ASUS Maximus VI Gene - Performance Test



Introduction:

The Maximus VI Gene (M6G) is ASUS' mATX overclocking and gaming motherboard (mobo) based on Intel’s latest Z87 chipset. Comes with the Republic of Gamers’ (ROG) features, the M6G arrives fully loaded for action. It offers Extreme Engine Digi+ III precision power delivery, state-of-the-art tweaking utilities, and advanced gaming. These include SupremeFX 115dB SNR crystal-clear audio, the Sonic Radar visualized in-game overlay, Intel Ethernet, and GameFirst II network optimization. Let’s take a look what the board has to offer.

Product Link: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_GENE

Suggested Retail Price: RM799

Specifications:



Full specifications of M6G can be found HERE

Overview of M6G:



Unboxing:


The board is shipped in a red box featuring ROG design.


The M6G features black/red colour theme and conforms to micro ATX (mATX) form factor with measurement of 9.6 inch x 9.6 inch (24.4 cm x 24.4 cm).


The M6G comes with a digital 8 + 2 phase power design. The CPU gets eight phases and the memory is powered by two individual phases. The Socket LGA1150 supports Intel’s 4th Generation Core i7, i5 & i3/ Pentium/ Celeron processors. Other than that, there are four DIMM slots supporting up to 32GB of DDR3 Dual Channel & 3000+ MHz of RAM by overclocking.


Let’s take a look at the expansion slot area. The board has two PCIe 3.0 x16 slots supporting 2-way SLI/CF @ x8/x8. Besides that, there is a PCIe 2.0 x4 slot as well as an mPCIe 2.0 combo connector at the top left corner of the board.


The board comes with eight SATA3 ports - six ports based on chipset Z87 and the other two are powered by ASMedia ASM1061 controller.


The rear I/O panel includes:

1 x HDMI
1 x LAN (RJ45) port
6 x USB 3.0 (blue)
4 x USB 2.0
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
6 x Audio jacks
1 x Clear CMOS button
1 x ROG Connect On/ Off switch


The M6G is equipped with the best onboard audio, the SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC which features Sonic Radar technology. Sonic Radar will give a strategic advantage on some very particular or crucial moments in a gaming session.

This post has been edited by owikh84: Oct 17 2013, 07:12 AM

The back side of the board has some backplates to provide retention to the CPU bracket and VRM heatsinks on the top of the mobo and at the same time aid some cooling around these areas.


Accessories bundled in the package are just adequate.

Test Setup:



CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K
MB: ASUS Maximus VI Gene
DRAM: Apacer ARES 3000MHz C12 2 X 4GB, G.Skill TridentX 2800 C11 2 X 4GB, G.Skill TridentX 2600MHz C10 2 X 4GB, Corsair Dominator GT GTX4 2533MHz C9 2 X 2GB and G.Skill RipjawsX 2133MHz C8 2 X 2GB
GPU: Gigabyte HD7970, MSI's special BIOS, Driver Catalyst 13.11 beta
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB
ODD: LiteON DVD-RW
PSU: Corsair AX1200
Cooling: Custom watercooling - EK Supreme HF plate #6 CPU waterblock, 2x XSPC RX360 radiator, Swiftech MCP655 pump, EK FC7970 GPU waterblock, EK Multioption X2 Advanced reservoir, XSPC 1/2" ID 3/4" OD white tubing, 12x Scythe GT AP-15 1850rpm 120mm fan + Aerocool Shark 120mm fan, Coolaboratory Liquid Pro thermalpaste etc.
Casing: DimasTech Easy Dual V2.5 Bench Table
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

The UEFI BIOS:

Main Page of Extreme Tweaker: Multiple CPU straps for selection.


Overclocking Presets:


Memory Presets:


RAM Timing Control:


DIGI + Power control:


Tweaker’s Paradise:


CPU Power Management:


BIOS Flashing via USB drive:


SSD Secure Erase:


EZ-Mode: a simplied version of UEFI

Software & Tools:



1) AI Suite III - OC tweaking utility, is a tool for overclocking in windows environment without the needs to restart your PC.
2) TurboVCore: A simplified version of TurboV.
3) MemTweakIT - lets you view the memory settings and also submit a score for competition. Unfortunately, due to Intel’s lockdown it is unable to adjust timings real-time in the OS for now.
4) ROG GAMEFirst - for network traffic prioritization.
5) ROG RAMDisk - to make RAMDisk.

Stability Tests:

LinX 0.6.4 w/ AVX:


Due to cooling limitation of my 4770K, I could only stress the chip at 4.5GHz @ 1.28v. This overclock passed LinX without an error for 20 loops within one hour. One of the cores hit 98C during loading but still lower than TJmax of 100C.

Benchmark Tests:

For these benchmarks, the 4770K and the HD7970 were overclocked to 4.7GHz and 1300MHz core/7000MHz memory @ 1.3v/1.7v, respectively.

3DMark 13:


3DMark 11:


3DMark Vantage:


3DMark 06:


3DMark 05:


3DMark 03:


PCMark 7:


Super Pi 32M/ wPrime/ MaxxMEM/ AIDA64 Cache and Memory Benchmark:

Super Pi 1M:


HyperPi 32M & 1M:


Cinebench 11.5:


wPrime 1.55 & Fritz Chess 4.3:


Unigine Heaven 4.0:


Memory Overclocking:

Hynix-MFR IC: Apacer ARES 3000C12 2 X 4GB @ 3333MHz 12-16-15-25-1T


Hynix-CFR IC: G.Skill TridentX 2800C11 2 X 4GB @ 3000MHz 12-14-14-25-2T


Samsung IC: G.Skill TridentX 2600C10 2 X 4GB @ 2800MHz 9-12-12-21-1T


PSC IC: Corsair DominatorGT GTX4 2533C9 2 X 2GB @ 2400MHz 7-11-7-25-1T


BBSE IC: G.Skill RipjawsX 2133C8 2 X 2GB @ 2400MHz 8-11-7-24-2T

Highest Achievement:

3436MHz 12-16-15-25-1T


Game Benchmarks:

Bioshock Infinite:


Metro Last Light:

Thoughts & Verdicts:

The Maximus VI Gene is an excellent mATX board for gaming and overclocking. The UEFI BIOS is a heaven for extreme overclockers. Almost all of the options have description on what it does so it is helpful for beginner overclockers as well. The M6G has almost all of the ROG features such as the innovative Extreme Engine Digi+ III for efficient overclocking, the incredible SupremeFX audio and Sonic Radar, GameFirst II for uninterrupted online gaming and many other features that you would normally see on the ATX boards. This little monster is no doubt a perfect companion for LAN parties.

Lastly, I would like to thank ASUS Malaysia especially Sanko for making this review possible.

Performance: 5/5
Materials: 5/5
Specifications: 5/5
Appearance: 5/5
Performance/Price Value: 4/5

Pros:
+ Excellent performance
+ Mixed memory overclocking, hardly overclocks PSC & Elpida BBSE based RAMs
+ Sexy board
+ Innovative SupremeFX onboard audio chip
+ Intelligent UEFI BIOS
+ Informative user manual

Cons:
- Overpriced in Malaysia
- No CrossfireX bridge
- No dual BIOS chips
- No DisplayPort and DVI port
- Lack of LucidLogix Virtu MVP software
- Sonic Radar software is not included
- BIOS settings lack of x-Talk Cancellation
- Can’t adjust memory timings with MemTweakIT in the OS at the time of writing

This post has been edited by owikh84: Oct 17 2013, 12:18 PM

thanks for sharin sir, nicely done & insightful review...

Thanks for your kind words bro.

ganaz ore kelate ni! review biso biso!