By Poldopunk- Mytechisland Official Hardware Reviewer
The Republic of Gamers sub-branding by Asus is synonymous to the best of the best. True to its word, the Asus Crosshair III Formula shifts away from the Nvidia chipsets that were once on the previous Crosshairs to the sought-after 790FX/SB750 chipset combo where it delivers performance and innovation that the previous chipsets couldn’t offer. This combination has already proven itself and the M4A79T Deluxe is a testament to this platform’s performance since it has been breaking records left and right in the enthusiast’s community. The Crosshair III is yet to prove itself in terms of performance and stability but knowing that this fine piece of electronic equipment carries the ROG brand, I expect nothing less.To those who are not familiar, the Crosshair III Formula uses Socket AM3 where only AM3 processors such as the Phenom II 945 and the Phenom II 955 are supported. These processors however can be installed on Socket AM2+ motherboards as they are backwards-compatible but previous generations will not fit unto the socket even if you remove the extra 2 pins like the guys in Tom’s Hardware did, to prove a point. The board is also equipped to support DDR3 which provides higher memory bandwidth throughput at a slightly slower latency but at lower voltages compared to the previous DDR2. Later on, as we progress, we will inspect how the board performs against the famous M4A79T which has left quite a reputation as an excellent overclocker.
For now, let’s take a look at the board’s plethora of specifications.
CPU AMD Socket AM3 ;Phenom™II /Athlon™II /Sempron™ 100 Series Processors
AMD 140W CPU Support
AMD Cool 'n' Quiet™ Technology
Supports 45nm CPU
Chipset AMD 790FX/SB750
System Bus Up to 5200 MT/s ; HyperTransport™ 3.0
Memory 4 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 ECC,Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture
Expansion Slots 2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (@ dual x16)
3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 ( the PCIEx1_1 (black) is compatible with audio slot)
1 x PCI 2.2
Multi-GPU Support Support ATI CrossFire™X Technology graphics cards
Storage SB750 Chipset
1 xUltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices
5 xSATA 3 Gb/s ports Support RAID 0,1,5,10,JBOD
1 x External SATA 3Gb/s port on rear (SATA On-the-Go)
LAN Gigabit LAN controller, featuring AI NET 2
Audio SupremeFX X-Fi Audio Card
8 -Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
- EAX® Advanced™ HD 4.0
- X-Fi CMSS®-3D
- X-Fi Crystalizer™
- Creative Alchemy
- Supports 1 x S/PDIF out header
- Supports Coaxial/Optical S/PDIF out ports on rear
IEEE 1394 2 x 1394a ports (1 port at back I/O, 1 port onboard)
USB 12 USB 2.0 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 6 ports at back panel)
Back Panel I/O Ports 1 x External SATA
1 x IEEE 1394a
1 x LAN(RJ45) port
6 x USB 2.0/1.1
1 x Clear CMOS switch
1 x PS/2 Keyboard port(purple)
Internal I/O Connectors 3 x USB connectors supports additional 6 USB 2.0 ports
1 x IEEE 1394a connector
1 x IDE connector for two devices
3 x thermal sensor connector
5 x SATA connectors (Blue)
System Panel connector
8 x Fan connectors: 1 x CPU / 1 x PWR / 3 x Chassis / 3 x Optional
1 x LCD Poster connector
24-pin ATX Power connector
8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
Packaging and Accessories…
The Crosshair III Formula’s packaging is similar to the other ROG lines. It comes with a themed box showcasing the specifications and some screenshots of highlights on the board. Like the other ROG motherboards, you’ll easily know that this one belongs to the ROG because of the color. The front cover of the box is being held by Velcro tape and opens up to show prospective buyers how the motherboard looks like which is a nice touch. This saves time from opening the box and removing the motherboard just to check out what’s inside and risk potential damage to the board due to static electricity and mishandling.
Opening the package reveals the goodies that lie inside. You’ll find that the box contains two more boxes stacked on top of each other which separate the accessories from the motherboard. The motherboard itself is enclosed in a box where the outer frames are holding it in place to protect damages brought about during shipping. This, in my opinion is a lot better compared to the Maximus II Gene that I reviewed just recently where I’m more concerned on the shocks the solder points at the back go through not to mention the components on the motherboard itself during shipping as it moves about from inside its box. The second box contains the accessories divided into different compartments.The contents are the following:
Accessories SupremeFX X-Fi audio card
1 x 2 in 1 Q-connector (USB, System panel; Retail version only)
1 x Multi-functional module (1-port IEEE 1394a + 2-port USB2.0)
External LCD Poster
UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
Serial ATA cables
I/O shield
Cable Ties
User's manual
Support Disc Contents Drivers
ASUS PC Probe II
ASUS AI Suite
ASUS Update
Kaspersky® Anti-Virus
AMD OverDrive Utility (AOD)
Sound Blaster X-Fi Utility
Futuremark® 3DMark® 06 Advanced Edition
A couple of things worth mentioning are the presence of two accessories which I find very useful. The LCD Poster has become a standard on the ROG motherboards and yes, you’ll get the same item here. The other one is the audio solution of the system which is the Supreme FX X-Fi audio card which is powered by Creative. Much has been said about this card as it rivals aftermarket sound card solutions out there but this time, it comes with the Crosshair III free which is as always, a nice addition.
The LCD poster on the other hand is a handy tool for enthusiasts as it shows you information (voltage, temperature, date, etc.) even while in Windows. This device takes its reading directly from the iROG chip on the motherboard. The options for changing the cycled displayed information can be changed on the BIOS, from there; you’ll also have the option to turn the blue LED backlighting on or off. If you’ve had enough of the accessories, then let’s move on to the motherboard, shall we? Motherboard Layout…
If you’ve come this far, then it was worth it. We will take a short tour around the motherboard and check out the layout and see how it compares to the other ROG motherboards out there. If you’ve guessed that it carries the same color-scheme, you’re right. The black PCB and the touch of blue and red are pleasing to the eyes. From here alone, you’ll know that the board is special as the components are carefully laid out in such a way it won’t interfere with the rest of your devices. Before the actual photos though, you might want to take a look at the layout below:
Starting from the upper left hand side of the board is where we find the LCD poster header which looks like a USB header. Like the Maximus II Gene, this location is somewhat a problem when you already have the board, heatsink and fan mounted on your case as it would be almost impossible to connect the LCD poster (almost because I managed to connect it with the help of a handy barbecue stick).
This is also where the first 4-pin fan header is located the board which has the ability to control fan speeds. To the left of the fan header, you’ll see 3 small LEDs with the labels which intuitively, are called Voltiminder (voltage reminder), CPU_CRAZY, CPU_HIGH, and CPU_NORMAL which indicates the level of voltage you currently have on your CPU. You can also configure this LED to show VDD NB or VDDA Voltage. With the default as CPU VCore, the ranges are as follows; Normal .85000 – 1.3625 volts (green), High 1.3750 – 1.4875 volts (yellow) and 1.5000+ (red). The glow on the red led will scare the hell out of you when you see it which makes this an awesome tool without having to read the current voltage settings. Right next of the CPU Voltiminder, you’ll see the ATX12V connector with the cover on and becomes the EATX12V or EPS12V when removed (duh?).
Moving on you’ll see the CPU socket area which looks somewhat crowded, please excuse the thermal paste as I was testing my Xigmatek Dark Knight HDT-S1283 as to how it would make contact with the CPU – not too good but even with the partial contact, the heatsink worked fairly well later on. The memory slots sits a little too close to the socket itself which could pose problems with high-profile RAMs out there like the one I used for testing (Corsair Dominator). A quick count on the ferrite chokes and it reveals a 10-phase power delivery from the voltage regulator module but in reality, its 8+2 where the bottom 2 is shared by the northbridge chipset.
We are now looking at 4 DDR3 memory slots, the 24-pin ATX power connector and 2 4-pin fan headers. The low profile ferrite chokes indicate the memory is supplied with a 2-phase power delivery which should be more than enough. Each slot is capable of supporting up to 4 gigabytes of DDR3 SDRAM which totals to 16 GB. Dual-channel operation is activated when installing memory on same colored slots. Ganged or Unganged dual channel operation can be controlled from the BIOS. Just below the 3rd memory slot you’ll find the Voltiminder once again for the memory. Voltage ranges are as follows: Normal 1.51050 – 1.72250 volts (green), High 1.73575 volts – 2.31875 (yellow), and Crazy 2.33200 – 2.80900 (red). The red led is again, intimidating enough where these LEDs change colors even when settings aren’t applied in the BIOS, yet.
What you’re looking at right now is probably the busiest part of the board where the undying angled IDE port is located, 5 SATA ports (4 of which are angled), which is all controlled by the SB750 chipset covered by a low profile aluminum heatsink. When using multiple graphics cards, the chipset tends to get warm (50c during my testing) so be sure your system has adequate ventilation. SATA ports 1, 2, 3, 4 are capable of RAID operation in case you’re wondering and the lone vertical SATA port doesn’t really cause problems with extra long graphics cards.
Towards the bottom you’ll find the power, reset and the MemOK button which I had the chance to test later. Just above the front panel headers, you’ll find the clear cmos jumper in case you want to kick it old school. Also, you may think that the board has 3 USB 2.0 headers but the only ones usable are two which are enclosed by a blue header guard. The other USB header labeled USB78 and the port with GP label is to be used on the Asus OC Station which I will be posting a review after this. From this angle, you’ll find two more 4-pin fan headers, beside the fan header labeled CHA_FAN2 is a header for a thermal sensor which can be configured to work with the fan installed beside it, nifty huh?
This part is somewhat boring except for the two PCIE x16 that you see here. Unlike the previous AMD chipset, these ports run x16 electronically where before, only the Nforce chipset can offer hence, the reason why Asus switched to the 790FX chipset rather than with the Nvidia Nforce chipset. You’ll also notice that with dual-slot graphics cards on crossfire configuration, you’ll lose the extra ports leaving only the PCI slot but who the heck uses the x4 slot except for the sound, right?
On the bottom part, you can now clearly see the GP and the USB78 I was referring to earlier. Like I said, this is where the Asus OC Station connects. Sitting right next to it are the iROG chipsets which offer hardware monitoring and other features. You’ll also find here the 2nd firewire header. The location is perfect since this is where you’ll be connecting the brackets for expansion. All the way to right are once again, the 4-pin fan header and thermal sensor header tandem and yet again, they work in tandems if need be.
The left image shows you the last 2 4-pin headers I’ve been talking about all throughout the tour. The board gives you eight (including the CPU fan header) 4-pin fan headers making the board a fan controller as well and mind you they work with the OC station besides the fact that the station itself can support three fans. The lower fan header has a thermal sensor header and can work in tandem should you choose to.
To your right is the northbridge heatsink in all its glory. The ROG logo lights up when the system is on and blinks every few seconds when the system is on standby but I kind of hate the light effects as the 4 LEDs illuminating it are visible – should have been seamless if you ask me. On the lower right of the northbridge chipset heatsink, you’ll find the Voltiminder LEDs which of course will guide you as to how much voltage you’re pumping into this thing. Voltage ranges are as following; Normal 1.11300 – 1.59000 volts (green), high 1.60325 – 1.84175 volts (yellow) and high 1.85000 – 2.05400 volts (red). I don’t think you’d need that much voltage for the chipset but adding the Voltiminder LEDs is a nice addition to it.
On the lower left side of the chipset you’ll find a lone PCIE x4 slot. This slot is specifically for the audio soundcard, no other devices will work on this slot except the card and the card will refuse to work when used on the other PCIE x4 slots. This is also the ideal location for the card when running crossfire configuration as the card is sitting away from the two cards, with two 4890s on my testing, the card would’ve been toasted over time.
BIOS Screenshots
Being the forgetful person that I am, I only remembered that I needed to take BIOS screenshots when I already fully disassembled the system. Luckily, Dave, the editor-in-chief of Overclockers’ Club was kind enough to grant me permission to use their Extreme Tweaker screenshots from their own review of the Crosshair III Formula – great guy! Thanks a lot, Dave for helping out a fellow hardware enthusiast. Now, I decided to post only the Extreme Tweaker shots as the other BIOS options are pretty much standard you see on ROG motherboards, even the Extreme Tweaker menu has almost the same options from the Rampage II motherboards knowing that the current AMD and Intel Core i7 processors share similar architectures.
These are the available options for the processor. First image left shows you the target frequency if you decide to tune settings in the BIOS, no more reaching for the calculator. The CPU-Level Up option is the board’s automated overclocking option provided that you leave all the settings especially in the voltages section Auto. A similar application can also be installed in Windows which does the same thing but during my testing, I decided to leave this one out knowing that an Auto voltage over-estimates settings. With a Black Edition processor, you pretty much have access beyond the default CPU multiplier. Default for the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition is 16 with a reference clock of 200 MHz giving you 3.2 GHz of effective clock speed.
Moving on you’ll have 4 options in DRAM frequency which as you have known already, is directly affected when adjusting the reference clock which is also true for the rest of the frequencies - leaving the default at 200 gives you DDR3-800, DDR3-1066, DDR3-1333 (JEDEC standards) and an overclocked setting of DDR3-1600 respectively. The CPU-NB option gives you frequency instead of multipliers, simply divide by the reference clock (default: 200 MHz) and you have the multipliers available for this particular option. Under DRAM Controller configuration is where you’ll find the setting for ganged and unganged mode for the memory, Unganged gives you a slightly better performance but is quite hard to keep the memory stable at 1T command rate. Speaking of command rate, you can also set the timings manually or leave it at auto but in order for you gain access to these settings, you have to set AI Overclock Tuner to manual, else, you won’t find these options.
Last but definitely not least are the voltage settings. For enthusiasts and overclockers, this is an essential page as it provides voltage adjustments for virtually all components in the motherboard and the processor. Highlighting a particular setting gives you the standard voltage on the right pane which is a nice touch and the colors change as you move from extremities, this page also gives you the current voltages set. The Voltiminder on the motherboard also works with these settings flawlessly even without saving the changes, the LEDs changes color immediately when you cross the ranges. The bottom image is where you can configure how the LCD Poster should post its messages, putting it at String gives you easy-to-understand descriptions on the LCD poster while you would have to use or memorize the debug codes on the manual if you prefer setting it as Code.
Now that you’ve completed our short tour, we’ll move on to testing…
Installation, Test Setup and Performance…
This photo earlier showed how my HDT-S1283’s base would make contact to the integrated heat spreader (IHS) of the CPU. As you can see, the small base of the cooler isn’t enough to cover the entire IHS of the processor and worse, the base isn’t centered where the cores are using the stock mounting. While the heatsink is keeping the temperature at 42c idle on stock voltage, the temperature doesn’t scale well when you start cranking up the voltage. From idle, the temperature soars up to 60c (processors’ maximum temperature is 68c). Before buying a heatsink, consider one that has a huge base enough to cover the entire IHS of the processor like the Thermal right Ultra-120 Extreme. Now, since Arnel’s AMD rig is using lapped True-120, I had the chance on how it would install on this motherboard.
As you can see on the photo above (excuse the dust), the True 120 clears the components except for the first 2 slots of the memory. There is only 1 way to mount heatpipe-based heatsinks, the rear will be facing top because the mounting method of these coolers wouldn’t align to the holes on the motherboard. With high-profile memory like the Corsair Dominator, you’ll basically lose the first 2 slots - Asus recommends the first 2 slots for optimum performance. Seeing that there’s no other way for me to mount the memory, I had them moved to the second set of DIMMs – this is also applicable to my HDT-S1283. Even with the TRUE-120 custom back plate mounting where the rear of the heatsink faces the exhaust from the back of the chassis, you’d still lose the first 2 slots when adding a fan to the heatsink.
First things, first, I used to own an AMD system and I’ve already given that system away and it was the old Athlon which basically started the Intel-AMD CPU wars. Sadly, that socket on that processor is ancient, there’s no way I can use that to test the Crosshair III. Luckily, Arnel a.k.a Centax Error on iStorya.net was kind enough to lend me his AMD rig for the sake of this review. His AMD rig is nothing to scorn at, and basically, Arnel already has given me a heads up as to how high the processor can go with air-cooling, below are the specs:
- CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
- Heatsink: Xigmatek Dark Knight HDT-S1283
- Thermal Interface Material: Tuniq TX-3
- Memory: 2 x 2GB Corsair Dominator DDR3-1333 Cas9, DDR3-1600 Cas8 @ 1.65 volts (CM3X2G1600C8D),
- Motherboard(s): Asus Crosshair III Formula & Asus M4A79T Deluxe
- Graphics Card(s): 2 x XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 1GB GDDR5
- Power Supply: Silverstone Decathlon DA750 Full-Modular Cables
- Hard Drive: 2 x 80GB Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM @ RAID 0
- Case Antec 300
- Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit RC1 (Build 7232)
• PCMark Vantage
• 3DMark Vantage
• Cinebench R10 64-bit
• Everest
• WPrime
• Winrar
• SuperPI 1M and 32M
What? No multi-GPU game? Let me explain. Before you start lashing on me for not including crossfire-capable games, god-knows I tried my best to make both Crysis Warhead and Call of Duty: World at War to work on Windows 7 64-bit but I failed. Crysis and COD5 just wouldn’t run on the rig no matter what. I can tell you a lot of reasons but I’d rather keep it simple; I couldn’t in any way, make both of these games work. Far Cry 2 installed and ran without hiccups so I decided to count my losses and moved forward. Nevertheless, if given the chance to re-do the review if I manage to get these 2 working, I’d be happy to. Another worth mentioning is that the M4A79T Deluxe has Windows 7 64-bit drivers while the Crosshair III formula doesn’t. At first I thought using Windows Vista drivers wouldn’t matter since Windows 7 has Vista as its soul but apparently I was wrong - these are huge performance differences when using optimized drivers. Because of this, please consider the benchmarks you see below as an overview of the Crosshair III rather than an accurate measurement of performance.
Now, if you’re wondering why I used Windows 7 instead of Windows Vista; I’ve been a Windows 7 user since the first beta and now that we’re only a few months before this operating system is released, I figured it would be much better to measure its performance to the mainstream operating system once the board is released here in the Philippines. A lot of people also find Windows 7 a whole lot better than Vista if you’re still not convinced.
You’ll find that in majority of the tests, the M4A79T edges out the Crosshair III but by an insignificant margin. I’m sure the Crosshair III, given the appropriate drivers for Windows 7 would pull ahead by a small difference as well since both systems are using the same platform. If you look closely at the 3DMark Vantage though, even with its semi-ancient Windows drivers (no pun intended), the Crosshair III has managed to pull itself up in majority of the tests…this after all, is a motherboard for gamers and clearly, it is showing its prowess.
Overclocking…
Overclocking an AMD system has its similarities with overclocking the i7. There is no controller between processor and memory; instead, the memory controller is moved directly in the processor. Unlike the Intel Core i7, the Phenom II memory controller is built sturdier and can overcome voltages higher than 1.65 volts, this gives you a slight advantage when aiming for tight timings at high frequencies. The link between CPU and memory controller on the old architecture is also moved into the processor itself, this is now known as the CPU-Northbridge frequency (Uncore). What used to be the front-side bus which links the processor to the memory controller is now replaced by the HyperTransport link which connects the rest of the system. With the CPU VCore and the CPU-NB Voltage, the amount of heat that is subjected to the processor is doubled which is why quad processors with integrated memory controllers generate a lot of heat compared to the CPU on front-side bus where their respective voltages are divided into 2 components distributing the heat each component makes thus, making heat a lot easier to control.
Before I started overclocking, I tested how much reference clock (fsb as others would call it) the motherboard is capable. The default Core VID of the processor is 1.350 volts. I hard set all voltage and all frequency settings in the BIOS as well as the frequency of the other components (CPU-NB, Northbridge, Southbridge, etc.) and started upping the reference clock from 200 to 220 while lowering down the CPU multiplier keeping the overall clockspeed at 3.2 GHz; the same is true for the CPU-NB and memory frequency at 1066. After a few hours of testing, I found out that the board is capable of 350 MHz reference clock before it could no longer boot to Windows, with 340 MHz, the system can boot to the operating system but very unstable in such a way that opening up a program would crash the computer. In comparison, during the Asus Overclocking at SM with the M4A79T Deluxe, we managed to obtain the highest reference clock somewhere around 355 MHz
With the stock 1.3500 volts stock VCore and with my HDT-S1283, the temperature would go as high as 55c, this gave me an idea as to how much voltage I can subject the processor with while keeping the temperature below 60c, after a few test with the HDT-1283, I can only use 1.45000 volts for the processor. AMD specifications for loadline voltage drop on their processors are 50mV or .050 volts. With 1.45000 volts, the voltage drop from BIOS to Windows is 1.43 volts and switching from idle to load, the voltage drops down further to 1.40 volts. This makes the board within AMD specifications as far as voltage fluctuations are concerned. Loadline Calibration isn’t something you want to play with on this motherboard, with LLC enabled, the voltage doesn’t move an inch from BIOS to Windows but when the processor is subjected to load, it over volts the processor by as much as 50 mV as well (.0500 volts). This puts the processor from 1.45 volts all the way up to 1.50 volts, seeing this value listed on the LCD poster and Asus OC station; I restarted the machine and disabled LLC.
With 200 MHz reference clock and a multiplier of 18.5, this puts the system at 3.7 GHz. The temperature as you can see, idles on 43c and goes as high as 60c on load. Both CPU-NB and HyperTransport are configured with x12 multiplier effectively putting them at 2.6 GHz (stock is 2.0 GHz). I decided to use the CPU multiplier to overclock because it is a lot easier to manage the memory frequency keeping the reference clock at 200 MHz, seeing the maximum processor overclock; I turned my attention towards the memory. The board is capable of handling the memory at DDR3-1600 but the latency is just terrible at this speed – CAS11. Although I managed to drop it down to CAS9 later on, I figured CAS9 is way too loose for 1600 so I dropped them down at DDR3-1333 and started tightening up the latency. Final memory speed is DDR3-1333 at 6-6-6-24 1T latency.
Notes:
With these settings, I found an issue with the motherboard. I wouldn’t consider it unstable since the processor passes Prime 95 Small FFTs, Blend test and the memory passes memtest but if the motherboard is turned off and power is cut down completely, the system would refuse to POST on the next attempt. Clearing CMOS and even completely disassembling the system wouldn’t make it work. Sweating profusely and thinking that I killed the processor, I was running out of options but it was pretty clear to me that the super tight timings was the culprit so I turned to reading the manual and found out about MemOK. Putting the system on standby, I pressed and held the MemOK button for 3 seconds and the system turns on with the LCD Poster showing a message of “tuning 1, tuning 2 all the way to tuning 5”. The MemOK LED is blinking red and after a few seconds, the motherboard finds an ideal setting and starts to post and boot, tuning the memory at DDR3-1333 at CAS8. While the MemOK feature is a good way to auto-tune the memory, the failure to post when power is cutoff from the system is a clear issue on the motherboard which I hope will be addressed with future BIOS updates.
Conclusion…
As usual, I’ll keep the conclusion nice and short. In the middle of my testing, Arnel asked me if the board is worth it over M4A79T, I failed to answer directly at that time so I’ll answer it here. Performance-wise, there is not much difference between the Crosshair III and the M4A79T, the fact that they are both using the same chipset gives them same performance. If you argue that the M4A79T beats the Crosshair III by a very small margin, I would say this is because the M4A79T has been around for a lot longer. It has a lot more mature drivers and BIOS giving it the slight edge in performance. The Crosshair’s main selling point and probably the reason why it has a slightly higher price is the Supreme FX X-Fi sound card which delivers excellent sound output compared to the one offered by the SB750 chipset. If we take remove the X-Fi out of the equation, the Crosshair III would edge out the M4A79T as far as features and overall layout of the board is concerned, it is simply flawless which makes it worth over the M4A79T as such that for anyone eyeing an AM3 motherboard, this is the perfect solution for your needs.
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