ASUS Rampage II Extreme X58 Motherboard Review

Hardware Installation

In the Hardware Installation section we examine how major components fit on the motherboard, and whether there are any serious issues that may affect installation and general functionality. Specifically, we are interested in determining whether the motherboard has adequate clearance levels in all critical areas.


The 24-pin ATX power connector is in a wide open section of the motherboard and there are zero problems accessing it. On the other hand, the 8-pin CPU power connector is easy to plug in, but when unplugging it your finger(s) will come in contact with the MOSFET heatsink. This is obviously only relevant for those who are constantly swamping motherboards in and out of their systems.


The Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme LGA-1366 cooler easily clears all three heatsinks, regardless of which way it is oriented. However, a wide heatsink will overhang the first DIMM slot when installed in the unusual East-West orientation. This does not prevent access to the affected memory module, but it does make the installation and removal process a bit more tricky than it otherwise should be.


As you can see, there is absolutely no clearance issue between the memory clips and the back of the first graphics card. Thankfully, long graphics cards do not block any of the RAID-capable blue SATA ports or the IDE connector. However, the lone black SATA port becomes inaccessible when you install a dual-slot graphics cards in the third PCI-E x16 slot.


When you install dual-slot graphics cards in the first and third PCI-E x16 slots, you can fit another dual-slot card in second PCI-E x16 slot, but obviously the space is tight. As a result, we recommend that you direct one or two fans at the cards to increase airflow and improve cooling. There are no issues installing the SupremeFX X-Fi audio card in the first PCI-E x1 slot.

It should be noted that when you install multiple GPUs, expansion slots start disappearing at an alarming rate. When you install dual-slot graphics cards in the two blue PCI-E x16 slots, you are left with the bottom white PCI-E x16 slot (which can fit any type of PCI-E expansion card) and the top PCI-E x1 slot, which is effectively reserved for the audio module, since there is no space for a longer card. In a 3-way configuration, all slots but the top PCI-E x1 are blocked, so you had better not need to install a RAID, WiFi, or other card.


When a dual-slot graphics card is installed in the third PCI-E x16 slot, it does overhang all the connectors and headers at the bottom of the motherboard, but they are all still usable. There is nothing on the back of the motherboard that interferes with the Thermalright's backplate.