X38 Comparison Part 1: DDR2 Motherboards

Asus Maximus Formula (Special Edition): Overachiever, Continued

Asus turned all six of its Serial ATA and the single Ultra ATA connector 90 degrees to face forward at the front edge, allowing cable connectors to slide easily under the leading edge of extra-long graphics cards. Unfortunately, this could prevent the board from being easily used in some ATX cases, since any nearby drive bays would interfere with connector insertion.

Moving further away from tradition is Asus' SupremeFX II audio riser card, which is designed to isolate analog audio circuits from electromagnetic interference. An added benefit of placing the audio solution on the system's top slot is that its front panel connector is easily reached by the cables of cases with top-mounted "front panel" ports.

Onboard device highlights include two PCI-Express Gigabit Ethernet controllers and the high-quality ADI 1988B audio chip. The PCI-Express interface is required for gigabit controllers to operate at full speed, as the old-fashioned 32-bit PCI interface used by certain competitors can only handle gigabit-speed traffic in one direction at a time.

Also featured are connectors for several internal thermal resistors, which can be connected to a variety of front panel temperature display devices.

Asus relieves the rear panel of several connectors, ostensibly for better ventilation to the Maximus Formula's silver-colored sink. Remaining are a single PS/2 keyboard port, two digital audio ports (coaxial and optical), six USB 2.0 ports an IEEE-1394 FireWire port and two network ports. Asus adds a "CLR CMOS" button for resetting BIOS, but users who worry about depressing it accidentally can disable this by using an internal switch.

Noticeably absent from the Maximus Formula rear panel port section are any External SATA ports, which have come to be expected of any high-end motherboard. In fact, Asus doesn't even have an extra SATA controller with internal connectors for breaking out to the front-panel eSATA ports of some cases, instead forcing builders to use one of the six chipset-supported ports.