Asus Maximus III Formula Review - PAGE 6

ASUS InstAll

Their driver disc is extremely easy to use and contains all you need to get started and to even to keep going. Once you drop the disc in your drive, the window below will popup and then you can use the "ASUS InstAll" button which will automatically install every single driver and software, except Creative's which you need to install separately.

In the likely case that you don't need or want every application installed, you can also choose to install them one by one.

As a side note, all onboard peripherals worked out of the box using Windows 7, while Vista simply required the network driver. However, the Sound Blaster X-Fi driver provides aditional functionality for the supplied SupremeFX audio card.

TurboV EVO

This application is similar to the previous one, except that it is designed to run on your local machine. Unfortunately, it's still not the all in one tool I wished for. It doesn't offer any sort of monitoring, so it has to be used in conjunction with other software either from ASUS or third-parties like CPU-Z and RealTemp.

Otherwise, it works well for what it does. Easy Mode is, well, easy, but it goes overboard with voltage so I don't find it to be a wise choice. If you have little experience and just want a quick out of the box overclock, auto tuning is probably your best bet. However, manual mode is my personal favorite as it gives the most control.

Turbo Key is basically on-demand overclocking. It allows you load a selected profile by hitting a customizable combination of buttons.

EPU-6 Engine

Nowadays, it seems like it's all about being green and ASUS is no exception to this rule. This program has built-in profiles to optimize the computer's power efficiency by changing some key settings. It can turn phases off when it detects utilization is low and only turn them back on when it figures it needs more power to achieve a task. This way, the full power delivery system is only working at full throttle when it needs to, ultimately saving some power. There is one caveat though, the processor has to be running at stock settings.

PC Probe II

This is ASUS' main hardware monitoring utility. It covers about every important voltage in the computer, fan speeds and temperatures. It is also possible to trigger alarms when one of them falls below or rises above a custom threshold. From the main window, you can choose which sensor to display or not. Each of those sensors you enable will then appear in a small box, as shown below. They can then be placed exactly as you wish to, the magnet feature will automatically make them stick to eachother so they can easily be located and moved as a group.

Update

It may not be the best looking application, but it's certainly one of the most useful. It allows you to update the BIOS either from a file you downloaded off their website or it can automatically find the board's latest BIOS for you. Then, it will flash it and prompt you to restart. That's all, it just works. I used it three times without any issues whatsoever and needless to say that it's much easier and quicker than updating from a bootable device.

AI Suite

This is the application is an attempt to sort of brings everything together. It works more like a control center to launch every other application, so you still end having to open many different programs to get all the functionality. Hopefully future versions bring those six programs together in a more streamlined manner.

ROG Connect

Not only this feature is unique to ASUS, it is also a really interesting one that is genuinely useful. After installing the software on another computer, enabling it is as simple as the push of a button located on the back of the board. Then, simply plug the supplied USB cable between the Maximus and your other computer, fire up the software and enjoy.

The RC TweakIt application gives nearly BIOS-like control over your hardware right from within your other computer's Windows. The only thing missing is any sort of control over memory speed and timings. Other than that, you can monitor voltages, temperatures and fan speeds, but not overall processor and memory frequency which is a shame. It's also possible to save and load profiles.