Verdict: More expensive, and no better than the Formula.

Last month, we tested the first Republic of Gamers (ROG) motherboard based on the Intel X38 chipset, the superlative Asus Maximus Formula. The Maximus Extreme is another ROG board, and the main difference between the two is that the Formula supports DDR2 while the Extreme supports DDR3.

As DDR3 is currently around double the price of DDR2, this means that a PC based around a Maximus Extreme is far more expensive to build. The flipside to this is that DDR3 provides higher memory bandwidth, which is a factor worth considering if you're planning to overclock a quad-core CPU. The X38 Northbridge produces a lot of heat, but the Maximus Extreme deals with this problem in an innovative way, thanks to its Fusion Block. This is a massive air-cooled heatsink that can double up as a waterblock via 3/8in ID, 1/2in ID or 10mm ID tubing.

As an ROG motherboard, the Maximus Extreme positively bristles with extra features, such as the LCD POST display, several thermal probes that can be positioned around your PC and enough lights to make Jean Michel Jarre jealous. A copy of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and 3DMark06 Advanced Edition, both of which add value, round off the bundle.

Asus appears to have lost the plot when deciding how many expansion card slots the Maximus Extreme needs though. The X38 chipset supports CrossFire via two 16x PCI-E slots but, in addition to these, the Maximus Extreme has a Crosslinx chip, which provides another 8x PCI-E slot (with a 16x PCI-E connector). We can only assume that this is for an as yet unannounced three-card CrossFire system, or perhaps for an ATI physics card. Given that two-card CrossFire is ropey at best, and hardware physics is pretty much irrelevant at the moment, the third slot and Crosslinx chip simply add cost for no benefit.

The Maximus Extreme is a great performer and puts many motherboards to shame when overclocked. The BIOS has enough options to satisfy all but the most voltage-obsessed overclockers, and there's plenty to keep you occupied for days if you like fiddling with memory timings. It also has two user-savable BIOS profiles. By increasing the Northbridge voltage to 1.75V, the PLL to 1.84V and the FSB to 1.7V, the Extreme successfully ran our benchmarks with an impressively high FSB of 530MHz.

The Maximus Extreme is one of the best overclocking motherboards ever made. However, it's expensive, requires costly DDR3 memory, and the Crosslinx chip and third slot are currently pointless. Still, if you're rich and want to get the best out of a quad-core CPU using DDR3 memory, it won't disappoint.

• Multi-GPU graphics - 20th June 2008
• CPU water cooling - 17th June 2008
• Hard disks - 20th March 2008
• Audio hardware - 29th February 2008
• Graphics cards - 24th January 2008
• CPUs - 21st December 2007
• Motherboards - 13th November 2007

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