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To test the Asus Maximus VI Formula, we paired it with an Intel Core i7 4770K processor and 8GB of 2133MHz memory from Patriot. We will be outlining the Asus Maximus VI Formula motherboard's performance with the Core i7 4770K CPU at its stock frequency of 3.5GHz and when overclocked to 4.5GHz.
We will be comparing the Asus Maximus VI Formula motherboard's performance to that of six other Z87 motherboards. All motherboards are partnered with identical hardware and software, so the results are directly comparable.
By default, the Asus Maximus VI Formula motherboard forces the 4770K to a constant 3.9GHz. This will be displayed as the ‘stock’ setting.
Motherboard Test System:
- Processor: Intel Core i7 4770K 3.50GHz.
- Memory: 8GB Patriot Viper Xtreme Division 2 2133MHz.
- Graphics Card: nVidia GTX 760 2GB.
- System Drive: 500GB Samsung 840 Series SSD.
- CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i.
- Case: NZXT Phantom 630.
- Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W.
- Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.
Compared Z87 Motherboard(s):
- Asus Maximus VI Formula (BIOS 0714 – newest).
- ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac (BIOS v1.70).
- ASRock Z87 OC Formula (BIOS 1.60).
- Asus Maximus VI Extreme (BIOS 0711).
- Asus Maximus VI Hero (BIOS 0711).
- Gigabyte Z87-D3HP (BIOS F4).
- MSI Z87 XPower (BIOS v1.0).
Settings:
- Asus Maximus VI Formula BIOS 0714.
- GeForce 320.49 VGA drivers.
- Intel 9.4.0.1017 chipset drivers.
Software Suite:
- 3DMark
- 3DMark 11
- PCMark 8
- Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0
- SiSoft Sandra 2013 SP4
- Cinebench 11.5 64 bit
- Super Pi
- VLC Media Player 2.0.7
- CyberLink Media Espresso 6.7
- HandBrake 0.9.9
- ATTO
- Battlefield 3
- Metro 2033
- Sleeping Dogs
Have mine ordered, cant wait to get it. thanks for the review. ive just bought some 2,800mhz memory, hope it works!
I really dislike the thermal armor, had it on my sabertooth and took it off, makes no difference and makes getting at some buttons tricky. good board though.
Great read Luke, looks like another winner for ASUS, but I fail to see the benefits of the armor really unless you added fans to circulate air underneath it. It would isolate GPU heat from above, that is good, but the stagnant air underneath the plastic would stay close to the capacitors, right? Am I missing something?
OMG it’s here. >.< Thank you so much for the review.
If I didin't already have this at hand ( arrived yesterday), I would have been worried because of the rating, which BTW I don't understand why the low rating seeing as it didn't do that bad at all. In fact I had to read the whole review carefully to see where it all went wrong but for the life of me, I can't find the negatives that matter. I only use one card so the lane speed issue doesn't affect me and By the Gods, Extreme and Hero don't have anything on how sexy This Beast looks or just how awesomely powerful it feels in hand. I would gladly drop the extra cash just for those looks alone.
Now that I have seen no real issues where performance is concerned, I have no regrets for skipping Ivy-E this time around in favour of Has well. And it was all because of this sexy thing.
Thank you again for the review Luke, can I use you name?
“A small minority of users may miss the support for 3-way SLI, and an even lesser number will frown at the headaches caused by two Nvidia cards being simultaneously used with a PCI-E x2 or x4 expansion device.”
What about a PCI-E x1 device? I have a SoundBlaster X-Fi I would like to use along with 2 770 GTXs in SLI.
Simon,
The two graphics cards can be installed in the upper x16-length slots to use the CPU’s PCI-E 3.0 lanes (split as x8/x8 for each card).
If you install the PCI-E x1 sound card in one of the dedicated x1 slots, it will receive a PCI-E 2.0 lane from the Z87 chipset, and will not affect the bandwidth provided to your graphics cards.