Categories




Review Contents:

ASUS Rampage Extreme X48 Motherboard Review

by 3oh6     |     September 3, 2008

Extreme Overclocking & Benching


Before we conclude our broadcasting day, we thought we would present a special treat and a testament to just what kind of motherboard the Rampage Extreme is. We had a 9 hour liquid nitrogen (LN2) cooled session with this board recently and it held up extremely well throughout the 2V vCORE CPU beat down. We ran single card HD4850 and CF HD4850 alongside some 2D benchmarks with the E8600 at 6GHz or higher the whole day. We stuck with the Fusion block on the stock heat sink assembly and the board performed admirably getting a number of top spots for the HD4850s in a couple benchmarks and some close second and thirds. We also managed to crack into the Global top ten on HWBot.org in SPi 32M, and AM3 for multiple cards as well as a solid top 20 Global in 3DMark 01. These are all quite impressive results considering our CPU limitation of 6150MHz and the rather 'mundane' GPUs used. Here are a couple photos of the setup during the session in various forms.

And of course, the complete list of hardware used, which is very similar to our normal test setup.

Test Platform:
  • Motherboard: ASUS Rampage Extreme (obviously)
  • Processor: Intel C2D E8600 ES
  • Processor Cooling: MMouse Rev 3 CU LN2/Dry Ice Pot
  • North Bridge Cooling: Fusion Waterblock / Thermochill PA 120.2 / DD5
  • Memory: G.Skill HZ 2x1GB PC3-12800 CL7
  • Power Supply: Silverstone ST56ZF
  • Video Card: 2 x ATI HD4850 512MB DDR3
  • Additional Fans: 120mm AD1212MS-A73GL 2050RPM/80.5CFM
  • Hard Drives: Seagate 7200.9 80GB SATAII 8MB cache
  • OS:Windows XP Pro SP3

Here is the full slate of results starting with the 3D results and ending with the 2D scores. Links to the ORB comparisons as well as the HWBot.org comparisons are below each screenshot. Just click on each screenshot for the full size. We have tried to include as much information as we could in each screenshot about the voltages and settings used...enjoy.

3DMark 01 - Single HD4850
click for full size...

ORB - Compare
HWBot.org - Compare
3DMark 01 - CF 2 x HD4850
click for full size...

ORB - Compare
HWBot.org - Compare
3DMark 03 - CF 2 x HD4850
click for full size...

ORB - Compare
HWBot.org - Compare
3DMark 05 - Single HD4850
click for full size...

ORB - Compare
HWBot.org - Compare
3DMark 05 - CF 2 x HD4850
click for full size...

ORB - Compare
HWBot.org - Compare
Aquamark 3 - Single HD4850
click for full size...

HWBot.org - Compare
Aquamark 3 - CF 2 x HD4850
click for full size...

HWBot.org - Compare
Super Pi 1M
click for full size...

HWBot.org - Compare
Super Pi 32M
click for full size...

HWBot.org - Compare
Hexus PiFast
click for full size...

HWBot.org - Compare
CPU-Z FSB
click for full size...

CPU-Z - Validation

In the end, our dewar was empty after a solid day of benching and the board was no worse for wear. We did have a bit of a BIOS issue when first bringing temps down but thanks to the second BIOS available onboard, it wasn't more than a 5 second problem. TweakIt came in invaluable and we haven't had such an easy time benching as we did with the Rampage Extreme. You will also notice that we used the kit of memory we said we had high overclocking stability issues with. This is because this memory was great for benching, just not 24/7 stability at high clocks. The Rampage Extreme may not be the friendliest motherboard for memory right now, but hopefully BIOS updates alleviate these issues soon. There is one thing for certain though, it really is the best of the best motherboards available right now, and proved it once again today.

 
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Bookmark to Slashdot!Stumble this Post!Reddit! Bookmark to Newsvine!
 

Latest Reviews in Motherboards
January 25, 2010
With the dawn of the USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s age, motherboard manufacturers have been quick to adopt both of these new technologies.  Gigabyte in particular has been at the forefront of technology and ...
December 28, 2009
What is black and red and full of sexy all over? Well we can't tell you because it is Classified. That's right, this is another installment of the EVGA Classified show. Our guest star is of the P55 va...
December 20, 2009
Gigabyte has a long-standing tradition of manufacturing some of the most reliable motherboards on the market but reliability is just one of many necessities when competing in the P55 market.   Their n...
LinkBacks (?)
LinkBack to this Thread: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/9832-asus-rampage-extreme-x48-motherboard-review.html
Posted By Date
ASUS Rampage Extreme Motherboard & Extreme Overclocking Review January 3, 2010 09:35 AM
ASUS Rampage Extreme Motherboard & Extreme Overclocking Review December 19, 2009 03:10 PM
Asus Maximus II vs. Asus Rampage Extreme - Overclockers Forums December 18, 2009 09:24 AM
DailyTech - 9/4/2008 Daily Hardware Reviews November 15, 2009 06:59 AM
Asus Rampage Extreme Overclocking Guide - Page 36 - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net October 16, 2009 06:03 AM
NCIX FORUMS - Is a Thermalright ULTRA-120 Extreme hea... August 22, 2009 01:52 PM
Dead, or fixable? (bios) - RRTech...The SOURCE for Extreme Liquid Cooling August 21, 2009 12:25 PM
NCIX FORUMS - Asus Rampage Extreme X48 motherboard rev... August 12, 2009 04:19 PM
Lian Li HD-322 3.5 Drive Bay To 2.5 Drive Mounting Kit Lian Li HD-322 3.5 Drive Bay To 2.5 Drive Mounting Kit [LL-HD-322] - $25.00 : PC Case Gear, Quality case accessories and components July 15, 2009 06:35 PM
????? ??? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ????? - ????? ?? - ??????? ???????? ???? ????? July 8, 2009 01:31 PM
Asus Rampage Extreme Overclocking Guide - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net July 1, 2009 01:30 AM
SweClockers.com - Forum: Asus Rampage Extreme June 29, 2009 12:31 PM
øéëåæ áé÷åøåú: 3-7 ñôèîáø - IOPaneL June 22, 2009 11:56 AM
Need the highest FSB motherboard - Overclockers Forums June 6, 2009 09:03 AM
Enthusiast Hardware News and Niche Market Hardware Guide - Ninjalane.com May 31, 2009 01:25 PM
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- Overclocking This Board May 31, 2009 02:43 AM
techPowerUp! :: Review Database May 26, 2009 09:26 PM
Er... how do I overclock on my Rampage Extreme? - Guru3D.com Forums May 21, 2009 04:33 PM
ASUSTEK RAMPAGE EXTREME May 12, 2009 12:15 AM
Project: Cosmos S WC; Quadfire - 56k Puke - Page 2 - XtremeSystems Forums May 11, 2009 12:41 PM
Worklog: Project Cosmos S WC; Quadfire - 56k Puke - EXTREME Overclocking Forums May 11, 2009 01:37 AM
Live MB OC Report :: ASUS Rampage Extreme - Page 23 - XtremeSystems Forums April 28, 2009 04:33 PM
Live MB OC Report :: ASUS Rampage Extreme - Page 38 - XtremeSystems Forums April 28, 2009 03:20 PM
» ASUS Rampage Extreme Motherboard & Extreme Overclocking Review April 26, 2009 09:37 AM
Rampage extreme. - Page 2 - nV News Forums April 25, 2009 11:43 AM
ASUS Rampage Extreme Motherboard & Extreme Overclocking Review @ Hardware Canucks April 18, 2009 03:30 PM
ASUS Rampage Extreme X48 LGA775 Motherboard Intel Core2 Extreme CPU Dual DDR3 2000(O.C.) ATI CrossFireX SupremeFX X-Fi Audio Card Water-cooling Ready-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com April 10, 2009 10:29 PM
ASUS Rampage Extreme Motherboard & Extreme Overclocking Review April 9, 2009 12:47 AM
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- Compatibility RAMPAGE Extreme and Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme April 6, 2009 09:01 AM
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- What are you North/South Bridge temps? April 5, 2009 04:46 PM
ASUS Rampage Extreme Motherboard & Extreme Overclocking Review - Madshrimps Forum Madness April 4, 2009 09:30 AM
ASUS Rampage Extreme Motherboard & Extreme Overclocking Review April 4, 2009 06:08 AM
Asus Maximus II vs. Asus Rampage Extreme - Overclockers Forums April 2, 2009 07:01 PM