ASUS Rampage IV Formula Pro Reviews

Despite these little issues, the board boasts an unprecedented number of indisputable advantages. Even if we forget for a second about all its highs (which is virtually impossible), it would still get our Editor’s Choice just for its overclocking potential alone. No other mainboard we tested so far can compete with Asus Rampage IV Formula in this aspect that is why we are proud to award it with our Editor's Choice title:

We have viewed many boards now and seen the performance which for the most part scales very close to one another. Considering that we need to look at ways that the board differentiates itself. Does it overclock farther, have a included accessory that adds value to the purchase, does it have a feature that is awesome or makes the board a better purchase than another? The Rampage IV Formula does many of things right. The performance of the Formula is right on par with that of the Extreme, which is impressive, although most all of the X79 boards are within a few percent of each other anyways. The Formula overclocks right on par with the Extreme, which is awesome and leaves plenty of headroom for even some of the most intensive CPU-bound apps. The ability to use a LGA1366-based cooler with the X-Socket adapter allows some cost savings and much less hassle when working with a cooler that does not already have LGA2011 mounting. The board also offers the ASUS APS warranty which gives the user the assurance that if something were to go wrong they would get expedited RMA service to minimize system downtime. The board carries a custom PCB design to ensure the best quality audio possible. Details like this make the Rampage IV Formula hard to beat. There is little to say in reference to found issues with the Formula model with the exception of a 4 DIMM configuration. After talking with ASUS about the decision to omit half of the slots we feel comfortable with that position. We really wish more manufacturers would exhibit this level of attention to detail and customer feedback, whether in regards firmware or component selection and layout. The other issue we found was the omission of the 4-way SLI bridge from the accessories, though as we said before, this is minor as very few users run a 4-way setup.

When you come up with an extreme, enthusiast-class platform like Intel's nouveau Sandy Bridge E, you want the motherboard boys to come in and sort you out with a blazing mobo to showcase its full potential. Generally you can count on Asus, and generally it's the Republic of Gamers range that delivers. The Rampage IV Formula is the first of the Republic of Gamers boards we've seen tailored to Intel's X79 specs and we were hoping for something a little more impressive. Especially given that £300+ price tag.