The new ASUS Crosshair II Formula is a 780a SLI chipset, with a GeForce 8 onboard and a PCIe 1x add in card for sound, as opposed to an onboard chip.  The sound card makes sense on two levels, it can be physically removed if a XiFi or other card is purchased and it saves a lot of space on the PCB.  Techspot took a look at this Phenom board, and their only dissapointment was the price.

“Early this year we reviewed the Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe, a high-end Phenom supporting motherboard that featured the AMD 790FX chipset. But while gamers wanting to use Crossfire technology will no doubt be quite happy with that product, those wanting to use multiple Nvidia-based graphics cards are going to have to look elsewhere.

Unfortunately SLI support does come at a price and choice premium for AMD users. The Asus Crosshair II Formula that we will be testing today features the Nvidia nForce 780a SLI chipset, which is currently the most advanced SLI capable chipset available to AMD users. This new Asus motherboard is a member of the elite “Republic of Gamers” series, meaning that it is geared towards gaming.”

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