ASUS Maximus V Gene Intel Z77 Express LGA 1155 Review 65

ASUS Maximus V Gene Intel Z77 Express LGA 1155 Review

(65 Comments) »

Value & Conclusion

  • The ASUS Maximus V Gene is available right now at your favorite retailer, with an MRSP of $219.99.
  • Packed with added features and options not seen on some other products in the same price range.
  • Clean and simple color-themed layout.
  • Fully functional AMI UEFI BIOS, including mouse support and support for 3 TB+ drives.
  • Full functionality of an ATX board, shrunk down to mATX size.
  • One of the most diverse and most functional overclocking BIOSes to date.
  • Highest tested overclock performance efficiency.
  • Excellent audio performance.
  • Free added performance with custom Turbo profile, without pushing up power consumption noticibly.
  • One of the most versatile "SmartFan" implementations yet.
  • One of the biggest software packages in the industry.
  • Low SATA performance numbers
  • Add-on mPCIE card retention mechanism questionable
  • Relatively high price
  • Limited temperature monitoring
  • Software installation immediately offers install of Google Chrome, and nothing else without a few clicks, and no easy directions.
There's not much left for me to say about the ASUS Maximus V Gene. Its overclock performance is second to none, has one of the best software packages, it is ready for gamers and extreme clockers alike, uses relatively tight voltage regulation, allowing for lower voltages to be used when overclocking, has all the features of a full ATX product, yet it is all smushed into a smaller mATX form-factor. I do not like the add-on mPCIe card, at all, and have issues recommending it to users, but I don't see many users actually making use of it anyway, although personally, I will not build an Intel Z77 Express system without an mSATA drive. There are clearly a couple of things that I have an issue with that prevented it from getting a perfect score, like that mSATA retention clip, a few details in BIOS, and the underwhelming SATA performance, but none of those things came in the way of the performance numbers, which were the best ever in nearly every situation. Unfortunately, there's one more detail I must mention.
The ASUS Maximus V Gene is pretty expensive. For the cost, you can get a full ATX product with very similar features, and there are even a few out there that bundle WiFi and Bluetooth, something this product lacks. Be that as it may though, if performance is priority number one for you, or you're interested in using LN2 cooling, there's no better product than the ASUS Maximus V Gene, and the slightly elevated cost should pose no barrier. It's so good, in fact, that W1zzard is using it in his VGA test rig and you'll find it used as the basis for our upcoming memory reviews as well. I'm a bit disappointed to find that the "TPU" logo that ASUS and TechPowerUp share is not on this product either, but clearly if it serves as the base for some of our test rigs here on TPU, the ASUS Maximus V Gene has proven itself as a stellar product. It scores very high, as it's going to be very hard for any other product to match. Don't forget to hit us up on the forums, and tell us what you think!
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Nov 22nd, 2024 00:02 EST change timezone

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