ASUS Maximus II Formula (Intel P45)
Overclocking and stability
Prior to moving to overclocking, let's look into the power converter. It uses an 16-phase power scheme in which there are two 270 mkF and ten 560 mkF capacitors.
We also note that the power converter of the north bridge is made based on the 3-phase scheme, and the PWM of the memory subsystem - the 2-phase scheme.
Now on to the overclocking features.
We note straight off that the board lacks the dynamic overclocking (ASUS calls this technology as NOS). Instead of that, there is support for the CPU Level UP.
The "CPU Level UP" offers a fixed set of FSB/MEM frequency values, and for better perception each set meets the specifications of Intel processors.
Anyway, confirmed overclockers prefer tuning all the settings on their own. So, let's list all the respective features in sequence. First off, ASUS Maximus II Formula allows adjusting the system bus speed within 200 to 800 MHz in 1 MHz increments. Of convenience is that you can enter the desired FSB value from the keyboard. Secondly, there is a feature for adjusting the multiplier. In any case, it will be of use for owners of extreme 4-core Intel processors.
Remaining overclocking tools:
| Motherboard |
ASUS Maximus II Formula |
| CPU multiplier adjustable |
+ |
| HTT adjustable |
within 200 to 800 MHz (1) |
| Vcore adjustment |
within 0.8 to 2.5V (0.00625 V) |
| Vdd adjustment |
within 1.1 to 2.054V (0.01325V) |
| Vtt adjustment |
within 1.2 to 2.001V (0.01325V) |
| Vsb adjustment (1.5V) |
within 1.5 to 2.05625V (0.01325V) |
| Vsb adjustment (1.1V) |
within 1.1 to 2.001V (0.01325V) |
| Vpll adjustment |
within 1.5 to 3.0105V (0.01325V) |
| PCI-E adjustment |
within 100MHz to 180 MHz (1) |
Now on to the practical overclocking. To start with, ASUS Maximus II Formula showed fantastic results: a stable operation at FSB=560 MHz with a Conroe processor.
Apart from the listed parameters, the BIOS offers two undocumented features like "Transaction Booster":
and "AI Clock Twister":
As we found out earlier, the "Transaction Booster" and "AI Clock Twister" are able adjusting secondary latency timings and settings. In a word, they can be used for some slight performance gain but only once all the other means have failed. Because raise of FSB by 1-2 MHz (i.e. increase in the CPU and memory frequencies by 10 MHz) results in a grater speed boost than the mentioned features.
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