Asus Striker II Extreme 790i DDR3 Motherboard

 

Having only reviewed the Asus Striker II Formula board a couple of months ago, the prospect of reviewing the same board yet again - just with DDR3 slots initially didn't spark much enthusiasm amongst the team here at Overclock3D. After all, the 780i chipset used on the "Formula" was really nothing more than a re-hash of the ageing 680i chipset with a PCI Express 2.0 support stapled to it. Issues such as poor overclocking with Quad-core chips and an insanely hot northbridge still hadn't been resolved and overall we left the review feeling a little short changed. However, in much the same way as the recently reviewed Asus P5E3 Premium got a spangly new X48 chipset (much to the envy of it's elder P5E3 Deluxe brother), the Striker II Extreme has also undergone a chipset upgrade, and is now kitted out with the greatly anticipated 790i SLI Ultra.

 

While the difference in model numbers seem to imply that there was more of a jump in technology between the 680i and the 780i, this couldn't be further from the truth. Comprising of a C73 Northbridge and MCP55 Southbridge, the 790i SLI Ultra provides full support for DDR3, the latest Intel 45nm CPU's with 1600mhz FSB and PCI Express 2.0 on-chip. The "Ultra" suffix in the name also denotes support for "SLI" memory modules at speeds of DDR3-1600, DDR3-1800 and DDR3-2000. PR peeps will also be quick to tell you that the 790i produces a lot less heat than than its predecessors and should be able to give Intel's X38 and X48 chipsets a run for their money where overclocking is concerned.

 

Unfortunately the Asus website didn't have any information available for the Striker II Extreme board at the time of review, so for the moment we've bodged together our own unofficial specs list compiled from various sources around the web:

 

 

Being a motherboard from Asus' Republic of Gamers line-up, the Striker II Extreme is packed with more features than you can shake a very large stick (of RAM?) at. While we'll undoubtedly cover most of these features as we take a closer look at the board over the next few pages, let's have a quick look at some of the features that often get overlooked:

 

The ASUS EPU is an on-board, hardware-based power saving IC controller that digitally monitors and fine tunes your CPU's power supply in real-time, providing improved VRM efficiency under light and heavy loads. According to Asus, this can provide up to 58.6% CPU power savings - but only when Intel's on-chip energy saving "C1E" technology is disabled.

 

Loadline Calibration is a feature recently introduced on Asus motherboards which helps prevent CPU voltage droop when the system is under heavy load. While many enthusiasts often obsess over vdroop and hold it solely responsible for unstable overclocks, the truth of the matter is that vdroop was very much part of Intel processor specifications and can play an important role in the longevity of your CPU and Motherboard.

 

The Voltminder LED provides enthusiasts with a quick and easy way to monitor how much voltage they are putting through components such as the CPU, Northbridge and Memory. Simply look at the area surrounding the component you are interested in, and you will find a series of LED's that change colour between Green, Orange and Red depending on the amount of voltage applied.

 

Now that we've got most of the specs out of the way, it's time to delve into what Asus have thrown in the box...