ASUS Crosshair III Formula AM3 Motherboard Review

A Closer Look At The Crosshair III Formula

The Crosshair III Formula makes its presence known with its full ATX form factor taking up the typical 12” x 9.6” dimensions, but feeling much larger given its aggressive style and foreboding chipset heatsink. Even with the impressive two page list of features, support for CrossfireX and the expected extra’s necessary to handle the purported level of overclocking, the board feels slightly empty. Asus has done an extremely good job with the layout, making sure that overlap and tight squeezes are unlikely.



Despite the one piece and slightly over sized RoG chipset cooler, the CPU area has nothing but space which makes it perfect for insulating before a LN2 or phase cooling run. The 8+2 phase power design sits low, so as to not inhibit large coolers, and the few solid capacitors dotting the landscape do not sit high enough to impede heatsink installation.

While primary competitor Intel has made the move to 6 DIMM slots, AMD is unfortunately still lagging behind in the 4 DIMM realm, limiting most users to a maximum of 8GB. However, even with less slots, this layout does not move the DIMM’s further from the CPU to provide more room. This means less likelihood of fitting oversized ram sinks in the first two slots without coming into contact with a larger cooler.



The stylish heatsink that gives the board it’s unique look is a solid feeling aluminum unit that does triple duty, acting to displace heat from the PWM’s, the northbridge and the southbridge. It is designed using what Asus describes as "Pin Fin Thermal Modules", which enlarge the heat-exchange surface allowing for better dissipation and airflow.

When powered, the centre logo lights up a cool white. While clearly gimmicky, it actually provides some practical use, giving off just enough light to illuminate the motherboard inside a case, for any “under-the-desk” troubleshooting.



In addition to the gimicky centre light, the board boasts more lights than a cultural market, with nearly every square inch being occupied by some sort of LED. Onboard LEDs are also included for Asus's system of "normal" "high" and "crazy" for all the overclockable chips; CPU, Ram, Northbridge and Southbridge



As with many Asus boards, the SATA & IDE connections have be set to a right angle to avoid conflict with oversized video cards. Apperently though, the designer's felt that including only 5 SATA ports would be plently for a high end motherboard; a strange thought indeed given that many competing board's have feautred up to 10!

It is unavoidable -given the physical dimensions of the ATX form factor- for double slot PCI-E devices to not cover the slot underneath their location. Filling both expansion slots with double slot cards will cause the loss of two PCI-E x1 slots even though the single regular PCI slot will still remain available. While many devices are slowly adopting PCIe x1, a majority of devices still use the regular ole’ PCI making it’s availability much more valuable. The single black PCI-E x1 slot at the top is for all intents and purposes nonexistent, as it is reserved for the included discrete sound card.



One thing Asus has made sure of with the Crosshair III is that you will never need use a fan to molex adaptor again. The board has a total of 8 on board fan headers including the one for the CPU. It is a challenge to even think of a case that has 7 additional fans to utilize this many headers. All of the fan connections are 4-pin PWM, and can therefore be controlled directly by the PC if used with compatible fans.

The bottom is lined nearly solid with connectors and buttons. There are the typical connections for USB, Firewire etc etc. As well as easy push buttons for starting and resetting the board, along with the MemOK! button to call forth the Crosshair's ram compatibility powers.



At the back, the I/O panel is rather devoid of the usual mashup of connections. With the audio on a separate card, what's left has been slimmed down to include only what is necessary. A keyboard PS/2 connector, while outdated, still holds as a failsafe for the often finicky operation of USB keyboards in a pre-OS environment. Along with that are six USB 2.0 connections, along with FireWire and eSATA to cover all possible options. A CMOS reset button has also found it's way to the back, making for quick work of a BIOS clear without having to open up the case (for the few who actually intend to put this motherboard in an enclosure).