ASUS Republic of Gamers has just introduced a new Intel Z170 Express chipset based motherboard aimed at gamers and overclockers. The highlights of the ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Formula include "best in class cooling" thanks to an exclusive CrossChill EK hybrid cooling block which can be air or liquid cooled. Further high-end performance minded features common across other ASUS ROG Z170 boards are present and correct - as are RGB Aura LED lighting frills.
The ROG team got together with EK Water Blocks to create this ATX motherboard's headlined USP. The partnership spawned the 'best-in-class' CrossChill EK liquid cooling setup which is equipped on this motherboard. ASUS says that the "extreme-performance cooling block has a high-conductivity copper channel that’s ready for either air or liquid, and is literally the coolest choice available for custom-chilled builds, ensuring quieter, cooler gaming rigs". Many users should enjoy up to a 23˚C MOSFET temperature reduction thanks to the exclusive feature, when used with LCS. If you wish to use liquid rather than air cooling for the hybrid block it should be a cinch, as it employs standard G1/4in-thread fittings.
Turning to more common ASUS gaming motherboard features, the ROG Maximus VIII Formula motherboard is said to offer the 5-Way Optimization, SupremeFX 2015, Intel LAN and LANGuard common in its current Z170 range. The 5-Way Optimization "sorts all the complex settings for instant, highly-controllable performance boosts," notes ASUS. SupremeFX covers the audio faculties of the motherboard with special shielded circuit design, "and a collection of carefully selected professional-grade audio components, including an ESS ES9023P digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) with Hyperstream technology, ultra-low-jitter clock, Nichicon capacitors and 2VRMS headphone amp".
As you might expect, modern connectivity standards such as NVM Express U.2 and M.2, USB 3.1 Type-A/C, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi are all supported by the Maximus VIII Formula. It also features gamer frills such as ROG Armor and an integrated Aura RGB-strip header and included extension cable. Pricing and availability weren't divulged. I've reproduced the full hardware spec list below.
Processor/CPU socket: LGA1151 socket for 6th-generation Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium / Celeron processors
- Chipset: Intel Z170 Express
- Memory: 4 x DIMMs, up to a maximum of 64GB, DDR4 3733 (OC), Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
- Expansion slots: 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (single at x16, dual at x8/x8 mode), 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (maximum at x4 mode), 3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 slots
- Graphics (VGA): Integrated Intel HD Graphics processor, DisplayPort 1.2 with maximum resolution of 4096 x 2034 at 60Hz, HDMI with maximum resolution of 4096 x 2160 at 24Hz, Intel InTru 3D / Quick Sync Video / Clear Video HD Technology / Insider
- Multi-GPU: Two-way/quad-GPU NVIDIA SLI and AMD three-way/quad-GPU CrossFireX technology
- Storage: 1 x U.2 (supports PCIe 3.0 x4 NVM Express storage), 1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M Key, supports 2242/2260/2280/22110 devices, 2 x SATA Express, 8 x SATA 6.0 Gbps (4 shared with SATA Express)
- Networking/LAN: Intel I219-V Gigabit LAN and ASUS LANGuard, integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi with an external 2×2 (2 transmit, 2 receive) dual-band 2.4/5GHz antenna included
- USB: 2 x USB 3.1 (1 x Type-A; 1 x Type-C), 10 x USB 3.0 ports (6 on back panel, 4 mid-board), 4 x USB 2.0 ports (mid-board)
- Audio: ROG SupremeFX 2015 8-channel high-definition audio with - ESS ES9023P high-definition DAC - 2VRMS Headphone Amp into (32-600 ohms) - SupremeFX shielding technology - Sonic SenseAmp - Jack-detection, multi-streaming, front-panel mic jack-retasking - Optical S/PDIF-out port on back panel
- Dimensions / form factor: ATX, 12.0 x 9.6in (30.5 x 24.4cm)
