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Asus Blitz Formula Review
[Abstract]
IntroductionWhen ASUS created the Republic of Gamers (R.O.G.) series of motherboards, it was an avenue to enable ASUS to experiment with products outside of the norm. Besides creating a niche f...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Overclocking
- FSB Settings: 200MHz to 800MHz
- DDR2 Settings: 667/800/886/1067/1111/1333MHz
- PCIe Settings: 100MHz to 150MHz
- CPU Voltage Settings: 1.1000V to 1.9000V (in 0.00625V steps)
- Memory Voltage Settings: 1.80V to 3.40V (in 0.02V steps)
- PLL Voltage Settings: 1.50V to 2.00V (in 0.02V steps)
- FSB Termination Voltage Settings: 1.20V to 1.80V (in 0.02V steps)
- NB Voltage Settings: 1.25V to 2.03V (in 0.02V steps)
- SB Voltage Settings: 1.050V, 1.225V (in 0.025V)
- Loadline Calibration: Auto (default), Enabled, Disabled
- Multiplier Selection: Yes (unlocked CPUs only)
We were further impressed with the Blitz Formula when we poked around the BIOS of the board. In terms of voltage options, there aren't many new additions compared to other ASUS boards like the P5K Deluxe for example. However, this board features incredible granularity and range. For example, memory voltage goes up to 3.4V with a super fine 0.02V stepping all the way. Most boards give you 0.1V steps and you'd be lucky to find 0.05V. There is a special option in the Blitz Formula called Loadline Calibration, which you can either Enable, Disable or leave it at Auto. In theory, this option is supposed to help constantly moderate CPU voltage, though we didn't really see any impact on our final overclock. Your mileage may vary, but we see no harm having this option enabled, in event that it can help with power efficiency in the long run.
Standard tweaking features may look slim. |
But in manual mode, you will have your hands full. Notice the various voltage options that are highlighted in green? These are the options that are monitored by the Voltiminder LEDs on the board and the color here corresponds to the LED colors as you change them. |
In terms of actual overclocking, we managed to push the Blitz Formula to a maximum stable FSB overclock of 500MHz. This puts the Blitz Formula among some of the most overclockable P35 boards available. While Gigabyte still holds the crown for the highest FSB top-end, the Blitz Formula sets the bar for the most desirable overclocking platform. With all the features that ASUS has put into the board, hardware and software-wise, it is hard not to fall in love with it.
CPU-Z overclocking screenshot. Click for full-sized image. |
Test Setup
As the Blitz Formula is a DDR2 motherboard, we will be using a selection of the top DDR2 based P35 boards as performance comparisons in our benchmarking segment of the review. These boards include the ASUS P5K Deluxe and the main competition, Gigabyte's GA-P35-DQ6 and MSI's P35 Platinum.
The standard benchmarking test bed configuration is listed below:-
- Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor (2.93GHz)
- 2 x 1GB Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 @ 4-4-12 CAS 4.0
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB SATA hard disk drive (one single NTFS partition)
- MSI GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB - with ForceWare 158.22 drivers
- Intel INF 8.3.1.1013 and AHCI 7.5.0.1017 driver set
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (and DirectX 9.0c)
Benchmarks
The following benchmarks will be run to determine the performance of the ASUS Blitz Formula:-
- BAPco SYSmark 2004
- Futuremark PCMark05
- SPECviewperf 9.0
- Futuremark 3DMark06
- AquaMark3
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