ASUS Crosshair IV Extreme Motherboard Review

👤by James Clewer  Comments 📅26-09-10

Board features

Looking to the board the 890FX northbridge is a compact looking chip - with the memory controller present on the CPU the chipset doesn't need to be so complex. It should still be an impressive performer if it's little brother (Crosshair IV Formula) is anything to go by. It still packs ATi Crossfire control in that tiny silicone sliver!

The 890FX northbridge.

Further down the board your attention is immediately drawn to the Lucid HydraLogix chipset. The use of the thermal pad in the heatsink is explained since the Lucid chip is covered by an integrated heatspreader. This chipset not only allows Nvidia SLi functionality on an AMD chipset (something that Nvidia can't be too happy about!) but it also offers an even more interesting ability! No longer will users wishing to upgrade their not so bleeding edge GPU from one manufacturer for a brand new model from another have to sell that older card - the Lucid HydraLogix will allow enthusiasts to retain that slightly older card and use it alongside their new investment. A mixture of ATi and Nvidia cards can be used side by side for additional performance where previously none could be gained.

The Lucid chipset.

Below the Lucid HydraLogix is the AMD SB850 southbridge. Like the northbridge it's a tiny chip and provides the SATA and USB control on the board.

The SB850 southbridge.

While the heatsink was out of the way I was able to take a closer look at some of the components cocooned by it. The 8+2 Phase power section for the board is considerable with a vast array of mosfets, caps and chokes to provide a stable, steady and powerful supply to the CPU. It's very impressive looking and should help push any given CPU to its full potential.

The Extreme's power section.

Also hidden away was the NEC D720200F1 USB 3.0 controller which sat below and to the left of the 8pin 12v CPU power socket. This tiny chip gives the board its ultra fast USB 3.0 support - certainly a handy feature since drives and devices that utilise this fast bus are starting to appear more readily these days.

The NEC D720200F1.

Also of note are the additional molex sockets which have been placed on the board to supplement power delivery to important portions of the board. These EZ plugs are especially important when multiple GPU's have been installed since they work to improve the stability of the power supply to those cards through the PCIe slots.