Photos and presentation of the card

Like all maps in the range ROG, the box Rampage II gene consists of two compartments, one with the card itself and a second with the whole bundle. Viewpoint in color map is very similar to its big sister the Rampage II Extreme but its design is much more sober. Like the Foxconn Bloodrage, the Rampage II gene has more holes in socket 1366 of the mounting holes for socket 775. The card has 6 ports supporting Dimm DDR3 triple channel up to 1600MHz (oc) which are powered by 2 phases.

This motherboard supports the latest Intel® Bloomfield processors in LGA1366 package which has memory controller integrated to support 3-channel DDR3 memory. Support Intel® QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) with system bus up to 6.4GT/s and a max bandwidth of up to 25.6GB/s. Intel® Core™i7 processor is one of the most powerful and energy efficient CPU in the world.

 

 

The Intel® X58 Express Chipset is the latest chipset designed to support latest Intel® Core™ i7 Processors and Intel´s next generation system interconnect interface, Intel® QuickPath Interconnect (QPI), providing improved performance by utilizing serial point-to-point links, allowing increased bandwidth and stability. It also supports up to 36 PCI Express 2.0 lanes providing better graphics performance.

SLI or CrossFireX? Fret no longer because with the ROG Rampage II Extreme, you’ll be able to run both multi-GPU setups. The board features SLI/CrossFireX on Demand technology, supporting SLI or CrossFireX configuration. Whichever path you take, you can be assured of jaw-dropping graphics at a level previously unseen.

 

The motherboard supports DDR3 memory that features data transfer rates of 2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 MHz to meet the higher bandwidth requirements of the latest operation system, 3D graphics, multimedia, and Internet applications. The triple-channel DDR3 architecture triple the bandwidth of your system memory to boost system performance, eliminating bottlenecks with peak bandwidths of up to 43.2 GB/s.

Compared with the Rampage II Extreme, Asus has been forced to cut the gene from one bios but retained Buttons Power ON / OFF and Reset. However, we can note the appearance of a small button labeled "memOK. As its name suggests, this is a button to load default memory settings for better compatibility of the latter, without having to restart completely reset the bios.

 

The Rampage II GENE supports 6 SATA devices without prior installation, managed by the ICH10-R Intel but 1 SATA device managed by a JMicron 363. The controller also manages the e-SATA port and up to 2 PATA devices. The ICH10-R is cooled by a small black radiator while the X58 chipset and mosfets are cooled by two radiators connected by a system based on heatpipe technology. Note that the upper radiator placed on the X58 can be detached to be replaced with a waterblock.

Despite the fact that the card is declined in micro ATX format, the back panel of the Rampage II gene is as complete as most X58 motherboards in ATX format. There is a PS2 keyboard port, six USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port, one eSATA port and even a Firewire port. There is also the analog audio outputs and digital inputs and outputs 7.1 audio handled by the codec 8-channel HD audio module Supreme FX X-Fi. It was still entitled to a small clear cmos button.

Specifications

CPU	Intel® Socket 1366 Core™ i7 Processor Extreme Edition/Core™ i7 Processor Supports Intel® Dynamic Speed Technology
Chipset	Intel® X58 /ICH10R
System Bus	6 x DIMM, Max. 24 GB, DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory Triple channel memory architecture * Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
Expansion Slots	2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 support at dual x16 speed 1 x PCIe 2.0 x4 1 x PCI 2.2
Multi-GPU Support	Support NVIDIA SLI™ / ATI CrossFireX™ Technology
Storage	Intel ICH10R controller 6 xSATA 3 Gb/s ports Intel Matrix Storage Technology Support RAID 0,1,5,10 JMicron® JMB363 PATA and SATA controller 1 xUltraDMA 133/100/66/33 for up to 2 PATA devices 1 xInternal SATA 3.0 Gb/s port 1 xExternal SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go)
LAN	Realtek® 8111C PCIe Gigabit LAN controller featuring AI NET2
Audio	SupremeFX X-Fi built-in 8 -Channel High Definition Audio CODEC EAX® Advanced™ HD 4.0 X-Fi CMSS®-3D X-Fi Crystalizer™ Creative ALchemy Supports 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)
ASUS Unique Features	Power Design – 8-phase CPU power – 2-phase QPI/DRAM power – 2-phase NB power – 2-phase Memory power CPU Level Up Keyboard-TweakIt Memory Level Up iROG Extreme Tweaker Loadline Calibration Intelligent overclocking tools: – ASUS AI Booster Utility – O.C. Profile Overclocking Protection: – COP EX (Component Overheat Protection – EX) – Voltiminder LED – ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Special Features	MemOK! External LCD Poster Q-Fan Plus ASUS EPU-6 Engine ASUS Q-Connector ASUS Fan Xpert ASUS EZ Flash 2 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 ASUS MyLogo3
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 8 -Channel Audio I/O 1 x PS/2 Keyboard port(purple) 1 x S/PDIF (Optical) 1 x Clr CMOS switch
Internal I/O Connectors	3 x USB connectors supports additional 6 USB 2.0 ports 1 x IDE connector for two devices 7 x SATA connectors 5 x Fan connectors: 1 x CPU / 2 x Chassis / 2 x Optional 2 x thermal sensor connectors 1 x IEEE1394a connector 1 x LCD Poster connector 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector 24-pin ATX Power connector 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector 1 x En/Dis-able Clr CMOS header 1 x Front panel audio connector 1 x CD audio in System panel connector
BIOS	16 Mb Flash ROM AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI2.0a Multi-Language BIOS
Manageability	WOL by PME,WOR by PME,Chasis Intrusion,PXE
Accessories	1 x SLI Cable 1 x External LCD Poster 1 x 2-in-1 ASUS Q-Connector Kit 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable 2 x SATA cables 1 x I/O Shield 1 x Cable Ties 1 x ROG theme label 1 x User’s manual
Support Disc	Support DVD: – Drivers and applications Sound Blaster X-Fi Utility Futuremark® 3DMark®06 Advanced Edition Kaspersky® Anti-Virus ASUS TurboV utility ASUS PC Probe II ASUS Update ASUS AI Suite
Form Factor	uATX Form Factor 9.6 inch x 9.6 inch ( 24.4 cm x 24.4 cm )

 

Bundle

A bundle lighter than its big sister but very complete. This time we even had a sticker right ROG!

1 x ROG Rampage II GENE
1 x SLI Cable
1 x Ultra DMA 133/100/66 cable
2 x Serial ATA Cables
1 x External LCD Poster
1 x ASUS Q-Connector Kit 2 in 1
Plate 1 x I / O
1 x cable links
1 x ROG Etiquette
1 x DVD implementation and support of the motherboard ROG
1 x User Manual

Layout

Although the card is formatted micro ATX (24.4cm x 24.4cm), it has all the connectors you need, whether it be taken to fan or USB connectors.  The only flaw we could find, despite the ingenious idea of Asus on the fixing of memory modules on the port Dimm is that if you use a kit of memory with a cooling system as imposing the Perfect Storm G.With graphics cards in CrossFireX or SLI you should simply keep the cooling system memories in their box!

The Bios

The BIOS is very complete and includes many functions inherited again the bios Rampage II Extreme, like the Extreme Tweaker BIOS which has direct access to different voltages and temperatures currently used.  Last summer during a press conference in Berlin Asus, some overclockers had proposed to the manufacturer to subdivide the BIOS of their ROG line into two parts: one dedicated to gamers with overclocking functions and other basic for overclockers functions with extreme overclocking and tensions further. The manufacturer has listened because now a tab Tuning mode is published in the Extreme Tweaker BIOS where you can choose between a "Extreme OC" or a "Gaming".In the bios you can now close all the features of the card as the audio, network, etc.. at once by putting the onboard devices to "Disabled" in the advanced bios. It can also save up to 8 user profiles and configuration files for the Batch Tweak

In the bios you can now close all the features of the card as the audio, network, etc.. at once by putting the onboard devices to "Disabled" in the advanced bios. It can also save up to 8 user profiles and configuration files for the Batch Tweak.

 

Key tensions proposed by bios:

CPU Voltage – 0.85 V to 2.5 V 0.00625 V (1.8 V max with the knight of protection)
QPI / DRAM Core Voltage – 1.2 V to 2.5 V 0.00625 V (1.8 V max with the knight of protection)
CPU PLL – from 1.81592 V to 2.5 V 0.00625 V
Voltage IOH – from 1.11341 V to 2.78306 V 0.01325 V
IOH PCIE Voltage – from 1.51106 V to 2.05431 V 0.01325 V
ICH Voltage – from 1.11341 V to 2.05431 V 0.01325 V
ICH PCIE Voltage – from 1.51106 V to 2.05431 V 0.01325 V
DRAM Voltage – from 1.51106 V to 3.00831 V 0.001325 V

Configuration used during Review

CPU: Core i7 965xe and 920
RAM: 3 x 2GB G. Skill 2000MHz CL9 Trident
VGA: Gigabyte 260GTX
Power supply: Silverstone ZM1200M (1200W)
CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-C12P

Here is the first PLL to use for overclocking the Bclk with the software SetFsb: Generator frequency ICS9LPRS918BKL like most Asus motherboards. SetFsb Allows you to change the frequency and Bclk PCIe bus,, but if you want to have access to more settings in Windows, you can still use proprietary software from Asus, the TurboV which is much more complete than SetFsb but more greedy in memory.

On the Rampage II Extreme, you could use the tweak it directly through the motherboard, whereas one must first install a small software that allows us to change almost all settings in bios under windows using the keypad when the software is of course enabled. The modifiable parameters are indicated on the LCD Poster.

Stability point of view, we were able to run OCCT to more than 4.4 Ghz, the processor is cooled by a Noctua NH-C12P. The eight phases of food processor is large enough to ensure good stability of the system at that frequency. The function Loadline bios-calibration is enabled, it may be noted that the vCore is stable too.

Curious to see if the card could be a fast than 965xe zero temperatures and we have quickly tested to -100 ° C and have pushed to 5363 MHz … This course is not to kind of motherboard, but this shows it has provided in the belly that the greatest!

Conclusion

The DFI LP JR X58 T3H6 had already impressed us as a micro ATX motherboard based on Intel X58 chipset here but Asus has already done better. First view layout, design and bundle but also by its more than complete bios and ease of ownership. The Rampage II gene is a perfect card for all mobile players not wanting to be burdened with a tower ATX but also for all lovers of moderate or extreme overclocking. We will test soon her little sister, the Maximus II gene based on the Intel P45 chipset.