![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Tuesday , January 26, 2010
- Author:
- Daniel Dobrowolski
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS Maximus III Gene Motherboard Review
The ASUS Maximus III Gene expands not only the Republic of Gamers product line, but the lineage of "Maximus" motherboards ASUS has created under the name. Thus far every Maximus board has been nothing short of excellent and even bordering on legendary, the Maximus III Gene continues this tradition.
BIOS
The ASUS Maximus III Gene uses the American Megatrends Inc. BIOS or AMI BIOS for short. Version 1002 was used for all screenshots and testing. At the time of this writing, this was the latest version available.
The BIOS is standard ASUS fair. Instead of starting off in the Main BIOS menu where the time and date is set, the ASUS Maximus III Gene's BIOS puts you in the Extreme Tweaker menu. At the top of this screen you'll find several other tabs such as Main, Advanced, Power, Boot, Tools, and Exit. In the Extreme Tweaker menu the first thing visible is the Target CPU and DRAM frequency settings. CPU and Memory Level up are also here. Scrolling down we come to the CPU Ratio setting. The CPU Configuration setting is actually a shortcut to the Advanced Menu and the sub-menu of the same name which is located there. So this is really a shortcut rather than a sub-menu unto itself. Intel Speedstep Technology, QPI frequency, and DRAM Timing Control are also found here. DRAM Timing Control takes you to the memory timing sub-menu. As you scroll down even further you'll find settings for the BCLK, PCIE, DRAM and QPI frequencies. Below that are several settings for voltages. CPU voltages, Phase Controls and Extreme OV are also here.
Above is the shortcut to the CPU Configuration sub-menu found in the Extreme Tweaker. Here you can enable and disable the CPUs features. C1E, CPU Ratio, Execute Disable Bit, etc. Back to DRAM Timing Control, we can see the CAS latency settings, Timing Mode, RAS to CAS delay, and a host of other settings relating to memory performance. SPD information is displayed in each category of settings in order to give you a base line to work from.
Here we can see the ASUS O.C. Profile Configuration. Here you can save and load pre-defined profile settings easily. I used this to quickly be able to reset to a baseline of settings for overclocking purposes. You can also use it to save predefined overclocking profiles as well. Moving on to the Main menu of the BIOS, you'll find the usual time and date settings as well as basic storage device information for each SATA port. There are two additional submenus for Storage Configuration and System Information. The Storage Configuration menu allows you to configure the SATA controller mode between legacy IDE, AHCI or RAID modes. Hard disk write protection is also found here along with the hard disk pre-delay. The system information submenu shows the BIOS version and build date as well as basic CPU and memory information however nothing is adjustable in this menu.
The Advanced menu contains a listing of submenus but has no actual adjustable settings on its own. CPU Configuration (which was already mentioned above) along with Chipset, Onboard Devices Configuration, LED Control, iROG Configuration, and ROG Connect. The advanced chipset settings, contains only one setting which leads to another configuration menu. From there the only setting that can be adjusted is the Memory Remap Feature.
The onboard devices configuration provides control for all the onboard and integrated hardware such as the onboard audio and LAN ports. The JMicron controller mode is also adjustable here. Firewire can be enabled or disabled, etc. LED Control just allows for control of the surface mounted LED's that grace the board's PCB. All LED control allows for them to be turned on or off. ROG Logo controls the board's glowing logo which is located under the chipset's heat sink. The Voltminder LED's can also be controlled from here.
The iROG Configuration really has nothing to configure. It's primarily informational. Though it does have a single setting in regard to record keeping for the timer. ROG Connect is the next option which can only be enabled or disabled. This can also be toggled by a button on the I/O panel. The power tab contains basic ACPI settings as well as additional submenus for APM Configuration and the Hardware monitor. The APM configuration has the usual Restore on AC Power Loss, Power on By RTC Alarm, and power on by PCI-Express or PS/2 devices.
The Hardware Monitor allows for monitoring of system voltages, temperatures and system fan speeds. Voltages for the CPU, CPU PLL, PCH, IMC, DRAM Voltage, DRAM Termination Voltages, 3.3v and 5v voltages are monitored here. The Temperature monitor shows temperatures for the CPU, PCH and MB temperatures. Overheat protection thresholds can also be adjusted here. As you can imagine, the fan speed monitor monitors fan speeds. CPU fan speeds as well as chassis fan speeds. Fan speed control allows you to adjust the fan speeds to operate at full speed, or based on temperature thresholds. Finally, the Tools menu provides to ASUS O.C. Profile, Go Button File, MemPerfect, and the ASUS EZ Flash Utility for flashing the system BIOS.