Conclusions

It seems like every time we have a Republic of Gamers motherboard land in our review dungeon, we end up lavishing praise upon it, and to be honest it's always hard to find anything to criticise about these parts.  Hardware aimed at enthusiasts is ten a penny these days, but ASUS' motherboard offerings along these lines always seem to get it right by choosing the right features to offer up without piling on unnecessary items just to add to the list of marketing checkpoints, while also creating a sensible board layout that is rarely physically restrictive in any way.  Each new Republic of Gamers part also manages to trump the last by adding something new and innovative, and this time around we find ourselves with both some supplied alternate chipset coolers and the ability to control BIOS settings via the provided LCD poster - Both excellent ideas to my mind, and again in keeping with the enthusiast-level, overclocker-centric focus of the part.

Speaking of overclocking, you'll be hard-pressed to find an Intel motherboard with more overclocking headroom than this, as the Rampage Extreme offers an absolute cornucopia of voltage and tweaking options, coupled with the hardware and cooling capabilities to match whether your aim is to use water or air cooling.

Of course, the one big issue which is always going to be a factor with such high-end motherboards is the price, and make no mistake about it - At around £270 including VAT in the UK, the Rampage Extreme is hugely expensive.  I certainly wouldn't want to say that you don't get what you pay for on this occasion, as you get plenty for your money, but with Intel's Nehalem round the corner facilitating a change of motherboard due to its upgraded CPU socket, we're beginning to enter a period where enthusiasts may want to hang tight and see what this new architecture brings us in a few months time.

Having said that, if you are content to stick with Intel's current CPU line-up and are a hardcore overclocker for whom money is no object, then I simply can't think of a better motherboard to ply your trade on than the Rampage Extreme.  Quite simply, it oozes class from every transistor, with some of those clever little additions (tweaking the BIOS from the LCD poster in particular) making life easier in many little ways so that you can concentrate on the serious business of pulling every last iota of performance out of your system.  I'd love to imagine a world where this kind of motherboard was affordable to all and sundry, but realistically that's not going to happen, so all I can say is that, as of right now, this is pretty much the best Intel motherboard money can buy.

Product information

ASUS Rampage Extreme

- Vendor web site
- Vendor product information

Retail pricing and availability:

Overclockers UK - £270.24 including VAT

Thanks to ASUS for providing the sample for this review

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