ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO (Intel LGA 1150)

[cadaveca]

ASUS pushes the limits with its ROG branding by unleashing yet another HERO onto the battlefield to save the day. Built with ASUS ROG technology from top to bottom, the ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO just might be that new flashy board you buy.

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[The Von Matrices]

It's red and black. It has ASUS ROG branding on it. Otherwise, it doesn't really offer that much.

I couldn't have summarized it better myself. The only question I have is why did the Maximus VI Hero not get the same comment even though it's basically the same board as this one? Is it just because the VII is more expensive than the VI?

 

[cadaveca]

I couldn't have summarized it better myself. The only question I have is why did the Maximus VI Hero not get the same comment even though it's basically the same board as this one? Is it just because the VII is more expensive than the VI?

No, because of the RANGER.

 

[RazrLeaf]

You review states that the board is $250, and needs to be $30-40 cheaper to be competitive on the current market, yet the prices I see on the US market are all ~$210 (Amazon, Newegg, and NCIX).

 

[cadaveca]

You review states that the board is $250, and needs to be $30-40 cheaper to be competitive on the current market, yet the prices I see on the US market are all ~$210 (Amazon, Newegg, and NCIX).

prices change. it's still 250 @ newegg.ca Seems ASUS is on the ball here then, and that that comment was accurate, no?

Like, thanks for proving me right....

j/k.

 

[RazrLeaf]

prices change. it's still 250 @ newegg.ca Seems ASUS is on the ball here then, and that that comment was accurate, no?

Like, thanks for proving me right....

j/k.

so what's your opinion on the hero at $210? Worthy of consideration/purchase?

 

[The Quim Reaper]

Well I'm happy with it...
it gets my 4690K up to 4.8Ghz stable on 1.25vlts...a single auto tune click in the BIOS raised it to 4.5GHZ and a couple of extra clicks with the desktop tuning software gets it to 4.8Ghz:

Maybe a cheaper board could have done it, maybe not, or maybe I just got lucky with this chip, either way I can't complain.

The tweaking options in the BIOS are pretty incredible and as comprehensive as you could wish for, the on-board sound is true discrete card quality and the LED's look fantastic in my Corsair 450D with it's tinted window.??

For me, it's been worth every penny, and I know it's a board that will last at least 2yrs and get every ounce of performance out of the Broadwell CPU that I will upgrade to in 2015.
You pays your money and takes your choice.

 

[RioGamer]

that board in my country cost about 355usd much2 expensive than msi z97 mpower max cost about 325usd with more bundling & accesories

 

[cadaveca]

so what's your opinion on the hero at $210? Worthy of consideration/purchase?

Yeah, I mean, it works great... graphs speak for themselves. I didn't tune the BIOS at all, just a couple of clicks for voltage, and that's all. You might get similar from the RANGER, but of slightly lesser quality since that board does have cost-optimized parts used, so that product being out there kind of makes the HERO feel like a new "FORMULA", but without the cover and VRM cooling capable of supporting watercooling. SO I guess the $250 local price seems pretty fair.

For me personally, I need more GPU support or less "board".

 

[chodaboy19]

Are they leaving the memory OC profiles to the most expensive ROG boards?

 

[cadaveca]

yep, that was the story with Z87 as well.

 

[Deleted member 138597]

What do you think, is the SupremeFX capable enough to kick out a discrete sound card, what ASUS claims to? And does MSI Gaming 5 or ASRock Z97X-Killer outperforms the Maximus VII Hero? It was said there that the reviewer was in haste reviewing the Gaming 5.

 

[cadaveca]

What do you think, is the SupremeFX capable enough to kick out a discrete sound card, what ASUS claims to? And does MSI Gaming 5 or ASRock Z97X-Killer outperforms the Maximus VII Hero? It was said there that the reviewer was in haste reviewing the Gaming 5.

All these boards have fairly decent audio, so much so that I do not feel users purchasing in this price segment need an additional audio card, unless they are specifically looking for audiophile-level capabilities.

Honestly, audio performance across these products you listed is pretty subjective. I do have results from RMAA in each review that should allow you to make a general comparison, but at the same time, differences between headphones or speakers used can make any comments I make about who is better rather irrelevant. Also, each brand does have higher-quality board products that do have more sophisticated audio designs that do seem to beat out what's provided by the boards you have mentioned. That in and of itself is part of the reason you pay more for these other boards, along with other improvements in various areas.

 

[Deleted member 138597]

I've seen the Fatal1ty Z97X Killer review of yours and you expected a thunderbolt port from it. Boards of this class don't usually come with such ports and to my opinion, it seemed quite over-expecting. Moreover, SATA Express are quite useless right now since there are little SATA Express drives in the market.

I was disappointed too seeing such performance of the Hero, I expected more of it, and of Z97X-Killer too. However, considering the features and looks, I found Hero to serve the best and comes with gaming look. I don't mean to hurt your feelings because of it being subjective, but I didn't like either of MSI Gaming 5 and Z97X Killer's looks. Gaming 5 have a very skinny heatsink which isn't appealing and Killer have a brick-like blocks with carved-out writing on it. However, don't get me wrong as a ROG or Asus fan because I have a ROG profile picture. I am standing impartial, and I go for the best, regardless of the brand.

Anyway, just want to know if the Maximus VII Ranger review is imminent. I saw great ratings on this board, and waiting to be compared with these boards. After all, benchmarks vary on test setups, therefore, better to be on the same base.

Thanks again for your kind reply.

 

[cadaveca]

I've seen the Fatal1ty Z97X Killer review of yours and you expected a thunderbolt port from it. Boards of this class don't usually come with such ports and to my opinion, it seemed quite over-expecting. Moreover, SATA Express are quite useless right now since there are little SATA Express drives in the market.

Yeah, for end user, SATA Express is useless, since you cannot buy drives yet. But I have one of my own, and although M.2 can be fast and is available, the lack of easy drive swapping from system to system is something that M.2 lacks that SATA Express has over it.

Esthetics...you are right. Completely subjective. What appeals to me in this regard is something new, and functional. Small heatsinks are fine if they work OK.

Anyway, about Thunderbolt, since this is part of the platform, I would like to see ALL BOARDS have it. Let me tell you something... Z97 isn't really a new chipset. It's a new design using the same old Z87 chipset. So these "smaller" features are things I would like to be brought forward. The addition of M.2, power design changes, and esthetics are fine and dandy... but over and above Z87, Z97 doesn't offer much. Thunderbolt is something I'd like to see, but it missing doesn't affect scoring.

I do not have Ranger in my possession yet; I just received the VII FORMULA a few days ago, so that will be one of the next ASUS products I review.. although I do have the Z97-A to be published first.

 

[Deleted member 138597]

Yes I agree, since Z77, there isn't much of a change in the later chipsets.

I am very, very eagerly waiting for a review on Maximus VII Formula and I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that news. Let's just say, I am expecting much from this red devil.

If you don't mind, I'd suggest few benchmarks and scoring improvements to be added in the reviews of high-end motherboards (for scoring improvements, any reviews). We hear a lot about motherboards supporting 3000+ MHz of RAM, so I would love to see how these boards really perform in XMP, above 2400MHz. Along with that, add frame rate benchmarks and frame-time variance on latest games, including the Watch Dogs and few hardware intensive applications. About that scoring, I see scoring on individual categories to be more "speaking" and averaging them than drawing the total score at once. For example, 9.0 is average, but it doesn't strongly tell how well a product is in aesthetics, performance or in other categories, individually.

I hope you will do your best, which is what we people believe, to review as perfectly and as detailed as possible. Good luck with your reviews.

 

[Kira]

Yes I agree, since Z77, there isn't much of a change in the later chipsets.

Hi

I shall add that since Z68, the evolutions are ridiculous whether it is on motherboards & CPU
Thus as long as they won't make the truths change instead of laughing at people for 3 years, I shall keep my I7 2700K almost so powerful as one 4790K
In brief would need to stop the pissing around and to bring out us of real evolutions in everything instead of thinking only of business

See you

 

[Palladium]

If I want to spend ~$350 on a CPU and mobo I would get a 4790K with a ~$50 mobo...You ain't fooling me Asus with gaudy branding nor is an uncertain, overkill and cost of a expensive aftermarker cooler for a 800MHz OC worth the extra ~$200 for a mobo alone.

Heck even the audio measurements are pretty irrelevant since virtually all the time you want to concentrate on the speaker/headphone quality to improve the sound and if you want to go all out audiophile you won't be touching integrated audio anyway.