CPUs & Motherboards

ASUS Maximus VI Hero Review

David Mitchelson
June 14, 2013 18 Min Read
2 0

Touted for LGA1150 high-end; we look to the Republic of Gamers for the Maximus 6 Hero motherboard with SupremeFX and carrying the Intel Z87 chipset.


Product on review: Maximus VI Hero
Manufacturer: ASUS
Street Price: £170 (at time of review)

The Republic of Gamers division has brought many great products to the table of the years and we can’t deny that their success has come about by careful implementation and willingness to appeal to both enthusiasts and gamers. In the motherboard arena each generation of Maximus and Rampage products have always been the topic of discussion on message boards the world-over and today we are looking at one such product which has plenty of anticipation attached to it.

The Maximus VI Hero is a full-sized ATX motherboard featuring LGA1150 and the new Intel Z87 chipset. It comes furnished with the notorious black and red finish which ROG advocates have come to adore and also boasts an impressive feature-set too. The real question is – will this 6th generation of Maximus outdo its rivals or fall by the wayside?


ASUS on their Maximus VI Hero
ROG joining privileges now more accessible! Introducing Maximus VI Hero, the newest series from the ROG family, which packs outstanding quality, overclocking capabilities, and gamer-friendly features such as in-game visualized Sonic Radar detection and GameFirst II network optimization. It’s also loaded with amazing reliability, exclusive SupremeFX crystal-clear audio, and famous ROG dynamic tweaking powers, as well as the brand’s attractive red and black design.

Technical Specifications


CPU
Intel® Socket 1150 for 4th Generation Core™ i7/Core™ i5/Core™ i3/Pentium®/Celeron® Processors
Supports Intel® 22 nm CPU
Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
Chipset
Intel® Z87
Memory
4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB,
2800(O.C.)/2666(O.C.)/2600(O.C.)/2500(O.C.)/2400(O.C.)/2200(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/2000(O.C.)
/1866(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600/1333
Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
Graphics
Integrated Graphics Processor
– Supports HDMI with max. resolution 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz / 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz
– Supports Intel® InTru™ 3D, Quick Sync Video, Clear Video HD Technology, Insider™
Multi-GPU Support
Supports NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ Technology
Supports AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ Technology
Expansion Slots
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8, red)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (black) *1
3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 *2
Storage
Intel® Z87 chipset :
6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), red
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology, Intel® Rapid Start Technology, Intel® Smart Connect Technology *3
ASMedia® ASM1061 controller : *4
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), red
LAN
Intel® I217V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s)
Audio
ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
– Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
Audio Feature :
– SupremeFX Shielding™ Technology
– ELNA premium audio capacitors
– Blu-ray audio layer Content Protection
– Sonic Radar
– DTS Connect
– Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel
USB Ports
Intel® Z87 chipset : *5
6 x USB 3.0 port(s) (4 at back panel, blue, 2 at mid-board)
Intel® Z87 chipset : *6
8 x USB 2.0 port(s) (4 at back panel, black, 4 at mid-board)
Overclocking Features
Extreme Engine Digi+ III :
– 8 + 2 phase power design
– NexFET™ Power Block MOSFET
– 60A BlackWing Chokes
– 10K Black Metallic Capacitors
UEFI BIOS features :
– ROG BIOS Print
– GPU.DIMM Post
– Tweakers’ Paradise
– ROG SSD Secure Erase
ROG RAMDisk
GameFirst II
Extreme Tweaker
Special Features
ASUS Dual Intelligent Processors 4 with 4-Way Optimization :
– The tuning key perfectly consolidates ASUS-exclusive DIGI+ Power Control, TPU, EPU, and Fan Xpert 2 optimize the digital power setting, system performance, power saving and whole system cooling configuration
CPU Level Up
ASUS Exclusive Features :
– USB BIOS Flashback
– MemOK!
– AI Suite 3
– Ai Charger
– USB Charger+
– USB 3.0 Boost
– Disk Unlocker
ASUS EZ DIY :
– ASUS O.C. Profile
– ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
– ASUS EZ Flash 2
ASUS Q-Design :
– ASUS Q-Shield
– ASUS Q-Code
– ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED)
– ASUS Q-Slot
– ASUS Q-DIMM
– ASUS Q-Connector
Overclocking Protection :
– ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Back I/O Ports
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s)
1 x HDMI
1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)
4 x USB 3.0
4 x USB 2.0
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
6 x Audio jack(s)
1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button(s)
Internal I/O
1 x USB 3.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.0 port(s)
2 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 port(s)
1 x TPM connector(s)
8 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s)
1 x CPU Fan connector(s)
1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s)
3 x Chassis Fan connector(s)
1 x S/PDIF out header(s)
1 x 8-pin EATX 12 V Power connector
1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s)
1 x Front panel audio connector(s) (AAFP)
1 x System panel(s)
1 x DirectKey Button(s)
1 x DRCT header(s)
1 x MemOK! button(s)
1 x Power-on button(s)
1 x Reset button(s)
1 x Clear CMOS jumper(s)
1 x ROG extension (ROG_EXT) header(s)
Accessories
User’s manual
I/O Shield
6 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
1 x SLI bridge(s)
1 x Q-connector(s) (2 in 1)
1 x 12 in 1 ROG Cable Label(s)
1 x ROG Door Hanger(s)
BIOS
64Mb UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.5, ACPI2.0a Multi-Language BIOS
Manageability WfM 2.0, DMI 2.0, WOL by PME, PXE
Support Disc
Drivers
ROG GameFirst II
ROG RAMDisk
ROG CPU-Z
ROG Mem TweakIt
Kaspersky® Anti-Virus
DAEMON Tools Pro Standard
ASUS WebStorage
ASUS Utilities
Form Factor
ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )

Packaging & First Look


In true Republic of Gamers tradition, the packaging for Hero features a large red box which has an folding cover. Underneath this cover ASUS allow a sneak preview of the motherboard through a window. Details surrounding the features can be found on the cover and reverse for those who want to more information.

Inside, all of the items are well packaged and the motherboard itself is placed inside a tray with a protective plastic cover – instead of an anti-static bag.


Typical ROG packaging treatment


Along with the motherboard, there are just a plethora of included items which constitute the bundle and this certainly strengthens the product. These include:

• 6x SATA3 6GB/s Cables
• Rear IO shield
• Case Badge
• Door hanger (“Do Not Disturb”)
• Documentation: user manual
• Driver CD/Utilities
• NVIDIA SLI bridge (flexible)
• Q-connect adapters
• Identification sticker labels


Lots of items within the bundle


It goes without saying that from a visual standpoint, ROG motherboards usually never cease to please the eye and Hero is no exception. It oozes style and charisma – being adorned with a glossy black PCB and black/red ports, slots and lanes. This motherboard has been designed to be a good looker, and it certainly achieves this.

Within the Maximus VI series, Hero sits just beneath the Extreme model and above the Gene. It comes with some of the characteristics found on Extreme and is larger than the M-ATX Gene counter-part.


Styling is attractive to the eye


On the next page we will take a closer look at the various aspects of this board.

Closer Look


We’ll now move in for a closer look at the different features found on Maximus VI Hero, starting with the socket area. This motherboard is of course designed to work with Intel’s 4th Generation of processors – Haswell. The socket is LGA1150 but has the mounting holes for LGA115X so if you have a cooler that has been used on another socket such as LGA1155 then it will work fine here too. ASUS have actually included dual fan headers for the CPU cooler just behind the top heatsink which we are pleased to see.

Hero utilises Extreme Engine Digi+ III which include a selection of exclusive hardware upgrades used throughout the motherboard. The MOSFETS are NexFET handle up to 90% efficiency under normal load and offer enhanced stability compared to standard MOSFETs, and at half the size which is rather impressive. The other components that make an appearance are the BlackWing chokes which have been given some gold ‘bling’ – these chokes can sustain 60A per unit and up to 125C. Japanese 10K black solid CAPs are used throughout the motherboard for long-life and are generally able to tolerate higher temperatures compared to standard solid CAPs.

Around the socket the CPU has been given eight fully digital phases – whilst the memory have been given a further two. Covering the MOSFETs are two significant heatsinks which have a single copper heatpipe running through and interconnecting them. Just behind these heatsinks is the 8-pin EPS CPU Power.


Hero is built for stability and endurance


Turning our attention to the memory slots – there is dual channel DDR3 support. Hero can accommodate up to 32GB and 2800+(OC) memory.

Also in this region are a pair of onboard power buttons , LED Debug, MemOK! and a single USB 3.0 header; quite a plethora of functionality indeed. LED Debug helps with fault diagnostics on POST by displaying a code which corresponds to the manual whilst the MemOK! Provides a failsafe boot with troublesome memory modules.


Dual channel DDR3 support – up to 32GB and more options


Further along the motherboard are eight SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports. No longer do we have SATA 2, and since SATA 3 is backwards compatible older SATA 2 devices will work fine anyway, their speed will just be capped. Six of the ports are controlled via Intel Z87 and the other two are via ASMEDIA ASM1061.

Just behind the SATA ports is the large heatsink which covers the Intel Z87 chip. Running along the bottom edge of the board is a button which is labelled “Direct Key”. Pressing this button reboots the system and boosts immediately into the BIOS without the need for a keyboard.


A total of eight SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports



A large heasink covering Intel Z87


Hero can entertain NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossfireX configurations and has the following slots (using the lower x16 slot renders the X1 slots redundant – cannot be used at the same time):

1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot – RED (Running @x16)
1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot – RED (Running @x8)
1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot – BLACK (Running @x4)
3 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot


NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossfireX support


Hero boasts a high-quality audio feature-set which is supported by the notorious SupremeFX.

• EMI Shield Cover – prevents noise interference
• ELNA Japanese Solid CAPs – deliver clarity and high fidelity
• EMI Shield – Protective EMI shield parameter, sections off key components and prevents unwanted interference.

When the system is powered up the EMI shield line illuminates red – the shield cover also glows a nice warm red. Having these dedicated components ensures better sound quality compared to conventional onboard sound. SupremeFX brings in 8-Channel HD Audio.


SupremeFX audio features with EMI protection


Lastly we come to the rear IO section, here there are plenty of ports to take advantage of, including the following:

– 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
– 1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button
– 4 x USB 2.0 ports
– 1 x HDMI port
– 1 x Optical S/PDIF
– 4 x USB 3.0 ports
– 1 x Gigabit LAN (RJ45)
– 2 x USB 2.0 Ports
– HD Audio – 8-Channel Audio via SupremeFX

With Intel Haswell featuring an IGP there is a HDMI port for those wanting to use onboard graphics. Other motherboards tend to offer more than just one output but since this motherboard is above average it’s fair to say that many users will be using discreet graphics anyway.

USB BIOS Flashback allows the BIOS to be flashed without the need of having a graphics card, monitor, memory etc. With a press of the Flashback button and the power and USB stick plugged in, the BIOS can be flashed in an instant. This is a very handy feature to have.


The Rear IO with USB Flashback Button

ASUS UEFI BIOS


The UEFI BIOS which comes with Maximus VI Hero is amongst other things, very easy to use. We really like what ASUS have done with their design choices. Rather than opt for flashy interactions and overcomplicate things they have designed something which is just simple and that just works and this is paramount for advanced tweakers and more particularly, overclockers. They want to be in and out of the BIOS without having to navigate through countless menu systems, and with ASUS UEFI this is possible.

Those who aren’t advanced users will find the UEFI BIOS a dream to work with since each option that can be tweaked has a full explanation to the right side – not just a brief note but an explanation of what enabling/disabling a particular option will do and its benefits.

One notable aspect which is especially nice is the change log summary which pops up when saving settings to exit – this prompt gives you a quick summary of the options that have been adjusted to ensure you are certain nothing untoward has been altered – however small this feature is, it’s extremely useful.





Test Setup & Overclocking


Test Setup
CPU Intel Core i7 4770K (Haswell) 3.50GHz
Cooling Noctua NH-U14
Motherboards
– ASUS Maximus VI Hero
– ASRock Z87 Extreme4
– MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
– GIGABYTE Z87-D3HP
– GIGABYTE Z87X-OC
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 2400MHz CL10 DDR3
Graphics XFX R7970 Black Edition
Storage Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD
PSU Corsair HX1050 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU



Benchmarks
Cinebench 11.5 – CPU Score
x264 HD 4.0 – 1st and 2nd pass encoding
SiSoftware SANDRA 2013 – CPU & Memory benchmarks
AIDA64 – CPU benchmarks
3DMark FireStrike – DX11 3D Benchmark
3DMark 11 – DX11 3D Performance and Extreme preset
Games – Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, Metro Last Light


Other Software
Temperature Analysis: Core Temp
Stress Testing Software: LinX
CPU Specification Monitoring: CPU-Z


Overclocking

The introduction of Z87 brings a return to BCLK overclocking. This will in turn deliver more flexibility for Overclockers compared to previous generations where the BCLK was locked to 100MHz and only the ratio could be adjusted. As many of you will know, Haswell CPUs get very hot with little voltage increase therefore the flexibility and headroom for overclocking can be limited.

We managed to squeeze 4.6GHz out of the 4770K with Maximus VI Hero. We also managed to get 4.8GHz to boot but sadly under LinX stress test it failed after a short period of time, even with 1.4v. we tried to push for 4.7GHz which is the current stable limitation for the chip we are using but in order to maintain stability we required 1.4v which pushed the temperatures beyond 95C which we were not prepared to withstand since it can degrade the longevity of the chip. Therefore we moved to 4.6GHz which allowed the voltage to notch down to 1.33v which is an admirable result.



With the 4.6GHz overclock being our best, we will take this into our benchmark suite and test both stock and overclocked results on the subsequent pages. Our comparison results will obviously grow in the forthcoming weeks as we review more and more Z87 motherboards.

Power Consumption

It’s interesting to note the power consumption across all motherboards. Although they are using Z87 chipsets, energy results can fluctuate between manufacturers due to the features and specifications that are integrated. First of all, for the idle tests the system is cold booted into Windows and no additional applications are executed – the watts are noted on the external energy monitor we use and then the system is loaded with 3DMark FireStrike – watts are again monitored for the duration of the test and the highest rated wattage result is then noted down. Below are the results of this energy test.



Benchmarks: X264 HD

Simply put, this test measures how fast your machine can encode a short, DVD quality MPEG-2 video clip into a high-quality x264 video clip. What’s x264, you ask? It’s more or less the next-generation Xvid/DivX codec. I think it’s ideal for a benchmark because the application (x264.exe) reports fairly accurate compression results (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encoding process, and it uses multi-core processors very efficiently.



Benchmarks: AIDA64

AIDA64 Product Page
This simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic “Queens problem” on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard. At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores. For example — with HyperThreading disabled — the Intel Northwood core processors get higher scores than the Intel Prescott core based ones due to the 20-step vs 31-step long pipeline. CPU Queen test uses integer MMX, SSE2 and SSSE3 optimizations.



Benchmarks: Cinebench

CINEBENCH can measure systems with up to 64 processor threads. This test scene contains approximately 2,000 objects which in turn contain more than 300,000 polygons in total, and uses sharp and blurred reflections, area lights, shadows, procedural shaders, antialiasing, and much more. The result is displayed in points (pts). The higher the number, the faster your processor.

Benchmarks: SiSoftware SANDRA

3DMark 11 Product Page
SANDRA isn’t always a benchmark that is included in hardware reviews but I believe it shouldn’t be ignored. SANDRA provides a vigorous package that tests your system in a rather large array of benchmarks. There are many aspects of benchmark that can be executed. We will be considering – CPU and memory tests.











Benchmarks: 3DMARK FireStrike

3DMark FireStrike Product Page
Fire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.



Benchmarks: 3DMARK 11

Designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

3DMark 11 is a very popular 3D performance benchmark suite and needs little introduction. For the test settings both Performance and Extreme presets are run with ‘benchmark only’ being selected. This provides good analysis. Many will only test the performance preset, using the extreme mode we can examine the board under much more severe stressing – at 720p and 1080p.



Benchmarks: Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, Metro Last Light

It’s important for us to perform a number of game benchmarks as well as the synthetic tests because gamers will want to know if there are any significant benefits. So here we have a selection of popular gaming titles, critically acclaimed and action-packed.

Settings
Tomb Raider
– 1920×1050 2xAA – Very High Quality *Benchmark tool*
Crysis 3
– 1920×1050 2xAA – Very High Quality *FRAPS – 1st scene/gameplay*
Metro Last Light
– 1920×1050 16xAF – Very High Quality *FRAPS – 1st scene/gameplay*

The gaming titles selected demand GPU power over CPU power – in each test the difference is rather marginal. VSync is disabled in all titles.





Conclusion


Having looked at a variety of Z87 motherboards from other vendors thus far, it’s now time to consider what ASUS have to offer with their Maximus VI Hero.

It’s always nice to examine products from the Republic of Gamers portfolio as they are usually designed with the utmost care and attention to detail – the Maximus VI Hero follows this trend without exception; Its styling oozes finesse and the layout is great too. The black PCB and black/red highlights are synonymous to ROG and we will never grow tired of these aesthetics.

On the performance front the Hero did well in all our benchmarks showing that it delivers consistent results in a plethora of scenarios. We managed to overclock our Core i7 4770K to 4.6GHz stable without too much hassle and overclocking only helped to strengthen performance – delivering significant boosts in a variety of the tests.

This motherboard is designed for gamers and avid overclockers and the latter will be pleased to know that the BIOS is one of our favourites due to its simplicity and fluid operation. Paramount to the UEFI BIOS is ease of use and thus, everything is just were you want it. Helpful tips are there if you are unsure about what changing a specific option entails and ASUS have integrated a handy prompt upon saving which details a list of options which have been adjusted. All of these points make ASUS’ UEFI BIOS a pleasure to work with.



On offer with Hero are a plethora of features, some of which are unique to ASUS. We really like what they have included with this motherboard as they generally help with day-to-day and extreme usage. USB BIOS Flashback is one such feature which has been seen on previous ROG motherboards but is again included.

Consumers may be surprised by the cost of Maximus VI Hero since it doesn’t cost the earth to purchase. Prices are currently sitting at £170 / $230 for Hero, making it a great buy for an above-average LGA1150 investment.

Maximus VI Hero is a strong offering that comes with a multitude of unique features, helping to set it apart from other Z87 motherboards. The traditional ROG styling, high quality components and consistent performance all make Hero a top-pick for this new platform. We are pleased to hand out our coveted Gold award.

VIDEO REVIEW – VORTEZ TV


Pros
+ Pleasing to the eye, great styling and aesthetics
+ Great performance at stock settings
+ Overclocks easily
+ UEFI BIOS is easy to use
+ ASUS unique features – MemOK! Direct Key, USB Flashback
+ Plenty of storage options
+ SupremeFX audio

Cons
– Bottom PCI-E x16 and X1 slots cannot be used at same time
– Single display output



Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.

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David Mitchelson