Board Layout

The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact features a matte black PCB with a subtle pattern of printed lines.


The back of the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact is almost entirely taken up by an aluminium backplate.


The rear I/O cover, which is also the VRM and chipset heatsink, is matte black with silver accents under the fan grills. "Crosshair VIII" and "Impact" are etched in next to the grills.


Underneath a metal top cover are two small cooling fans for the VRM and chipset.


The CPU socket is not as open as on many full-sized boards; there is just too much to pack into such a small layout. I would strongly recommend double checking cooler clearance before purchasing. ASUS has added a metal casing to the CPU 8 pin to protect it from damage, and put it next to the 24 pin on the far right side of the board.


There are only two M.2 slots on the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact. They are both on the SO-DIMM.2 expansion card (included with the Impact).


The DIMM.2 slot is just above the PCIe x16 slot.


The SO-DIMM.2 card features a heatsink on both sides, as well as two 4-pin fan headers and one addressable RGB header.


The top of the SO-DIMM.2 features "Republic of Gamers" in white lettering, which is lit by small addressable LEDs.


The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact offers one PCI Express 4.0 x16 slot, encased in metal reinforcement. The board has a total of four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, two of which are placed at a 90 degree angle.


The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact has a good rear I/O offering for an SFF board. The full list consists of:

• Clear CMOS button
• BIOS Flashback button
• Q-Code
• Reset button
• 2x WiFi antenna connectors
• 2x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports
• 5x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A ports
• USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port
• RJ-45 LAN port
• Optical SPDIF out port
• 3x LED illuminated 3.5 mm audio jacks

Networking on the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact is handled by an Intel I211AT, with an Intel 802.11 AX controller for wireless connectivity.