ASUS Rampage II Extreme X58 Motherboard Review

Voltage Regulation

Although our voltage regulation section usually consists of an array of pictures highlighting the various voltage read points on a motherboard, ASUS have made our lives so much easier with the Rampage II Extreme. Thanks to the ProbeIt feature the eight essential voltage read points are clearly marked and conveniently located in one area, yay! This is something that all hardcore overclockers will be absolutely enamored with since it greatly simplifies a previously cumbersome task. Simply attach the leads from your digital multi-meter to the provided TweakIt cable(s), and then insert the connector into whichever voltage you want to monitor. Or, if you simply want to do a quick check, you can verify the voltages directly from the provided read points under each voltage connector.

The following measurements were taken with every setting in the BIOS on auto. Just to clarify, the vCore (LLC) section is the vCore readings with Load-Line Calibration enabled. With that out of the way, let's have a look at the results.


Overall, the Rampage II Extreme has nearly flawless voltage output. There is minimal variance between what you select in the BIOS and what the board actually outputs. The CPU PLL, IOH PCIE, ICH, ICH PCIE, DRAM voltages are essentially perfect, showing no variances between idle and load states. The vCore, QPI/DRAM, and IOH have at most a 4% drop between idle and load, which is also very good. Considering the minimal line droop (vDroop) on the vCore, the Load-Line Calibration feature is almost unneeded, but it is there and it does work very well. Many individuals have claimed that the LLC is broken on the RIIE, but that is inaccurate. The LLC feature only works, and is on by default, when you set Ai Overclock Tuner to Manual. If the Ai Overclock Tuner is set to AUTO, you can still enable LLC in the BIOS, but it will not function. We would criticize this apparent flaw, but there really is no reason to have LLC enabled if you are not overclocking.

By the way, once you do start overclocking the AUTO voltage values automatically increase (often to very high levels), so always keep an eye on voltages while overclocking and try to manually insert your voltage settings whenever possible.


Since the vCore is such a crucial setting, let's take a closer look at its characteristics with a two-hour OCCT stress test. For this test, we will utilize the overclocked configuration.

OCCT vCore Chart - Loadline Calibration Disabled

Ok, now this looks bad...However, we can say without a shadow of a doubt that OCCT is getting a false reading. When examining the digital multi-meter, the vDroop was never more than 0.3V, and we clearly trust our DMM more than any software program. Just to preempt any obvious questions, yes, we did run the test multiple times, but it always gave the same bizarre result.

OCCT vCore Chart - Loadline Calibration Enabled

With LLC enabled, which it always should be if you're overclocking, the vCore line is straight as an arrow displaying 0% variance even during load changes. Although the displayed vCore figure may not be accurate, the characteristics of the line are exactly as we saw on our DMM, flat and steady. This is quite impressive and we are obviously very satisfied with ASUS's implementation of LLC.

Temperature Testing

Now it's time to see if the Rampage II Extreme's impressive cooling system works as well it as looks. Since this is a high-end motherboard it features an impressive array of thermal sensors and even additional probes which we used to measure the temperatures. We set the system to its overclocked configuration, and then Prime 95 was run for two hours. The temperatures were recorded at twenty minute intervals throughout the two hour test and the results averaged out. The ambient temperature was 18°C/64.4°F


Considering our hefty overclock and liberal use of voltage, we are quite satisfied with these temperature results. Remember, none of the above components benefited from any direct air cooling, so all these figures essentially represent a worst-case scenario. In a regular case with one or two 120MM fans, temperatures should be even lower. As a result, we can definitely state that the RIIE's cooling system is capable of handling all but the most ambitious overclocking efforts.