Introduction
Hey guys its Prathamesh back with another review. Today we will have a look at ASUS Crosshair V Formula Z motherboard.
ASUS has been a pioneer in making motherboards with high build quality and robustness. ASUS is currently in the top 3 motherboard manufacturing companies.
This is the flagship motherboard from ASUS for AMD CPUs. With the ROG(Republic Of Gamers) branding on it looks really good and also has a very good build quality.The Crosshair V Formula Z is an AMD based motherboard featuring the latest chipset 990FX from AMD for their AM3+ CPUs. 990FX chipset was meant for AMDs bulldozer and their latest piledriver architecture based CPUs.The 990FX chipset also brings back official support for NVIDIA SLI on their AMD motherboards. It means you can run either 2 or 3 way AMD Crossfire or NVIDIA SLI configurations.ASUS has added a ton of features on this motherboard specially for gamers and overclockers. This motherboard is the upgraded version of its predecessor ASUS Crosshair V Formula which had less features than this motherboard.
A Sneak peek into the 990FX/SB950 Chipset:
| Graphics | Not Included Up to 4 slots for Graphics Upgrade |
| CPU Compatibility | AMD Athlon™ II, AMD Phenom™ II, AMD FX |
| Memory Support | AM3+ socket motherboards support DDR3 |
| PCI Express® | PCI Express® 2.0 |
| USB | Up to 14 USB 2.0 |
| SATA | Supports SATA 6Gb/s devices |
Technical Specifications
Now lets have a look at the Technical Specifications of the motherboard pulled off from Asus’s product page.
| CPU |
AMD AM3+ FX™/Phenom™ II/Athlon™ II/Sempron™ 100 Series Processors Supports AM3+ 32 nm CPU Supports CPU up to 8 cores Supports CPU up to 140 W AMD Cool ‘n’ Quiet™ Technology |
| Chipset | AMD 990FX/SB950 |
| Memory |
4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 2400(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066 MHz ECC, Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory Dual Channel Memory Architecture * Refer to www.asus.com or user manual for the Memory QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists). * Due to OS limitation, when installing total memory of 4GB capacity or more, Windows® 32-bit operation system may only recognize less than 3GB. Install a 64-bit Windows® OS when you want to install 4GB or more memory on the motherboard. |
| System Bus | Up to 5.2 GT/s HyperTransport™ 3.0 |
| Multi-GPU Support |
Supports NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ Technology Supports NVIDIA® 3-Way SLI™ Technology Supports AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™ Technology |
| Expansion Slots |
3 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (dual x16 or x16/x8/x8) 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode) 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 |
| Storage |
AMD SB950 controller : 6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), red Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10 ASMedia® ASM1061 controller : 2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), red 2 x eSATA 6Gb/s port(s), red |
| LAN | Intel®, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s) |
| Audio |
SupremeFX III built-in 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC – Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking Audio Feature : – SupremeFX Shielding™ Technology – 1500 uF Audio Power Capacitor – Gold-plated jacks – Blu-ray audio layer Content Protection – DTS Ultra PC II – DTS Connect – Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel |
| USB Ports |
ASMedia® USB 3.0 controller : 6 x USB 3.0 port(s) (4 at back panel, blue, 2 at mid-board) AMD SB950 controller : 12 x USB 2.0 port(s) (8 at back panel, black+white, 4 at mid-board) |
| ROG Exclusive Features |
ROG Connect : – RC Diagram – RC Remote – RC Poster – GPU TweakIt Extreme Engine Digi+ II : – 8 + 2 phase power design – 2 -phase Memory power design UEFI BIOS features : – ROG BIOS Print – GPU.DIMM Post iROG Extreme Tweaker Overclocking Protection : – COP EX (Component Overheat Protection – EX) – ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall) |
| Special Features |
ASUS Power Design : – ASUS EPU TurboV ASUS Exclusive Features : – AI Suite II – Ai Charger+ – USB 3.0 Boost – Disk Unlocker ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution : – ASUS Fan Xpert ASUS EZ DIY : – ASUS O.C. Profile – ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 – ASUS EZ Flash 2 – ASUS MyLogo 3 ASUS Q-Design : – ASUS Q-Shield – ASUS Q-Code – ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED) – ASUS Q-Slot – ASUS Q-DIMM – ASUS Q-Connector |
| Back I/O Ports |
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s) 2 x eSATA 6Gb/s 1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s) 4 x USB 3.0 8 x USB 2.0 (one port can be switched to ROG Connect) 1 x Optical S/PDIF out 6 x Audio jack(s) 1 x Clear CMOS button(s) 1 x ROG Connect On/ Off switch(es) |
| Internal I/O Ports |
1 x USB 3.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.0 port(s) 2 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 port(s) 1 x TPM connector(s) 8 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s) 2 x CPU Fan connector(s) 3 x Chassis Fan connector(s) 3 x Optional Fan connector(s) 1 x S/PDIF out header(s) 1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s) 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s) 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s) 1 x Front panel audio connector(s) (AAFP) 1 x System panel(s) 1 x DirectKey Button(s) 1 x DRCT header(s) 8 x ProbeIt Measurement Points 3 x Thermal sensor connector(s) 1 x EZ Plug connector(s) (4-pin Molex power connector) 1 x Power-on button(s) 1 x Reset button(s) 1 x Go Button(s) 1 x FastBoot switch(es) |
| Accessories |
User’s manual I/O Shield 6 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s) 1 x 3-Way SLI bridge(s) 1 x SLI bridge(s) 1 x CrossFire cable(s) 1 x Q-connector(s) (2 in 1) 1 x ROG Connect cable(s) 1 x 12 in 1 ROG Cable Label(s) |
| BIOS | 64Mb Flash ROM, UEFI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.5, ACPI2.0a, Multi-Language BIOS |
| Manageability | WOL by PME, WOR by PME, PXE |
| Support Disc |
Drivers GameFirst II Kaspersky® Anti-Virus DAEMON Tools Pro Standard ROG CPU-Z ASUS WebStorage ASUS Utilities (AI SUITE II/TurboV EVO/ASUS Update) |
| Form Factor |
ATX Form Factor 12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm ) |
Product Showcase
A Closer Look into BIOS:
EZ Mode:
Advance Mode:
Extreme Tweaker:
Main:
Advance:
Monitor:
Boot:
Tool:
Exit:
The motherboard looks great with its color scheme and has ton of features which will come in handy for overclockers. Now let us see how well can it perform. It is time to squeeze out some juice and see whether it is really worth the squeeze.
Test Setup for Benchmarking
Testing & Overclocking:
Max CPU Frequency with XMP: 5055.07MHz
Max FSB: 340
Max memory overclock: 2456MHz CL10-12-11-31 2T
Test Setup (with Stock Settings):
| CPU | AMD FX-8150(3.6GHz Max Turbo 4.2GHz) |
| Motherboard | ASUS Crosshair V Formula Z(1503 BIOS)Stock |
| RAM | Gskill RipjawsX 2133MHz CL9-11-10-28 2T(XMP) |
| GPU | XFX RADEON HD 5970(Stock) |
| Storage | OCZ Vertex 2 SATA 3Gb/s 60GB |
| Cooling | Noctua NH-D14 |
| PSU | Corsair AX1200 |
| Case | Corsair 600T |
| Cooling | Noctua NH-D14 |
| PSU | Corsair AX1200 |
| Case | Corsair 600T |
Overclocked Settings:
| CPU | @ 4.82Ghz |
| Motherboard | (1503 BIOS) NB @ 2528Mhz |
| RAM | Same as stock |
| GPU | Same as stock |
Stock:
Stable OC(Overclock for Benchmarking):
Benchmarking Results:
Benchmarks performed:
- 3DMark 11(Performance)
- 3Dmark Vantage(Performance)
- PCMark 7
- Cinebench
- Unigine Valley Benchmark
- Aida 64(Memory and Cache) Benchmark
3DMark 11(Performance):
3Dmark Vantage(Performance):
PCMark 7:
Cinebench:
Unigine Valley Benchmark:
Aida 64(Memory and Cache) Benchmark:
Conclusion and Final Verdict
Pros:
- Superb build quality with good color scheme.
- Good onboard audio solution.
- Very good performance.
- Rock solid and stable at high overclocks.
- Fault finding is easy using the LED debug code.
Cons:
- Temperature and voltage probe points could have been elsewhere rather than being just at the side of motherboard power connector.
Final Verdict:
Video Review:
Here’s the video version of this review :
