ASUS Reveals Entire Line-Up of New Intel Z97 Motherboards

ASUS Z97 ROG Series

For gamers, there will be a total of three new ROG motherboards under the new Maximus VII branding. As a start, ASUS will introduce the Hero, Ranger and Gene motherboards, while the high-end Extreme and Formula as well as the smaller mini-ITX Impact will come at a later time. What’s new is the Maximus VII Ranger, which according to ASUS will be targeted at the mainstream gamer with very affordable price points. In fact, the Maximus VII Ranger will be the cheapest ATX board in the entire ROG series, so it’s worth checking out if you’re on a tight budget.

Besides a new design with better matching colored connectors and a new black nickel coated processor socket (not that you’ll ever see it with the heatsink installed), the new Maximus VII series does come with a few new features.

First off, ASUS will introduce a new KeyBot feature that instantly gives your keyboard added controls to your system. The KeyBot uses a customized microprocessor that powers a dedicated USB port, which means your keyboard has to be connected to that special USB port to fully enjoy its functions. Once connected, your keyboard can be used to boot your PC into specific modes. For example, pressing the F11 key can instantly boot your system in an overclocked mode while F12 lets you boot by enabling XMP (eXtreme Memory Profiles). Apart from that, KeyBot also lets you program macro keys, shortcuts as well as often-used functions like mail, web browsing or multimedia controls. There’s also the Smart Login feature that allows you to automatically fill up any username and password in web dialog boxes although honestly, we didn’t think it’s quite that secure since it stores your password in the clear, offering no encryption whatsoever.

Networking on the new ROG motherboards has also been improved with an upgrade from Intel’s I217-V to I218-V Ethernet controller. According to ASUS, using an Intel network controller does have its advantages since the CPU and chipset would all work together nicely under the same Intel ecosystem. In addition, ASUS claims that its throughput has been tested to be far more superior to other network controllers. Besides chip-level enhancements, ASUS is also using premium LANGuard RJ45 connector for better throughput and signal coupling. LANGuard RJ45 connector comes with in-built ESD guards and surge-protection components for better protection against static discharge and even lightning strikes.

Gamers will also find the upgraded GameFirst III to be even more useful and intuitive in helping to assign priority to game packets. The user interface has been upgraded to make configuration easy and you can now optimize any applications with preset modes, including media streaming and file sharing. There is also built-in network monitoring that lets you test your bandwidth as well as historical network usage data for each and every of your application.

Finally, there is also the new Sonic SenseAmp feature that detects and automatically sets the headphone impedance for optimal performance. With the new feature, you no longer need to manually switch the impedance; the board does it all automatically, ensuring you’re getting the right level of power delivered to your headphone. This is a useful feature especially if you have a variety of headphones that you use for various purposes.