# ASUS MAXIMUS VI EXTREME (Intel LGA 1150)



## cadaveca (Sep 5, 2013)

Not everyone needs a board built to push the limits of what is possible with up-to-date silicon, but I and many other enthusiasts most definitely do. Achieving records requires a special board, and ASUS's MAXIMUS VI EXTREME is that board. Is it EXTREME?

*Show full review*


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## erixx (Sep 5, 2013)

Good review, as usual!
So no Thunderbold. Well I have on the MVE, but no use for it so far... Will new USB4 or HDMI3 put it aside?
Anyway, I am not going to upgrade this generation, but love the ROG evolution each step.
Dave, anything you can say about AI Suite 3 for the previous gen of ROG boards? Looks sooo good!


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## GSquadron (Sep 5, 2013)

I don't understand this: "Color scheme used may not appeal to all"


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## AlienIsGOD (Sep 5, 2013)

Aleksander said:


> I don't understand this: "Color scheme used may not appeal to all"



whats not to understand?  some ppl like thier components to be of a certain color scheme and the red and black may not suit that


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## d1nky (Sep 5, 2013)

Aleksander said:


> I don't understand this: "Color scheme used may not appeal to all"





AlienIsGOD said:


> whats not to understand?  some ppl like thier components to be of a certain color scheme and the red and black may not suit that



I thought red and black was ROG?!

my understanding is when you buy rog stuff you get red/black and theres no changing that, so I see the question.. or why the first statement/quote has meaning


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## GSquadron (Sep 5, 2013)

AlienIsGOD said:


> whats not to understand?  some ppl like thier components to be of a certain color scheme and the red and black may not suit that



If red and black may not suit for all, than all kind of color combinations may not suit for all.


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## AlienIsGOD (Sep 5, 2013)

Aleksander said:


> If red and black may not suit for all, than all kind of color combinations may not suit for all.



to each their own   i personally dont care about color as none of my cases have side windows, board features are more important to me.  But you have been here long enough to have seen other forum members pc's, color scheme goes along way in some of those builds for eye pleasing aesthetics.


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## erixx (Sep 5, 2013)

and we laugh at girlz shopping cloths


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## TheMailMan78 (Sep 5, 2013)

I only tend to read reviews when I am looking to buy something. However I am gonna miss your reviews when you "retire" here soon. I told you that "in person" before but I wanted to pay my homage to one of the best reviewers I have read publicly.........in the gayest way.........not that there is anything wrong with that.


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## Sasqui (Sep 5, 2013)

TheMailMan78 said:


> I only tend to read reviews when I am looking to buy something. However I am gonna miss your reviews when you "retire" here soon. I told you that "in person" before but I wanted to pay my homage to one of the best reviewers I have read publicly.........in the gayest way.........not that there is anything wrong with that.



  And did you change your avatar just to post that?

And yes, great review.  Makes me want to spend 3x what I did on my MB upgrade, but I'm still happy with what I got.


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## radrok (Sep 5, 2013)

Very extensive and thorough.  

There's no doubt that the MVIE is the best z87 board for extreme over clocking but as far as it goes in my experience I'd never recommend an extreme rog board for 24/7 non subzero overclocks. 

Any good midrange board is capable to max an ambient cooled Haswell CPU overclock and we've got proof in the GD65 gaming and MVIHero.

I would say that the entry-level point to justify this board is single stage. 

thank you Dave


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## ZeroFM (Sep 5, 2013)

100$ or 400$ but same OC ...


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## Random Murderer (Sep 5, 2013)

cadaveca said:


> Sliding the gray panel off of the top allows you to access the real functionality provided by the ROG OC Panel. Inside are switches to control boot modes, GPU voltage mod points for ASUS GPU VTweak-enabled cards (most modern ASUS Direct CU II and MATRIX cards), the four 4-pin PWM-based fan headers I mentioned earlier, *and a few goodies to help repair commonly damaged components.*



Care to elaborate?


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## cadaveca (Sep 5, 2013)

ZeroFM said:


> 100$ or 400$ but same OC ...



Perhaps, but not with the same ease. Also, cheaper boards will run hotter, requiring more cooling. ASUS was up-front with saying that for 24/7 use, all their boards should clock comparatively, but cooling needed would differ, and my findings do correlate.



Random Murderer said:


> Care to elaborate?



Sure.

Pic from my review guide:




ASUS]Extra 150ohm 0402 resistors for you to perform Hotwire mods said:


> I would say that the entry-level point to justify this board is single stage.



Kind of, but also, multi GPU with three or more cards on Z87 should use PLX chip, or for users with RAID cards. As a multi-monitor user, this is something that is not possible on "regular" boards, which only really support two cards (three with Crossfire).


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## hckngrtfakt (Sep 5, 2013)

Whoa !! Awesome review 

I was on the line between purchasing this board or the Hero VI, and while the comparison charts show their performance to be very in par, the OC'ability on this one definitely sold me.
(can't wait to try the ROG RAMDISK)  

My only issue is the external antenna, .... why would asus insist on bundling an ugly bulky piece of plastic and not just a couple of 6dbi antennas ???    :shadedshu
(at least is not the same ugly round pieces of white plastic that came bundled with the MVE)


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## cadaveca (Sep 5, 2013)

I actually like this antenna. I spent some time with this system set up in my garage, and this antenna does work better than the past ones, giving me better signal strength form my router that sits in my basement. My laptop and wife's phone cannot get signal where this antenna does, for whatever reason.


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## hckngrtfakt (Sep 5, 2013)

cadaveca said:


> I actually like this antenna. I spent some time with this system set up in my garage, and this antenna does work better than the past ones, giving me better signal strength form my router that sits in my basement. My laptop and wife's phone cannot get signal where this antenna does, for whatever reason.




You get better signal because this appears to be a 6dbi (semi-booster) antenna, while the previous ones (the white one) was a mere 2dbi (most laptops and phones come with variants of 2dbi antennas, since the 6dbi ones consume far more power)

My solution (rather CHEAP i may add)
was to buy a couple of 2dbi ones which quite frankly, do a great "range" job


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## Sabishii Hito (Sep 5, 2013)

This board is an absolute pain to try to clock Hynix CFR memory on.


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## d1nky (Sep 5, 2013)

how come they didn't go with the hybrid vrm cooling or is that on something else completely?


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## cadaveca (Sep 5, 2013)

Sabishii Hito said:


> This board is an absolute pain to try to clock Hynix CFR memory on.



No problems here, ran 2933 MHz 12-14-14-35 @ 1.65 V with CFR. Most likely you need to try different BIOS.

Also, set tWCL @ 10, that opens up the MHz above 2666.



d1nky said:


> how come they didn't go with the hybrid vrm cooling or is that on something else completely?





That's on the Formula, which I'll cover relatively soon.


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## Fourstaff (Sep 5, 2013)

ZeroFM said:


> 100$ or 400$ but same OC ...



A Ford Focus will bring you up to the national speed limit in no time but a lot of people lust after a Ferrari because ...


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## radrok (Sep 5, 2013)

Fourstaff said:


> A Ford Focus will bring you up to the national speed limit in no time but a lot of people lust after a Ferrari because ...



 Please do not compare Ferraris to hardware,  they'll never be comparable. 

Car analogies do not fit to hardware in any way IMHO.


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## Sabishii Hito (Sep 5, 2013)

cadaveca said:


> No problems here, ran 2933 MHz 12-14-14-35 @ 1.65 V with CFR. Most likely you need to try different BIOS.
> 
> Also, set tWCL @ 10, that opens up the MHz above 2666.
> 
> ...



I tried just about every BIOS the board has, eventually gave up and took it back.  Gigabyte OC series are the easiest to clock CFR and double-sided MFR on in my experience.


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## Random Murderer (Sep 5, 2013)

radrok said:


> Car analogies do not fit to hardware in any way IMHO.



Then you've obviously never rebuilt an engine, lol.


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## radrok (Sep 5, 2013)

Random Murderer said:


> Then you've obviously never rebuilt an engine, lol.



If you do not count the many times I've put my hands into my JCW Mini Cooper then no. 

Anyway a sports car can't be compared to hardware you change basically every year. Atleast in my opinion


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## Ikaruga (Sep 5, 2013)

Thanks for the review.

ps.: Also thanks for the _"Huge amount of options can be overwhelming"_ line, it made me smile


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## GC_PaNzerFIN (Sep 5, 2013)

ASUS always makes best highend motherboards. I am waiting for ton of Z87 ROG love. I love my new job


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## The Von Matrices (Sep 6, 2013)

I don't quite understand the desirability of the entire ASUS ROG line.  Each one of their models (except maybe this one) have competitors offering comparable feature sets for $40-$80 less.  I don't see their software and BIOS as worth that much, especially considering that with Haswell and even with slightly older processors the motherboard is one of the least important factors in overclocking.


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## Sabishii Hito (Sep 6, 2013)

The Von Matrices said:


> I don't quite understand the desirability of the entire ASUS ROG line.  Each one of their models (except maybe this one) have competitors offering comparable feature sets for $40-$80 less.  I don't see their software and BIOS as worth that much, especially considering that with Haswell and even with slightly older processors the motherboard is one of the least important factors in overclocking.



That's true with this generation, but with previous platforms the ROG series were overall best.  The Rampage IV Extreme is to date the best X79 motherboard, for example.


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## GC_PaNzerFIN (Sep 6, 2013)

The Von Matrices said:


> I don't quite understand the desirability of the entire ASUS ROG line.  Each one of their models (except maybe this one) have competitors offering comparable feature sets for $40-$80 less.  I don't see their software and BIOS as worth that much, especially considering that with Haswell and even with slightly older processors the motherboard is one of the least important factors in overclocking.



No competition with ITX Impact. No competition with Extreme. Practically no price difference with Gene compared to similar boards. 

Only board that seems obviously off is Hero. Too much competition at +200e with cut out ROG features. Gene is better buy.


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## cadaveca (Sep 6, 2013)

The Von Matrices said:


> motherboard is one of the least important factors in overclocking.



CPU core clocking, sure. Memory clocking? 1000% still about the board/BIOS.

People don't buy motherboards just simply to OC with...probably 50% of the questions I get via PM and email are about running stock.

So, part compatibility, build quality, BIOS, drive controllers, slot layout, power consumed, memory overclocking...all changes form board to board, and these are things that the ASUS ROG line excels at. DO other obards do just as good of a job? Sure. Have I tested them yet? Nope. 12 models of Z87 boards fully tested(not all reviews posted yet), OC'd, and 4 dead now, Maximus VI Extreme has been the best by far.


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## The Von Matrices (Sep 6, 2013)

cadaveca said:


> CPU core clocking, sure. Memory clocking? 1000% still about the board/BIOS.
> 
> People don't buy motherboards just simply to OC with...probably 50% of the questions I get via PM and email are about running stock.
> 
> So, part compatibility, build quality, BIOS, drive controllers, slot layout, power consumed, memory overclocking...all changes form board to board, and these are things that the ASUS ROG line excels at. DO other obards do just as good of a job? Sure. Have I tested them yet? Nope. 12 models of Z87 boards fully tested(not all reviews posted yet), OC'd, and 4 dead now, Maximus VI Extreme has been the best by far.



I am looking forward to those reviews.  I am curious to see the comparison.


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## cadaveca (Sep 6, 2013)

The Von Matrices said:


> I am looking forward to those reviews. I am curious to see the comparison.



Most are posted already, so numbers, at least, are already in this very review. Next board to go up will likely be the ECS GANK MACHINE, and then another ASUS product, but I've also got a Crucial memory review that I'll be finishing up this weekend while I run the benchmarks to get numbers for the ECS board.

The Gigabyte Z87-UD3H is reviewed recently is my choice for a "budget" board right now. This ASUS MAXIMUS VI EXTREME is my choice for high-end memory OC/OCing in general.


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## Sabishii Hito (Sep 6, 2013)

cadaveca said:


> CPU core clocking, sure. Memory clocking? 1000% still about the board/BIOS.
> 
> People don't buy motherboards just simply to OC with...probably 50% of the questions I get via PM and email are about running stock.
> 
> So, part compatibility, build quality, BIOS, drive controllers, slot layout, power consumed, memory overclocking...all changes form board to board, and these are things that the ASUS ROG line excels at. DO other obards do just as good of a job? Sure. Have I tested them yet? Nope. 12 models of Z87 boards fully tested(not all reviews posted yet), OC'd, and 4 dead now, Maximus VI Extreme has been the best by far.



You found the M6E to be better than the Gigabyte OC?  That certainly doesn't correspond to my personal experience with it vs the OC Force at least.  I can easily run 4x4GB double-sided Hynix CFR sticks or even 4x8GB MFR at DDR3-3000 C12 with just setting primary timings and volts.  The M6E was a pain and I only got it do that once after an entire afternoon of fiddling with Swizzling Bits, MRC Fast Boot, profiles,etc in addition to voltage.  It was so frustrating I took it back to the store.


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## cadaveca (Sep 6, 2013)

Sabishii Hito said:


> OC Force at least



OC FORCE and X-OC aren't the same. Gigabyte sent me the Sniper5 instead of OC Force.

My X-OC review is HERE

X-OC I reviewed early, and it hated MFRs. I had 2933 MHZ G.Skill ram to run for this platform for testing, but the board didn't like it, and I had to get reviews done.


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## Sabishii Hito (Sep 6, 2013)

If anything the regular Z87X OC should be better since Gigabyte is focusing more on it in terms of memory options with the X0 UEFI updates.


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## cadaveca (Sep 6, 2013)

Sabishii Hito said:


> If anything the regular Z87X OC should be better since Gigabyte is focusing more on it in terms of memory options with the X0 UEFI updates.



As I said above, I reviewed the X-OC early, and BIOSes were not quite mature enough for me.


I had the MAXIMUS VI and the X-OC both before the platform launched, and the ASUS worked where the X-OC did not. The whole reason that board took a few weeks for me to finish with was BIOS problematic, so I stated in the conclusion:



> This board simply does not cater to all users, and it does seem weird to have a board with so many fully sized PCIe x16 slots and no Tri- or Quad-SLI support, leaving me with the nagging impression that it is only half as capable as it could be.



And it got an 8.6 score, which is an OK score, but far from what it could have been, and might be, today. It's been a few months, really, since I played with that board, and it is most definitely possible that BIOS updates would completely change my opinion.


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## Sabishii Hito (Sep 6, 2013)

I see.  Well hopefully you'll get to check out the Force.


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## 15th Warlock (Sep 7, 2013)

Thanks for the exhaustive review Dave, it was a very interesting read.

I was wondering what Asus had in store for this generation, and have been patiently waiting for your review  I see they didn't disappoint.

I'm waiting for their RVIE offering hopefully next year, (done with upgrades for the rest of 2013) I still have my MIVE and RIVE boards in use, and the quality of those boards is amazing, and like you said, no other manufacturer beats them in terms of sheer stability, I'm glad to see Asus is still at the top of their game.


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## GC_PaNzerFIN (Sep 7, 2013)

cadaveca said:


> Most are posted already, so numbers, at least, are already in this very review. Next board to go up will likely be the ECS GANK MACHINE, and then another ASUS product, but I've also got a Crucial memory review that I'll be finishing up this weekend while I run the benchmarks to get numbers for the ECS board.
> 
> The Gigabyte Z87-UD3H is reviewed recently is my choice for a "budget" board right now. This ASUS MAXIMUS VI EXTREME is my choice for high-end memory OC/OCing in general.



One more very interesting product is Maximus VI Impact from Asus. By any chance you going to take a look at it at some point? 

I am testing/reviewing the Impact, Formula and Extreme now so for me it doesn't matter so much but anyway many people would be interested to hear your thoughts on that board in English (I write my native language).


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## cadaveca (Sep 7, 2013)

GC_PaNzerFIN said:


> One more very interesting product is Maximus VI Impact from Asus. By any chance you going to take a look at it at some point?
> 
> I am testing/reviewing the Impact, Formula and Extreme now so for me it doesn't matter so much but anyway many people would be interested to hear your thoughts on that board in English (I write my native language).



Yep, I have FORMULA, GENE and IMPACT here, as well as the other mITX the P87I-PRO, the Z87-A, and the SABERTOOTH still to review. And that's just the ASUS boards.... I have enough boards that if I do one review a week, I'll be busy until next year.  I need to hire someone.


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## Nabarun (Sep 8, 2013)

cadaveca said:


> Yep, I have FORMULA, GENE and IMPACT here, as well as the other mITX the P87I-PRO, the Z87-A, and the SABERTOOTH still to review. And that's just the ASUS boards.... I have enough boards that if I do one review a week, I'll be busy until next year.  I need to hire someone.



So no Z87-Pro, huh? 

BTW, I don't understand how the audio on the extreme can be inferior to that on the hero. Both have the same codec, but JJ told me that the hero has the least expensive implementation among these ROGs. So how on earth...???


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## Ed_1 (Sep 8, 2013)

Nabarun said:


> So no Z87-Pro, huh?
> 
> BTW, I don't understand how the audio on the extreme can be inferior to that on the hero. Both have the same codec, but JJ told me that the hero has the least expensive implementation among these ROGs. So how on earth...???



If you go to Asus site both hero and extreme don't have the better sound features of other ROG MB , like Formula  , with extreme having less audio features , even of hero (has ELNA® premium audio capacitors) .

Formula
Cirrus Logic® CS4398 DAC: 120 dB SNR, -107 dB THD+N (Max. 192 kHz/ 24 -bit)
- TI 6120A2 high fidelity headphone amplifier
- WIMA® film capacitors
- ELNA® premium audio capacitors
- High-fidelity audio OP AMP(s)

While I like many of features of ROG MB, the price always get me . I end up getting something like V Pro which is well rounded , lacks many advanced features but does good enough on features for price point IMO .
Running a P8Z77v Pro now with 3570k , so far seem very good .


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## Nabarun (Sep 8, 2013)

Ed_1 said:


> If you go to Asus site both hero and extreme don't have the better sound features of other ROG MB , like Formula  , with extreme having less audio features , even of hero (has ELNA® premium audio capacitors) .
> 
> Formula
> Cirrus Logic® CS4398 DAC: 120 dB SNR, -107 dB THD+N (Max. 192 kHz/ 24 -bit)
> ...



Thanks. I never really checked out the Extreme's details that minutely...  Now I see I haven't missed out much 
In here the Pro and Hero are priced almost the same, and I just can't seem to make up my mind. (WiFi + BT) or (10K-rated-caps + SLIGHTLY better audio)? 

Edit: 100th post! Yey!


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## Ed_1 (Sep 8, 2013)

Nabarun said:


> So no Z87-Pro, huh?
> 
> BTW, I don't understand how the audio on the extreme can be inferior to that on the hero. Both have the same codec, but JJ told me that the hero has the least expensive implementation among these ROGs. So how on earth...???


Yes, Hero has nice feature vers price factor .
If there was a Z77 one I might of picked that one .


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## Nabarun (Sep 8, 2013)

Ed_1 said:


> Yes, Hero has nice feature vers price factor .
> If there was a Z77 one I might of picked that one .



You quoted the wrong post 
Anyway, if the Pro and Hero are priced almost the same, would you recommend the Hero then?


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## Ed_1 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yes, my bad on post reply .
Ok, looking at features the Pro has one more PCI-e 1x slot so for me that is not enough to not go Hero as it has decent PCI-e support .

I see Asus changed things across models , like my V pro has Wifi support and neither Pro or Hero do .

You have to look at feature here and pick whats important to you .
For me even though I am not hardcore OC, i like many of features of ROG line . I never had one so don't know how much better the audio is for example . 
I have no complaints with audio on the P8Z77v pro . you just have to prioritize what features are available per model and pick best for your price point .

Edit: I just noticed the ROG have 8+2 power phases , while the Pro has 12+2 power phases , not sure why that is or even how they compare power and ripple wise .


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## Nabarun (Sep 8, 2013)

Ed_1 said:


> Ok, looking at features the Pro has one more PCI-e 1x slot so for me that is not enough to not go Hero as it has decent PCI-e support .
> 
> I see Asus changed things across models , like my V pro has Wifi support and neither Pro or Hero do .
> 
> ...



The Z87 Pro DOES have wifi & BT. Both are capable in terms of PCIe. Both do SLI. The ONLY difference that matters to me is that the Pro comes with wifi+BT, but the Hero has somewhat better audio and better capacitors.


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## Ed_1 (Sep 8, 2013)

Ok, I was looking at V pro , your looking at Z87i Pro .

Yes, I ended up disabling the wifi on my MB anyway , as I don't need it .


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## Nabarun (Sep 8, 2013)

Ed_1 said:


> Ok, I was looking at V pro , *your looking at Z87i Pro* .



No. I'm talking about the Asus Z87-Pro --- *ATX* motherboard.
I don't "need" wifi either, but sure is a nice thing to have anyway.


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## Ed_1 (Sep 8, 2013)

Nabarun said:


> No. I'm talking about the Asus Z87-Pro --- *ATX* motherboard.
> I don't "need" wifi either, but sure is a nice thing to have anyway.



Ok, but it doesn't have wifi , 

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z87PROV_EDITION/#overview

Edit: forget above comment, I didn't see Z87 pro , was on second page 

Anyway I agree with you on feature, I would probably go hero if I was buying for 1150 .


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## H82LUZ73 (Sep 12, 2013)

Awesome review Dave.. had a tech wood until i seen the $399 price tag. out of my price range.Any chance in some of the new AMD AM3+ boards? maybe one of them is in my price range.


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## Nabarun (Sep 12, 2013)

Ed_1 said:


> Ok, but it doesn't have wifi ,
> 
> http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z87PROV_EDITION/#overview
> 
> ...



I ordered the Hero. In an unbelievable gesture, god made the Hero a LOT cheaper than even the Pro, here in an online store, and I grabbed the opportunity...


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## Ed_1 (Sep 12, 2013)

Question for anyone . What does memory training mean . 
I see it mentioned on many ROG Z77/Z87 MB . I know it has to do with MB optimizing timing during boot but how does that affect when you manually enter timings .

I Googled it but didn't really find answer .
Is it something that happens on all memory settings (auto, manual, XMP ) and what timings is it adjusting .


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## Sabishii Hito (Sep 17, 2013)

From what I can gather, and based on my own personal experience, it seems to affect round-trip latency and IO latency which can have a major impact on performance and stability.


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## Sabishii Hito (Sep 25, 2013)

On a somewhat related note, I got the Formula and am finding it much easier to clock CFR-based memory on past 2800MHz than the Extreme, in fact it's my favorite Z87 board now since it seems to strike a good balance between ease of high memory clocks from the Gigabyte OC with the efficiency and tuning of the Asrock OC Formula.


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