Asus BLITZ Formula Special Edition - Review

[Doomer D. Great]

Asus BLITZ Formula SE Review
By:Hassan "Doomer" Gulzar




Introduction

We recently reviewed the monster known as ASUS Maximus Formula SE. It is so far the best you can get when playing in the domain of Intel's X38 chipset. However, P35 is not to be forgotten so easily and it is here to stay.

Today, we put yet another P35 through its paces: Asus Blitz Formula Special Edition. The family of Republic of Games is the proud presenter of this magnificent piece of hardware, by teaming up with ASUS.

The Blitz is, of course, based on Intel's P35 chipset design - the next best thing after the X38 chipset. Let us see what the chipset has to offer before we venture into the motherboard's features.

As the budget-sensitive, (actually sensible) elite gamers already know: DDR3 is not offering anything to justify its insane price tag. Even though the P35 chipset supports DDR3 and even though this board is ROG-certified, it is thankfully DDR2!

As P975X chipset slowly meets is tragic but destined end, the enthusiasts move on to utilize the true potential of the P35 and the X38 chipset. Although, officially, P35 does not support the next-gen 45nm processors but Asus worked their magic on Blitz Formula SE and produced a product which does support 45nm. Blitz Formula SE is DDR2 based, it supports Intel's 1333MHz FSB processors. At the same time, the DDR2 Memory frequency goes to 1066MHz at max, provided you get a qualified RAM.

Now LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLE!!

Specification Table:



Visuals: I am beautiful...

At first glance, it looked to me as if it was ASUS Maximus Formula SE, which solves the puzzle of where ASUS Maximus Formula SE got its killer black design from i.e. ASUS Blitz Formula SE of course!

As pointed out in our earlier reviews, the flat panel on the front will show off the goodies included immediately, which is what it is supposed to do! The HD Sound card add-on, the Crosslinx controller, and the Fusion Block are all exposed right when you open the box, in their deserving glory.

The [SupremeFX II] High Definition sound card and the Fusion Block system mounted on the North Bridge are seen amidst the various features printed on the box. Makes you tingle all over doesn’t it!

Box within a box: A plastic shell like container for the Blitz and an accompanying accessory box containing the add-on accessories. The plastic container allows you to see the board from all sides. The Sound Card add-on sits pretty in its own small container.

Board Design:

Compared to its predecessors, Asus Maximus, Asus Blitz has a rather skinny heat-sink. You will actually find ample space around the CPU area. Therefore, if you are thinking of going huge-cooler-crazy; this is your board of choice. Still, there is a long heat-pipe running throughout the board, end-to-end. It connects the major controllers on the way and the also on the Northbridge. The fusion block, Asus’s very own water cooling solution, gives this board that “Special” in the Special Edition.

In short, with its black PCB and ultra fine finishing, the Asus Blitz Formula SE is a very well built board with maximum compatibility for almost any type of CPU/GPU cooler.

The Fusion - Water Cooling Block is the highlight of the Special Edition Blitz as the standard motherboard comes with a passive cooled solution for the North Bridge. So, if you are planning to provide the Northbridge with more voltage, never fear of running too hot once you supply chilled liquid to it! Not just that, once the Northbridge starts cooling down, the heat from the heat pipes will travel towards it instead of the sinkers. Thus, there will be a noticeable drop in temperature all over the motherboard. It is, however, highly recommended that you have a 120mm fan on the rear of the casing for proper release of hot air generated on the edge of the interconnected heat-sink.

The Blitz gets its electric juice from a 24 Pin ATX connector and a 8 Pin AUX power connector. The connectors have been placed at the top edge of the board as to keep your configuration as neat as possible from those annoying cables.

ASUStek's trademark 8-phase design is also present in Asus Blitz Formula SE. As pointed out earlier, the Asus Blitz Formula SE manages to dissipate its heat by using a heat-sink structure with a far smaller footprint if compared to the Asus Maximus. You can easily install any cooler on the CPU without complex maneuvers with sharp screwdrivers, but they might scratch the board if handled incorrectly.

Towards the southern end we noticed, close to the Southbridge, six SATA ports placed in a stack, looking outward instead of up. It seems like Asus listens carefully to its consumers, especially when people complained about the GFX card incapacitating two of the SATA ports.

Next: The Expansion Slots. Following is the configuration:

• PCI-E x1
• PCI
• PCI-E x16
• PCI-E x1
• PCI-E x1
• PCI-E x16
• PCI

That makes a grand total of 2 PCI slots, 2 PCI-E x16 slots and 3 PCI-E x1 slots (one black PCIe v1.1 for the add-on sound card ). The PCI slots close to the PCI-E x16 will probably be rendered useless as almost all new cards (even cheap ones) have huge heat-sinks attached. It means that you will lose the PCI slot close to the second PCI-E x16 slot if you go Crossfire.

The DIMM slots: Like always, the channels are color-coded and there is no restriction on the memory size so two modules in dual channel configuration will work even if one is of 1GB and the other 512MB.

I/O ports configuration:

• PS/2 Keyboard Port
• 6 USB ports + SPDIF Coaxial (out)
• SPDIF Optical
• CMOS Reset Jumper
• Firewire
• Dual GB LAN

The back panel provides direct connectivity to six USB ports and one Fire-wire port. The other 6 USB + 1 Fire-wire is available through a provided expansion slot panel. There are two Gigabit LAN controllers and they both feature the AI NET 2 Supports Teaming Technology. The CMOS reset jumper placed amongst the I/O ports on the back panel: If you over-clocked your board way too high or are unable to get beyond POST or into the OS, just press the switch and all you BIOS settings will be reset to default. However, it will really hurt if you accidently pressed this button. Therefore, the solution is a jumper placed close to the Southbridge which allows you to turn CLR CMOS button mentioned above, on or off.

We are not done with the innovations just yet! We found two shiny buttons at the bottom of the board marked 'Reset' and 'Power'. After adding or removing hardware or accessories, you don’t have to lean forward and try to find the casing power button. Asus has clearly gone one-step ahead with the addition of these two buttons.

Add-ons and Accessories: Quantity and quality in one small box!

The goodies in the box:

• Fusion Block System Accessory
• 2x ASUS Optional Fan
• 3 in 1 ASUS Q-Connector Kit
• 1x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
• 1x Floppy disk drive cable
• 6x SATA cables
• 2x SATA power cables
• 2-port USB2.0 module
• IEEE1394a module
• I/O Shield
• Cable Ties
• User's manual
• Futuremark ® 3DMark® 06 Advanced Edition
• Kaspersky® Anti-Virus
• Game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
• LCD Poster

Though not in the accessory box as such, you also get a High Definition sound card with the bundle, namely the SupremeFX II. Visually speaking, the audio card is stunning.

The supplied sound card, SupremeFX II is the same you’d find with Asus Maximus. Moreover, it is the same you will find built-in in other Asus boards. It is a unique feature to take the on-board sound card out of the board and into your hands, thus giving you the power to either use the supplied one or add-on one of your own choice.

However, once in Crossfire configuration, the SupremeFX II might be you only source for audio as the other slots will either be unavailable or simply too close to the hot GFX card.

Last but definitely not least, is the LCD Poster. The purpose is simple - "post" error codes that can then be referred with the instruction manual for quick resolution.

I find the LCD poster a very welcome add-on, as when you are trying your over-clocking skills, this device is your best friend. Apart from prompting you with Error codes, the poster displays the status of the booting process and once you go ‘past the post’, it starts showing time!

Excellent Experience for Ultimate Gaming/Over-clocking Motherboard: This is what The Republic of Gamers has to say about their innovative solutions. The Republic of Gamers consists of only the best of the best. We offer the best hardware engineering, the fastest performance, the most innovating ideas, and we welcome the best gamers to join in. In the Republic of Gamers, mercy rules are only for the weak, and bragging rights means everything. We believe in making statements and we excel in competitions. If your character matches our trait, then join the elite club; make your presence felt, in the Republic of Gamers.

[ CPU Features ]

LGA775 Intel® 45nm Processor Ready: This motherboard supports the latest Intel 45nm CPU, which introduces new micro-architecture features for greater performance at a given frequency, up to 50% larger L2 caches, and expanded power management capabilities for new levels of energy efficiency.

LGA775 Intel® Core2 Processor Ready: This motherboard supports the latest Intel® Core2 processors in LGA775 package. It also can support Intel® next generation 45nm Multi-Core CPU. With new Intel® Core micro architecture technology and 1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz FSB, Intel® Core2 processor is one of the most powerful and energy efficient CPU in the world.

[/center]Intel® P35 Chipset: The Intel® P35 Express Chipset is the latest chipset designed to support 8GB of dual-channel DDR3 1066/800 MHz and DDR2 800/667 MHz memory architecture. It also supports 1333/1066/800 FSB (Front Side Bus), PCI Express x16 graphics and multi-core CPUs.

[ Graphics Technology ]

ATI CrossFire Technology: ATI´s CrossFire boosts image quality along with rendering speed, eliminating the need to scale down screen resolutions to get the high image quality you want. CrossFire ignites with the higher Antialiasing, anisotropic filtering, shading, and texture settings you desire. Adjust your display configurations, experiment with your advanced 3D settings, and check the effect with a real-time 3D-rendered preview within ATI´s Catalyst Control Center to rule your CrossFire system.

Crosslinx Technology: Delivering better game play without the bottleneck of x4 solutions: Crosslinx is an unique technology utilizing a dedicated controller to optimize PCIe allocation with dual x8 lanes. Crosslinx eliminates the graphics data bottleneck found in other x16, x4 solutions. The result is unmatched graphics performance for smoother gameplay and maximum benchmark potential.

[ Memory Features ]

Dual-Channel DDR2 800: DDR2 is the next generation memory technology to replace the current DDR. With the highest speed up to 800MHz, DDR2 memory provides great performance for 3D graphics and other memory demanding applications.

Native DDR2 1066 Support: To attain top performance, ASUS engineers have successfully unleashed the true potential of DDR2 memory. While in DDR2 1066 mode, ASUS´s exclusive technology offers a choice of FSB 1333 - providing great performance for 3D graphics and other memory demanding applications.

[ Performance with Reliability ]

Fusion Block System - H2O ready - The next step in thermal solution: The Fusion Block System is a more efficient thermal solution compared to competing followers with complicated looks. It is a hybrid thermal design that combines the ROG´s renowned heatpipe design with the additional ability to connect to a water cooling system. By considering the entire integrated solution, the user can enjoy exceptional thermal improvement to North Bridge and south bridge with a single connection. The Fusion Block System is the most versatile, efficient, and the most advanced thermal system there is on a motherboard.

2-Phase DDR2: Special Memory power to release the true power of memory: With the embedded 2-Phase DDR2, this motherboard allows users to reach higher memory frequencies and enjoy better performance. Compared with only one-phase solutions, this motherboard ensures longer power component life spans and higher overclockability due to cooler temperatures and better efficiency.

COP EX: OC in confidence: The COP EX allows overclockers to increase chipset voltages without the worries of overheating. It can also be used to monitor and save an overheating GPU. The COP EX allows more freedom and less constraint for maximum performance achievement.

Voltiminder LED: Friendly reminder on the intentional madness: In the pursuit of extreme performance, overvoltage adjustment is critical but risky. Acting as the "red zone" of a tachometer, the Voltiminder LED displays the voltage status for CPU, NB, SB, and Memory in an intuitive color-coded fashion. The voltiminder LED allows quick voltage monitoring for overclockers.

Loadline Calibration: Stable and optimal power for sustainable CPU overclock: Maintaining ample voltage support for the CPU is critical during over-clocking. The Loadline Calibration ensures stable and optimal CPU voltage under heavy loading. It helps overclockers enjoy the motherboard´s ultimate OC capabilities and benchmark scores.

CPU Level up - A Simple click for instant upgrade: Ever wished that you could have a more expansive CPU? Upgrade your CPU at no additional cost with ROG´s CPU Level Up! Simply pick the processor you wanted to OC to and the motherboard will do the rest! See the new CPU speed and enjoy that performance instantly. Over-clocking is never as easy as this.

Extreme Tweaker: One stop performance tuning shop: Extreme Tweaker is the one stop shop to fine-tune your system to optimal performance. No matter if, you´re looking for frequency adjustment, over-voltage options, or memory timing settings... they´re all here!

[ Sound with Clarity ]

SupremeFX II: Listen with Absolute HD:SupremeFX II delivers an excellent high definition audio experience to the gamers of ROG. The SupremeFX II features unique audio innovations for gamers to spot enemies in 3D environment during game play. SupremeFX II also provides gamers a special tool to emphasize human voices in games to help make dialogues clearer and more audible.

[ ROG Unique Features ]

External LCD Poster - Debug and read system problems with a new external look: The new LCD Poster now posts critical POST information in an ever friendly and flexible external display. When system malfunction occurs, the LCD Poster automatically detects device failure and translates the errors on the LCD during POST. Unlike other competing two digit displays, users won´t need to read "gibberish" to find out what´s wrong.

Onboard Switch: No more shorting pins or moving jumpers: With an easy press during overclock, this exclusive onboard switch allows gamer to effortlessly fine-tune the performance without having to short the pins or moving jumpers!

ASUS Q-Connector: Make connections quick and accurate: The Q-Connector allows you to connect or disconnect the chassis front-panel cables in one easy step with one complete module. This unique adapter eliminates the trouble of plugging in one cable at a time, making connection quick and accurate.

[ ASUS Unique Feature ]

AI NOS: Boost performance when you need it the most: Applications such as 3D games and video editing demand a huge chunk of system resource. Inject "nitrous oxide" into your CPU! The patented AI NOS (Non-delay Over-clocking System) technology intelligently detects system load and automatically boosts performance for the most demanding tasks. Unlike other dynamic over-clocking techniques, AI NOS reacts much faster to satisfy your unending need for speeds.

Design: [/center]: Conveniently store or load multiple BIOS Settings: The motherboard features the ASUS O.C. Profile that allows users to conveniently store or load multiple BIOS settings. The BIOS settings can be stored in the CMOS or a separate file, giving users freedom to share and distribute their favorite over-clocking settings.

C.P.R. (CPU Parameter Recall): When the system hangs due to over-clocking failure, there is no need to open the case to clear CMOS data. Just simply restart the system, the BIOS would show the previous setting and then users can amend the CPU setting again.

Noise Filter: Eliminate background noise while recording: This feature detects repetitive and stationary noises like computer fans, air conditioners, and other background noises then eliminates it in the incoming audio stream while recording.

Simply update BIOS from a USB flash disk before entering the OS: EZ Flash 2 is a user-friendly BIOS update utility. Simply launch this tool and update BIOS from a USB flash disk before entering the OS. You can update your BIOS only in a few clicks without preparing an additional floppy diskette or using an OS-based flash utility.
MyLogo3: Personalize your system with customizable boot logo: The ASUS MyLogo 3 is the new feature present in the motherboard that allows you to personalize and add style to your system with customizable and animated boot logos.
Stack Cool 2: Effective and zero-noise heat dissipation: Stack Cool 2 is a fan-less and zero-noise cooling solution offered exclusively by ASUS. It effectively transfers heat generated by the critical components to the other side of the specially designed PCB (printed circuit board) for effective heat dissipation.
Dual Gigabit LAN: The integrated dual Gigabit LAN design allows a PC to serve as a network gateway for managing traffic between two separate networks. This capability ensures rapid transfer of data from WAN to LAN without any added arbitration or latency.
IEEE 1394a interface: IEEE 1394a interface provides high-speed digital interface for audio/video appliances such as digital television, digital video camcorders, storage peripherals, & other PC portable devices.
High Definition Audio: Enjoy high-end sound system on your PC! The onboard 8-channel HD audio (High Definition Audio, previously codenamed Azalia) CODEC enables high-quality 192KHz/24-bit audio output, jack-sensing feature, re-tasking functions and multi-streaming technology that simultaneously sends different audio streams to different destinations. You can now talk to your partners on the headphone while playing a multi-channel network games. All of these are done on one computer.

Test Bed

Processor (Default): Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4GHz, 2.4GHz under 1066MHz
Motherboard: ASUS BLITZ Formula Special Edition (DVD Drivers + Original BIOS)
Memory: Kingston KVR 1Gb + 1GB DDR2 RAM
Graphic Card: ASUS EN8600GT

Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate Edition
Direct X: Direct X 10
ForceWare: v162.50

ScienceMark 2.0 Beta (Build 171102): ScienceMark is a simulator to study behaviors of molecules and atom of all the known elements. For example, one can simulate the motion patterns of an atom under certain heat - a process well known as Kinetic energy. There are two tests under the 'Blas Bench' menu: Single Precision Matrix Multiply & Double Precision Matrix Multiply. I have conducted this test so that I can compare this to the results after over-clocking.

SiSoftware Sandra Pro Business XII v2008.1.12.30: This should be only tool when dealing with motherboards. With the hefty number of tested benchmarks included in the package, there is not a configuration you couldn’t ask for. Just benchmark you system under any category and then compare it with all the different setups provided.

[Processor Arithmetic]:Benchmarks the ALU and FPU processor units. Shows how your processors handle arithmetic and floating-point instructions.

Both: Higher is better

[Processor Multi-Media]: Benchmark the (W)MMX(2), SSE(2/3/4) processor units. Shows how your processors handle multi-media instructions and data in comparison to other typical processors. Such operations are used by software that is more specialized, e.g. image manipulation, video decoders/encoders, and games.

Both: Higher is better

[Multi-Core Efficiency]: Benchmark the multi-core efficiency of the processors. Shows how efficient their processor cores and interconnects are, in comparison to other types to other typical processors. The ability of the cores to process data blocks and pass them to another core for processing (producer-consumer paradigm) of different sizes and different chain sizes is measured. The efficiency of interconnects between cores is thus benchmarked; however, the number of cores (and processors) also counts as more data buffers can be processed simultaneously (aka "in flight"). True multi-core processors that have shared L2/L3 caches will thus perform much better than cores that have separate caches and are connected by the traditional FSB.

Inter-Core Bandwidth: Higher is better
Inter-Core Latency: Lower is better

[Memory Bandwidth]: Benchmark the memory bandwidth of your computer. The benchmark is based on the well-known STREAM memory benchmark.

Both: Higher is better

[Processor Cache and Memory]: Benchmark the processors' caches and memory access (transfer speed). Shows how your processors' caches and memory sub-systems compare to other computers in terms of access.

Cache/Memory Bandwidth: Higher is better
Speed Factor: Lower is better

Well, if you think the above performance was hardcore, then you have seen nothing yet!

Over-clocked: What difference 800MHz could possibly make!?

Processor (Over-clocked): Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.2GHz, 3.2GHz under 1423MHz
Motherboard: ASUS BLITZ Formula Special Edition (DVD Drivers + Original BIOS)
Memory: Kingston KVR (1 GB + 1 GB DDR2 RAM) @ 356MHz
Graphic Card: ASUS EN8600GT[/center]

Regardless of the smaller heat-sink architecture, the voltage steps are all there and you can take this board to whatever limit your CPU or Memory can take. No, there is no limit to the Asus Blitz Formula SE!

The "Extreme Tweaker" screen is where the over-clocker will be spending most of the time. I managed to over-clock the E6600 from 2.4GHz to 3.2GHz with my eyes blindfolded. Just count the settings I changed:

Changed Extreme Tweaker to [Manual]
Increased FSB frequency to 356
Increased CPU Voltage to 1.4V
Increased Northbridge voltage to 1.49V
Increased DRAM voltage to 2.2V
Increased Southbridge voltage to 1.125V
2.4GHz is now 3.2GHz. The end, actually, this is where the real story begins!

The Voltmeter LEDs: In addition to the color coded warnings in the BIOS, similar LEDs of caution can be found on the critical locations of the motherboard i.e. the CPU, Northbridge, and the Southbridge. As per your voltage settings, the LED lights up in one of the three distinct colors:

• Green - Normal
• Orange - High
• Red - Crazy

ScienceMark 2: We start with ScienceMark this time as well.

3DMark: Although a motherboard review, I just couldn't leave this one out.

Only because of the lame GFX card along with 'weird' behavior of 3DMark under vista, I got such massively disappointing score.

SiSoftware Sandra: Its round two and this time, we are OC'ed... bring forth the results!

Processor Arithmetic:

Processor Multi-Media:



Multi-Core Efficiency:

Memory Bandwidth:

Processor Cache and Memory:

From what I achieved above by a mere 800MHz increment, it is beyond any doubt that Asus Blitz has no issue with going crazy at over-clocking. Just supply it with a nice power source and a liquid cooling solution and rest assured that Asus Blitz will not be a bottleneck when over-clocking. You can see that there was barely any sign of abnormal heat on the board.

The Intel’s P35 Chipset will not be preferred over the Intel’s X38 when it comes to Quad-Core processors. Even though Asus claims optimizations for Quad-core processors but the Intel’s X38 chipset was built with pure Quad-core in mind. Asus Blitz Formula SE is definitely the best thing for a dual-core processor as P35 was designed to handle Core 2 Duo.

Conclusion:

Q: Hit or Hype?
Answer: Wrong question! There is no Hype about it  and the answer is a definite Hit

Q: Is there any other board in the elite market that can display the Intel’s P35 capabilities to this extent?
Answer: Yes there are other boards available but for DDR2, there is none.

Even If you have made up your mind to go for DDR3, you will probably be interested in the review of Asus Blitz Extreme. But if you want DDR2 on an Intel’s P35, nothing comes closer to Blitz, especially when over-clocked and water-cooled.

Although the heat pipe design we see in almost all Asus motherboards looks eye-catching on the motherboard but its potential remains on the drawing board... Instead of properly dissipating heat, these pipes kept the surface of the board warm and sometime pose a threat to RAM if there is no proper ventilation in the casing. Only in Asus Blitz Formula and others in the ‘black’ family have water cooled Northbridge exposing the true potential of the heat pipes! Before the Fusion block, the heat pipes would carry the heat to no destination.

If I count the Cons on the Asus Blitz Formula SE, I will go into deep thinking and would probably come up with the supplies SupremeFX II audio add-on. Get yourself a descent sound card as the SupremeFX only supports even speaker configurations and does not ring any 3D bells while gaming.

Pros? Here are just the highlights: The dedicated Crosslinx controller will assure maximum PCI-Express performance by eliminating bottlenecks seen in other 16x, 4x solutions. This board also gives you the ability to mix different sizes of RAM while keeping the situation dual channeled.

Last question: Price?
This question is valid if you can actually get your hand on one of these Special Editions. They are hard to come by and they will probably be harder in Pakistan. On the e-Market, this board is weighting around 360US$ to 380US$. This price is excluding VAT, shipping, and handling. So far, I have seen the price as the only drawback but then again, this is not the Asus Blitz Extreme with DDR3 support. The Asus Blitz Formula SE can take on any DDR2 compatible board and even DDR3 (Asus P5E3).

Scorecard:

Performance: 8.9/10
Stability: 8.7/10
Innovation: 8.7/10

Overall: 8.8/10



The ASUS BLITZ Formula Special Edition receives the WCCF Extreme Over-clocking Award and the prestigious WCCF Enthusiast Award
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