ASUS has gone all out in creating a product that deserves recognition. This is not to say it is flawless, but it is unquestionably in the upper stratosphere. Reviewing a premium motherboard inherently includes a certain amount of frustration during the writing phase. A product with a lack of issues leaves little to discuss. Since AMD CPUs have limited overclocking potential and memory support doesn't have to be "extreme" either as far hardware performance goes, everything can be achieved with any of ASUS's Crosshair motherboards, like the Impact, Formula or Hero, without a noticeable difference after optimizing and being configured correctly.

Saying so is a heavy blow to ASUS, but even knowing that I can achieve similar results with less money spent, I would recommend this motherboard. To put everything into prospective, this product is primary geared towards two types of people: Those with unlimited funds and those treating themselves. It almost feels a bit shameful to pair the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme with anything less than the best AMD CPU available. As such, the expectation is that it will not be the only expensive item in the system.

With WiFi 6E, 10 Gb/s LAN, five M.2 sockets, Thunderbolt 4, a USB-C Audio DAC, fan controller, and additional RGB inputs, ASUS is already striving to provide a wide range of connectivity. The only stipulation to all of this is that sacrifices had to be made to have additional M.2 sockets. The AMD CPU only provides 20 PCIe Gen4 lanes, so adding extra M.2 lanes is impossible without giving something up. In this case, the second PCIe slot is disabled, and primary slot connectivity drops to 8x Gen4 when the lower M.2 sockets are populated. Ideally, a newer AMD or NVIDIA graphics card is used to avoid any bandwidth restrictions.

ASUS continues to be an industry leader with outstanding products. The ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme is no different in that respect, and because it is tailored towards those with more disposable income, every knob and dial conceivable can be accounted for, making this one of the heaviest feature-rich AMD X570 based motherboards on the market. ASUS did not compromise on anything that could be avoided. This is expected of the ultra-high end. In that respect, ASUS has gone the extra step to include premium add-ons that are exclusive to this product class, like the programmable 2" OLED screen, USB-C Audio DAC, and a mammoth power delivery system. It will certainly elicit envious thoughts from your friends. The only obstacle is of course the entry price.