Asus Commando i965 what do you think?

[Clunk]

All these people going commando, there is going to be some chaffing this week, and that's a fact.

[Supershanks]

Yep wife was laughing at me sending messages to every1 saying i was going commando. Doesn't bear thinking about.

[EtheAv8r]

What is strange is that it is not listed as a product on any of the ASUS web sites (UK, US etc) except .com.tw...

http://www.asus.com.tw/products2.aspx?l1=3&l2=117

On sale in loads of outlets now though, but not in big stock volumes...

[Supershanks]

Thanks to EtheAv8r I have my hands on the Manual. I had been trying on & off & had nothing but dead links & timeouts, it was worse than dialup . Don't know how he did it but if any1 is having same difficulties i had you can try here Asus Commando Manual I've put it in a rar archive so just unrar.

Thanks again EtheAv8r.

I'n a bit dissapointed as i have not had confirmation that the board has been picked & is ready 4 collection, not that i can make it till morning but

Edit:
Just got ready to collect confirmation from scan - will pick up eeeeeeeeeeeeeeearly in morning

[No.72]

I though I would just tell you all that I have now gone commando.
What can I say it feels very good indeed.
Cool looks like it comes with a nice bundle to; 3dmark 06 advanced! and goast recon advanced war fighter!
woot!

also thankyou Supershanks my fellow 'commando comrade' for the manual

[excalibur2]

I though I would just tell you all that I have now gone commando.
What can I say it feels very good indeed.
Cool looks like it comes with a nice bundle to; 3dmark 06 advanced! and goast recon advanced war fighter!
woot!

also thankyou Supershanks my fellow 'commando comrade' for the manual

Might be a dumb question but are those white slots ordinary PCI and can you use a pci graphics card in one.

[Supershanks]

Hi Guys,
@No.72 Your welcome but like i said it's EtheAv8r who got it & shared originnaly. Have u ordered or actually got the board ?? (drool )

3dmark 06 advanced! and goast recon advanced war fighter!

meant to say about them earlier their pretty good just been looking through manusl & am impressed even little things like the Q-Connector whilst not costly show a great eye for design. Lost count of how many times i've struggled especially this time of year groping in the bottom of the case to connect the case front panel to the mobo. Al in all i'm very pleased.

Think only minor crticism i have is might have preferred a pci-e x1 slot rather than 4xPCI slots.

@excalibur2 Yep they are & yes again. The gfx performance isn't good but can be used temporarily whilst waiting 4 a new card, i've used an old 1 i have for testing.

So i'm picking up mobo tommorow & My Loverly darling Wife is subbing me till next week so i can get the CPU as well. so with luck tommorrrow is BUILD DAY .

[chrestomanci]

Might be a dumb question but are those white slots ordinary PCI and can you use a pci graphics card in one.

They are and you can, though I am not sure why you would want to. If you fit two dual head graphics cards (with any make of GPU) in the two PEG-16 slots, and disable (SLI/Crossfire), you get 4 display outputs, which should be enough for most purposes.

[No.72]

I did say that it comes with the game and 3d mark because I saw it on the link that was provided, but in the manual it does not say anything about the game and 3d mark!
So I don't know if it comes in the bundle but no great loss.

I will be getting mine on Thursday me thinks . Please could you report what is comes with ie. bundle and what not?

and also thanks for the download EtheAv8r.

[excalibur2]

They are and you can, though I am not sure why you would want to. If you fit two dual head graphics cards (with any make of GPU) in the two PEG-16 slots, and disable (SLI/Crossfire), you get 4 display outputs, which should be enough for most purposes.

A PCI graphic card is a handy backup, esp in my case when the AGP slot blew...but for me I'm upgrading soon and could use my PCI card while I decide to go x1950 or 8800 (depends if prices drop).

BTW I'm using an appx 9 year old matrox mystique with 4 meg of memory and it's amazing what it can do..erm well videos stutter a bit and you can't play modern games.

[EtheAv8r]

I too have confirmation from SCAN that it mine has been picked (along with an 8800GTX and some other bits) so I will be able to play at the week-end!

OMG LOL!

[No.72]

8800 gtx, ooo how I envy you
my little 7600gt is still going strong

[Supershanks]

Lol i remember matrox when they were the Nvidia of the gfx card world

but for me I'm upgrading soon and could use my PCI card while I decide to go x1950 or 8800 (depends if prices drop).

Makes sense.
If you don't need a dx10 capable gfx card yet, then there will be some great bargains from dx9 ati & nvidia cards. I upgraded my monitor in sept & had to get a gfx card that could easily handle the 1600x1050 native res so got a 1900xt which is probably the best card i've ever had.(matriox not withstanding). Whilst i plan to go vista around june time (when my beta RC2's expire), I won't upgrade gfx card till late in the year or later, will give time for the new dx10 cards to get down to some decent £.

3dMark06 is on the Support DVD if u check the manual.Can't see mantion of the game i'll let u know.

so I will be able to play at the week-end!
it will be interesting to share notes & benches, especially with that 8800 & 3dmark06. I'm expecting a reasonable but not great 1 You should see a sizeable 1 moving tp 8800, although that won't be maxed until dx10 i think.

Hehe I Feel like it's xmas eve when i was a kid

[excalibur2]

***If you don't need a dx10 capable gfx card yet, then there will be some great bargains from dx9 ati & nvidia cards**

well if the new dx10 games are backward compatable to dx9c or have seperate versions, and the basic x1950 sells for about £80, but the 8800 cards stay about £220...I know what I'm going to do.

[Supershanks]

Have any of you guys read psu requirement p33 of the manual?? the last 3 boards i've had have all quoted minimum power requirements, but based on a non representative rig.

this is very detailed & shows 3 scenarios:-
Heavy
Normal(with an 8800)
Low

I've added an extra Heavy(1 card) by dividing the pci-e 12v.
the charts show no 12v total amps but this is it:-

Heavy 41.6A
Heavy(1) 35.3A
Normal(with an 8800) 27.28A
Low 24.3A

I thought i had a more than adequate PSU with a single rail 12v 38A max but on full load i'm using 35.3a acoording to that b4 Ocing, add a decent oc & Column u see CPU-8 Pin, adds to this. for example :-

Ocing my opty From 2200 Stock to 3000 draws
Stock Load 85W +53w OC (with Vcore from 1.35v to 1.47v
giving total watts 138W/12 = 11.5A (12v) 62% Extra draw.

Hope your PSU's stand the test. Think i may be upgrading PSU earlier than i thought. But all credit to asus for breaking with tradition & showing somthing that resembles reality.

[EtheAv8r]

One of the 'bits and pieces' I have just had delivered is a new Seasonic S12 650 Energy+ (I nearly got a M12 700 but was concerned at the extra length in my new Antec P180 case, and noise from additional 80mm fan, which once on stays on until shutdown).

S12 E+ 650 12v rates are 4*18amp = 72amps (really 2*36 I understand) but you can't load them all up like that, the MAX 12v draw is 52 amps so it looks like it will support 'Heavey', and should be comfortable.......