition. That means it's ranking is only valid when considering motherboards and thier functionality as a basis for a system, and not overall performance, as I am not reviewing the CPU nor the memory.

I stand by my numbers. There are no functionality issues with the hardware itself, and the only negative points have no bearing on daily usage, or performance, and as such, the board is highly ranked in my books, and it WILL be hard for other boards to achieve such a high score. The Gene clocked cpu and memory higher than the other samples, and behaved exactly as expected, with not a single hiccup in setup or usage. As a P55-based product, I truly feel this is one of the best options for this platform.

 

[hanzi]

Great review Cadaveca! By the way I'm new here although I always check the site for the latest news and reviews in the pc world.

I would like to see in the future motherboard reviews the actual pictures of the motherboard with all the hardware components installed, especially heatsinks and sli or crossfire settings. That way we can see the spacings of all the hardwares installed and how it looks like.

 

[PaulieG]

It's nearly impossible to make everyone entirely happy with a review, since everyone is looking at it from a different angle. The key is a good balance, and that has been achieved here.

 

[cadaveca]

Great review Cadaveca! By the way I'm new here although I always check the site for the latest news and reviews in the pc world.

I would like to see in the future motherboard reviews the actual pictures of the motherboard with all the hardware components installed, especially heatsinks and sli or crossfire settings. That way we can see the spacings of all the hardwares installed and how it looks like.

Setup and Installation issues will be covered in upcoming reviews, as well as overall system power consumption. This is my first review for TPU, and as such, I know that there is room for improvement.

In the end, my goal is to provide the very best, and most comprehensive reviews on the internet, so my format will evolve over time, based on feedback from you guys.

 

[garyinhere]

Nice Review!

 

[(FIH) The Don]

Setup and Installation issues will be covered in upcoming reviews, as well as overall system power consumption. This is my first review for TPU, and as such, I know that there is room for improvement.

In the end, my goal is to provide the very best, and most comprehensive reviews on the internet, so my format will evolve over time, based on feedback from you guys.

and what a start, but you arent totally new in this business

but nice review no matter what, im glad to see the first mb review in years, and with good writing and testing

bravo!

 

[DrunkenMafia]

not a bad review but I think the overall score is a bit high. That board doesnt even have dual 16x pcie slots.

It does look nice though. I also agree on the pics with hardware installed. That would give me the best idea of spacing and overall layout which is something I would like to see first if buying a board.

 

[cadaveca]

The board has two PCIe x16 connectors, but is wired 8 x 8 as this is the maximum config the P55 chipset supports. This does not detract from the board, to me, as there are many P55 boards that are wired x16 and x4, with no option of 8 x 8.

If you check W1zz's review on PCI-e scaling, you'll see that 8 x 8 has little impact on overall performance, and in some instances, performs better than 16 x 16, but 16 x 4 definitely has an impact.

and what a start, but you arent totally new in this business

but nice review no matter what, im glad to see the first mb review in years, and with good writing and testing

bravo!

Thanks are due here. You lit the fire that led to this.

 

[DannibusX]

Excellent review, Dave.

 

[Deleted member 74752]

Well here is a screen of the mb with a i7 875K on an air cooler...

 

[cadaveca]

The C14 mounted:

 

[GSquadron]

Two things i didn't get why:
1. The high score
2. Old mobo to be interesting for the review
All other openings were great and keep up the good job cuz i am waiting to see any giga or msi mobos with 990FX chipset

 

[cadaveca]

Two things i didn't get why:
1. The high score
2. Old mobo to be interesting for the review
All other openings were great and keep up the good job cuz i am waiting to see any giga or msi mobos with 990FX chipset

I've explained the score. The gene is one of the best P55 boards, bar none, and definatively the best mATX P55 board...the Gigabyte used in the review had alot of the same features, but failed to meet the Gene is the overclocking duel. So the Gene got a high score, plain and simple. Find me a better mATX P55 motherboard, and I'll adjust the score accordingly, but I do not beleive such a board exists today. The score is based on the platform(P55), board format (mATX), and cost.


The older product was used as at the time the work on this review began, P67 was not yet released. In an effort to show what I could do, review-wise, I went and bought what was available. I bought all three boards, and new CPUs, power supplies, cooling, and other bits...none of the product used in the review was provided by manufacturers. It was all purchased by myself, using my own money.

The timing worked really well, as I had already sold off the majority of my PC hardware in preparation for P67's launch. Instead of waiting for P67, I bought this stuff, as back in october or something, (FIH)The Don opened a thread asking for TPU to do motherboard reviews, and W1zzard responded with "who will do the reviews?".

I stepped up to the plate, and the review you read is the final result.

I have no aversion to any OEM. Whoever sends me parts, I will test, and give my honest opinion. Rather than ask me to review specific parts, talk to the OEMs, and tell them to send them to me! I hope to review every board on the market!

 

[Easy Rhino]

Two things i didn't get why:
1. The high score
2. Old mobo to be interesting for the review

about a month ago i became interested in this board before i became interested in sanybridge. so for me, this review is actually perfect timing.

 

[Initialised]

If it was an 1155 board or ITX (or both and overclockabkle in my dreams) it'd be a good product to review.