ASUS Crosshair III Formula AM3 Motherboard Review

Included Software

With the Crosshair III, drivers, software and all the other fun digital goodies come bundled on a single DVD. The installer opens allowing users to choose exactly what they wish to install.


The Driver’s section allows you to selection individual drivers that you wish to install or use the InstAll feature which will automatically install all the drivers. The Utilities tab gives options to add some handy custom Asus tools such as PCProbe II, AI Suite and Update, as well as third party software such as AMD Overdrive, Anti-Virus and 3DMark Vantage which users receive a full license for. On the one disc is basically all of the basic utilities needed to get your PC back up to full operation after an install.

The remaining four tabs hold some basic odds and ends. “Make Disc” allows for the creating of a disc for raid drivers, Manual contains the Motherboard Installation Guide and RaidXpert User Manual. Video includes two videos titled “The Battle” and “Extreme OC Clip” (short entertainment relating to the board) and “Contact” - you guessed it - holds the contact information for Asus customer service and technical support.


ASUS AI Suite


Starting off, AI Suite is more of a basic information tool and serves as an access panel to a handful of other custom Asus programs, including EPU-6 Engine, AI NAP, CPU Level Up, Fan Xpert, and TurboV. It's usefulness is limited and to be truthful, if you install all of the the included programs that Asus has bundled, you wind up doubling or even tripling up on the functions.


PCProbe II


PCProbeII is an excellent piece of software that is design to sync with the Crosshair III. It is strictly a voltage, temperature and fan monitoring program but is lightweight and easy to use; you can’t ask for more than that.


TurboV


TurboV is where the fun begins even though its purpose and ability can be questioned, given that it mimics AMD’s Overdrive utility. TurboV allows a user to set speeds, voltages and multipliers for the BIOS all within Windows, and without having to restart the system.

It is incredibly handy for those who may feel uncomfortable with unguided bios overclocking, though its functionality is somewhat limited as it doesn’t seem to be able to support the same level of overclocking as AMD’s own Overdrive utility.