ASUS Rampage Extreme motherboard review

It's been quite a while now since ASUS launched their first enthusiast-level Intel X48-based part, the Rampage Formula - An offering which put together the company's usual performance and overclocking-centric Republic of Gamers philosophy while still offering support for DDR2 memory.

Since that time, things have changed somewhat as memory prices have dropped, to the point where making the move to DDR3 isn't seen as an overly expensive upgrade any more.  With this in mind, coupled with motherboard manufacturers really getting to grips with the X48 chipset and how to squeeze the most performance out of it, we now find it getting a second run-out via ASUS' Republic of Gamers series.  This time the name of the motherboard is the Rampage Extreme, and DDR3 support is the order of the day, while ASUS also looks to add yet more new features and innovations to their already impressive range of offerings.

Let's now take a look and see if the Rampage Extreme can actually live up to its aggressive name.