ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero

Black Haru · Nov 6, 2020

The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero is a refresh of last year's award winning ROG Crosshair VIII Hero. With an even more powerful VRM, a sleek new look, and, most importantly, no chipset cooling fan, the ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero looks to be a worthy upgrade from last year's model.

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jsfitz54 · Nov 6, 2020

I just new you were from the midwest: accouterments

ac·cou·tre·ments

Object55 · Nov 6, 2020

Can't wait for these to show up in UK.

Nater · Nov 6, 2020

Anyone found these in stock anywhere?

Shou Miko · Nov 6, 2020

Nater said:
Anyone found these in stock anywhere?

Have it been released yet? Because some danish retails shows the 17-11-2020 for stock.

It's a good looking board but for £500 I think it's a bit overkill in price.

Dammeron · Nov 6, 2020

So x570 can be passively cooled and it doesn't need a big radiator on top...

Joe Harris · Nov 6, 2020

When will we be able to buy this board?

Shou Miko · Nov 6, 2020

Dammeron said:
So x570 can be passively cooled and it doesn't need a big radiator on top...

Lol you first realized this now?

Gigabyte was the first to release a X570 mobo that's passive cooled.

X570 Aorus Xtreme: https://www.gigabyte.com/uk/Motherboard/X570-AORUS-XTREME-rev-10#kf

Jism · Nov 6, 2020

Ditch the wireless and it'll be a very good board.

I had the X470-F which died with first it's NIC (intel) and later the complete board. However their bios is so extended that it's the best brand right now for going high-end Ryzen.

AKBrian · Nov 6, 2020

Your spec page seems to have incorrect information listed for the PCI Express slots - the board has the usual x16/x0 or x8/x8 split, with a single x1 and x4 slot provided via the chipset.

One other small bit - your overclocking and conclusion pages mention a 4.75GHz overclock, which seems both implausible for a 3900X as well as at odds with the 4,475MHz CPU-Z screenshot.

Great review, thanks!

Turmania · Nov 6, 2020

Times have changed, now motherboards costs more than the processor.

chris.london · Nov 6, 2020

I didn’t see it mentioned in this review, but according to der8auer there is a very interesting new OC-related setting in the BIOS called ‘Dynamic OC Switcher’. I didn’t see this setting on Nate’s screenshots, so maybe der8auer was running a special beta BIOS.

Anyway, it lets you set at what load the all-core OC should apply. This should allow you to have high boost clocks in low-threaded applications and high all core OC when you really need it. Check out the video on his youtube channel (it is the one from the 5th).

This seems like a pretty brilliant idea. I hope others will copy this new setting soon.

PlasticJesus · Nov 6, 2020

So besides the $1000 ASRock Aqua and $700 Gigabyte Aorus Extreme this is the first high end motherboard with a... somewhat... justifiable price and presumed availability (looking at you ASRock) for a passively cooled chipset. Besides the way over engineered VRMs, the passive cooling is one of the most unique and enticing parts of this board. However, no comparison on thermal design and efficiency of the heatsink was done here. Is this something that could be added to the review?

AKBrian · Nov 7, 2020

chris.london said:
I didn’t see it mentioned in this review, but according to der8auer there is a very interesting new OC-related setting in the BIOS called ‘Dynamic OC Switcher’. I didn’t see this setting on Nate’s screenshots, so maybe der8auer was running a special beta BIOS.

Anyway, it lets you set at what load the all-core OC should apply. This should allow you to have high boost clocks in low-threaded applications and high all core OC when you really need it. Check out the video on his youtube channel (it is the one from the 5th).

This seems like a pretty brilliant idea. I hope others will copy this new setting soon.

Yeah, that's partly why I was wondering about that portion of the review. The OC page made no mention of this, and the specific wording seemed to suggest it was a normal static overclock (something the CPU-Z screenshot also implied).

It's a great feature, but hopefully one that doesn't remain exclusive to that model (or Asus, even though it was a project by Stilt from what I recall).

AnarchoPrimitiv · Nov 7, 2020

Was anyone else really, really excited for this review UNTIL they saw it was done with Zen2? Why test a new board, sort of intended for Zen3 with Zen2? If timing of when you got the Zen3 CPUs was the issue, why not just wait? I think many could agree on quality over expediency.

srsbsns · Nov 7, 2020

Dynamic OC is a game changer for Ryzen. All core OC while allowing boost clocks to still work. Can't believe TPU missed this.

Tsukiyomi91 · Nov 7, 2020

Der8auer used this board for OCing the R9 5950X in his review video btw.

Dammeron · Nov 7, 2020

puma99dk| said:
Lol you first realized this now?

Gigabyte was the first to release a X570 mobo that's passive cooled.

X570 Aorus Xtreme: https://www.gigabyte.com/uk/Motherboard/X570-AORUS-XTREME-rev-10#kf

Oh, I knew this all too well from the beginning - anyone who managed to properly passively cool old nForce4 chipset should look at X570 and think "nah, this thing's too easy". Still, it didn't stop manufacturers from forcing little squekers on us.

Mpk85 · Nov 7, 2020

I see the board didn’t run the Samsung b-die at tighter timings but would it run CL14 3600mhz at xmp?

asdkj1740 · Nov 7, 2020

interestingly after the second generation rtl8125b (b450m tuf pro s used this) and rtl8125bg is out, asus still uses the original first gen rtl8125 on this latest x570.
some said the first gen rtl8125 has some bugs like packet loss/stuttering, which are fixed on the second gen B/BG edition.

Lowest Power Consumption 2.5G Ethernet Solutions (RTL8125B/RTL8156B/RTL8226B)
Realtek’s 2nd Generation 2.5G Ethernet solutions are the lowest power consumption (<700mW) and smallest package size (6mmx6mm) 2.5G Ethernet products in the world. They cover all application needs with the three most common interfaces PCIe (RTL8125B), USB (RTL8156B), 2500BaseX/HSGMII (RTL8226B). They are the ideal 2.5G Ethernet upgrade choices for Gaming NB/PC, Workstation, NAS, Docking, Dongle, 5G CPE, and Enterprise AP products.

Realtek to Demonstrate Full Range of Connectivity, Multimedia, and Consumer Electronics Solutions at 2020 CES - REALTEK

www.realtek.com

Sickysickybrah · Nov 7, 2020

How many front usb interfaces will this have? Will it be able to support all front ports on the lian li 011d xl (four usb 3 and one usb 3.2 type c)?

k_c · Nov 7, 2020

hello!

I ordered the asus rog hero viii wifi for a new 5950 build. I dont mind the internal cooling fan but what I am supposedly loosing with the power phases from 60A to 90A compared to the "dark" refresh

I am not planning to OC but I know that the processor can run some cores around 4.9ghz on heavy workloads.

Thanks in advance

JayFiveAlive · Nov 7, 2020

k_c said:
hello!

I ordered the asus rog hero viii wifi for a new 5950 build. I dont mind the internal cooling fan but what I am supposedly loosing with the power phases from 60A to 90A compared to the "dark" refresh

I am not planning to OC but I know that the processor can run some cores around 4.9ghz on heavy workloads.

Thanks in advance

You are not losing out on anything with the power phases, especially since you aren't OCing. The Hero is plenty fine (and overkill to a lot of people).

windwhirl · Nov 7, 2020

The board is just exquisite.

Sickysickybrah said:
How many front usb interfaces will this have? Will it be able to support all front ports on the lian li 011d xl (four usb 3 and one usb 3.2 type c)?

Check storage interfaces