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Asus Striker Extreme Review
[Abstract]
IntroductionThe Republic of Gamers (R.O.G.) motherboard series marked a move away from lifestyle computing for ASUS (the AI Proactive and AI Life product lines) into the realm of enthusiasts an...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Introduction
The Republic of Gamers (R.O.G.) motherboard series marked a move away from lifestyle computing for ASUS (the AI Proactive and AI Life product lines) into the realm of enthusiasts and gamers exclusively. Their very first and flagship board, the ASUS Crosshair was launched for the AMD AM2 platform using NVIDIA's nForce 590 SLI chipset. The Crosshair was an innovative motherboard in terms of usability for enthusiasts with strategically located connector LEDs, intuitive POST debug display and of course, incredibly extensive BIOS and the usual ASUS mix of performance and reliability. Now, moving ahead of the Crosshair, we will be taking a spin at the latest R.O.G. motherboard, the new ASUS Striker Extreme.
The ASUS Striker Extreme motherboard. |
The Striker Extreme is the Crosshair's counterpart for the Intel platform and is based on the spanking new NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI chipset. Like all ASUS premium motherboards, the Striker Extreme comes with a very rich packaging and heavy promises. ASUS has also expanded on its software bundle in a bid to attract the gaming community. While the Crosshair previously bundled 3DMark06, the Striker Extreme adds the full retail version of UbiSoft's strategic shooter, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter as well.
Here is the full list of its features and packaging contents:-
6 x SATA data cables
3 x SATA power converter cables (dual plugs)
1 x 80-conductor Ultra ATA data cable
1 x 40-conductor IDE data cable
1 x floppy drive data cable
1 x SLI bridge
IEEE 1394a port bracket
USB 2.0 (2 ports) bracket
ASUS Array Mic set
ASUS Q-Connector set
Optional heat-pipe fan
EL I/O Shield
Thermal sensor cables
Cable Ties
R.O.G. key ring
Drivers and support CD
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (full game)
Futuremark 3DMark06 Advanced Edition
InterVideo Media Launcher Suite (OEM)
User guide
Interesting items in the package include a lighted Rear I/O panel and a few temperature sensors. |
ASUS Striker Extreme Technical Specifications
| CPUSupport | - Supports90nm/65nm LGA775 processor package
- Supports IntelCore 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Extreme
- SupportsIntel PentiumD / Pentium Processor Extreme Edition
- SupportsIntel Pentium 4 / Pentium 4 Extreme Edition
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| Chipset | - NVIDIAnForce 680i SLI SPP
- 400- 1333MHz frontside bus
- NVIDIA DualDDR2 Memory Controller
- 18 PCI Express lanes
- One link at x16 forgraphics card (SLI capable)
- Two PCIe x1 lanes
- NVIDIAnForce 680i SLI MCP
- 28 PCI Expresslanes
- One link at x16 forgraphics card (SLI capable)
- One PCIe x8
- FourPCIe x1 lanes
- Supports up totenUSB 2.0 ports
- Supports six SATA 3.0Gbps ports
- Dual-channel UltraATA-133 IDE controller
- Supports up to five PCIslots
| | Memory | - NVIDIADualDDR2architecture
- 4 x 240-pin DIMMsockets support max. 4GB DDR2-400 to DDR2-1400 non-ECC memory
- Slot independantdual-channel mode
- NVIDIA QuickSync
- FourthGeneration DASP
- Support Enhanced PerformanceProfile (EPP)SLI Memory
| | Storage | - NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI MCP
- 2x Ultra ATA33/66/100/133 (data transfer rate up to133MB/sec.)
- 6 xSATA 3.0Gbps interface
- NVIDIAMediaShieldTechnology
- SupportsRAID 0,RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5,JBOD
- Supports RAIDMorphing
- Supports eSATA
| | Audio | - ASUS Supreme FX Audio Riser Card
- AnalogDevices SoundMAX ADI1988B 8-channel HD Audio CODEC
- DTSConnect
- Coaxial, Optical S/PDIF out on back I/O port
| | Networking | - 2x NVIDIA Gigabit LAN co-supported byMarvell 88E1116 PHY chip (Transceiver)
- DualNET(TCP/IP Acceleration, Teaming)
| | IEEE 1394 (FireWire) | - VIAVT6308P IEEE 1394a host controller
- 2x 1394a ports@ 400 Mbps speed
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| I/OInterface | - 1 x Floppyconnector
- 1 x Ultra ATA IDE connectors
- 6 x SATA connectors
- 10 x USB2.0 ports (6 x rear, 4 x header)
- 2x FireWire-400 ports (1 x rear, 1 x bracket)
- 2 xRJ45 LAN port
- Optical S/PDIF port
- 8-Channel Audio I/O ports
- 1x 9-pin serial port (header)
- 1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2mouse port
- 1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2 keyboard port
| | ExpansionSlots | - 3 x PCIex16 slots,PCI Express Bus specification v1.0acompliant
- 1 x PCIe x1 slots, PCIExpress Bus specification v1.0acompliant
- 2 x 32-bit PCI slots,PCI 2.3 compliant
- 1 x Proprietary Supreme FX audiocard slot.
| | Special Features | - LCDPoster
- EL I/O
- Q-Connector
- Q-FanPlus
- ASUS EZ Flash2
- ASUS AIBooster
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| PCB | - ATX FormFactor, 12"x9.6"(30.5cm x 24.4cm)
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Legacy ports give way to the LCD Poster. The rear panel also has a healthy dose of eSATA, S/PDIF, FireWire, USB 2.0, RJ45 and PS/2 ports. The small switch with the light icon toggles the LEDs onboard. |
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