ASUS Crosshair III Formula Motherboard Review :: Features

• AMD AM3 CPU Support
• AMD 790FX/SB750 NB/SB
• DDR3 1600 (OC)
• MemOK!
• CPU Level Up
• SupremeFX X-Fi
• Phenom II/Athlon II/ Sempron 100 Series Processors
• ATI CrossfireX Technology
• Pin Fin Thermal Module
• iROG
• External LCD Poster
• Extreme Tweaker
• Voltimeter LED
• COP EX
• Loadline Calibration
• Onboard Switch
• ASUS Q-Connector
• Kapersky's Anti-Virus
• Q-Shield
• OC Profile
• CPR (CPU Parameter Recall)
• EZ Flash 2
• My Logo3
• Stack Cool 2
• SATA on the Go
• IEEE-1394a interface

Part Number	CROSSHAIR III Formula
Manufacturer	ASUS
Chipset	AMD 790FX
North Bridge	790FX
Socket	Socket AM3
Memory speed	1600/1333/1066/800 DDR3
Processor Types	AMD Phenom II X3, X4, Athlon II, Sempron 100
Number of CPUs	1
HT Speed	Up to 5200MT/second
Memory Type	DDR3
Memory Channels	Double
Maximum Memory	16GB
External Graphics	PCI Express x16 x2
IGP	N/A
South Bridge	SB750
Audio	8-channel
IDE	133/100/66
SCSI	None
SATA	3.0 GB/s
RAID	0, 1, 0+1, 5, 10
LAN	10/100/1000 4 LAN Ports
Firewire	IEEE 1394a
USB	USB 2.0
BIOS	AMI
Form Factor	ATX

ASUS decided to focus their new motherboard on the AMD side of things combining the venerable 790FX Northbridge with the SB750 Southbridge. The board supports the latest AM3 CPUs including the Phenom II 955 and the Athlon II CPUs that have recently been announced. There are some unique features with the ROG motherboards including CPU Level Up, MemOK, CPU Parameter Recall (CPR) and other features not found in other motherboards.

Logo

CPU Level Up changes the parameters of the CPU to match a higher CPU than what is installed. For example a Phenom II X4 925 could be leveled up to Phenom II 945 or Phenom II 955 within the BIOS or Windows application. Assuming the CPU can handle the new settings you have a faster CPU with the touch of a button. CPU Parameter Recall will set your computer back to default settings upon restart if overclocking fails.

The CROSSHAIR III supports DDR3 memory clocked at up to 1600MHz when overclocked. Note that the CPU has the memory controller on the Phenom II CPUs and therefore the memory will be set according to the CPU. There is a long list of memory supported by the motherboard that ASUS has tested on their QVL site. The board supports a maximum of 16GB of DDR3 1600 (OC)/1333/1066/800MHz memory. The board and CPUs support both ECC and non-ECC memory.

The iROG chip enables many functions for overclocking and is designed to work with the External LCD Poster to show off the operating characteristics of the system while under operation. When the computer is idle it shows the time allowing the user to have a handy clock. It allows you to set the clock speed of the CPU, the voltage of the CPU and also shows the current settings when in operation. It's a neat little gadget that shows the care and effort ASUS put into the board.

ATI first introduced Crossfire in 2005 to allow gamers to improve gaming performance with more than two video cards. Two years ago, ATI announced CrossfireX which replaced the old Master/Slave card combination with a bridge much like NVIDIA's SLI solution. The CROSSHAIR III has two PCI Express 2.0 Generation x16 slots meaning that two cards can be used on the motherboard. Some 790FX board allow for up to four ATI cards to be used together.