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I would like to introduce you to our newest software utility, AI Suite II, with this overview post and I will do a separate post containing a video later today. For those of you who use or have used Ai Suite as well as other ASUS applications like PC Probe, Turbo V Evo & Fan Xpert and have yet to experience AI Suite II, be prepared to have your perception of these applications wholly changed- in a good way.
Previously, each application had its own look and feel and the layout between applications was not consistent. In addition, each application had to be installed and launched independently and each required its own individual uninstaller. Now, not only have we improved and updated the applications, we've also combined them into one consistent interface and application, AI Suite II! This new version of AI Suite II contains within it multiple applications including Turbo V Evo, PC Probe, Fan Xpert, ASUS Update, and Sensor Recorder. No more needing to run several applications at once. AI Suite II gives you all the features you could need at your fingertips in one easy to use application. Below is a screenshot of AI Suite II in it's minimized state which uses tabs, similar to the functionality of the Windows taskbar.
Image below shows AI Suite II's menu interface.
Overclockers, for one, will appreciate the new and improved Turbo V Evo which allows you to overclock your system manually or automatically. One of the great things about Turbo V Evo is that it allows for real-time hardware level adjustments from within the Windows environment. These aren't just preset configurations, but rather, real-time on the fly hardware driven adjustments that you can make from within the operating system. In addition to being able to make hardware level (BIOS based) adjustments in the OS for voltages, frequencies, and CPU multiplier, you also have the freedom of making these adjustments entirely independent of each other. It can do this by communicating with the BIOS via a hardware controller thus providing a true hardware solution to overclocking your system while in Windows. Turbo V Evo provides easy access to the BCLK frequency on Intel chipsets, HT Clock frequency on AMD chipsets, as well as every voltage that you would find in the BIOS. Since I'm using a Crosshair IV Extreme for the purposes of this overview, some of the voltages I have access to in Turbo V Evo are CPU/NB, VDDA, HT, NB, SB, VDDR, VDDPCIE, CHA DATA & CTRL, and CHB DATA & CTRL voltages.
The CPU Ratio tab which becomes available after clicking on 'More Settings' in Turbo V Evo, provides an easy to use, GUI driven, interface which allows you to increase/decrease one or more (even all) of your CPU cores.
Auto-tuning and CPU Level Up are two methods Turbo V Evo offers to overclock your CPU automatically. Auto-tuning will overclock by increasing clock values, CPU multiplier and voltages by small increments and then doing a quick stability test before increasing frequencies/voltages further and testing again. It will repeat this process until it finds an optimal stable overclock. CPU Level Up uses presets to make your CPU run at the speed of a faster CPU with 1 click, e.g., when I use an X4 955 BE, the 2 options I have available to me in CPU Level Up are 1) X4 965 BE and 2) Phenom 3.6GHz.
The Probe II application allows you to monitor all of your system’s voltages, temperatures, and fan speeds. You can even set alerts to pop up when a certain voltage, temp., or fan speed exceeds a defined valued. This allows overclockers to monitor and analyze spikes or drops in voltage that may affect system stability, be notified if a hardware component reaches a critical temperature, or be notified if a fan fails and the fan speed drops below a certain number of RPM's.
Another great feature of Probe II is the Alert Log which keeps a log of any and all alerts that were set off. This allows for you to be AFK or maybe playing a game, and then check the alert log later to see what, if any alerts were triggered while you were away.
One of my favorite AI Suite II applications is Fan Xpert. I believe that you don't have full control over your PC until you have full control over your fans! 🙂 Fan control is exactly what Fan Xpert gives you. Your CPU fan and any chassis fans that you have connected to one of the PWM 4-pin headers on the motherboard can now be set to 1 of 4 different profiles: Turbo, Standard, Silent, and User. See the screenshot below of the gradient graph you get showing the relationship curve between fan speed and CPU temp. determined by the profile chosen.
If you don't want to use the fan speed profiles for Turbo, Standard, or Silent, then you can choose the 'User' profile which gives you the fine-grained fan control that you were looking for. Note, the blue dot in Fan Xpert always shows you the current CPU temp. and fan speed. My video will feature a demonstration of the Fan Xpert User profile.
The Sensor Recorder is another cool feature of AI Suite II which allows you to monitor changes in system temperature, system voltages, and fan speeds...
..but what really makes this application useful is the ability to record and log a graph over time of any or all of these voltages, temperatures, and/or fan speeds. Using the drop-down list, you can set the recording intervals in seconds and the recording duration in hours to keep an eye on any or all of the sensor data pertinent to your PC's health.
The Update panel allows you to update your BIOS and change the boot logo if you'd like to. The System Information panel gives you information about the MB, the CPU you're using, and the SPD info of the memory you're using. This tool is similar to CPU-Z.
One of the most distinct functions that really puts you in control of AI Suite II is the ability to customize which functions/applications are present. The Settings tab, shown below, lets you load or unload any of the included modules, thus ensuring a straightforward interface and an even simpler level of usage. This can also help decrease any loading time that you may have when starting the application by unloading the AI Suite II applications that you don't need.
I hope you get a chance to try out AI Suite II! Your feedback will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Previously, each application had its own look and feel and the layout between applications was not consistent. In addition, each application had to be installed and launched independently and each required its own individual uninstaller. Now, not only have we improved and updated the applications, we've also combined them into one consistent interface and application, AI Suite II! This new version of AI Suite II contains within it multiple applications including Turbo V Evo, PC Probe, Fan Xpert, ASUS Update, and Sensor Recorder. No more needing to run several applications at once. AI Suite II gives you all the features you could need at your fingertips in one easy to use application. Below is a screenshot of AI Suite II in it's minimized state which uses tabs, similar to the functionality of the Windows taskbar.
Image below shows AI Suite II's menu interface.
Overclockers, for one, will appreciate the new and improved Turbo V Evo which allows you to overclock your system manually or automatically. One of the great things about Turbo V Evo is that it allows for real-time hardware level adjustments from within the Windows environment. These aren't just preset configurations, but rather, real-time on the fly hardware driven adjustments that you can make from within the operating system. In addition to being able to make hardware level (BIOS based) adjustments in the OS for voltages, frequencies, and CPU multiplier, you also have the freedom of making these adjustments entirely independent of each other. It can do this by communicating with the BIOS via a hardware controller thus providing a true hardware solution to overclocking your system while in Windows. Turbo V Evo provides easy access to the BCLK frequency on Intel chipsets, HT Clock frequency on AMD chipsets, as well as every voltage that you would find in the BIOS. Since I'm using a Crosshair IV Extreme for the purposes of this overview, some of the voltages I have access to in Turbo V Evo are CPU/NB, VDDA, HT, NB, SB, VDDR, VDDPCIE, CHA DATA & CTRL, and CHB DATA & CTRL voltages.
The CPU Ratio tab which becomes available after clicking on 'More Settings' in Turbo V Evo, provides an easy to use, GUI driven, interface which allows you to increase/decrease one or more (even all) of your CPU cores.
Auto-tuning and CPU Level Up are two methods Turbo V Evo offers to overclock your CPU automatically. Auto-tuning will overclock by increasing clock values, CPU multiplier and voltages by small increments and then doing a quick stability test before increasing frequencies/voltages further and testing again. It will repeat this process until it finds an optimal stable overclock. CPU Level Up uses presets to make your CPU run at the speed of a faster CPU with 1 click, e.g., when I use an X4 955 BE, the 2 options I have available to me in CPU Level Up are 1) X4 965 BE and 2) Phenom 3.6GHz.
The Probe II application allows you to monitor all of your system’s voltages, temperatures, and fan speeds. You can even set alerts to pop up when a certain voltage, temp., or fan speed exceeds a defined valued. This allows overclockers to monitor and analyze spikes or drops in voltage that may affect system stability, be notified if a hardware component reaches a critical temperature, or be notified if a fan fails and the fan speed drops below a certain number of RPM's.
Another great feature of Probe II is the Alert Log which keeps a log of any and all alerts that were set off. This allows for you to be AFK or maybe playing a game, and then check the alert log later to see what, if any alerts were triggered while you were away.
One of my favorite AI Suite II applications is Fan Xpert. I believe that you don't have full control over your PC until you have full control over your fans! 🙂 Fan control is exactly what Fan Xpert gives you. Your CPU fan and any chassis fans that you have connected to one of the PWM 4-pin headers on the motherboard can now be set to 1 of 4 different profiles: Turbo, Standard, Silent, and User. See the screenshot below of the gradient graph you get showing the relationship curve between fan speed and CPU temp. determined by the profile chosen.
If you don't want to use the fan speed profiles for Turbo, Standard, or Silent, then you can choose the 'User' profile which gives you the fine-grained fan control that you were looking for. Note, the blue dot in Fan Xpert always shows you the current CPU temp. and fan speed. My video will feature a demonstration of the Fan Xpert User profile.
The Sensor Recorder is another cool feature of AI Suite II which allows you to monitor changes in system temperature, system voltages, and fan speeds...
..but what really makes this application useful is the ability to record and log a graph over time of any or all of these voltages, temperatures, and/or fan speeds. Using the drop-down list, you can set the recording intervals in seconds and the recording duration in hours to keep an eye on any or all of the sensor data pertinent to your PC's health.
The Update panel allows you to update your BIOS and change the boot logo if you'd like to. The System Information panel gives you information about the MB, the CPU you're using, and the SPD info of the memory you're using. This tool is similar to CPU-Z.
One of the most distinct functions that really puts you in control of AI Suite II is the ability to customize which functions/applications are present. The Settings tab, shown below, lets you load or unload any of the included modules, thus ensuring a straightforward interface and an even simpler level of usage. This can also help decrease any loading time that you may have when starting the application by unloading the AI Suite II applications that you don't need.
I hope you get a chance to try out AI Suite II! Your feedback will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
