Introduction

ASUS is a big name in the hardware industry. The ASUS Republic of Gamers brand spans across every category of gaming hardware, from mouse pads to motherboards, so it's no surprise that ASUS was hot out of the gate when Intel released Coffee Lake and the Z370 platform. Today, we are not looking at one of those hot new Z370 boards; today, we take a look into the not so distant past with the ASUS MAXIMUS IX CODE.

Coffee Lake changed the game by being Intel's first mainstream flagship to offer six-core, twelve-thread performance. Breaking the four-core, eight-thread paradigm that has held domain for the better part of a decade got a lot of people talking and a lot of gamers excited. Of course, the HEDT market has had hex core or greater offerings for generations. Spending upwards of a thousand dollars on a CPU alone has held most of the gaming community back, however, so it is easy to see what everyone is excited about. While stepping up and moving on from the quad-core rut is great, how much of a difference do two extra cores make for gaming? Can the previous generation hold up to the new kid on the block?

In order for the Intel 7700k to have a chance against its newer, bigger sibling, the 8700k, it's going to need a top-notch board to do it. The ASUS MAXIMUS IX CODE is that board, featuring everything you would expect from even a newer Z370 board. Last June, cadaveca reviewed the CODE's big brother, the ASUS MAXIMUS IX FORMULA, which featured hybrid air- and liquid-cooling capabilities and a monstrous price tag. The ASUS MAXIMUS IX CODE lacks the water-cooling capabilities, but shares the majority of the FORMULA's best features and a significantly lower price. With a top-notch ASUS BIOS, if any board has what it takes to keep up with Coffee Lake, this one does.

Specifications