Asus Commando specs and estimated price in USD!

[tuanming]

Specs:

CPU

LGA775 socket for Intel® Core™2 Extreme / Core™2 Duo / Pentium® Extreme / Pentium® D / Pentium® 4 / Celeron® D Processors
Compatible with Intel® 05B/05A/06 processors
Intel® Quad-Core CPU ready
* Refer to ASUSTeK Computer for Intel CPU support list

Chipset

Intel® P965 / ICH8R with Intel® Fast Memory Access Technology

Front Side Bus

1066 / 800 / 533 MHz

Memory

4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 800 / 667 / 533 MHz, non-ECC, un-buffered memory
Dual channel memory architecture
* Refer to ASUSTeK Computer or user manual for Memory QVL (Qualify Vendor List)

Expansion Slots

2 x PCI-E x16 (@ x16 and x4 mode)
4 x PCI 2.2

Storage

Southbridge
- 6 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports
- Intel Matrix Storage Technology supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10.
PATA controller
- 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices

LAN

Dual Gigabit LAN controllers, both featuring AI NET2
Marvell® PCI-E and PCI Gigabit LAN controllers

Audio

SupremeFX Audio card featuring ADI® 1988B Codec
- Support Jack-Sensing, Enumeration, Multi-streaming and Jack-Retasking
- Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports at back I/O
- ASUS Noise Filter
- DTS Connect™

IEEE 1394

2 x IEEE 1394a ports (one at midboard; one at back panel)

USB

10 x USB 2.0 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 4 ports at back panel)

Overclocking Features

Extreme Tweaker
Intelligent overclocking tools:
AI NOS™ (Non-delay Overclocking System)
AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner)
ASUS AI Booster Utility
O.C Profile
Overclocking Protection:
* ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)

ASUS Features

LCD Poster
Onboard Switches: Power / Reset / Clr CMOS
Q-Connector
ASUS CrashfreeBIOS 3
ASUS EZ Flash2
ASUS MyLogo3

Back Panel I/O Ports

1 x PS/2 Keyboard
1 x PS/2 Mouse
1 x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial + Optical)
1 x IEEE1394a
2 x RJ45 port
4 x USB 2.0/1.1

Internal I/O Connectors

3 x USB connectors support additional 6 USB ports
1 x Floppy disk drive connector
1 x IDE connector
6 x SATA connectors
1 x CPU Fan connector
6 x Chassis Fan connector
1 x Power Fan connector
1 x IEEE1394a connector
1 x Azalia Digital Header
3 x thermal sensor connectors
Chassis Intrusion connector
24-pin ATX Power connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
System Panel

BIOS

8 Mb Flash ROM, AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 2.0a, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3

Manageability

WfM 2.0, DMI 2.0, WOL by PME, WOR by PME, PXE

Accessories

UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
FDD cable
SATA cables
SATA power cables
I/O Shield
User's manual
USB2.0 port module
3 in 1 Q-connector
7 x cable ties
IEEE1394 port module
InterVideo® Media Launcher (OEM version)
Optional Fan for Water-Cooling or Passive-Cooling only

Support DVD

Drivers
ASUS PC Probe II
ASUS Update
AI Booster
Futuremark® 3DMark06 Advanced Edition
Kaspersky Anti-Virus software (full version)\

Form Factor

ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6" (30.5cm x 24.5cm)

ASUS Commando is the latest addition to ASUS motherboard family R.O.G. (Republic Of Gamers) and as usual the target audience is the extreme users such as gamers and overclockers. ASUS Commando is based on Intel's P965 Express chipset and the manufacturer has said that it has overclocked the board to 2280MHz FSB (4*570) during overclocking sessions in the lab. 570MHz FSB is actually quite impressive if its been done without any extra cooling or modifications to the board. ASUS has fitted the board with tons of features to boost the overclocking as we can see an 8-phase PWM and applications for changing frequency, memory settings and voltages.

ASUS Commando is looking like a very interesting alternative for overclockers if they can expect to reach similar results as ASUS did during its tests. The only real disadvantage we can see with the board is that the P965 chipset doesn't support NVIDIA's SLI technology but only AMD's CrossFire technology. The price of the board will be about $260 when it arrives in January.