The Republic of Gamers series is the top of the line when it comes to ASUS’ illustrious motherboards and video cards. But, it was the launch of the ROG motherboards back in 2006 that started the road to hard core gaming with a side of overclocking. Since then, ROG has evolved from good looking to fantastically designed motherboards and video cards with performance in mind. Still, many people aren’t sure what it is they’re getting when it’s an official ROG product. Hopefully we figure that out with our look at the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme P67 Motherboard.
Features and Specifications
An ROG product means ASUS engineers have gone all out to offer an attractive design and the best quality components money can buy. Features like Dual Intelligent Processors and DIGI+VRM get special attention so that overclocking is essentially ensured to be above average to excellent. At the same time, the boards offer full NVIDIA and CrossfireX support for the most serious of gamers. One such platform landed in our hands named the Maximus IV Extreme still found on many a shelf. This is a highly tuned P67 ROG motherboard that really gives this platform a new life even in the face of the Z68 and X79.
When it comes to ASUS’ DIGI+VRM implementation, engineers use different micro-processors to help manage the motherboards power needs as well as monitor things like temperature and voltages. The board has the ability to manage itself far more intelligently than any previous generation motherboard. That in turn means we don’t have to force all kinds of voltage down its throat to get it stable. Instead, we use things like “offset” voltages in the BIOS to make overclocking magic happen. Let’s have a look at the board first in our overview video below.
Granted, not every gamer is an overclocker. But, if you had the option of making a couple easy selections in the BIOS or ASUS TurboV overclocking software, would you? You bet your big iron chokes you would! That’s just one of the things we’ll cover in the overclocking section later.
As for NVIDIA SLI and CrossfireX support, this board supports any PCI express friendly video card you can buy. Our board ran ZOTAC, MSI, GIGABYTE, and of course ASUS GTX series video cards without issue no matter the size of the video card. That’s because there are four PCIE slots in a row to accommodate regular to slightly taller video cards like ZOTAC’s AMP edition with the sexy Zalman VGA coolers.
In terms of price, we found the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme on Newegg’s shelves for $349.99 and even locally for about $20 more. That puts it near the price range of some other boards we’ve tested like GIGABYTE’s GA-P67A-UD7-B3 which is around $329.99 depending on your store.
Some Board Layout Notes
Like any high end gaming or overclocking motherboard, the MAX IV has some extra power requirements. There are two standard 4-pin Molex connectors on the motherboard above the top PCIE slot and bottom of the last PCI slot. The extra power will help stabilize those power hungry GTX 580s or especially the GTX 590s when you start getting the CPU overclock on.
If you decide to attempt some frothy overclocking, and you know you will, there is a CMOS reset button on the back of the motherboard. As I tested the board here, the button needed held about 5 seconds for a quick reset. If your board refuses to reset, the CMOS CLR jumper is located at the bottom of the board between the BIOS chips and three capacitors.
Also in the back is the ROG Connect button feature. Pressing it will allow users to connect a notebook “just like the race car drivers” so that you can monitor the system’s functions while you overclock. If you really want to get fancy, ASUS includes an RC Bluetooth Card in the accessories that connects to a header right next to the ROG Connect button. With it installed, you can overclock, tweak, and tune the MAX IV with your iPhone, iPad, or Bluetooth friendly mobile device. Neat!
Test System and Installation Notes
Thus far, everything about the Maximus IV Extreme looks very promising. But we all want to know how it performs. The most comparable board in our hands is the GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD7-B3 motherboard which we’re including in our results. With that in mind, here’s the specs of the test systems before we get to installation notes.
- Processors: Intel Core i7-2600K “Sandy Bridge” LGA1155
- Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme
- Memory: Kingston HyperX Genesis 4GB 2133MHz DDR3
- Graphics: ZOTAC Geforce GTX 560 Ti (Single and Dual)
- Power Supply: Antec CP-850
- Storage 1: Seagate 500GB 7200.12 SATAII (OS drive)
- Storage 2: Kingston 128GB SSDNow V+ (SATAII Test)
- Storage 3: Seagate 2TB Barracuda XT (SATAIII Test)
- Storage 4: WD 2TB Caviar Black + Rosewill RX358 (USB 3.0 Test)
- OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
- CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14
One of the great things about the HyperX Genesis memory is its good looking low profile that doesn’t interfere with many CPU tower coolers. However, the NH-C14 is a horizontal cooler that hangs neatly above all the components while blowing air downward. While we don’t have an issue with heat, it does help keep everything well cooled.
The ASUS Q-Connectors makes connecting the front panel and USB headers super easy. Simplicity is a bonus. However, depending on your computer case, you may find the bottom 4-pin axillary power connector to be a challenge if the motherboard sits nearly against your chassis. If you have just enough room, I recommend you connect the 4-pin first, then install the board. Other than that, this is one of the most super clean ROG installations yet.
Overclocking BIOS and TurboV Notes
One of the handy tools in the UEFI BIOS is the super easy screen capture. If you are having issues tuning up your Maximus IV Extreme, you can share them easily with another ROG tuner and compare notes. In the Advanced tab, you’ll find everything needed to set up your peripherals, memory, expansion, and overclock. The offset voltage was set to a limit of 1.52 volts when possible.
TurboV is more intuitive than ever. Users will find every voltage, VRM frequency, Load Line Calibration (LLC), and automated overclock option to overclock for the CPU and memory. With the right manual tweaks and some patience, the Core i7-2600K 3.3GHz reached 4.6GHz quickly enough. The BIOS has this very same automated option as well if you are adverse to using additional software. When letting TurboV find the maximum overclock, it took about 20 minutes to find 4.8GHz with voltage reaching close to 1.5 volts.
However, manually overclocking via the BIOS is a pleasure especially after disabling Intel Thermal Monitoring. Oddly, C1E states didn’t seem to matter. Using offset CPU VCore and PLL voltages, the Maximus IV Extreme found 5GHz hiding underneath my 2600K. With more voltage under more stringent cooling, my chip will probably go higher given the voltage. The board also carried the HyperX Genesis 2133MHz higher but couldn’t quite top 2240MHz without cranking up the voltage beyond safe QPI levels.
While our overclocking results went extremely well, keep in mind your overclock results will vary depending on your 2600K CPU. Not all K-SKUs can use a 50X multiplier, or may require much more than 1.5 volts to get there as one of my 2500K chips has shown. It needs 1.55 just to motivate it along.
Benchmark Test Suite Notes
As per standard operating procedures, the overclocked system has to pass three iterations of Sysmark 2007 or we don’t count it as stable. That said, the suite consists of programs that test the entire platform’s features and sub-systems under real world applications. The benchmarks include: Sysmark 2007, CineBench R11.5, 3DMark11, RightMarkAudio Analyzer, input/output performance, power consumption, and quality control.
Power Consumption was measured using a power meter from the outlet. Quality Control was done utilizing both our senses and a laser thermometer. We’re looking for EMF, or noises, as well as any unusual hot spots compared to previous P67 platforms.
Sysmark 2007
This program benchmarks a computer’s overall performance rating the system in areas such as E-Learning, Video Creation, Office Productivity, and 3D Modeling. E-Learning uses apps like Adobe Flash and Photoshop to execute rich image, video, and audio in web based presentations. Video Creation creates a video rendering uses apps like SONY VEGAS to stress the system in professional video editing using effects and images from multiple sources, content types and formats. Office Productivity uses the real Microsoft Office to assess performance gains using these types of application. Finally, 3D Modeling professional applications to stress the system in real world modelling simulations. Any stable platform should be able to complete three iterations of this program.
Stock scores say a lot about the Maximum IV Extreme’s potential not only as a Republic of Gamer’s platform, but to serve as a admirable performer for running some professional applications as well even with a standard platter OS drive. However, by adding a Kingston V+100 SSD, the board increased productivity to 285 which helped achieve a final Rating of 274. This is comparable to Z68 scores as well when running Intel Smart Response and an SSD.
The trend continues in a huge way even when overclocked to its highest stable frequency. Remember, each platform has to finish running three iterations or else the system isn’t viably stable. Again, users can expect noticeably higher scores when adding a capable SSD.
3DMark11 – Performance Settings (Default)
Whether it’s the PLX controller or high performance tuning, the Maximus IV Extreme easily pulled away from the pack using the best possible system tuning across the entire pack. It should also be indicative in a decent intensive 3D title. Let’s check that next.
Metro 2033 – 1920 x 1200 Max Settings
This game can bring many a video card to its knees. High performance GPUs are best for our 1920 x 1200 maximum setting test. Let’s see how the Max IV Ex handles single and dual video card configurations.
The results might seem minimal. However, the slight improvements to the Max IV Ex give it an edge that the rest of the platforms don’t quite seem to have. Honestly, it should always run faster given the extra PLX controllers partly featured in the premium the ROG board carries.
CineBench R11.5
Need we say much here? It’s fast, highly tuned, and ready to blast out of the gate at stock frequencies. When overclocked, the ROG board is a completely new animal. The crazy thing is that there’s still room to go higher. We just can’t bring ourselves to risk our favorite 2600K processor.
RighMarkAudio Analyzer
After swapping out higher quality cables, the Maximus IV Extreme wouldn’t provide any better results. The results were good as RMAA kept indicating in the graph tables. These results are definitely up for debate. They weren’t quite as good as the slightly cheaper UD7 board. But, to the ear of the beholder, the differences are extremely difficult to hear if not impossible despite your audio source.
IO Performance – CrystalDiskMark and SANDRA
Typically, IO tests are very uneventful. However, for reasons probably relating to the platforms bus design, the Maximus IV Extreme was a bit more efficient at using a Kingston SSDNow V+ SSD for SATA2 (3Gbps) tests. Otherwise, it was comparable to the rest of the pack. Not shown in the graph is that Intel LAN Pro network controllers used on the Maximus IV Extreme exhibit less latency than Realtek network controllers.
Power Consumption and Quality Control Observations
Consumption was measured with the system idling for an hour. We used Unigine because it gives the system something to really chew on representing a very graphic and CPU intensive video game. We’re including the lowest idle wattage as well as the highest 3D and load wattage observed.
It truly makes sense that the Maximus IV Extreme requires a bit more power over the pack. The board runs harder and faster at all times. If only 10 to 15 watts separates having a highly tuned system from the rest of the pack, we’ll take it. We all want the best performance for our money, right?
In terms of quality, I couldn’t find any real tangible flaws with the motherboard during the beatings. Not only is every component straight, they’re extremely quiet. Normally, we hear a couple squeaks or high pitched noises when the VRM is hard at work especially during overlocking. But, not here. In fact, the VRM heat sinks were 44C during desktop use and 57C when pushing our big overclock. The Southbridge heat sink measured a toasty 54C throughout testing. Not bad considering there are no extra fans blowing on the board.
Final Thoughts
The Republic of Gamers message has been lost in translation over the last few years. However, with renewed vigor, ROG is aimed at being the very best of any motherboard or video card that ASUS has to offer. It should offer very high end performance as well as a high end look. While GIGABYTE’s G1 Killer series takes aim directly at gamers, the ROG series essentially blends high end gaming and overclocking all in to one. Where does the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme ROG motherboard fit in the grand scheme of Sandy Bridge gaming platforms? It fits right in the very front.
To date, the Maximus IV Extreme is the easiest platform to overclock giving us the highest CPU frequencies under the 1.52 volt limit, proving it to be an extremely efficient platform and allowing it to keep up with any mad scientist. It’s also an extremely eager platform for gamers by helping support our video cards with the PCI bus bandwidth needed to have the highest frame rates at all times. But, the silver lining is that it also gave us the highest Sysmark 2007 scores showing it to be ready for someone in need of a good content creation system.
At $349 at some online retailers or less, it should be obvious that the Maximus IV Extreme isn’t aimed at gamers or overclockers on a budget. For that, we’re still finding that the Z68 might fill that need a bit better, but for overclocking, the P67 platform still seems more able. The good thing though is that there are quite a few still on the retail shelves carrying small discounts off and on. If you have the cash and want the fastest, meanest P67 Sandy Bridge motherboard around and proves P67 certainly isn’t going down without a fight thanks to ASUS.
Pros
- Excellent component and implementation quality
- High end gaming and overclocking performance all around
- Lots of PCI Express slots for any size video card
- DIGI+VRM, MemOK, LN2 Mode, and PCIE Bus Control
- Intuitive UEFI BIOS and AI Suite software support
Cons
- Out of range for those on a budge
- Audio performance could be better
Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
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