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- Date:
- Tuesday , November 02, 2010
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Share:
ASUS Rampage III Gene MicroATX Motherboard Review
As one of the newest members of ASUS' popular Republic of Gamers line, the Rampage III Gene is stacked with a full list of features and performance to match in a very small uATX package. Don't let its small stature fool you, this board has champion written all over it.
Introduction
ASUS has a reputation that speaks for itself. The company is one of the most revered computer component manufacturers on the planet, with a well earned reputation for producing some of the fastest parts available. ASUS' ROG line came in a being a few years back, with the idea around creating products that could withstand the torture that the typical hardcore gamer puts their hardware through. ASUS uses a mix of quality components and cutting edge design and technology to make sure that these products hold up under duress. The Rampage III Gene is another gem in the ROG line for sure.
The ASUS Rampage III Gene motherboard utilizes the Intel X58 and Intel ICH10R chipsets. In concert, the chipsets allow the motherboard to offer support for the following technologies: the Intel LGA1366 Core i7 processor line, DDR3 memory operating in Triple Channel memory mode up to 1333MHz officially, and either NVIDIA SLI or ATI CrossFireX graphics mode using matched video cards. ASUS designed the Rampage III Gene with the following integrated devices: 6 SATA II ports (RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5 capable) on the Intel ICH10R controller; 2 SATA 3 6Gb/s ports on the Marvell 9128 controller; 11 USB 2.0 capable ports (7 in rear panel, and 2 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 2 USB 3.0 capable ports in the rear panel; 1 Intel GigE Ethernet port in the rear panel; SupremeFX X-FI audio using an 8-channel VIA based HD audio codec with an integrated S/PDIF optical output port; onboard power, system reset, and GO profile activation buttons; CMOS reset and ROG Connect buttons in the rear panel; and a PS/2 keyboard port in the rear panel.
Main Specifications Overview:
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
Packaging
The Rampage III Gene comes packaged in the standard ROG designed box, adorned with minimalistic art work so as to not detract from the board name or technology list. Inside the box, ASUS included the following accessories with the board: SATA drive cables; the rear panel shield; a 2-way NVIDIA SLI connector; the Q-Connector modules; a ROG Connect cable; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers discs. The Q-Connector modules allow for an easy interface for connecting in to the motherboard headers. You simply plug in your front panel jumpers in to the white connector and the USB 2.0 jumpers in to the blue connector block, and then plug both blocks in to the motherboard headers. It makes for a much easier install for those typically hard to reach header areas. The ROG connect cable is used to configure motherboard settings via a different connected computer.
Board Layout
While ASUS normally delivers well designed board, the Rampage III Gene takes their design prowess to a whole new level. The layout of the board is perfect, with no tight areas on the board at all. In addition, ASUS put a lot of thought in to how the end user interacts with the board, evident in the single latch DIMM slots and the vertical mount for the CMOS battery. The board's revision is silk-screened to the surface just above the DIMM slots, with the test board being a revision 1.01G. While the serial number is not present on the board anywhere, it is located on the front flap of the board's box along with the model number. As we've come to expect from with the higher end boards, ASUS chose to use high quality polymer solid-electrolyte capacitors for the Rampage III Gene's power regulation needs.
As hinted at previously, the CPU socket is clear of all obstructions, with low profile components put to use close in to the socket itself. ASUS used the standard LGA1366 based mounting solution to seat the CPU cooler. The onboard Intel X58 Northbridge chipset is located to the right of the CPU socket, covered by a massive heat sink. This heat sink is connected via heat pipe to an additional heat sink just above the CPU socket, which covers some of the most critical board power components. Just above the Northbridge heat sink are the OPT_FAN and OPT_TEMP header. The 8-pin ATX12V power connector and onboard CPU power LED array are located to the upper right of the CPU socket. The Northbridge power LED array is located just under the Northbridge heat sink.
The 6 onboard DDR3 memory slots are located directly below the CPU socket, arranged in a single bi-colored array block. The red colored slots are the primary memory slots, with Triple Channel memory mode activated by seating 3 modules in like colored slots. Directly below the DIMM slots are the 24-pin ATX power connector, the Q-LED bank, direct voltage measuring points, the CHA_FAN2 and CPU_FAN headers, and the CMOS battery. The Q-LED display bank is a visual representation of the board boot sequence, useful in troubleshoot board related initialization issues. To the upper right of the DIMM slots is the onboard memory power LED array.
The Intel ICH10R Southbridge chipset is located under a solid looking, low profile heat sink just under the secondary PCI-Express x16 slot. Just above the heat sink is the Southbridge power LED array. The board's 8 SATA slots are located directly below the Southbridge, with the Intel ICH10R controlled SATA 2 ports being black in color. The red colored ports are the Marvell controlled SATA 3 6G capable ports. To the right of the Marvell controlled SATA 3 ports is the onboard hard drive activity LED. To upper left of the ICH10R SATA 2 ports are the front panel header, the QPI_LL and CMOS reset switch jumpers, the onboard USB 2.0 headers, the onboard power, reset, and GO profile activation buttons, and the GO status LED. The QPI_LL jumper forces QPI voltage consistency when enabled, in order to prevent the QPI voltage from dropping during overclocking. The CMOS reset switch jumper enables the CMOS reset button located in the rear panel. The GO profile activation button enables the profile settings tied to the GO profile stored in the BIOS Tools menu.
Amazingly enough, ASUS was able to integrate a total of 4 slots in to the Rampage III Gene's design: 2 PCI-Express x16 slots, 1 PCI-Express x4 slot, and 1 PCI slot. The CHA_FAN1, PWR_FAN, IEEE 1394, front panel audio, and S/PDIF output headers are located along the outer edge of the PCI slot. The SupremeFX X-Fi 2 audio controller chip is the silver chip located just above the PCI slot.
ASUS integrated the following in to the Rampage III Gene's rear panel: PS/2 keyboard port; CMOS reset button; 7 USB 2.0 ports; 2 USB 3.0 ports (purple colored ports); 1 IEEE 1394 port; 1 Intel GigE Ethernet port; the ROG Connect button; and 6 analogue and an S/PDIF optical audio output port. Note that when the ROG Connect button is enabled, the USB 2.0 port directly to the button's right becomes usable only for ROG Connect operation.