ASUS Maximus II Gene Intel P45 mATX Motherboard Review

Installation

Test Rig:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 45nm
OCZ ReaperX DDR2-800 4 gig Dual Channel kit
Sparkle Calibre P980X geForce 9800GTX+ video card
Thermaltake Toughpower Cable Management 850 watt ESA power supply
Noctua NH-U12P CPU cooler
Cooler Master Ammo 533 midtower
Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit

Until the Asus Maximus II Gene arrived I hadn’t thought about the fact that I didn’t have an mATX case to place it in. Rather than hold this review up while waiting for one, I decided to place the motherboard in a midtower. It will be kind of like placing a full ATX motherboard into a full tower, there will be extra room in the case to enhance cable management. Since my goal is high mobility, I decided to break out my old Ammo 533, since this is what I’ve been saving it for. The video card and power supply are for the purpose of this review, more what would be in a LAN party rig.my future digital recording rig will have a power-sipping mainstream video card. I would imagine that this full-sized video card wouldn’t fit in many mATX cases. The Noctua CPU cooler is for silence. It probably would not fit in most tower or desktop styled mATX cases, and won’t fit in all cube-styled mATX cases, but will fit in some. The power supply is definitely overkill, but I usually have much more power supply than I actually need.

First, prep the CPU and CPU cooler base by cleaning with isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free cloth. Apply thermal compound according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Install the CPU cooler and memory.



ASUS Maximus II Gene Intel P45 mATX Motherboard ASUS Maximus II Gene Intel P45 mATX Motherboard

Install the optical drive into the case. Install the power supply.


ASUS Maximus II Gene Intel P45 mATX Motherboard ASUS Maximus II Gene Intel P45 mATX Motherboard

Install the hard drive. Place the motherboard’s I/O shield into the opening and install the motherboard. Wire things up.


ASUS Maximus II Gene Intel P45 mATX Motherboard ASUS Maximus II Gene Intel P45 mATX Motherboard

Double check your work, install the video card, plug in the video card’s power cables, and you’re done.


ASUS Maximus II Gene Intel P45 mATX Motherboard

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