As a reviewer, I have over the years developed my own way of doing things; an order of events that I follow as I review a product aimed at providing efficiency for myself as well as correct testing methods and results as garnered from experience. Well, I've broken that order today for the first time in ... well I don't remember the last time, if indeed there was one. So why have I broken this time tested method? Usually, apart from writing down thoughts or recording numbers, all of the write up for a review is done after everything else, but I'm writing this now after having just opened the box and looked at the contents of my latest review item, the Asus Blitz Formula motherboard.

Naturally, I've looked at some nice things over the years, a lot of memorable hardware, and even a few not so nice but memorable items. I really enjoy looking at new hardware but I just caught my self doing something I've not done in a long time, and I just had to write it down now. I've opened the impressive box for the Asus Blitz Formula, looked at the board, it's separate sound card, and all the included extras.

Now I'm happily grinning like a kid at Christmas, my smile growing with each shiny treasure that surprises me as I look at each of the contents in turn. My wife is looking at me like I need to be institutionalized, but for right now I don't care; I'm happy. Will the Asus Blitz Formula continue to make me smile? Do I behold a Ferrari with a 1.1 engine? Will my wife have me locked up soon? These are all important questions, so let's see if we can get some answers.

Specifications

Form factor	ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6" (30.5cm x 24.5cm)
Chipset	Intel® P35 / ICH9R with Intel® Fast Memory Access Technology
CPU	LGA775 socket for Intel® Core™2 Extreme / Core™2 Quad / Core™2 Duo / Pentium® Extreme / Pentium® D / Pentium® 4 / Celeron® D Processors Support Intel® next generation 45nm Multi-Core CPU Compatible with Intel® 06/05B/05A processors * Refer to www.asus.com for Intel CPU support list ** Please update the latest BIOS to support Intel 45nm CPU
FSB	1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz
BIOS	16 Mb Flash ROM, AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 2.0a, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
Memory	Dual channel memory architecture 4 x DIMM, support max. 8GB, DDR2-1066*/800/667 MHz, non-ECC and un-buffered memory * The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR2 800 MHz. Due to the tuning by ASUS exclusive technology, this motherboard natively supports up to DDR2 1066MHz. Please refer to www.asus.com or user manual for Memory QVL
Expansion Slots	2 x PCIe x16 slot, support dual graphics solution 3 x PCIe x1 ( the PCIEx1_1 (black) is compatible with audio slot) 2 x PCI 2.2
NIC	Dual Gigabit LAN controllers, both featuring AI NET2
IDE/SATA	ICH9R Southbridge: - 6 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports - Intel Matrix Storage Technology supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. JMicron® JMB368 PATA controller: - 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33 for up to 2 PATA devices
Audio	SupremeFX II Audio Card: - ADI 1988B 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC - Noise Filter Coaxial, Optical S/PDIF out at back I/O
Ports	Back Panel: 1 x PS/2 Keyboard port(purple) / 1 x PS/2 Mouse port(green) / 1 x Optical + 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output / 2 x LAN (RJ45) port / 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports / 1 x IEEE1394a port / 1 x Clr CMOS switch Internal I/O Connectors: 3 x USB 2.0 connectors supports additional 6 USB 2.0 ports / 1 x Floppy disk drive connector / 1 x IDE connector for two devices / 6 x SATA connectors / 8 x Fan connectors: 1 x CPU / 1 x PWR / 3 x Chassis / 3 x Optional / 2 x thermal sensor connectors / 1 x IEEE1394a connector / 1 x S/PDIF output connector / 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector / 24-pin ATX Power connector / 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector / 1 x En/Dis-able Clr CMOS / System panel connector
Misc	Asus 8 Phase power design / Asus Stack Cool 2 / Fanless (heat-pipe) Thermal solution / Fusion Block System / LCD Poster / ASUS Optional Fan / The hottest 3D Game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. / 16Mb AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI2.0a Multi-Language BIOS / Onboard Switches: Power / Reset / Cls CMOS (at rear)

 

The Asus Blitz Formula belongs to the Republic of Gamers line-up and as such, the box has changed little from previous RoG packaging. Not that that is a bad thing, as the box is great. You get access to information on all the major features, along with explanations. You can see various parts of the motherboard thanks to windows cut in the packaging. At the most basic, you get a carry handle on the box.

Inside, the board itself is separated from the extras in it's own moulded clear plastic container, with the extras stored in a smaller black card box with similar theming to that of the main packaging. Inside the black extras box we have two (optional) Side Fans, 3 in 1 Q-Connector Kit, an IDE cable, a Floppy Cable, SATA Data (some side exiting) and Power adapter cables, two port USB 2.0 module, Firewire Module, a Black I/O Shield, Thermal Sensor Cables, Cables Ties, User Manuals, LCD Poster, Support DVD with drivers and software, a copy of S.T.A.L.K.E.R, and a bag of water cooling related accessories for use with the Fusion Block system.

Quite a bundle I'm sure you will agree and take a look at how thick that main manual is, and it's not just useless information or blank pages either; they are all English, all relevant and all needed. Asus have added something they call DIY Pedestal which is basically 9 rubber blocks or feet you can stick to the rear of the board and lift it away from your motherboard tray. The idea is that the screws will still reach the mounts but the board will be suspended a few millimetres higher than normal and provide more room for behind the board to move and aid in cooling. Of course, you can use the DIY Pedestals as you see fit or not at all.

The clear plastic container which houses the mainboard and it's separate sound card splits easily enough and the top comes off to give you access to everything; the sound card is housed in a separate area with in this top piece and also splits from it to provide access to the card. The mainboard is based on a dark brown/black PCB and the overall layout at first glance is busy but clean and well laid out. There are a few areas that stick out that make you think about what they are so let's begin our tour of the board.

The CPU area is a little tighter than most but should be free enough for most cooling setups; we certainly had no issue on the coolers we had to hand, both air and water. Asus use an 8 phase power setup, with one half cooled by the heatpipe cooling loop, the other half cooled by a simple copper heatsink. At the top of the board, between the CPU socket and I/O panel is the 8 pin power input, one half capped off to indicate what to use if your PSU only has provision for 4 pin power.

The Ram Slots area is as you would expect; four slots, two colours (blue and white) to indicate the two channels. Also here is the 24 pin main power and the floppy port. Moving down lower is a side facing IDE port. Lower still is a 6 SATA port array which is also side facing. These side facing ports really help in keeping the interior of your case clean as you can easily route the cabling off to one side, assuming you have the room in your case that this won't become a problem; I doubt many could claim that.

The Southbridge is connected via heatpipe to the Northbridge, half the CPU Mosfets and another chip mounted between the PCIe slots (which we will get to in just a moment). The Southbridge is proudly badged with a RoG Logo. You can also see in this area the various Front Panel, USB and Fan headers. Just in the corner of the picture are two push buttons for power and reset. In the lower interior of a dark case these might otherwise be missed which is why Asus have seen fit to make them clearly back lit.

The PCIe area is vertically symmetrical with a white PCI slot top (second actually, but I'll get to that in a moment), blue 16x PCIe second, two PCIe x1 slots below that followed by a second 16x PCIe slot and finally a second PCI slot in white. Now then, the Crosslinx chip you can see in the middle is a unique feature to Asus and provides a better way for Crossfire setups to function. Normally, Intel chipsets offer Crossfire by providing a 16x PCIe slot and a second 16x slot which is wired electrically for 4x. Crosslinx however splits the first 16x lanes into two, much like you might find on an older Nvidia SLI board or the upcoming Intel X38, giving you two slots with 8 lanes each. At the very top of the PCIe slots is a single black PCIe 1x slot which is marked in the manual for use with the included Audio Riser Module, however we had no issue in using the same card module in the two other white 1x slots; not having any other 1x capable cards I can't tell you if the black slot will function as normal as a 1x slot but I suspect it will.

One thing that has been noticeably absent in our tour so far is a clear CMOS jumper, and that's because strictly speaking there isn't one. Next to the Southbridge is a CLRTC jumper which you use to enable or disable the rear switch found on the I/O Panel. Yes, the Clear CMOS is a push button on the rear I/O Panel. Fantastic idea, more motherboards should have this feature. Sure, you still have to fiddle around the back of the case for the button, but it's large enough to find quite easily and it doesn't require you to even take off the side panel of your case. The I/O Panel starts with the familiar purple PS2 port for keyboard and like previous Asus boards based on the P35 chipset, does away with the green PS2 mouse port in favour of two USB 2.0 ports. Next are the SP/DIF ports- Coaxial and Optical. Then the aforementioned Clear CMOS button and a single Firewire port. You'll notice a rather large area around here that would usually have a parallel port but this area is kept clear so as to let the cooling fins have another access to cool air; the I/O Shield is perforated with holes in this area to facilitate this. The last points of interest on the I/O Panel are two Gigabit Ethernet port and four more USB 2.0 ports.

The included sound card is badged as an Asus Supreme FX II HD Audio card and as mentioned previously installs into one of the 1x PCIe slots. The card is partially shielded and has a rather neat back lit logo on the side. The usual six 3.5mm analogue jacks exit to the rear area of your case, while internally the card supports front panel connections. Asus make a point of indicating that this card is a cut above the rest of on-board solutions due to it having noise filtering.

Fusion Block System

I've purposefully stayed away from the Fusion Block System mounted on the Northbridge as I wanted to explain about this in a bit more detail. The Asus Blitz Formula (and Extreme for DDR3 setups) features a heatpipe cooling setup that cools half the Mosfets, the Northbridge, the Southbridge and the Crosslinx chip. The Block on the Northbridge is however a hybrid block and supports connection to a water cooling loop via two barbed ports. Asus provide connections and adapters and clips and small lengths of tubing to ensure you can add the FSB block into your existing water cooling loop without the need to purchase extra parts.

If you use the FBS block in a water cooling setup, you will probably want to use the two included side exiting fans on the heatsinks around the CPU area; in a traditional air cooling setup, the CPU Cooler would provide enough air movement to keep things cool but without it ...

The fans slide into place, one using a provided adapter and plug into the 3 pin fan headers on the motherboard. Naturally one of the benefits of water cooling is that of silence, so adding extra fans would presumably counter that, however the included fans are slow moving and quiet so not a large issue. Also, the fans can be controlled via the BIOS in a limited fashion, a function Asus dub Q-Fan.

One thing that did surprise me is that there is very little reading material on the specifics of the FBS setup other than to promote it. There are no detailed instructions included on how to use the setup which seems to be quite an oversight. One could argue that if you are looking at this board for the FBS setup, then you probably already know all you need to know about water cooling and how to integrate it into your system. However, water cooling is no longer a dark art with plenty of end users taking advantage of complete kits designed with the novice in mind, a fact that probably contributed to someone at Asus suggesting a board with a water block in the first place. I personally had no issues, and anyone who has worked with at least a couple of water cooling systems won't have any problems, but there should still be some documentation on how to use it, rudimentary or otherwise.

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