Board Software

The included software that comes with the ASUS MAXIMUS IX CODE is a good example of what utilities to include and exclude with a motherboard. The driver disk is split into four menus, though only the first three are truly relevant as the fourth page just contains an ad for Google Chrome. The first page, which contains drivers, also has a Chrome browser option, so even if you want to install Chrome, you won't have to switch to the fourth page to do so.

The second page contains all the utilities, and there are a lot of them. My biggest gripe about this page is the ambiguity of ASUS AI Suite 3 as there is no description of what it includes, or a way to manually only install the programs you would want. Upon installation, I found it to include quite a bit I didn't care about. The suite most notably contains Kaspernsky anti-virus, which I find quite sleazy and underhanded, especially since everything else contained within the Suite is ASUS branded software.

The third page of the driver disk contains a quick installation guide, the warranty card, and a Pick Up and Return Service form.



ASUS AI Suite 3 installed several utilities along with Kaspernsky. The first and by far most relevant is DUAL Intelligent Processors 5, which is a hardware monitoring and overclocking utility. I found it to be a useful, but perhaps over-engineered utility.

Also installed was Sonic Radar III and Sonic Studio III, which are audio-tuning utilities. The other programs installed with ASUS AI Suite 3 were Aura, which controls the board's RGB lighting as well as any other compatible RGB hardware, CloneDrive, a drive-mirroring utility, and a program for ASUS product registration.

Overall, I feel ASUS AI Suite 3 is bloated and overgrown. I believe Sonic Radar, Sonic Studio, CloneDrive, Aura, and ASUS product registration should all be consolidated into DUAL Intelligent Processors 5. Kaspernsky should not be included at all.