Asus CrossHair II Formula and Hybrid SLI

Stability

As always, we reset the BIOS to its default values and install some Corsair 1,066MHz EPP memory at "CPUOC 0%" to make sure it only sets the memory accordingly without overclocking the CPU. We also used standard 9800 GTX SLI but piped the video output through the on-board video in accordance with the way Hybrid Power works, to see how the system handled it.

We then dropped into Windows and started Prime95 torture test, leaving it for a few hours to burn in. It remained stable and responsive so we looped 3DMark06 over the top of it which survived for a few hours but overnight the system hard locked.

Fearing it was overheating rather than just a bad product, we sat a couple of fans over the northbridge and NF200 and tried again. Again everything was good until we left it overnight, where the doors are closed and things get a little stuffy in the office. We came back to find 3DMark running this time and the system was perfectly responsive, but Prime95 had decided it couldn't take it any more and exited the building.

So we loaded it with cool airflow on an open desktop and it still isn't perfectly stable? Not exactly a great result.

Overclocking

In terms of overclocking our Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition, we could stretch it to 2.9GHz with a 14.5x multiplier, but at 3GHz the system consistently blue screened and reset itself. We found the voltage adjustments were nice and fine and the colour changing from green-yellow-red was very helpful to see how far to push things (should you not know). At 2.9GHz this is slightly faster than we achieved with the 790FX+SB600, which reached 2.8GHz, however it's slower than the 790FX+SB750 which we managed to get 3.2GHz out of very recently.

In terms of increasing the HTT bus again we didn't have much luck - our Phenom X3 8750 that we've reached 240MHz HTT with in the past on the 790GX+SB750, fell foul short of 230MHz. No matter how much we dropped the northbridge multiplier or increased the voltage (which has a significant overhead for HTT) it would stubbornly refuse to boot into Windows.

Value and Conclusions

Let's cut the muffin and get right to the chocolaty goodness - unless you're a die-hard AMD fanboy you'll be more interested in what Intel options are available or waiting for the Intel Hybrid mGPU to arrive soon. If you do fancy yourself going down the AMD route and perhaps picking up a 45nm part in Q4, then there's a lot to like about the CrossHair II Formula.

Despite its epically pinkie melting heatsinks, its performance is as good or generally better than the current premium AMD 790FX chipsets, and it also includes plenty of extra features including the useful Hybrid Power mode. Using both Hybrid SLI and CrossFire the experience with SLI was better with the Asus board - we didn't have problems when chopping and changing from GeForce Boost to Hybrid Power, unlike with the AMD and Gigabyte boards which required specific BIOS changes every time.

The Nvidia software for GeForce Boost in the taskbar is also better designed than AMD's solution, and the Hybrid Power works far better than when we first saw it - there's no screen flicking as the mode changes between mGPU and discrete now, but we did find the drivers sometimes slow to react to re-enabling the discrete card again after we had selected the option.


If you're completely anal about how much power you use, but you're also a staunch PC Gamer, then Hybrid Power is one of the best options there is except for the fact that it uses AMD CPUs, which are a little power hungry. If you've got enough cash to splash on a graphics cards in pairs or thrice for oodles of multi-GPU pleasuring, then I find it hard to believe you'd be concerned with an electricity bill. If you are a gaming tree hugger mind, you'd want to get the most efficient solution possible and like myself will be waiting for the Intel answer shortly.

Although, you could use Hybrid Power to save the life of your cards - by keeping them off when you're not using them they will last longer, however why not just invest in a BFG of EVGA card and get a 10 year warranty to cover them instead? Couple into the fact that this current generation of Hybrid SLI is really quite limited by its single digital output, no dual display support and its maximum resolution is 1,920 x 1,200 (although very few people own 30-inch monitors), it seems many might want to wait for the next generation anyway.

In terms of GeForce Boost - we doubt you'd want to pay for a £140 motherboard and drop in a £45 GeForce 8500 GT, but if you were just considering a far cheaper GeForce 8200 board then we'd point you towards the AMD 780G or even 790GX instead. The AMD solution simply scales far better into actual playable frame rates. No matter how much Intel or AMD will go on about 3DMark improvements on Hybrid graphics, it very much depends on the game and driver support where AMD seems to be better at right now.

Given the price of the AMD 790FX, 780G and Nvidia 780a SLI MCP, all perform exactly where we expect them to - the AMD 780G comes out slower in everything but it's only a third of the cost of the Nvidia board and as a consequence it can't handle the Phenom X4 9850 BE's power requirements. The AMD 790FX+SB600 doesn't have the features of the nForce 780a SLI MCP, but it does keep up with its performance easily.

If we talk value for a second, at £150, the CrossHair II Formula is an expensive AMD motherboard - the competition of the 790FX may be limited in some features thanks to the SB600 southbridge, until the relaunch of the 790FX+SB750 in a few weeks. Back to now - the current 790FX board prices have dropped through the floor and you can pick a DFI for just £87 or the popular MSI K9A2 Platinum for just £93.40.

However these don't offer Hybrid graphics support - what about 790GX that does include the latest SB750 southbridge for improved overclocking? Well the only one we could currently find was the strangely named Asus M3A78-T (why 78 and not 79, we're unsure) for just £95. The difference is that, well apart from the DFI, these boards aren't everything together; the CrossHair II Formula has Hybrid SLI in addition to enthusiast features.

If we check out Nvidia products exclusively, the Asus M3N Deluxe with the crazy and possibly useless Mempipe heatsink is only £123.39 - £20 cheaper, however the premium MSI K9N2 Diamond we had a first look at here, is more expensive at £153.79. If you don't care about the extra PCI-Express lanes, the Gigabyte GA-M750SLI-DS4 is just £95.

Overall, we can't really call the Asus CrossHair II Formula a great purchase. If you want SLI and Hybrid Power, save yourself a packet and get Nvidia's nForce 750 SLI MCP - AMD CPUs can't provide enough grunt for 3-way SLI anyway. If you want Hybrid Graphics get an AMD 780G, or even better, a 790GX+SB750 - these should match the price of the nForce 750i SLI MCP. If you're after some awesome overclocking, wait a few weeks and grab yourself an AMD 790FX+SB750 instead.

Final Thoughts

The original CrossHair was great, at the time, but we feel the CrossHair II is one to miss. I think Asus has done what it can with what Nvidia and AMD has handed over, but ultimately there are better products elsewhere that can be had for a fraction of the price. The swanky pants Republic of Gamer board might do a lot of things pretty well, but nothing spectacularly like you'd expect. It feels decidedly average at the end of the day, and we don't drop £150 on an average product.

• Performance
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• 7/10

• Features
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• 8/10

• Value
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• 5/10

• Overall
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• 6/10

What do these scores mean?