The Board - A Closer Look

What does it take to be a HERO? We covered all the basics already, yet one of the first things that caught my attention when I first looked at the ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO was the diagram that shows you which DIMM slots to use first, which saves you from having to pull out the manual to find out.


Up above is a close-up of the two buttons on the board's bottom edge I mentioned earlier. One enables a high-power mode for your headphone's audio output and the other is the actual CLEAR CMOS button. Every other usual ROG toy is in its usual place, by the POST display in the top-right corner.


Much like past ROG audio designs, the ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO uses an ALC 1150-based audio design. A clear line in the PCB isolates the audio circuit from the rest of the board and potential electrical noise.


The line of isolation is highlighted by a bunch of strategically placed LEDs along the line, making for a nice red glow that matches the glow from under the CODEC's metal EMI cover.


Another new feature is KEYBOT, a hardware-based device that overrides keyboard inputs and allows for macro options. This implementation uses a hardware controller, a hardware button to enable it, and software in the OS that allows you to customize the functions assigned to each key.


A large slice of metal with a plastic plate on top that gives off a distinct pulsing glow when the board is turned on, the PCH cooler is new too.


Clearly labeled, you can fortunately simply pull the plug shown above if you find the glow annoying. As seen on past ROG boards, there are also a series of POST LEDs to indicate the general phase of the board's boot sequence. This is extremely useful for quickly diagnosing boot problems when tuning that clock to squeeze as much as possible out of the board.


A self-branded Super I/O provides for ASUS's by now standard but fantastic fan control and monitoring set, while the TMDS chip for the HDMI port is the usual ASMedia part, as are most add-on devices ASUS uses. For all those Intel LAN purists out there, the ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO comes with an Intel I218V rather than another controller people will complain about for sport.


The front panel USB 3.0 header is specially fused to prevent electrical damage due to static, an issue in only a few global regions, while the board's electrical power supply for the CPU is the normal 8-phase design Z87 boards introduced. Although the actual controller and MOSFETs used might differ, those fancy ASUS-branded chokes with golden cores are here for sure, with an ASUS logo on top. Mmmm, yummy!