ASUS ROG Maximus IX Formula motherboard review - Product Showcase

Product Showcase

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

Right, ROG time, the really good stuff. The Maximus has that chic look, shields everywhere as well as an M.2 slot hidden under that lower cover and a secondary one with a vertical mount (we'll show ya!). The motherboard comes with LED RGB AURA SYNC and is independently configurable throughout the motherboard or compatible connected LED devices (these can be controlled with AURA software).  Next to that, great shielded looks and a certain military feel pops out due to a tint of green/grey in the black design.
  

 
Included with the motherboard are the regulars including; manuals, driver CDs, SATA cables and a rear I/O plate. It also has a couple of new features which we'll talk about in-depth in this review. 
 
 

• CPU support: Skylake / Kaby Lake class Intel Core processors
• Chipset: Intel Z270 Chipset
• 1x Gigabit: Ethernet Intel Gbe I219-V / I211
• 1x WIFI 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4/5 Ghz and Bluetooth 4.1 compatible
• Storage: 
• 2 x M.2 Socket connectors (Optane supported) (one is vertical!)
• 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 
• Connectivity: 
• 3x PCI-E 3.0 x16  (single at x16 / dual at x8 / triple at x8 - x8 - x4)
• 3x PCI-E 3.0 x1
• USB 3.0 / 3.1 
• 8-channel ALC S1220A Realtek chip

The I/O back panel reveals a combo of 3.1/3.0/2.0 ports. The audio unit has special noise reducing capacitors and shielding sitting next to that Realtek chip. You will spot one 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet jack. Missing is a PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port. Audio wise we spot an optical S/PDIF out port and five audio jacks. If you plan to use the integrated IGP of the processor, you can make use of one HDMI DisplayPort connector. The rear connectivity back-panel is loaded full, nice. Also present are clear CMOS and BIOS flashback buttons.
  

Included in the bundle is one interesting looking motherboard and gear like SATA cables, extra connectors and so on. ASUS again included a simple but proper HB SLI bridge connector and a really good dual-band WIFI antenna.

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

• 1-way mode - x16 / x0 / x0 
• 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 plenty for regular graphics card setups up-to 2-way SLI/Crossfire. The motherboard comes with one 8-pin power connector. You'll get four DIMM slots that can be used for up-to 64GB of dual-channel memory up-to even 4000 MHz supported in OC mode. We'll actually test a new 3866 MHz Trident Z kit from G.Skill which we'll feature in detail in this review.

Back Panel I/O Ports

• 1 x HDMI port
• 1 x Display Port
• 1 x BIOS Flashback button
• 1x Clear CMOS button
• Multiple USB 3.1/3.0/2.0 ports (the black ones are all 2.0) all based on ASMedia and Intel type A and C.
• 1 x RJ-45 ports (Intel Gbit)
• 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
• 5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In/Mic In, Line Out, Headphone)
• WIFI Antenna jacks 

Notice something unusual? Yes, the motherboard comes with a pre-mounted / pre-fitted rear I/O plate. I like that.