ASUS Rampage Extreme X48 Motherboard Review

Package & Accessories

The Rampage Extreme is the top flight offering out of the ASUS hanger of models. There are other ROG boards but the X48 chipset is considered the best of the Intel chipsets and tends to be regarded as best chipset on the market right now by many. We already know that the Rampage Extreme offers a wealth of features, let's now find out what kind of accessory package we receive with it.

We start off with the package and if you have seen an ROG board before, you have basically seen this package before. This is also the second package in a row here at Hardware Canucks that sports a bullet hole theme. Sidetracking to a little social commentary, what kind of society do we perpetuate when computer hardware boxes are designed with bullet holes in them? Is it just a byproduct of all the shooting games, or more of a reflection on the state of the world? That sort of discussion doesn't really belong here so let's move on. The rear of the package is a plain jane list of specifications that we just looked at a couple pages ago. There are also a couple photos of some of the features ASUS chooses to highlight.

Under the top flap is where ASUS has chosen to plaster all of the logos outlining the features of the Rampage Extreme. We only show a single panel here but ASUS uses up both and rightfully so as this board is chalk full of goodies, accessories, and things to brag about. Inside of our package we have two pieces, the motherboard itself wrapped in a plastic clam shell and the box of accessories. Our plastic clam shell showed up in perfect shape and provides an excellent home for the motherboard. We are really liking the security that the plastic clam shell offers and hope this is one trend that filters down to lower end boards.

Inside the accessory box of the Rampage Extreme we find a compartmentalized plethora of items. Everything is securely in place and the two additional boxes in the top left provide additional protection for the heat sink attachments they house. Here is a complete list of the accessory package:

• 1 x Floppy Cable
• 1 x IDE Cable
• 4 x SATA Cables (2 x 90 degree / 2 x standard)
• 1 x 4-Pin Molex Connector > Dual 5-Pin SATA Connector
• Dual USB 2.0 & Single 6-Pin Firewire PCI Expansion Bracket
• 1 x Additional PWM Heat Sink Cooling Fan
• 3 x Optional Thermal Sensors
• Rubber Feet Standoffs
• Q-Connectors
• 7 x Small cable ties
• 2 x 1" 3/8" Tube / 2 x 1/4" > 3/8" Adapters / 2 x 1/4" > 1/2" Adapters & Appropriate Worm Drive Clamps
• LCD Poster
• 1 x Optional PWM Heat Pipe Heatsink Attachment
• 1 x Optional MCH Heat Pipe Heatsink Attachment
• Manual & Software CD + Installation Guide
• Illuminated Rear I/O Panel

There really is no shortage of goodies here and some of them are 100% unique to the ROG lineup and the Rampage Extreme. Let's take a closer look at the more interesting ones.

The optional PWM and MCH heat sinks are just that. They are optional heat sinks that can be mounted in place of the standard 'low-profile' PWM heat sink and the Fusion water block on the MCH. If you don't need the clearance for a CPU cooler, you can mount the PWM heat pipe and if you are not going to be using the waterblock, you can swap in the heat pipe setup. Providing this type of flexibility in the box is not only rather smart, but also a nice touch. Both heat sinks are just aluminum with what appears to be a copper heat pipe and aren't going to make significant changes but will help a small bit...and if you have the space, why not? Another unique accessory is the rear I/O panel. We can clearly see the wire coming out of the top of the panel that looks oddly out of place. This is for providing power to the panel as it plugs into the motherboard and lights up. Not only is it a little extra flash for the setup, but serves a purpose for those with their cases back end in a dark spot.

The last of our two photos have nothing in common but show that ASUS has every angle for every user of this motherboard covered. The rubber feet are included so those of us who run our benching rigs open air, don't even have to set the motherboard on the box it came in. The rubber feet simply stick to the underside of the motherboard with pre-applied two sided tape and there are enough supplied to support the motherboard in the same spots standoffs would be when mounting in a case. The tubing adapters are also provided in a range of sizes to make sure most existing loops can plug right in to the Fusion water block. The Fusion block comes with 1/4" (10mm) barbs we imagine as there are 1/4" )1-mm) to 3/8" and 1/2" adapters along with the appropriate worm drive clamps. Again, ASUS has thought of everything to really make this a complete package no matter what your setup is like.