Shootouts

High-End Intel Z87 Motherboard Shootout

By Wong Chung Wee - 14 Apr 2014

ASUS Maximus VI Extreme

*Note: The contents of this page are mirrored over from our initial first looks article of the board. If you've read it previously, you may move on to the next page.

ASUS Maximus VI Extreme

The ASUS Maximus VI Extreme is the flagship Intel Z87 ATX motherboard from its Intel 8-series offerings that we've initially witnessed from the company's technical seminar that we attended a couple of months back. It comes packed with features that will make its target audience of overclockers and power users a really happy bunch. The board sports the familiar red-and-black color scheme of the Republic of Gamers (ROG) series. Featuring the Intel Z87 chipset together with its LGA1150 CPU socket, the board supports the new 4th generation of Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processors. Owners of the previous generation 'Ivy Bridge' CPUs need not apply.

The ASUS Maximus VI Extreme is the flagship Intel Z87 motherboard that is targeted at overclockers and power users. Besides having an upgraded 8 + 2 phase power delivery system for the CPU and memory, the board comes bundled with its exclusive OC Panel for real-time overclocking and system monitoring.

One of its defining features is its exclusive bundled OC Panel. It is a highly evolved version of the OC Key that was first unveiled with the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme Intel X79-based motherboard. The OC Key is a piece of equipment that sits in-between your graphics card and display monitor. Using on-screen display (OSD) technology to control and monitor overclocking and basic BIOS matters, the OC Key attaches a transparent, graphical overlay on the original screen output and provides an informative menu to enable OSD TweakIt and OSD Monitor.

The new OC Panel console that is bundled with the board. On the right, we see the console in its Extreme Mode, with its front cover removed, where overclockers can make use of the onboard headers, switches and temperature probes for hardcore system tweaking.

The OC Panel console is connected to the motherboard with custom data cable, while a SATA power connector is used to power up the console. So if the OC Panel isn't mounted in the 5.25-inch drive bay, it would only be useful and accessible if the system was left in the open. Otherwise you would have to open the casing's side panel to hook up the OC Panel before usage.

The new OC Panel is a complete revamp of the former, and packages real-time monitoring and overclocking capabilities into a sleek, transformable console. The OC Panel can be likened to a customized Fluke digital multimeter, except that this is a gear that's made to handle overclocking and monitoring status. It has two modes of operation. In normal mode, the OC Panel can be installed, with an additional bracket attachment, into a spare 5.25-inch drive bay. According to ASUS, it is excellent for normal overclocking to get that additional performance boost during gaming.

The OC Panel console's screen can be tilted such that the entire console can be slotted into a metal bracket. Following which, the bracket can be secured inside a spare 5.25-inch drive bay of a PC chassis. 

On the other hand, while in its Extreme Mode, the same overclocking panel will allow for overclocking with more finesse. Its features include the following:

  • VGA SMB
  • VGA Hotwire
  • Four 4-pin fan headers
  • Slow Mode (more on this below)
  • Pause Switch
  • Multiple Parameter Tuning

According to ASUS, the settings are adjustable in real-time, through the buttons located above the Extreme Mode panel.

 The different extreme overclocking settings can be adjusted in real-time from the control buttons located above.

If you plan to keep the OC Panel handy next to you, you can prop it up in this manner.

Crucial to stable overclocking efforts is the board's power delivery system where the ASUS Maximus VI Extreme board features NexFET MOSFETs, BlackWing chokes, and 10K black metallic capacitors that make up its digital Voltage Regulator Module (VRM). The VRM delivers an 8-phase power supply to the CPU; while the memory modules are fed a 2-phase one.

 The 10K black metallic capacitors are seated in front of the 60A Blackwing chokes, and the NexFET MOSFETs are covered by the massive heatsinks.

In terms of memory support, the board supports up to four DDR3 memory modules that have been rated to operate at the frequency of 2800MHz while the maximum supported installed capacity is 32GB.

The Blackwing chokes and the 10K black metallic capacitors, highlighted by the red frame, form part of the power delivery system for the DIMM slots.

Near the vicinity of the memory DIMM slots, you will find that ASUS has squeezed in a number  onboard features and they consist of the following:-

  • Start and Reset buttons
  • PCIe x16 DIP switch
    This switch allows the user to disable and enable the corresponding PCIe x16 slots.
  • MemOK! button
    This button is useful for overcoming memory module compatibility issues.
  • Slow Mode switch
    This is used when the system is cooled with a liquid nitrogen system. At such low temperatures, the system is switched to slow mode to prevent crashing.
  • ROG ProbeIt
    Like most other recent ROG boards, this board also features a set of detection points that allow for multimeter voltage measurements for various parameters.

The PCB area near the DIMM slots is choke full of onboard features. The ROG ProbeIt voltage detection points are located below the Slow Mode on/off switch.

More Features

The new Intel Z87 chipset supports up to six SATA 6Gbps ports, against just two that is supported by the previous generation Intel Z77 chipset. Just beyond the DIMM slots, the middle front portion of the board bunched all the onboard SATA connectors.The first six connectors, from the right, are powered by the Intel Z87 Platform Control Hub (PCH); while the four SATA connectors, from the left, are courtesy of the third-party ASMedia ASM106x SATA 6Gbps controllers. While it's great to know that there are no SATA 3Gbps ports and all of them are the 6Gbps variety, we would have preferred the connectors to be color-coded to tell which controller is powering them at one glance.

There is no way to tell the different SATA 6Gbps connectors apart as they are of the same color. Fortunately, there are no SATA 3Gbps connectors present.

 

Making Sense of the PEG Slots

The board sports a total of five PCIe x16 slots; four of them colored in red and a single black one. At first glance, we thought the PEG configuration was the same as the previous generation Intel Z77-based Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 motherboard we reviewed in March this year, where the black PCIe x16 slot will provide direct connection to the CPU and bypasses the PLX 8747 splitter chip for a true single graphics card configuration. However, this is not the case for the ASUS Maximus VI Extreme. Its single black PCIe x16 slot operates at x8 speed. Its four red PCIe x16 slots support 4-way NVIDIA SLI or AMD CrossFireX graphics setup.

With reference to the photograph above, the red PEG slots, from top to bottom, are labelled PCIE_X16/X8_1, PCIE_X16_A2, PCIE_X8_3, and PCIE_X8_4. As you can decipher, each slot has its best possible configuration labelled. Bearing that in mind, onboard the Maximus VI Extreme there's a high-end PLX PEX 8747 high speed switching chip takes in the 16 PCIe lanes from the PCIe 3.0 controller of the 4th generation Intel Core CPU, and serves out a total equivalent of 32 PCIe lanes. The PLX PEX 8747 is effectively a 5-port, 48-lane high-speed switch and supports the following configurations:-

The common port configurations of the PLX PEX 8748 switch. (Image Source: PLX Technology)

As a result, the board is able to support PCIe lane configurations in the following manner - x16/x16, or x8/x16/x8 or x8/x16/x8/x8. Dual, triple or quad graphics card configurations don't pose any issues for this high-end board! As a note to our readers, the switching chip is covered by the heatsink with the ROG label, located above the PCIE_X16/X8_1 PEG slot.

 

What's Brewing Down Below

Towards the bottom edge of the board, there are no color codes for the headers and connectors; hence, referencing the manual may be necessary. There are two onboard buttons and a switch in this area. They consist of:-

  • Fast Boot switch
    When enabled, the system will boot up faster as it skips non-essential checks that are performed at the BIOS boot level.
  • DirectKey button
    This button is used to access the BIOS setup program when it is pressed.
  • BIOS Switch button
    This is used to switch between the BIOSes of the board. It is located near the right edge of the board, close to the onboard SATA connectors.

 

There are no color codes for the headers and connectors at the bottom edge of the board. The red frame marked in the picture locate the BIOS chips with LED status lights. The option to select the active BIOS is controlled by the dedicated BIOS Switch button.

The motherboard features two sets of physical BIOS chips. From above, we can see the two BIOS chips that have been marked by the red frame. This feature is useful for power tweakers who need to maintain a performance baseline in one set of BIOS; while the other is used for pushing their rigs to the limit.

 

Rear I/O Ports

There are two video connectivity options in the form of a HDMI port and DisplyPort. For audio options, there is an optical S/PDIF-out port and six analog audio ports.

Now we take a look at the rear I/O ports of the board. To the left, there are two buttons; the top is for clearing CMOS, and the bottom one is the ROG Connect button. This button is used when the user needs to remotely control the settings of the Maximus VI Extreme with another PC. That PC must be installed with the bundled RC TweakerIt software and connected to the board with a USB 2.0 cable. This cable must connect to the top USB 2.0 port of the Maximus VI Extreme board and the ROG Connect button is then pressed to link both systems. Following which, the RC TweakIt is run from the remote PC. While this may not be necessary with the board's new OC Panel hardware feature, the ROG Connect is still available for those who intend to run benchmarks and tests uninterrupted while an external system monitors and controls the test system. Clearly these are hardcore features for the most ardent overclockers and tweakers. 

Apart from the ROG Connect that we elaborated, there are a total of six USB 3.0 ports on the rear I/O panel; four of them are supported by the board's chipset and the other pair is from a third-party ASMedia USB controller. There is also a legacy PS/2 keyboard/mouse port. Note that the pair of USB 3.0 ports directly below this combo port supports ASUS USB 3.0 Boost Turbo Mode. For network connectivity, there is one Gigabit Ethernet port. It would have been a perfect double feature if the board came with an additional Gigabit LAN jack, but we reckon that's not a feature most ROG users really require.

 

Additional Accessories

Besides the OC Panel console, there are two additional bundled items with the board. First, there is the mPCIe Combo II expansion card, and an accompanying ASUS 2T2R dual band Wi-Fi moving antennae.

The mPCIe Combo II expansion has two functions; it allows for the installation of a M.2 (NGFF) SSD, and it houses the IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth v4.0 module.

The mPCIe Combo II expansion card installs just next to the stack of rear I/O ports. After that, the separately bundled antennae can be connected to the expansion card. The card allows for the installation of a M.2 (NGFF) SSD, and it also houses a dual-band IEEE 802.1ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth v4.0 module. Now with regards to the new M.2 (NGFF) SSD interface, drives using this connector are barely out and they are mostly still using existing controllers. We don't expect any speed improvements until advances in the controller and the NAND flash memory architecture come about. Until then, it's a new standard with future potential that you're quite unlikely to take advantage of anytime soon.

 The mPCIe Combo II expansion card fits onto a special header next to the rear I/O ports.

The ASUS 2T2R dual band Wi-Fi moving antenna is attached to the mPCIe Combo II expansion card.

Overall, the ASUS Maximus VI Extreme motherboard is crammed with components and high-end onboard features that will appeal to a select group of end-users, namely extreme overclockers and power users. To support this group, the board also features an upgraded VRM for the CPU and memory with its new NexFET MOSFETs. To reflect its ROG heritage, the inclusion of a high-speed PLX PEX 8747 splitter chip is a nod to gamers who want to set up a multi-GPU configuration for their extreme gaming requirements. Its generous bundle of accessories completes the whole package; while some users may find the lone Gigabit Ethernet port inadequate, we feel that with the IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity option will make up for the lack of an additional Gigabit Ethernet LAN jack. The bundled radio antennae will extend the range of the board, and we feel that the design of it is much sleeker than its early version, which we first encountered with its Intel X79-based ASUS P9X79 Deluxe motherboard.

Alas, the board comes with premium pricing as it retails at S$649, but if you add up the features list, you'll understand why it commands this premium.

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