Introduction

ASUS severely shook up their ROG product line with the launch of Intel's Haswell and Z87; new SKUs were introduced while old ones were re-hashed in ways most of us just didn't expect. ASUS's last HERO swung into action to save the day with Z87, but now that we have Z97 out on store shelves, we've also have a new HERO, the ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO.

The ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO has a long-standing tradition to live up to, and while the first Hero board did well, it did have a few shortcomings and might have been overshadowed by some of the other new ROG boards, like the IMPACT. What an apt name that is too, IMPACT, as that board definitely made its mark on the OC scene. So who exactly did the HERO save?

I think people may overlook something with ASUS's HERO SKU. The idea of who it's suppose to champion may not be immediately obvious unless you know some of the OC scene's past history and ASUS's ROG branding. Like with the IMPACT, many users requested that ASUS release a trimmed down board, stripped of the features that were not needed while still packing all the awesome engineering ASUS is known for. To me, that is this HERO's main purpose. Capable of much, but much cheaper than HEROs of the past, the EXTREME, GENE, and FORMULA, it is to provide a decent and affordable platform to push performance limits on.

Specifications