ASUS Maximus III GENE

The newest entry into ASUS' already huge lineup of socket LGA-1156 motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset, is the new Republic of Gamers Maximus III Gene. Unlike the Maximus III Formula, this one is based on the micro-ATX form-factor, with four expansion slots in all, to spare. The LGA-1156 socket is powered by a high-grade 10-phase digital PWM circuit. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. With two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electically dual x8 when both populated) wired to the CPU, the board utilizes the feature-set of the P55 PCH completely.

 Product name     ASUS Maximus III Gene
Memory support     DDR-3 1066 / 1333 / 1600 / 2000 / 2133 MHz
Memory slots     4 (Maximum 16GB RAM)
Expansion slots     2x PCI Express 16x (8x/8x in multi-GPU), 1x PCI Express 4x, 1x PCI
Serial ATA     7x internal S-ATA, 1x eSATA; 300Mbps with NCQ
Parallel ATA     1x IDE channel (two devices)
USB 2.0     9 (all on backplate)
Networking     1x Realtek Gigabit LAN
Audio     VIA 8-channel HD audio

CPU
Intel® Socket 775 Core™2 Quad/Core™2 Extreme/Core™2 Duo/Pentium® dual-core/Celeron® dual-core / Celeron® Processors Support Intel® 45nm Multi-Core CPU
Refer to www.asus.com for Intel CPU support list

Chipset
Intel® P45 /ICH10R

Front Side Bus
1600/1333/1066/800 MHz

Memory:
4 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR2 1300/1200/1066/800/667 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture
*Refer to www.asus.com or this user manual for the Memory QVL(Qualified Vendors Lists).

Expansion Slots
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (single max @ x16,dual @ x8 speed)
1 x PCIe x1
1 x PCI 2.2

Multi-GPU Support
Support 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 xExternal SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go)
1 xSATA 3.0 Gb/s port

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

IEEE 1394 2 x 1394a ports (1 port at back I/O, 1 port onboard)
USB 12 USB 2.0 ports (6 ports at back I/O, 6 ports onboard)

Overclocking Features
Keyboard-TweakIt
CPU Level Up
iROG
Extreme Tweaker
Loadline Calibration
Power Design:
- 8-phase CPU power
- 2-phase DRAM power
- 2-phase NB power
Intelligent overclocking tools:
- TurboV
- O.C Profile
- COP EX (Component Overheat Protection - EX)
- Voltiminder LED
- ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)

Special Features
ASUS MyLogo 3
ASUS EZ Flash 2
ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
ASUS Q-Connector
External LCD Poster
MemOK!
One DIMM latch
Onboard Switches: Power / Reset / Memok / Clr CMOS (at rear)
ASUS EPU-6 Engine
ASUS Fan Xpert
Gigabit LAN

Sound with Clarity

SupremeFX X-Fi delivers an excellent high definition audio experience to the gamers of ROG. The SupremeFX X-Fi features unique audio innovations for gamers to spot enemies in 3D environment during game play. SupremeFX X-Fi combines the technological quality design of SupremeFX and sound effect technology from Creative Labs to offer games exceptional game sound with absolute quality.

The Good
- All the features of an ATX motherboard (and more).
- Layout not too cramped. Plenty of room for large coolers.
- Extremely capable at overclocking.
- On-board X-Fi sound.
- Usual ASUS RoG attention to detail in the looks and packaging.
- Fully featured BIOS.
- LGA775 platform for those who aren't willing to re-mortgage for LGA1366.

Bad
Nothing so far