Introduction

If you know what a motherboard is, chances are pretty good that you have heard of Asus. Between their enthusiast and OEM motherboards, they have built a significant number of the motherboards in PCs throughout the world. They also build nearly every other component found in a PC...video cards, sound cards, power supplies, LAN and WLAN products, chassis, optical drives, and whatever else.

A few years ago, when AMD processors and nVidia boards were the rage, Asus somewhat fell out of favor with overclockers, with their preferring boards by DFI, Abit, and Gigabyte (mainly because Gigabyte had the earliest quality A64 boards). With Intel's Core 2 processors now apparently being the preferred platform, and Intel's latest chipsets being very conducive to overclocking, Asus's full-featured Intel boards are some of the most popular out there today, and have proven to be excellent overclockers.

The Maximus Formula is among the latest Asus Intel X38 boards utilizing DDR2 memory. Will it prove to be the excellent board that Asus' P35 boards are? Stay tuned to see!

Specifications

CPU - LGA775 socket for Intel Core2 Quad / Core2 Extreme / Core2 Duo / Pentium Extreme / Pentium D / Pentium 4 Processors
- Compatible with Intel 05B/05A/06 processors
- Supports Intel next generation 45nm Multi-Core CPU
Chipset - Intel X38 / ICH9R with Intel Fast Memory Access Technology
Front Side Bus - 1600/1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz
Memory - 4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 1200(O.C.)/1066/800/667 MHz, un-buffered memory
- Dual channel memory architecture

Expansion Slots
- 2 x PCIe 2.0 x16
- 3 x PCIe x 1
- 2 x PCI 2.2

Storage - Southbridge
- 6 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports
- Intel Matrix Storage Technology supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10

LAN
- Dual Gigabit LAN Controllers, each featuring AI Net 2
- Supports teaming technology

Audio
- Supreme FX II Audio Card
- ADI 1988B 8-Channel High Definition Audio Codec
- Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports at back I/O
- ASUS Noise Filter

USB - 12 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (six midboard, six back panel)

Back Panel I/O Ports
- 1 x PS/2 Keyboard
- 1 x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial + Optical)
- 1 x IEEE1394a
- 2 x RJ45 port
- 6 x USB 2.0/1.1
- 1 x CCMOS switch

Internal I/O Connectors
- 3 x USB connectors support 6 additional USB Ports
- 6 x SATA connectors
- 24-pin ATX Power connector
- 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
- 8 x fan connectors (1 x CPU, 1 x power, 3 x Chassis, 3 x optional)
- IDE connector for two devices
- Floppy disk drive connector
- 6 x USB2.0
- 20-pin Panel connector
- 1 x IEEE 1394a port
- 1 x COM port
- TPM header
- Front panel audio connector
- 1 x chassis intrusion connector
- 3 x thermal sensor connectors
- 1 x LCD Poster connector
- 1 x system panel connector
- 1 x power on switch
- 1 x reset switch
- 1 x en/disable CCMOS switch

BIOS - 16 Mb Flash ROM, AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 2.0a, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3

Manageability - WfM 2.0, DMI 2.0, WOL by PME, WOR by PME, PXE

Accessories
- LCD Poster
- Asus Optional Fan
- Supreme FX II Audio Card
- 3- in-1 Asus Q-connector kit
- 1 x 2-port USB2.0 / 1-port IEEE1394 module
- Serial ATA signal cable for 6 devices
- Serial ATA power cable for 6 devices
- 1 x Ultra DMA 133/100 cable
- 1 x Floppy disk driver cable
- 1 x I/O Shield
- Cable ties
- User's manual

Software
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Support DVD:
- Drivers
- ASUS PC Probe II
- ASUS Update
- ASUS AI Suite
- Futuremark 3Dmark06 Advanced Edition
- Kaspersky Anti-Virus Software

Form Factor
ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6" (30.5cm x 24.4cm)