ASUS Rampage III Gene review

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Meet Gene

 

Guys, meet Gene ...

Right then, a little introduction on this motherboard first. The Gene, an enthusiast class motherboard based on an m-ATX design. Despite the small micro-ATX form factor, it is still more than worthy of bearing the ROG (Republic of Gamers) treatment. This is possible because the Rampage III Gene, as it is called, boasts the full set of features that currently define an enthusiast platform.  Being based on the X58 chipset, the board supports Intel LGA 1366 CPUs. The Gene uses an eight-phase power design, has six DDR3 memory slots, two SATA 6.0Gbps connectors and six SATA 3.0Gbps ports.
There are two USB 3.0 ports and just as many PCI Express x16 slots, fully prepared for SLI or CrossFireX multi-GPU setups. As for connectivity and I/O, ASUS' product provides FireWire, 7.1 channel audio and Gigabit Ethernet, among other things.

Obviously, being a ROG device, this mainboard has its own overclocking-friendly features, such as on-board Power, Reset and Clear CMOS buttons.

Let's have a look at the (courtesy of) ASUS PR skinny:

ASUS launched the ROG Rampage III GENE, a new X58 based motherboard with a MicroATX form factor. The motherboard has two PCIe x16 slots, support for SLI and CrossFireX, six DIMM slots for up to 24GB DDR3, Gigabit Intel LAN, SupremeFX X-Fi 2 audio, two USB 3.0 ports, and eleven USB 2.0 ports. Other features include ASUS' ROG Connect, Game First, CPU Level UP and MemOK!.

PC performance devotees have come to know and trust the Republic of Gamers GENE series, a lineup of microATX boards. The new Rampage III GENE takes after the successful Rampage II GENE, bringing the same insistence on hardcore performance to the space and energy saving microATX form. Its a perfect option for case modders, LAN party attendees and PC gamers looking for a compact build.

ROG Advantages
Rampage III GENE, or R3G, carries over the great features that have made Rampage III Extreme a best seller. It has the Intel X58 chipset, supporting six core Intel i7-980X processors, as well as updated USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s for the fastest data transmission available to consumers.

But its the Republic of Gamers (ROG) tradition that sets this board apart from other microATX contenders. It shares in the same spirit of no holds barred performance, driven by ample overclocking. And naturally the trademark ROG design shines through here. For PC tweaking aficionados and new entrants alike, Rampage III GENE delivers numerous avenues to max their PCs capabilities. ROG Connect brings remote overclocking via USB cable from an external compatible device on a pure hardware level, so benchmarking can occur in a more native environment and results are truer to form.

ProbeIt furnishes accurate diagnostics and voltage readings in real time from different parts of the board, so tuners can keep a close eye on the effects overclocking efforts have on hardware. This is part of the ROG commitment to the joys of PC modding and gaming, pursuits the design team holds dear and never neglects to address with every new product.

Loaded with Rich Features for Peerless Action
With an emphasis on hardcore gaming, R3G packs superior features to make experiences more immersive Supreme FX X-Fi 2 sound supports EAX 5.0, bringing surround audio of previously unheard excellence to gamers everywhere while creating a 3D sonic environment where each auditory nuance comes across fully. R3G also arrives with quality materials like gold-plated phone jacks and solid state capacitors to enhance overall sound effect quality.

Likewise, the new board boosts connectivity to eliminate online barriers in this era of cloud services and multiplayer-focused gaming. True Intel Gigabit LAN offers fully accelerated connections whenever possible to guarantee higher performance, and drastically reduced CPU utilization. GameFirst is another internet-related feature, giving users a powerful tool for prioritizing connections so that downloading and other tasks can occur in the background without restricting online gaming performance.

CPU Level Up helps proceedings with intelligent processor overclocking thats totally automated and takes place when system loads demand higher clock speeds. Users get smoother computing with no intervention needed.

When creating the new Rampage III GENE, the ROG team stayed true to the GENE squad promise of gaming motherboards that deliver many things to a wide range of PC enthusiasts. Those interested in overclocking can get better performance with ROG Connect, while case modders will appreciate the tremendous power packed onto the small size. And of course, all gamers, and especially those attending LAN parties, are bound to enjoy the spectacular audio and online abilities of the R3G. Its attractive balance of great features and smart space utilization is slated to become a hit, as were all previous GENE boards.

Let me take it back real quick to ASUS Rog Connect, ASUS ROG Connect actually allows you to overclock the PC from another PC, or your laptop. We explained this technology several times already in previous reviews. If the overclocked PC crashes, you reboot and will still have the settings available at say that laptop. Change them, apply them and you are good to go.  You make the connection with the help of a special (included) bi-male USB cable (5V power line cut), and in the near future it will even be possible to utilize this connection to flash the BIOS of the motherboard, even if it died completely after say a firmware crash.

rogconnect.jpg

ASUS ROG Connect works nice. What's the best for me is that after a crash you reboot the crashed system, while you retained the settings on the other PC.  So you can immediately start where you left off.

We used a reference screenshots from our ASUS Maximus review here btw. But let's startup a photo-shoot and show you the product we are testing today.

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