| ASUS Crosshair-V Formula AMD 990FX Motherboard |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Motherboards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Hank Tolman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, 31 May 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ASUS Crosshair V Formula Motherboard
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by ASUS. The long-awaited 990FX Chipset is finally here. The manufacturing partners have put together their offerings, each putting their personal touches to the design. Benchmark reviews is here with a look at the ASUS Crosshair V Formula 990FX motherboard and the all new 990FX Chipset. It's been a long time coming, and a full six months after the Intel P67-Express chipset means that AMD is behind the curve. A lot is expected of the new chipset and ASUS has a name to keep up with the Republic of Gamers series name. The 990FX Chipset doesn't bring a whole lot of new stuff to the table. A higher RAM speed compatibility, a new socket, and SLI compatibility are about it. Even the SB950 southbridge is pretty much identical to the older generation SB850. The thing about that is, however, the 990FX and SB950 still offer a lot more in some ways than the P67-Express Chipset. Namely, the 990FX Chipset offers a full 42 PCIe 2.0 lanes compared to 16 on the P67-Express. The SB950 gives you six SATA 6Gb/s ports, compared with only two from the Intel alternative. Neither chipset offers native USB 3.0 support, but ASUS has never been one to let that bother them. They fix this in the ASUS Crosshair V Formula motherboard with not just one, or even two, but three Asmedia USB 3.0 controllers for a total of 6 USB 3.0 ports. Additional features found on the Crosshair V Formula we will talk about in this article include:
All motherboard manufacturers realize that the key to making their product stand out from the crowd of nearly identical motherboards is to add their own features. While some are common-place, like USB 3.0 ports that AMD oddly left of the 990FX chipset, others are rare. Some are seemingly cosmetic or serve a little used function. Whatever the case may be, all motherboards, even those from the same manufacturer, vary somewhat in their feature sets. Below is a table that outlines some of the ASUS motherboards so you can compare their features with those of the ASUS Crosshair V Formula motherboard.
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Comments
However, if there are CPU based productivity concerns to be addressed, Intel is definitely a great choice. And of course, if you have the budget to build a computer without much limitation, then of course build around a Core i7 Sandy Bridge!
All that said, I am going to relinquish my AMD parts for Intel in the future if AMD continues to fail to deliver. I just read that Bulldozer is being delayed to September to create a better stepping. That's not the news I was waiting for. I carried an AMD torch for a long time, but I can't wait forever.
"I know by writing this, I'm sure to be accused of being biased toward AMD but my true desire is to see competition thrive and flourish. This will help keep prices down and performance increasing steadily. Up until the Sandy Bridge release, I think that AMD systems have been preferable to Intel systems for gaming, while Intel systems had the edge for more CPU intensive processes. Even with the Sandy Bridge release, Intel didn't do much with the P67-Express system to appeal to extreme gamers or even overclocking enthusiasts. They locked the processors, stuck with minimal PCIe 2.0 lanes, and even offered up only two SATA 6Gb/s ports. The CPUs are amazingly powerful and they run cool. For CPU intensive processes, the Sandy Bridge release was a huge success."
I agree. Thats a good idea.
I squirted coffee through my nose at that.
Couldn't agree more.
It's like the difference between truth and justice.
Nice review.
Thanks
This will be my last piece then I got myself a new RIG
@ David my point being why didn't they just make the mobo bigger by 2~3 inches and spread the slots out some more most new cases are capable of having XLATX mobos installed in them unless ofcourse you planning on using an older or cheap cae to install this in.... as it stands this mobo is not capable of 4way SLI/CF without having to purchase an addon or finding 4 single slot type graphics cards unless the addon comes in the box
I bet the Crosshair V Extreme will be pretty much same price and that is $300~
This Crosshair V Formula also same price as the IV and I think ASUS will do a price drop on that motherboard soon =)
As for prices we're always getting ripped of here Retailers try and claim dollar rate or shipping cost because of the price of Fuel in order to rip holes into peoples wallets it's all just bull# because they sure as hell don't drop prices when our dollar is up of fuel cost go down
Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula B3
Perhaps a Maximus IV Formula? Seriously, when will ASUS Extreme's cheaper sibling be announced?
As you can see here on QVL OCZ revo works on Crosshair II
(final nvdia crosshair)
##ocztechnology.com/displaypage.php?name=revo_ibis_moboguide
But if you scroll down to the red Crosshair III and Crosshair IV
(first AMD chipset Crosshairs)
are still... after a year and a quarter on the problems/unsupported list.
Crosshair V is not in the red or the blue its not on the list
(at least yet)
Do you have an OCZ revo drive to test this on. If so it would be
greatly appreciated in your next part of the review? Im guess from what
u said there would be a second part? Or maybe you just know offhand.
Thank you Hank for reading
1) the pci lanes aren't only used by gpu's or add-on cards in general
2) I know for a fact that AMD cards aren't noticeably bandwidth limited until x4, I'll hazard to say it's probably the same for nvidia also
As it stands, the 990FX seems like an incremental upgrade. Not having native USB 3.0 seems a bit disappointing. I suppose we'll have to wait until the processors (FX-8130P) come out before casting judgment on AMD.
Right now I'm looking at what to replace my q6600 and Bulldozer seems like a leading candidate.
But not sure when. It'll only be the second extreme board in AMD flavor so i cant state consistency, but formula and extreme rarely come out side by side in the same month anyway. Maybe around the holidays, or sooner. I think they want bulldozer out before they show everything.
Same with G1(assassin,guerrilla) Gigabyte boards, you know they are coming either way, even though they are unannounced.