ASUS Rampage III GENE Motherboard Review

👤by Sahil Mannick Comments 📅17-07-10
Conclusion

Throughout the review, I compared the Rampage III Gene to the Extreme and that in itself is testimony to its quality. The Gene wasn\'t designed to be the engineering masterpiece that the Extreme is and the price tag, at over £100 less, reflects that. It lacks some of the high end components of the flagship motherboard such as the Extreme Engine Dig+ design and multi-layer polymer capacitors. However, it stays true to its ROG name by incorporating a plethora of features that will appeal to a range of users. The micro-ATX form factor already makes it a very practical motherboard, and delivering class leading performance is icing on the cake for users who want an all purpose HTPC or compact gaming rig. In terms of features, the Gene supports USB 3.0 and SATA III 6Gb/s, ROG Connect and a high end onboard audio solution with the SupremeFX X-Fi 2 chip and Codec.

Although overclocking is not the main focus of this board, the Rampage III Gene still generated some impressive results. A maximum of 220MHz BCLK was achieved and the chipset cooling was more than capable of handling the extra voltages. A few enthusiast features were still retained to aid in the process such as Probelt and the various onboard switches. The Gene also came bundled with excellent utilities to not only overclock but to enable power saving features thanks to the EPU engine.

The board isn\'t without its flaws. The main one is the awkward positioning of the CMOS battery and retention slot. At the edge of the motherboard, it is prone to damage so extra care has to be taken. Another complaint I have is memory overclocking. It wasn\'t possible to get the RAM working at 1600MHz when the CPU was at 4GHz unlike on the P6X5 8D-E or Rampage III Extreme. However, the Rampage III Gene still performed very well and wasn\'t hindered by the slower memory speed.



Pros
+ Loaded with features
+ ROG functionality
+ Good overclocking headroom
+ Cool and efficient
+ USB 3.0 and SATA III 6Gb/s
+ Attractive finish and brilliant layout
+ Excellent performance
+ Micro-ATX form factor
+ Price

Cons
- CMOS battery placement
- Memory overclocking

The Rampage III Gene\'s shortcomings doesn\'t deter the overall exceptional quality we are accustomed to seeing from ASUS. It earns itself the Vortez Hardware Gold Award.



I would like to again thank ASUS for providing us with this sample. To discuss this article or product, please visit our forums.




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