ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero review - Product Showcase

Product Showcase

The motherboard follows a standard ATX form factor (30.5 x 24.4cm). The motherboard is located in the ROG high-end range of the desktop processor product stack. 

Size	ATX
Chipset	Intel Z390
Memory	4 x DDR4 up to 4400+(OC)
Multi-GPU	CrossFireX, 2 x SLI
Expansion	PCIe 3.0 x16 (CPU): 2 (x16/x0, x8/x8) PCIe32.0 x16 (Chipset): 1 (up to x4) PCIe 2.0 x1 (Chipset): 3
Storage	2 x M.2 (NVMe x4 or SATA 6Gbps) 6 x SATA 6Gbps
Networking	Intel Gigabit Ethernet 2x2 AC Wi-Fi
Audio	SupremeFX S1220
USB	3.1: Gen1 x2 3.1: Gen2 x4 2.0:6x
Aura	yes

With the Z390 board ASUS outs a high-end class product, it has plentiful enough features to keep you busy for a while. The hero series have been upgraded from a visual point of view. The HERO has been fitted with AURA LED RGB activity available, all were kept subtle and can be configured on/off/animated and RGB colored. The primary graphics slots have metal shielding.

Included with the motherboard are the regulars including; manuals, driver CDs, SATA cables and a rear I/O plate. We received the WIFI version, and you probably guessed it, it has WIFI, 2x2 AC which is nice. 

The board has 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots which can be arranged in these slot configurations with graphics cards:

• 1-way mode - x16 / x0 / x4
• 2-way mode - x8 / x8 / x0
• 3-way mode - x8 / x8 / x4

As you can see, these are PCI Express Gen 3.0 configurations, that's okay for regular graphics card setups up-to 2-way SLI/Crossfire. The motherboard comes with an 8-pin and extra 6-pin power connector. You'll get four DIMM slots that can be used for dual-channel memory. Up-to 4400+ MHz supported in OC mode. Please do check compatible memory and thus the QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists).