ASUS Maximus VII Hero – Performance Test



Last year, ASUS added the Maximus VI Hero motherboard into the ROG family which was targeted for gaming enthusiasts who want the ROG features and decent overclocking potential without breaking the wallet too much. Today, we will be taking a look at the second generation of the Hero series, namely the Maximus VII Hero. Since it is a motherboard based on Z97 chipset, it features Intel’s latest lightning-fast M.2 storage port.

Like its predecessor, the ASUS Maximus VII Hero packs undisputable quality, overclocking capabilities, and gaming features. ASUS decided to revise the Hero with better and newer technologies such as the LANGuard network protection, GameFirst II network optimization, and in-game visualized Sonic Radar II detection. It’s also loaded with exclusive SupremeFX II crystal-clear audio, KeyBot + TrueVolt USB Technology, and famous ROG tweaking powers, as well as ASUS’s attractive red and black design.

Is the latest Hero the motherboard that you are looking for? Let’s find out in our review below.

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

Suggested Retail Price: RM 919

Specifications:



Full specifications can be obtained HERE


Overview




Unboxing


The ASUS Maximus VII Hero’s retail packaging comes in traditional red colour featuring Republic of Gamers (ROG) design. Across the bottom of the front side there are some labels showing the motherboard’s features such as the support for Intel’s Core processor and Z97 chipset, NVIDIA's SLI and AMD's CrossfireX supports, native support for resolutions up to 4K as well as Windows 8.1 ready.


Opening the flap there is a transparent window that gives you a glimpse on the motherboard. On top of that you will be briefed with key features of this motherboard. Here ASUS gives you in-depth explanations on the SupremeFX II audio, LANGuard networking protection and GameFirst III network optimization, KeyBot technology, gaming protection features such as the 10K Black Metallic Capacitors, DRAM Over-current Protection, and ESD Guards.


The back of the retail box depicts the specifications of the motherboard and highlights the main components of the feature set, such as the SupremeFX II audio solution, GamerFirst III, KeyBot, as well as the famous Extreme Engine Digi+ III power delivery system. You will find a diagram illustrating the connectivity available at the rear I/O panel of the motherboard.


Emptying the box you will find a detailed user guide manual, driver and software disc, a 12-in-1 ROG cable labels, a ROG door hanger, an ROG case badge, a total of six SATA 6Gbps data cables, a set of ASUS Q-Connector for the front panel connectivity, and a ROG I/O Shield.


Like any other ROG series of motherboard, the Maximus VII Hero sports a red and black theme. The dual-colour PCB features a matte black and red finish which ASUS claims the world’s first PCB to have such feature. ASUS redesigned the MOSFET heat sinks with a black matte finish. The Z97 chipset heat sink features a ROG logo that will glow red whenever the motherboard is powered up.


ASUS implemented a total of 8+2 phases power design paired with its famous Extreme Engine Digi+ III technology. The Maximus VII Hero comes equipped with high quality components such as 60A Ferrite Choke, 10K Black Metallic Capacitors, and NexFET Power Block MOSFET driven by high quality International Rectifier IR3535M that are put through numerous tests to ensure their reliability and stability even under the extreme conditions. ASUS claimed that these premium components have five times longer lifespans than regular ones. Above top portion of the MOSFET heat sink, you can see the 8-pin 12V CPU power connector which supplies power to the CPU socket.

This post has been edited by owikh84: Aug 24 2014, 01:42 PM

On the top right portion of the motherboard you will find four DIMM slots featuring the second generation T-topology design for minimal noise and signal reflection for enhanced overclocking. These memory slots are specified to run at dual channel configuration up to 3200MHz with overclocking and support for Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) and 32GB capacities. The single-sided clip design will ensure that handling memory modules is easier and super secure. Next to the DIMM slots is the Q-Code LED panel, the START and RESET buttons, the MemOK! and KeyBot buttons, a pair of CPU fan headers, and the 24-pin power connector which supplies power to the motherboard. The MemOK! comes in handy in the event of memory problems that are preventing your system from booting.


The Maximus VII Hero has two PCI-Express x16 expansion slots that support quad-GPU SLI and CrossFireX setups. However, both slots run at x8 when both are occupied. Other expansion slots are one PCIe 2.0 x4 slot and three PCIe 2.0 x1 slots. Across the bottom of the motherboard you can see front panel audio header, the SoundStage and Clear CMOS buttons, ROG Extension header, a pair of USB 2.0 headers, a fan connector, a TPM header, and the front panel connections.


Above the top primary PCIe you will find the M.2 connector responsible for a 10GBps storage.


The Maximus VII Hero is equipped with the best audio, namely the SupremeFX II powered by Realtek ALC1150 chipset. It features SupremeFX Shielding Technology, ELNA premium audio capacitors, Blu-ray audio layer Content Protection, DTS Connect, Sonic SoundStage, Sonic SenseAmp, Sonic Studio as well as the Sonic Radar II technology. Sonic Radar II will allow you to see your enemy behind walls or distances very clearly and precisely. The audio circuitry is isolated from the main PCB to minimize the interferences made by neighboring components and eventually produce a good sound quality. The heat sink on top of the audio chipset and red line separating the integrated audio board circuitry from the main board will glow red when the motherboard is powered.


Speaking of SATA storage ports, ASUS offers a total of eight 6Gbps SATA 3 ports in which six of them are controlled by the Z97 chipset supporting Raid 0, 1, 5, 10 and the other two ports are controlled by the ASMedia ASM1061 controller.


The rear I/O panel is consisted of, from left to right, a PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port, and a pair of Z97-controlled USB 2.0 ports. The upper port supports the KeyBot feature. The next block of connectivity contains an Optical S/PDIF output and a single HDMI 1.4 port supporting max resolutions of 4096x2160 @ 24 Hz / 2560x1600 @ 60 Hz. Then we have a VGA and a DVI port, followed by the USB Flashback button. Next is a pair of Z97-controlled USB 3.0 ports that support the use of ASUS USB 3.0 Boost technology with the lower port supports the USB Flashback. Next block contains the Intel I218V controlled Gigabit LAN port supporting GameFirst III technology, followed by another pair of Intel-based USB 2.0 ports. Lastly we have audio outputs for the SupremeFX II audio system.


The back side of the PCB has a pair of retaining heat sinks for the Extreme Engine Digi+ III power phase. Also seen on the back of the PCB is a ROG chip that sits between the two PCIe 3.0 X16 slots.

Features

The ASUS Maximus VII Hero is loaded with massive features and utility suites such as the GamerFirst III which is designed to help you to assign top priority to game packets and allocate more bandwidth to the game, ensuring the best online gaming experience. The in-game visualized Sonic Radar II detection is designed for gamers for better hearing during heavy gaming. It does not interfere with game files, nor does it represent anything more than the game engine produces. Besides that, the motherboard comes bundled with the SupremeFX II audio chip to give the best audio quality for gaming. Other key features are the LANGuard, KeyBot, TrueVolt USB, RAMDisk, and many more.

The UEFI BIOS

Overall, ASUS has done a great job in updating their UEFI BIOS for the latest Z97 motherboards and the Maximus VII Hero has no exception. The layout design of the new UEFI BIOS is quite informative with the descriptions of every option displayed on the bottom of the screen. One drawback that I noticed is that the UEFI BIOS is a little bit buggy and unresponsive as compared to the Z87 motherboards. For instance, the DRAM Frequency drop down list couldn’t respond to the last-saved option. A single key press would lead to the Auto option instead of the last-saved memory frequency. Perhaps it was just me but I feel uncomfortable with it.

The Maximus VII Hero comes with the traditional two modes for the UEFI BIOS that we have seen since a few generations of platforms ago, the EZ Mode and Advanced Mode. The EZ Mode is easy to learn, use, and manage for users who do not want to spend the time going through the advanced sections of the BIOS. It displays frequently-accessed setup info. Users can choose system performance mode on demand and also drag and drop to set the boot priority.

The Advanced Mode is suitable for experienced performance enthusiasts that demand for more adept of tuning abilities for higher level of overclocking.



















The EZ Mode is easy to learn, use, and manage for users who do not want to spend the time going through the advanced sections of the BIOS. It displays frequently-accessed setup info. Users can choose system performance mode on demand and also drag and drop to set the boot priority.



This post has been edited by owikh84: Aug 11 2014, 06:45 PM

The AI Suite III

ASUS AI Suite III is an intuitive central hub that provides access to the vast majority of ASUS monitoring and control utilities on the Maximus VII HEro. The utility offers a thorough control for the TurboV Processing Unit (TPU), Energy Processing Unit (EPU) to enhance energy efficiency, DIGI+ Power Control for enhanced performance, increased efficiency and optimum reliability, and Fan Xpert3 for unrivalled customizable fan control, allowing you to supervise overclocking, energy consumption, fan speeds and voltages. These are the main features of 5-Way Optimization driven by Dual Intelligent Processors 5. Overall, the software worked perfectly in our testing.














Test Setup & OverClocking





To give you a taste of the ROG’s overclocking capabilities, we decided to investigate how far we could push the Maximus VII Hero with minimal tweaking. With 1.325v vCore supplied, I was able to get the motherboard running stable at a 4.6GHz CPU frequency and a 2666MHz memory speed. This overclock passed AIDA64 Stability Test for around 30 minutes without any error or thermal throttling. The maximum CPU core temperature recorded was 94°C.



With the 4.6GHz being our best overclock, we brought this clock speed into our benchmark tests in this review. At the same time, we picked a Samsung-based memory kit, the G.Skill TridentX rated at 2666MHz 10-12-12-25-1T, due to its performance efficiency along with the ASUS ROG Matrix R9-290X Platinum as our graphics card to handle the 3D benchmarks.

Synthetic Benchmarks





















This post has been edited by owikh84: Aug 11 2014, 06:57 PM

Storage Benchmarks

The 6Gbps SATA 3 performance on the ASUS Maximus VII Hero motherboard is strong and shows similarity as compared to other motherboards in the competition.










Game Benchmarks

The game benchmark settings are listed in the table below:


The game titles selected demand GPU power over CPU power therefore in each test the difference is negligible. We didn’t test the games with the integrated HD4600 graphics iGPU because we believe that nobody is going to use it for gaming especially with the ultra-high quality texture used on these modern game titles. Normally gamers will most likely add a dedicated graphics card for better gaming experience.






Memory OverClocking

Unlike the Maximus VII Gene which we have reviewed earlier, memory overclocking on the Maximus VII Hero is a bit tedious because of the absence of memory profiles. So you have to tweak the RAM timings manually by your own experience therefore it is not something that can be done within a few minutes. But I believe a good googling skill will get you some ideas on how to actually play with the memory overclocking. The first step is crucial, because you need to know what’s the IC being used in the memory sticks. Then push the memory speed and timing to desired frequencies as well as playing with the RAM voltage, System Agent voltage (VCCSA), digital and analog I/O voltages (VCCIO-d/ VCCIO-a). Provided that you have a good overclocking memory kit and a CPU with a strong Integrated Memory Controller (IMC), pretty sure that you won’t have any trouble overclocking the memory.

I could say that my experience on memory overclocking with the Maximus VII Hero was smooth. I had no problem getting the single-sided Hynix-MFR pushed to 3100MHz at 11-14-13-35-1T timing from 3000MHz 12-14-14-35-2T. Besides that, I managed to overclock the Samsung kit to 2800MHz 9-12-12-25-1T from 2666MHz 10-12-12-31-2T. Quite impressive and worth the time of doing research I’d say.

Hynix-MFR IC RAM: Apacer ARES 3000C12 2 X 4GB @ 3100MHz 11-14-13-35-1T


Samsung IC RAM: G.Skill TridentX 2666C10 2 X 4GB @ 2800MHz 9-12-12-25-1T

Thoughts & Verdicts



The ASUS Maximus VII Hero is a very good motherboard. Starting with the attractive appearance it will be a good choice for case modders thanks to the built-in lighting on the chipset heat sink and audio circuitry. In terms of build quality, ASUS implemented high quality components in pursuit for higher overclocking potential. Packed with strong 10-phase DIGI+ VRM power design and 10K Black Metallic Capacitors, the Maximus VII Hero certainly help you push the overclocking to its limit. To provide a pleasant gaming experience ASUS implemented the LANGuard network protection, GameFirst II network optimization, and in-game visualized Sonic Radar II detection. Besides that, it is also loaded with high quality SupremeFX II audio solution and KeyBot + TrueVolt USB Technology. So basically you will get everything that’s needed for gaming. For storage needs, you get plenty of SATA3 ports as well as the lightning-fast M.2 connector.

The included AI Suite III application worked perfectly to fine tune the overclocking. The polished UEFI BIOS is a paradise for overclockers thanks to its plethora of overclocking options. Although a bit clustered, the each of the BIOS options is described clearly on the bottom side of the BIOS interface. You might also read the included user’s manual to familiarize with the BIOS settings.

In terms of performance it is on a par with the competing models and we didn’t notice any significant difference comparing to other Z97 motherboards. In terms of overclocking performance, we would say that it was a breeze working with the Maximus VII Hero. With minimal tweaking applied we successfully overclocked our i7-4770K to 4.6GHz stable therefore boosting its performance to a higher level. On the memory overclocking aspect we’d say it was a bit difficult for newbies. The absence of memory profile preset requiring manual tweaking and experience.

All in all, ASUS delivered a good gaming-oriented motherboard and at the same time gave it plethora of overclocking features to boost its performance to the next level. Retailing at RM 919, the motherboard is not cheap, but certainly fairer than its elder brothers namely the Maximus VII Formula under the same ROG roof. To gamers out there, this is the motherboard that you have been looking for!

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

Pros:
+ Excellent overclocking performance
+ Attractive ROG’s red and black colour scheme
+ High quality components used
+ Nice board layout with good placement of primary PCIe slots
+ Quad-GPU SLI and CrossFireX support
+ High quality SupremeFX II audio solution
+ Included bunch of ROG featured accessories
+ AI Suite III helps in fine tuning the overclocking
+ Intelligent UEFI BIOS
+ Fast booting

Cons:
- Price could be lower
- No memory profile presets
- UEFI BIOS in Advanced Mode might not be so user friendly to some novice overclockers
- WiFi and Bluetooth module is not included, which prevent wireless connectivity
- No SATA Express port