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Despite those three short-lived boards, I've yet to have a DOA motherboard

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I think we can all agree the P4P800 SE and 965P-DS3 are in the 'legendary boards' category. I daresay the A8N-SLI Premium and P35-DS3R are in that category too.

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Originally posted by Sophocles:

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my ole asus P4P800 SE is still going strong although it belongs to my brother now.

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My P4800 SE is seating a Northwood and still running strong for my wife.

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it still kills me to think I paid $265 for that cpu. lol

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AHHHH, my Tuniq Tower is crooked. Will this be a problem?

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tbh i dont think there were any legendary P35 boards, all of the mid to high were brilliant. well in fact for GB from the P35-DS3L to the DS4 were brilliant, so that would be every one they made i cant remember if they did a DS5 and DQ6.

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It's like this. When you put it on a flat surface one heatpipe is bent.

It's alright I guess.

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Originally posted by theonejrs:

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shaffaaf,

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tbh i dont think there were any legendary P35 boards, all of the mid to high were brilliant. well in fact for GB from the P35-DS3L to the DS4 were brilliant, so that would be every one they made i cant remember if they did a DS5 and DQ6.

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The DS3L, by virtue of it's sales and performance for the dollar and the DS3R for having enough bells and whistles to be taken seriously by enthusiasts. The GA-965P-DS3 put GigaByte on the map as a serious contender, and the DS3L and the DS3R kept them there!

Best Regards,
Russ

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wonder how their P45s will be, as from my knowlege, DFI and asus were the main sellers for the X38/48

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The Maximus II Formula gave us some cool-looking new 'Start' and 'Reset' buttons, but the Rampage Extreme adds to this by providing a new set of toggle and confirmation buttons coupled with a selection toggle switch. "What for?", I hear you ask. To put it simply, these controls allow you to interface with the BIOS directly via the Rampage Extreme's LCD poster, so that you can either monitor the hardware or, even more impressively, alter BIOS settings on the fly, making for an ideal way to tweak your overclocking attempts in real-time as necessary to get the best out of your system. It might not be something you use every day, but it's yet another fantastic little innovation from ASUS that can only be applauded.

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It seems like every time we have a Republic of Gamers motherboard land in our review dungeon, we end up lavishing praise upon it, and to be honest it's always hard to find anything to criticise about these parts. Hardware aimed at enthusiasts is ten a penny these days, but ASUS' motherboard offerings along these lines always seem to get it right by choosing the right features to offer up without piling on unnecessary items just to add to the list of marketing checkpoints, while also creating a sensible board layout that is rarely physically restrictive in any way. Each new Republic of Gamers part also manages to trump the last by adding something new and innovative, and this time around we find ourselves with both some supplied alternate chipset coolers and the ability to control BIOS settings via the provided LCD poster - Both excellent ideas to my mind, and again in keeping with the enthusiast-level, overclocker-centric focus of the part.

Speaking of overclocking, you'll be hard-pressed to find an Intel motherboard with more overclocking headroom than this, as the Rampage Extreme offers an absolute cornucopia of voltage and tweaking options, coupled with the hardware and cooling capabilities to match whether your aim is to use water or air cooling.

Of course, the one big issue which is always going to be a factor with such high-end motherboards is the price, and make no mistake about it - At around £270 including VAT in the UK, the Rampage Extreme is hugely expensive. I certainly wouldn't want to say that you don't get what you pay for on this occasion, as you get plenty for your money, but with Intel's Nehalem round the corner facilitating a change of motherboard due to its upgraded CPU socket, we're beginning to enter a period where enthusiasts may want to hang tight and see what this new architecture brings us in a few months time.

Having said that, if you are content to stick with Intel's current CPU line-up and are a hardcore overclocker for whom money is no object, then I simply can't think of a better motherboard to ply your trade on than the Rampage Extreme. Quite simply, it oozes class from every transistor, with some of those clever little additions (tweaking the BIOS from the LCD poster in particular) making life easier in many little ways so that you can concentrate on the serious business of pulling every last iota of performance out of your system. I'd love to imagine a world where this kind of motherboard was affordable to all and sundry, but realistically that's not going to happen, so all I can say is that, as of right now, this is pretty much the best Intel motherboard money can buy.

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