14 DAY TRIAL // As most gamers out there know only too well, a high-end rig really is a "must have", at least if the respective person wants to achieve some pretty impressive (perhaps even pro) results in this field. For this reason, Asus has even introduced the ROG (Republic of Gamers) brand, which caters exactly to the needs of these extreme users. And one of the latest releases from this high-end series is the Maximus II Formula motherboard, which comes bundled with one of the best-regarded audio cards, the Supreme FX X-Fi.
Like most of the other ROG products, this motherboard is designed to serve as a basis for a pretty high-end gaming rig, and for this reason it has been equipped with an Intel P45 chipset and an LGA775 socket supporting Intel Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, etc. processors. Furthermore, it sports a dual-channel memory architecture, allowing users to cram up to 16 GB of DDR 2 1200 Mhz non-ECC and un-buffered memory into their systems.
Since extreme graphics are also important in today's gaming world, the motherboard also comes equipped with 2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 slots, 3 x PCIe x1 slots and 2 x PCI 2.2 slots, which provide enough room for accommodating even several graphics cards.
As mentioned right from the start, the SupremeFX X-Fi audio card is one of the main points of attraction provided by this motherboard, as it offers gamers life-like sound effects and 3D surround sounds to fully immerse them into the games. And in order to provide just crystal clear, hi-fi sound, the Supreme FX X-Fi employs the ADI 2000B audio codec, Creative X-Fi suite, CMSS3D and Crystalizer technologies and authentic EAX sound effects.
Moreover, since gamers are bound to try and take their systems to the next-level by overclocking them, the motherboard also sports the ROG Extreme Engine, a next-generation multi-phase power design that provides additional overclocking headroom. This architecture includes a 16-phase power design for the CPU, 2-phase for memory and 3-phase for the north bridge and offers additional voltage options in the BIOS for higher performances.
Unfortunately, no official pricing info has been released for now, but given the level of complexity of this product, it will most likely be pretty expensive.