Maximus Formula

M

mis3

Gawd
Joined
Jul 4, 2000
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Maximus Formula is the latest X38 ROG motherboard.

What are your opinions on this board?
 
I don't think it's worth the price right now. With the X48 replacing the X38 chipsets, soon.
 
i was thinking of getting this board, but i recall people saying that the p35 asus boards (p5k series) were having issues with raptor hard drives. has this all been worked out on the maximus formula?

when is x48 due out?
 
I am happy with mine. It has alot of options for a OC'er

I like the fact it has (2) x16 PCIe slots.

Was it worth the money? For a normal user probably not.
Its more board than I need. But I like having a good board.
 
x48 looks nice and all, but if it only supports ddr3 i'm not terribly interested, while it would be nice to have ddr3..it is so expensive right now
 
ZippZopp said:
x48 looks nice and all, but if it only supports ddr3 i'm not terribly interested, while it would be nice to have ddr3..it is so expensive right now
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Screw that, I spent $400 on 2 gigs of DDR3 memory for a P5K3 board. And it wasn't worth the money. Returned it.
 
djBon2112 said:
WTF is Intel doing!? The X38 JUST freaking came out! What are the new features of this chip?
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The basic differences between the chipset Intel x48 and x38 is the official support to 1600 MHz system bus, corresponding frequency dividers, and also the possibility to exploit a pair of modules DDR 3-1600 with XMP technology and 1.8 v .
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Source
 
So basically no real difference between the x48 and the x38 except the higher FSB (whatever, I OC past that all the time!) and DDR3 support... excellent!
 
I might pick one up if I can get the Maximus Extreme. You know I might as well use that DDR3 I have.
 
I just got my Maximus formula running last night and I must say its a great overall board. The latest bios eliminates vdroop, which is convinient since no more pencil mods are requried.
 
ZippZopp said:
i was thinking of getting this board, but i recall people saying that the p35 asus boards (p5k series) were having issues with raptor hard drives. has this all been worked out on the maximus formula?

when is x48 due out?
Click to expand...

I read a few tech forums including the Asus' own user forum. I did not see any P5K series boards having problems with the Raptors. The P5K-Premium has issues with SATA-2 drives but it will work with Raptor because the Raptor works in SATA-1 mode.

As for Maximus Formula, I did not read one single thread complaining about hard drives.
 
Whats the difference between the formula and the plain P5E...I mean besides the hybrid water block on the northbridge?
 
re x48

"The fact that Intel begins to ship its X48 chipset to mainboard makers does not mean that actual platforms based on the new core-logic emerge immediately. While some producers of motherboards may release their Intel X48-based offerings this year, Intel itself plans to start shipments of its Intel Desktop Board DX48BT2 (Bonetrail) only in Q1 2008, but with DDR3-12800 support."
 
schoenda said:
Whats the difference between the formula and the plain P5E...I mean besides the hybrid water block on the northbridge?
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Looking at the 2 boards side-by-side, no much difference.

Features wise Maximus Formula has the 2nd LAN Port, onboard power and reset button, CLR-CMOS on the rear IO panel.
 
My P5E have Maximus Formula printed on the PCB but covered with a strip of black sticker :D . I think the difference is the BIOS, LCD screen and some fancy stuff like LCD poster, onboard switches and a few fan connectors.
 
That's why i went with Gigabyte, They use the same board for all their top mobos. Must be a pretty good design.
 
alg7_munif said:
My P5E have Maximus Formula printed on the PCB but covered with a strip of black sticker :D . I think the difference is the BIOS, LCD screen and some fancy stuff like LCD poster, onboard switches and a few fan connectors.
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The price difference of the 2 boards is only $30 here in Toronto. Sicne I do not change hardware in a regular basis, I will just get the Maximus Formula.
 
Do they P5E's have vdroop issues, or are they also resolved w/ newest BIOS updates as was stated in regards to the Maximus earlier in this thread?
 
Is Anybody Air Cooling the SE Model?

Looking at the board, I am not sure how good the fusion block will work for heat dissipation.

I read in other forums that some people actually remove the fusion block that covers the NB. Is this even possible just to remove the fusion block? What do we do with the pipe connecting to the SB?

If removing the fusion block is possible, should I get a MB cooler to cool the MB?
 
mis3,

I'm aircooling it currently, heatsink on my CPU is a Thermalright Ultra 120 and don't have any issues. I haven't removed the waterblock from the Northbridge either. With a QX6700 CPU, I'm running at 8 * 385 FSB for my CPU overclock, memory is at 1155 FSB or so if I recall right, overclocking my memory from 1066. Only "overvolt" is on my memory to 2.2 volts, and it's rated for that. Very stable, can run a 441 FSB (or higher, highest I've gone) on the CPU by going 7 * 441.

Having said that, my Northbridge is very warm, about 53 to 58 celcius or so using the ASUS software to measure. I haven't removed the Fusion waterblock to see if that lowers it, but only because I'm debating if I want to buy a watercooling setup now or wait a tiny bit, since other then the Northbridge being warm all is running great, and the NB being warm doesn't seem to be hurting a thing. Well that and my CPU heatsink is very large, I'd probably have to remove it to have clear access to at least one of the screws to the fusion waterblock. And yes, just the fusion block can be removed, it's held on by screws, the rest of the heatsink assembly would be in place if you pulled the fusion block. I'm sure you could then put in some other aftermarket heatsink that would fit in the space provided, if you could find one that fits in that square. Or I suppose you could contact ASUS and see if they would send you the P5E's block, from what I can see it just bolts on the same way.

Anyway, I am very happy with this board. Again..the Northbridge runs warm..but it doesn't seem to be an issue from what I can see.
 
jmphx said:
Do they P5E's have vdroop issues, or are they also resolved w/ newest BIOS updates as was stated in regards to the Maximus earlier in this thread?
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My P5E also have this CPU Loadline in BIOS like the Maximus Formula
 
Arvig said:
mis3,

......Having said that, my Northbridge is very warm, about 53 to 58 celcius or so using the ASUS software to measure. I haven't removed the Fusion waterblock to see if that lowers it, but only because I'm debating if I want to buy a watercooling setup now or wait a tiny bit, since other then the Northbridge being warm all is running great, and the NB being warm doesn't seem to be hurting a thing. Well that and my CPU heatsink is very large, I'd probably have to remove it to have clear access to at least one of the screws to the fusion waterblock. And yes, just the fusion block can be removed, it's held on by screws, the rest of the heatsink assembly would be in place if you pulled the fusion block. I'm sure you could then put in some other aftermarket heatsink that would fit in the space provided, if you could find one that fits in that square. Or I suppose you could contact ASUS and see if they would send you the P5E's block, from what I can see it just bolts on the same way......
Click to expand...

I looked at board yesterday in the store. I saw the 4 screws holding the fusion block down but I did not see any separation (a line along the side) between the fusion block and the rest of the heatpipe. That's why I asked the question.

This link shows that the fusion block is integrated into the heat pipes assembly, cannot be changed. http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=1330&postcount=164.
 
mis3 said:
I looked at board yesterday in the store. I saw the 4 screws holding the fusion block down but I did not see any separation (a line along the side) between the fusion block and the rest of the heatpipe. That's why I asked the question.

This link shows that the fusion block is integrated into the heat pipes assembly, cannot be changed. http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=1330&postcount=164.
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Well again, I didn't try to pull mine, since I may watercool soon. Anyway, everything seems fine other then the NB runs a bit warm..but at the same time I'm quite stable at the settings I'm at now. If/when I watercool, I'll try to remember to post my tempratures if this thread is still active or if another on topic thread is on the first page of these forums.
 
mis3 said:
Looking at the 2 boards side-by-side, no much difference.

Features wise Maximus Formula has the 2nd LAN Port, onboard power and reset button, CLR-CMOS on the rear IO panel.
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Besides the obvious lacking hardware : Better and more voltage control, temp read outs of the NB and SB, some different capacitors , maybe insignificant for day to day users but lovely for the die hard crowd... plz don't tell me it's the same board as the same discussion happened with the Striker and the P5N32 SLI, it just uses the same PCB but there are differences...
 
A few things to point out.

1. The PCB is made before most of the components are put on it, having Maximus Formula printed on the board does not mean your getting the same components as well.

2. The Fusion waterblock is not hurting your performance at all. It is a heatpipe cooler, the heat is being taken to the heatsinks when anyways. Using the watercooling just helps to further reduce temperatures. It is a really nice design and I like it a lot, it makes it very easy to get excellent cooling for a number of enthusiasts who also have watercooling. Meanwhile it doesn't hurt the others because it works perfectly fine on air cooling.

PS. 53-58C isn't really all that hot, perhaps a tad warm but that certainly isn't to the point where it is hindering or harming anything.
 
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