ASUS Blitz Extreme and Formula (Intel P35)
BIOS
The BIOS of both the motherboards is based on the AMI BIOS version and has almost identical settings (although that may change in future versions).
In the overclocking section, part of the settings are in charge of tuning the memory latency timings:
The next important parameter that affects the performance is setting the memory operating frequency.
The choice of available frequencies is in direct dependence on the selected Strap:
There is one more parameter that affects the memory subsystem performance - the "Command Rate":
In fact, the current BIOS versions impose certain limitations upon its use. In particular, in the synchronous mode the overclocked system does not run stably (in other words, the overclocking capability degrades).
There is a couple more parameters to adjust the secondary timings (sometimes referred to as sub-timings). This is the Transaction Booster
Dynamic Write Control (available only on the Extreme; BIOS v. 0802), and Static Read Control
Enabling these features results in the memory subsystem performance gain to the detriment of the overclocking capability (in some cases, to the detriment of stability - especially when the memory modules run at the breaking point).
Let's look into the system monitoring section.
Both the boards display the current values of the CPU and system temperatures, temperatures of the north and south bridges, as well as temperatures from two additional thermo sensors. Besides, the board keeps track of voltages, rotational speeds of all the eight fans, six of which having the (Q-Fan2) feature to adjust the rotational speed of the CPU cooler, depending on the temperature of varied components. For the CPU cooler, there is a separate kit of Q-FAN 2 settings, and for the coolers plugged in to CHA_FAN1 - CHA_FAN3 there is one kit of common settings.
The settings QFan2 for coolers plugged in to OPT_FAN1 and OPT_FAN2 are independent.
Both the motherboards are able retaining all the BIOS settings in the memory and loading them on demand. The boards support two independent profiles:
To handle the BIOS replacement, each of the motherboards offers the integrated EZFlash 2 utility:
You can update the BIOS version with the ASUS Update utility:
The monitoring of parameters can be tracked with either AI Suite (for the basic set of parameters) or with the PC Probe II (extended set).
Note that the boards offers support for the CrashFree BIOS 3 feature (restoring the damaged BIOS firmware using a CD or a flash disk).
Traditionally for motherboards made by ASUS, the BIOS supports display of the settings in multiple languages (Multilanguages BIOS).
The BIOS also gives access to tuning all the features of modern processors:
Overclocking and stability
Before we move on to overclocking, let's look at the power converters. The PWM of ASUS Blitz Extreme uses an 8-phase scheme in which there are no traditional capacitors (the so-called EL-Capless power design). The power supply module of ASUS Blitz Formula also uses the same scheme. Note that the boards use a 2-phase power converter for the memory modules.
Note that both the boards allow for installation of additional fans (which are available in the package bundle), which allows improving the power supply module (and the north bridge, unless a water-powered cooling system is used):
Now on to the overclocking features.
| Board |
ASUS Blitz Extreme |
ASUS Blitz Formula |
| Multiplier adjustment |
+ |
+ |
| FSB adjustment |
within 200 to 800 MHz (1) |
within 200 to 800 MHz (1) |
| Vcore adjustment |
within 1.1 V to 1.9 V, in 0.00625 V increments. |
within 1.1 V to 1.9 V, in 0.00625 V increments. |
| Vmem adjustment |
within 1.5 V to 3.04 V (0.02 V) for the DDR3 |
within 1.8 V to 3.4 V (0.02 V) for the DDR2 |
|
| Vdd adjustment |
within 1.25 to 2.03 V (0.02 V) |
within 1.25 to 2.03 V (0.02 V) |
| Vsb adjustment |
within 1.05 to 1.225 V (0.025 V) |
within 1.05 to 1.225 V (0.025 V) |
| Vtt adjustment |
within 1.2 to 1.8 V (0.02 V) |
within 1.2 to 1.8 V (0.02 V) |
| PCI-E adjustment |
within 100 MHz to 150 MHz (1) |
within 100 MHz to 150 MHz (1) |
As compared to other ASUS motherboards based on the P35 chipset, we should note really wide ranges for voltage adjustment (especially the voltage applied to the north bridge, in terms of water-powered cooling) as well as the finer and more precise increments of voltage.
We note the independent adjustment of voltage on each of the memory channels:
and the precise tuning voltage applied to the memory controller:
There is a couple more of undocumented parameters to adjust the CPU power supply. This is CPU Voltage Reference:
Somehow or other, but we ran all the overclocking experiments with the disabled CPU Voltage Reference, Transaction Booster, and Static Read Control (let's wait for their description by ASUS). Therefore, as the practical experiments have shown, the boards in question (Blitz Extreme, Blitz Formula) offer the same capability. In particular, Blitz Extreme started up at 500 MHz, whereas the Formula version - at 516 MHz.
The slight difference can be attributed by the "higher" version of BIOS version in the Formula board. But in general, these results can't be regarded as high, since for testing the maximum FSB speed we decided to use a new E6550 processor whose FSB Wall has been shifted up to 560 MHz (while the CPU itself runs stably at >3.8 GHz). These results were produced on P5K3 Premium, but unfortunately none of the Blitz boards was able repeating that result. So programmers at ASUS have got something to work at in this direction.
Now a few words on the ASUS NOS (Non-Delay Overclocking System) mode in which overclocking is done on-demand. Simply put, the raise of FSB speed occurs at the time a resource-hungry application (e.g., a game) starts up. On closing the application, the system reverts to the rated frequency.
It is possible to overclock the system with AI Suite which includes tools for overclocking, monitoring, AI Gear, and AI Nap:
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