Asus Maximus Formula Intel X38-based mobo
Maximus or minimus?
18th October 2007 11:48 GMT
The basic Maximus Formula uses a passive heatpipe system that links coolers on the southbridge, northbridge and power regulation hardware. However, we were sent the Special Edition, which comes with the same Fusion cooler that we’ve previously seen on an Asus Blitz. It’s a clever piece of hardware that adds two spigots to the northbridge cooler so you can plumb the Maximus in to your water-cooling system without changing any of the hardware or, if you choose, you can run it with passive air cooling. As a final option, Asus includes a small clip-on cooler in the package, just in case your chosen set-up needs a bit more airflow.
The Special Edition costs the same as the regular Maximus Formula so if you fancy a touch of Fusion you’d better get your hustle on as it’s only available while stocks last. Completists may like to know that Asus also lists a Maximus Extreme which has a "pure" water-cooling block in place of the Fusion device for an extra tenner.
The I/O panel is vented to allow airflow to the passive cooling system
We looked long and hard, and came to the conclusion that the layout of the Maximus Formula Special Edition is impeccable. We simply can't see a single component that needs to be changed or moved.
The area close to the CPU socket is very clean as Asus has used the same combination of small MOSFETs, Ferrite-Cored Chokes and solid aluminium capacitors that have become all the rage on P35 motherboards, and we’re very glad to see them. Moving outwards slightly we come to the passive cooling system that looks simply enormous. However, it is very low in profile and we had no trouble installing our preferred Zalman CNPS8000 cooler.
The I/O panel is vented to allow airflow to the passive cooling system so there’s not a huge amount of space for ports and connectors. You get a PS/2 for your keyboard, six USB 2.0, dual Gigabit Ethernet, coaxial and optical digital audio, one Firewire and a button to clear the CMOS. In the box is a bracket with two more USB 2.0 ports and another Firewire connector.
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