Asus mATX ROG Rampage II Gene X58 Motherboard
Introduction
Published: 6th March 2009 | Source: Asus | Price: £199.99 |
Introduction
"The Planet is in peril. Once peaceful, evil now lurks in every corner.
But there is hope yet.
A new band of ROG heroes has emerged to battle the forces of darkness. Though small in number they possess the full might of ROG.
They are the Elite. They are the Gene squad." - Asus 2009
But there is hope yet.
A new band of ROG heroes has emerged to battle the forces of darkness. Though small in number they possess the full might of ROG.
They are the Elite. They are the Gene squad." - Asus 2009
Up until now, high end motherboards were the preserve of ATX / E-ATX standards but a number of manufacturers are beginning to realise that hardcore gamers don't always want huge setups, massive tower cases and hulking, overweight power supplies. Ask any gamer who has dragged their watercooled V2000 to a LAN, they will tell you the attention it gets is simply not worth the aching arms.
Micro ATX has often been scoffed at by high end enthusiasts. They have not been popular with overclockers or gamers, not sought after by anyone other than those looking for a compact PC. Certainly not in the sense the latest and greatest motherboards have been, due in part that often with a shrink is size comes a shrink in features. Asus aim to change that viewpoint with the ROG Rampage II Gene X58.
Being from the ROG (Republic of Gamers) stable, the Rampage II Gene is feature packed, bursting with the same features that made its full fat stablemate so popular among the enthusiast community. Here's what Asus had to say about their latest release:
Atomic in Size, Atomic in Power
With the Rampage II GENE, ASUS has masterfully filled the mATX gap in its lauded ROG product line. For the first time, users will be able to harness the full power of the Intel® Core™ i7 processor in a chassis the fraction of the size and weight of an ATX desktop PC. The Rampage II GENE’s awesome combination of overclock ability, tweak ability and stability enable it to easily outgun other full-sized ATX motherboards.
MemOK! Any Memory is A-Okay!
MemOK! was developed to provide users with a worry-free memory upgrade experience. In the event of a boot failure after installing new RAM, all the user has to do is press an easily accessible button on the motherboard and MemOK! will automatically load the failsafe settings needed to ensure a successful system boot. MemOK! is able to rapidly detect and resolve memory issues—even if bad or unstable memory is used!
Supreme In-game Audio with SupremeFX X-Fi
An on-board SupremeFX X-Fi solution delivers crisp audio and incredibly realistic in-game sound effects. Official EAX sound effects from EAX 1.0 to EAX HD4.0 allow gamers to enjoy total immersion in supported games. X-Fi CMSS3D’s groundbreaking positional audio gives gamers a distinct in-game advantage, while Crystalizer enhances overall audio quality dramatically. Here's a breakdown of what the ROG Rampage II Gene has to offer:
With the Rampage II GENE, ASUS has masterfully filled the mATX gap in its lauded ROG product line. For the first time, users will be able to harness the full power of the Intel® Core™ i7 processor in a chassis the fraction of the size and weight of an ATX desktop PC. The Rampage II GENE’s awesome combination of overclock ability, tweak ability and stability enable it to easily outgun other full-sized ATX motherboards.
MemOK! Any Memory is A-Okay!
MemOK! was developed to provide users with a worry-free memory upgrade experience. In the event of a boot failure after installing new RAM, all the user has to do is press an easily accessible button on the motherboard and MemOK! will automatically load the failsafe settings needed to ensure a successful system boot. MemOK! is able to rapidly detect and resolve memory issues—even if bad or unstable memory is used!
Supreme In-game Audio with SupremeFX X-Fi
An on-board SupremeFX X-Fi solution delivers crisp audio and incredibly realistic in-game sound effects. Official EAX sound effects from EAX 1.0 to EAX HD4.0 allow gamers to enjoy total immersion in supported games. X-Fi CMSS3D’s groundbreaking positional audio gives gamers a distinct in-game advantage, while Crystalizer enhances overall audio quality dramatically. Here's a breakdown of what the ROG Rampage II Gene has to offer:
Specification
The specification below was taken directly from Asus:
Model: Rampage II GENE
CPU: LGA1366 socket for Intel® Core™ i7
Chipset: Intel® X58/ICH10R
System: Bus Up to 6.4 GT/s with QuickPath Interconnection
Memory: 6 x DIMM, Triple Channel, up to 24GB
DDR3: 2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C)/1333/1066 MHz
Expansion slot: 2 x PCIe2.0 x16 slot, supports dual x16, 1 x PCIe2.0 x4, 1 x PCI 2.2
Multi-GPU Support: NVIDIA SLI™ / ATI CrossFireX™
Storage: 7 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s, 1 x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s, 1 x UltraDMA 133, support RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, and JBOD
LAN: Gigabit LAN
Audio: Onboard SupremeFX X-Fi 8-Ch. Audio with EAX4.0 support
Other I/O ports: 1*PS/2, 1*eSATA, 1*IEEE1394a, 1*Clr CMOS, 1*Optical S/PDIF, USB / IEEE1394a 12 x USB2.0 (6+6) / 2 x 1394a ports (1 at back I/O, 1 onboard)
Fan connector: 5 (1 x CPU / 2 x Chassis / 2 x Optional)
Software: (Full version) Kaspersky anti-virus, Futuremark® 3DMark™06 Advanced Edition
Features: MemOK!, CPU Level Up, Keyboard-TweakIt, Extreme Tweaker, iROG, Loadline Calibration, LCD Poster, EPU-6 Engine, Q-Fan plus, Voltiminder LED
Form Factor: micro ATX Form Factor, 9.6”x 9.6” (24.4cm x 24.4cm)
CPU: LGA1366 socket for Intel® Core™ i7
Chipset: Intel® X58/ICH10R
System: Bus Up to 6.4 GT/s with QuickPath Interconnection
Memory: 6 x DIMM, Triple Channel, up to 24GB
DDR3: 2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C)/1333/1066 MHz
Expansion slot: 2 x PCIe2.0 x16 slot, supports dual x16, 1 x PCIe2.0 x4, 1 x PCI 2.2
Multi-GPU Support: NVIDIA SLI™ / ATI CrossFireX™
Storage: 7 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s, 1 x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s, 1 x UltraDMA 133, support RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, and JBOD
LAN: Gigabit LAN
Audio: Onboard SupremeFX X-Fi 8-Ch. Audio with EAX4.0 support
Other I/O ports: 1*PS/2, 1*eSATA, 1*IEEE1394a, 1*Clr CMOS, 1*Optical S/PDIF, USB / IEEE1394a 12 x USB2.0 (6+6) / 2 x 1394a ports (1 at back I/O, 1 onboard)
Fan connector: 5 (1 x CPU / 2 x Chassis / 2 x Optional)
Software: (Full version) Kaspersky anti-virus, Futuremark® 3DMark™06 Advanced Edition
Features: MemOK!, CPU Level Up, Keyboard-TweakIt, Extreme Tweaker, iROG, Loadline Calibration, LCD Poster, EPU-6 Engine, Q-Fan plus, Voltiminder LED
Form Factor: micro ATX Form Factor, 9.6”x 9.6” (24.4cm x 24.4cm)
As you can see from the specification above this motherboard is a feature packed motherboard. Let's take a look at the board itself...
Most Recent Comments
I don't know about anyone else but I live in a studio (1-room) apt and have a very limited amount of space. The m-ATX is a great size for me because it just fits on a small part of my table and occupies very little space. My case has a 500 watt PSU and 3 fans, a DVD/RW, 2 hard drives, a CPU fan, an ASUS EN9600TOP GPU, 4GB ram and a XEON E3110 (C2D E8400) CPU. The temp gets all the way up to 39 degrees Centigrade. Seems to me that I would be a fool to throw out this case with all it offers when I can get a Mobo like this one with the associated equipment and probably still keep it efficient, cool and able to perform well. I did some figuring last night using Newegg (I am in the US) and I could get the RAM, CPU and Mobo for around $500 if I want to keep my current PSU or about $650 if I want to replace my 500 watt PSU with an 850 watt PSU and I would end up with a system that fits my life style and space with no problems. Why would I do otherwise?
Why indeed;)
Will Corsair Dominator/Patriot Viper DDR3 fit on this board with a TRUE120 fited?
Depends on the orientation m8. It should fit ok, even with both fans but I cannot 100% guarentee it as I didn't have a TRUE during testing. Hopefully Thermalright will send us one as it seems to be the case that if a TRUE fits then so will most coolers.
can u plzz give the best set of hardware for this motherboard Asus mATX ROG Rampage II Gene X58 Motherboard
@nickasama
Here is what i'm getting.
Gene II
Dominator 3x2GB 1866MHz + Fan
P180 Mini
Here is what I have (had)
i7 920 C0
TRUE 120
RaptorX 150GB 10k RPM
GTX 295
1000HX 1000W
Liteon DVDRW
For me this is the best setup, except GFX. I, maybe will buy new Fermis, but it depends, just waiting benchs.
Anyways, this is good setup, I worked hard for this.
If you can buy, you can change GFX to 5870 and HDD to SSD (some Vertex would be nice). For me it's enough
Here is what i'm getting.
Gene II
Dominator 3x2GB 1866MHz + Fan
P180 Mini
Here is what I have (had)
i7 920 C0
TRUE 120
RaptorX 150GB 10k RPM
GTX 295
1000HX 1000W
Liteon DVDRW
For me this is the best setup, except GFX. I, maybe will buy new Fermis, but it depends, just waiting benchs.
Anyways, this is good setup, I worked hard for this.
If you can buy, you can change GFX to 5870 and HDD to SSD (some Vertex would be nice). For me it's enough
Hi everyone:
I'm new to the Overclock world. I recently update my Gateway 6800-01e PC with this Mobo and a XFX 9800 GTX+. Yesterday I try to start messing around in the BIOS trying to change my Base clock to 180 at least, but it's still locked. I read somewhere that to achieve it, the AI has to be placed to manual. If someone have a guide to manually overclock this mobo, please let me know.
Thanks,
Feferefe
I'm new to the Overclock world. I recently update my Gateway 6800-01e PC with this Mobo and a XFX 9800 GTX+. Yesterday I try to start messing around in the BIOS trying to change my Base clock to 180 at least, but it's still locked. I read somewhere that to achieve it, the AI has to be placed to manual. If someone have a guide to manually overclock this mobo, please let me know.
Thanks,
Feferefe
Can anyone tell me what type of PSU I would need for this baby? Last time I built a PC, things were still simple... Which of these types would work:
* ATX
* ATX12V
* ATX12V 2.0
* ATX12V 2.01
* ATX12V 2.03
* ATX12V 2.2
* ATX12V 2.3
* ATX12V 2.31
* BTX
* EPS12V
* EPS12V 2.8
* EPS12V 2.9
* EPS12V 2.91
* EPS12V 2.92
* flexATX
* mATX
* SFX
* SFX12V 3.01
* SSI
I'm so confused!
TIA
* ATX
* ATX12V
* ATX12V 2.0
* ATX12V 2.01
* ATX12V 2.03
* ATX12V 2.2
* ATX12V 2.3
* ATX12V 2.31
* BTX
* EPS12V
* EPS12V 2.8
* EPS12V 2.9
* EPS12V 2.91
* EPS12V 2.92
* flexATX
* mATX
* SFX
* SFX12V 3.01
* SSI
I'm so confused!
TIA
Whats your budget dude, if you are buying a new psu and buy a decent brand you will be fine. Recomendations would be a 'Be-Quiet' of a Corsair PSU.
CSS Valid
imagine
the power of a full sized rig
in a beasty little case
*drools*