Extreme 890FX
ASUS already has itself a well-regarded selection of AMD 800-series boards - including the 890GX-based M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 and 890FX-based Crosshair IV Formula - but it's gearing up to surpass the latter with something a little more meaty; the Crosshair IV Extreme.
As the name suggests, ASUS will be positioning its Socket AM3 Crosshair IV Extreme board as the ultimate enthusiast choice, and though we've yet to hear any mention of pricing or availability, we have been handed a sneak peek at the board via a series of ASUS-provided teaser shots.
At first glance, it looks a lot like the Crosshair IV Formula - sans heatsinks - but there are a couple of noteworthy improvements.
The number of PCIe x16 slots has been bumped up from four to five, and, more importantly, they're all tied to a Lucid Hydra chip to enable cross-vendor GPU support. In layman's terms, that means you'll be able to run competing GPUs in unison - allowing you to make the most of both the GeForce and Radeon worlds.
We've previously seen the Hydra chip available via MSI boards, but ASUS's decision to join the party suggests there's still life left in Lucid's technology. Question is, have recent driver upgrades done enough to improve performance, and is Hydra now able to deliver on its initial promise of near-linear performance scaling? That remains to be seen, but we're willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Making use of the 890FX chipset and SB850 southbridge, the Crosshair IV Extreme also offers all of the high-end goodies you'd expect to see on AMD's range-topping platform. Four DDR3 memory slots are available, SATA 6Gbps connectivity features as standard - as does Gigabit Ethernet - and an integrated NEC controller ensures USB 3.0 support, too.
On top of all that, there's the endless list of ASUS-exclusive tweaking tools - including dedicated Start, Reset, Core Unlocker and Turbo Key buttons, as well as overclocking-specific functions such as RoG Connect and Core Unlocker.
The additional premium dictated by the Lucid Hydra chip could ultimately make or break the deal, but ASUS's Crosshair IV Extreme is shaping up as the ultimate companion for AMD's Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition processor.
Hit page two for a handful of close-up shots.
