- #Asus rog crosshair v formula z am3 performance skin
- #Asus rog crosshair v formula z am3 performance upgrade
- #Asus rog crosshair v formula z am3 performance series
The board has four x16 slots, the last of which is electrically x4 compatible. They have replaced it with another PCI-E x1 slot. Asus also removed the last PCI slot from their design. This should allow a maximum amount of flexibility when installing storage solutions. The first six ports are the native units from the SB950 southbridge, while the other four are from the ASMedia controller. The board has a total of 10 SATA 6G ports, two of which are e-SATA. This allows for higher speeds due to signaling factors. Essentially this design makes sure that the memory traces are routed in such a way so that the individual DIMM channels will see the same length of traces. Two reasons for this improvement over the previous board (2133 speeds) is that of the extra power phase and the use of the T-Topology design. Through judicious overclocking the user can get that to 2400+ MHz. The native memory speed of the latest Piledriver processors is DDR-3 1866. Speaking of memory, the board actually supports the use of DDR-3 2400 DIMMS. Opening the cover reveals more information about the board. Typically memory only utilizes one phase, but the extra phase again should allow for more even power delivery to the DIMMS, allowing them to run more reliably at higher clock speeds. 8 phases go to the CPU cores, 2 phases supply the memory controller and un-core features of the CPU, while an extra two phases supply the main memory.
#Asus rog crosshair v formula z am3 performance upgrade
The second upgrade is going from an 8-2 phase system to 8-2-2. It also allows for more aggressive power throttling to keep consumption and heat production down. This insures that a CPU will get the power it needs in both normal and overclocked states. This controls the power phases to deliver the necessary power when needed, and to do so quickly with as little lag as possible. The first is that it uses the newer and supposedly more powerful Extreme Engine Digi + II. The power delivery system has two major upgrades. The audio subsystem perhaps received the most attention out of the entire spin. The PCB redesign is big, and so is the power delivery system. This is not the case, and the changes throughout the entire design are dramatic. The same red and black motif was retained, and at a quick glance it seems that only the addition of a couple SATA ports and the exchange of a PCI slot with a PCI-E are the only changes.
#Asus rog crosshair v formula z am3 performance skin
The styling decisions make the Formula Z and the previous board look nearly identical, but that is of course only skin deep. I am rather curious why Asus did not brand this as the “Crosshair VI”.
While both share many of the same style features, under the skin this is a very different motherboard. The amount of extra features, design changes, and power characteristics make it a far different creature than the original Crosshair V. The Asus Crosshair V Formula Z is a fairly radical redesign of the previous generation of products. Sounds logical, right? Well, thankfully for us, Asus did not follow that path. It should be a simple refresh, right? We had Piledriver released a few months ago and there should be some power and BIOS tweaks that can be implemented and then have a rebranded board. AMD is not updating the AM3+ chipsets, so we are left with the same 990FX northbridge and the SB950 southie (both of which are essentially the same as the 890FX/SB850). So what is there left to add? The Crosshair V is a very able platform for Bulldozer and Piledriver based parts. They are fast, they overclock well, and they are among the most expensive motherboards ever for the AMD platform. All of these boards have some things in common. The Crosshair V got rid of Lucid and added official SLI support and it incorporated the Supreme FX II X-Fi audio. The Crosshair IV Extreme featured the Lucid Hydra chip to allow mutli-GPU performance without going to pure SLI or Crossfire. It proved itself to be an able performer and lasted for years (even overclocked). That particular model was only recently taken out of my primary work machine. My first brush with these boards was the Crosshair IV.
#Asus rog crosshair v formula z am3 performance series
I have typically taken a look at the Crosshair series of boards that support AMD CPUs.Ĭrosshair usually entails the “best of the best” when it comes to features and power delivery. Ryan has reviewed the ROG graphics cards, and they have rarely disappointed. These are usually the most interesting, over the top, and expensive products in their respective fields. The ones that typically grab my attention are the ROG based units. Over the past several years I have reviewed quite a few Asus products.