The Board - A Closer Look

Taking a closer looks at the ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO, I noticed that the cooler is pretty large but with few features that will disrupt airflow inside a case. Speaking of airflow, the ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO has a, like the ASUS GRYPHON I covered a few weeks ago, special 4-pin PWM CPU-fan header that recognizes the type of fan it is connected to, adjusting itself to work with the fan no matter whether a PWM or 3-pin fan is used.


LAN support is provided by an Intel I217V Gigabit controller, as many enthusiasts prefer Intel parts, while the TMDS, which shifts video into an HDMI signal, is provided by Parade.


The audio portion of the ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO is an evolution of past ROG audio designs. It includes a line of isolation that travels up and down the left side of the board, separating the audio circuitry from the rest of the board in an effort to eliminate noise from other components. The CODEC itself remains a mystery (I can tell you that a Realtek driver installs off the driver disc) as it is covered by an EMI shield out of metal, and taking it off is not possible since that metal EMI shield is literally soldered to the board's surface; it cannot be removed normally. The isolation line is highlighted by a series of LEDs that run along that line, lighting up when the system is powered on (you can also turn those lights off in the BIOS). This isolating line runs all the way around the rear I/O audio tower and continues to travel down and around the front panel pin header, so there really is as much isolation as possible on the ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO. How that plays out in my RMAA testing should prove interesting.