ASUS Crosshair IV Formula Motherboard

Main Specifications

ASUS Crosshair IV Formula motherboard main features are:

• Socket: AM3.
• Chipset: AMD 890FX.
• Super I/O: ITE IT8721
• Parallel ATA: None.
• Serial ATA: Six SATA-600 ports controlled by the chipset (RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10) and one SATA-300 port controlled by a JMicron JMB363 chip.
• External SATA: One eSATA-300 port controlled by the same JMicron JMB363 chip.
• USB: 12 USB 2.0 ports, seven soldered on the motherboard and five available through three headers on the motherboard. Two USB 3.0 ports controlled by a NEC μPD720200 chip.
• FireWire (IEEE 1394): Two ports, one normal-sized soldered on the rear panel and one available through a header on the motherboard, controlled by a VIA VT6315N chip.
• On-board video: No.
• On-board audio: Produced by the chipset together with a VIA VT2020 codec (8-channel, 110 dB signal-to-noise ratio for its outputs, no more technical information is provided). On-board optical SPDIF output.
• On-board LAN: One Gigabit Ethernet port controlled by a Marvell 88E8059 chip, connected to the system through one PCI Express x1 lane.
• Buzzer: No.
• Power supply required: EPS12V
• Slots: Four PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (the first always working at x16, the second always working at x8, the third working at x16 when two video cards are installed and at x8 when three video cards are installed, and the fourth always working at x4) and two standard PCI slots.
• Memory: Four DDR3-DIMM sockets (up to 16 GB up to DDR3-2000 through overclocking).
• Fan connectors: One four-pin connector for the CPU cooler and six four-pin connectors for auxiliary fans, three of them supporting thermal sensors.
• Extra Features: External clear CMOS button, POST diagnostics LEDs, ROG Connect connection, automatic overclocking button, button for unlocking hidden CPU cores.
• Number of CDs/DVDs provided: One.
• Programs included: Motherboard drivers and utilities.
• More Information: https://www.asus.com
• Average price in the US*: USD 230.00

* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this First Look article.