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ASUS Rampage III Extreme Motherboard

Plenty of shots of ASUS' X58 mobo.

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A top-down shot of the Rampage III Extreme, showing off the relatively clean layout - though it's still quite complex. Also note my superawesome desk, and marvel at its wood grain.

The I/O panel offers a buttload of connections: one PS/2, seven USB2, clear CMOS, Optical, 6-pin FireWire, hybrid USB/eSATA, Gigabit Ethernet, ROG Connect, two USB3, 7.1 channel audio. Phew!

Just behind the I/O stuff are two 8-pin ATX power connectors, giving this board a reputation already as a serious overclocker under LN2. Won't do much on air or water, though.

The LGA1336 socket from Lotes, surrounded on all sides by an ultra-powerful 8 phase digital PWM. Note the FPCAP (silver box) that allows on-the-fly voltage changes via ROG Connect. Neato.

ASUS have put this chip, labelled CHiL, right next to the CPU socket. What does it do? Who knows! Just kidding, we knows, it's a custom digital VRM controller that works faster than analogue options at lower heat. Great for the power-hungry Gulftown chips!

The edge of the board brings a hard power (start) and reset (reset) button (the things in front of you). There are also hard voltage measurement points for all the major systems and components!

These four switches match up with the four PCIe 16x lanes, disabling them. ASUS explain that it's to help find faulty cards without physically pulling them out - again a luxury feature for LN2 overclockers.

Right next to the switches lies a Go Button, which activates the MemOK! feature that we still would never use before POST, and enabling an auto OC profile-switch while in the OS.

Storage options cover seven SATA 2.0 ports from the Southbridge chip, with an additional two red SATA 3.0 ports powered by a now-reliable Marvell chip.

The bottom corner of the board boasts a BIOS Switch button, to change which BIOS chip the board uses on the fly.

The southbridge chip (and NVIDIA NF200) are cooled by this large heatsink, boasting plenty of raised fins for extra surface area. Should do an ok job at stock.

Just between this heatsink and the DDR3 slots is another one of the FPCAP boxes; they're dotted all over the board.

Jumping to the very bottom edge of the Rampage III shows a molex connector, giving another source of 12V power for the PCIe lanes to aid in stability.

This extra stability is needed when you've got three (or more) graphics cards overclocked drawing buttloads of power, and is practically essential. There's one old-school PCI slot, a 4x slot, and plenty of Packet Switch chips to reroute PCIe lanes as needed.

Moving just behind the I/O ports again and we find another molex connector! The sheer amount of power that ASUS are preparing for is pretty darn insane. There's also a NEC USB3 chip.

While you can't really see it so well (thanks to overhead lighting in the office being notsoamazing, and the photo table occupied by a photographer), audio needs are provided by a Realtek ALC889 chip. Not the best, but it's functional enough.

The X58 northbridge chip is cooled by this low-lying heatsink, with a nice dull red colour looking quite striking against the black PCB.

Since the Rampage III Extreme fits into the Republic of Gamers series of boards, it has this little badge that also lights up when powered. It might also pulsate when running (which is annoying, but turn-offable through the BIOS).

Also thrown into the box is this Bluetooth module that plugs into a header near the I/O panel, giving extra functionality like overclocking via your phone. It's uh, not a must-buy feature, but it'll be fun to play around with!

ASUS threw this sheet of stickers into the manual, actually quite a thoughtful inclusion that should help clear up which cable goes where in the gigantic mess of cables that is your average computer.

Also in the box is this much-larger heatsink and fan combo, that boasts a teensy 40mm fan and a little blob of thermal paste pre-applied.

The heatsink replaces the small one on the X58 chip, giving better temps and more OC potential. There's a lot going on in the Rampage III, so keep your eyes open for a review in the mag!

A top-down shot of the Rampage III Extreme, showing off the relatively clean layout - though it's still quite complex. Also note my superawesome desk, and marvel at its wood grain.

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ASUS Rampage III Extreme Motherboard

Plenty of shots of ASUS' X58 mobo.

Related articles

Intel appoints engineering hires as part of turnaround strategy

US pushes Vietnam to decouple from Chinese tech, sources say

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Most popular tech stories

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