ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: This is the greatest DDR2 motherboard out there. I've owned it for 2 months and I am still in love with it. The BIOS settings allow you to change anything, even tRD for memory (which can give you great bandwidth gains.) It overclocks wonderfully (thanks in part to the Intel X48 chipset.) CPU and RAM booted right up first boot, no problems. It's amazingly stable; in fact it's the most stable motherboard I've ever owned. I love this motherboard. Works with my ATI 4870 wonderfully.

Cons: NB gets extremely hot. I'm overclocked to 450 FSB, and with the minimum NB voltage to keep my rig stable (1.54v) it idles around 60C. This is not uncommon. That's really the only con I can think of.

Overall Review: If you're using a 45nm CPU, disable Loadline Calibration until you update to BIOS 0406 (it's not listed on their website, just google it.) This BIOS fixes LLC for 45nm CPUs; otherwise you will get crashes and possibly fry the CPU.

NB gets hot as hell. Remove the heatsinks, remove the junk thermal pads and apply new compound (though rumor has it this voids your warranty. But you won't need the warranty because this motherboard is like a rock.)

Attach the LCD poster BEFORE you put the motherboard into your computer. It's in a very hard-to-reach spot once it's in your case.

I run a Q9450 quad core, 8 GB DDR2-1000, ATI HD 4870, WD Velociraptor. Everything works like a dream. I hope this review helped you. You won't be disappointed.

Pros: This is a very sturdy and impressive-looking motherboard, that is also extremely stable. I have no real complaints about the hardware; I had zero issues with it for the entire time it was working. This will probably be the swansong of the LGA775 era, since processor architecture has finally moved on.

Cons: The POST LCD might not be as useful as one would hope. When there is a motherboard problem, the LCD will only display CPU_INIT (which is wrong, and misleading, and defeats the purpose of an LCD POSTer). The motherboard also gave the same error when a fan tried to draw too much voltage from a non-CPU power slot. Which is totally counter-intuitive.

But the real problem is with the manufacturer:
A failed BIOS update forced me to RMA this motherboard, which I completely understand. But when I received it back 15 days later, the motherboard made a small high pitched squealing noise when plugged into any power supply (and did nothing else.) The LCD just said CPU_INIT, regardless of what components were physically present. ASUS says I must RMA again. At this rate I'm going to be without a motherboard for an entire month, which is extremely disappointing and frustrating.

Overall Review: I paid a premium for this product, but thus far quality control/service seems minimal at best. The RMA Status page hasn't worked right (at all) since I received the first RMA number ~20 days ago, drivers pages had DL speeds of ~10KB/s or less, and I'm going to be without a motherboard for probably a month now. I understand that the RMA process can take time, but forcing a customer to wait an additional 2-3 weeks due to manufacturer error/faulty product is wholly unreasonable and greatly decreases my confidence in them.

This has been a great physical product, but the POST LCD has proven largely useless and the RMA process has failed me outright. If you are lucky enough to not encounter any RMA-necessitating issues with this product, you'll be the happy owner of one of the best motherboards out there. But if not, you may be stuck in purgatory for a long time while YOU do quality control on THEIR hardware and website.