Product Showcase

Product Showcase

The ASUS Z170 ROG Maximus VIII Extreme follows a Extended ATX Form Factor 12 inch x 10.7 inch ( 30.5 cm x 27.2 cm ). The motherboard is located in the ROG range and is a enthusiast class product within this new Skylake Z170 series motherboards. 

Included with the motherboard are the regulars including; manuals, driver CDs, SATA cables and a rear IO plate. This motherboard has proper embedded AC WIFI and comes with one Gigabit Ethernet jack from Intel. New for the ROG is the actual design, more shielding and a move from black-red to black grey with red accents. We likey  !

• CPU support: Skylake-S class Intel Core processors
• Chipset: Intel Z170 Chipset
• 1x Gigabit Ethernet (Intel)
• Storage: 
  • 6x SATA 6Gb/s Intel
  • 2x Sata 6Gb/s ASMedia ASM1061
  • 1 x M.2 x4 Socket 3, with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110
  • 2x Sata Express
• Connectivity: 
  • 3 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8 or x8/x4/x4, gray) 
    1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x4 mode, gray) 
    2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1 (black)
• USB 3.0 / 3.1 
• 8-channel ROG SupremeFX audio based on a ES9023P Hi-Def CODEC.

Of course we also received the OC Panel II. A system monitoring and tweaking in two modes.A 2.6-inch display keeps you informed. The OC Panel II now also comes with the illuminated LED on the stunning ROG logo. OC Panel II installs directly into a 5.25-inch drive bay to provide real-time monitoring of multiple vital parameters, including CPU temperature, ratios, base clock and fan speeds. The OC Panel II can also be used as external overclocking console, giving access to multiple ROG-exclusive features including Subzero Sense, VGA Hotwire, Slow Mode and Pause Switch. You also have direct access to two PWM and two full-speed fan headers, as well as remote power and reset buttons. 

Not listed but I count 13 power phases for the processor. All high quality components and usage of dark caps. The looks are terrific really.

The I/O back panel reveals 3.1/3.0/2.0 ports and then a Type-C Thunderbolt connector, the red USB 3.0 is to be used for USB flashback etc. The audio unit has special noise reducing capacitors and EMI shielding. You will spot one 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet jack (Intel I219-V). Included is a single PS/2 combo port for either a keyboard or a mouse, optical SPDIF out port and six audio jacks. If you plan to use the integrated IGP of the processor, you can make use of a DP or HDMI connector. ASUS embedded a terrific WIFI solution with 3x3 dual band 2.4/5GHz antennas included. 802.11ac Wi-Fi up to 1300Mbit/s transfer speed. 

The boards has 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (and one x16  running at x4) which can be arranged in these slot configurations with graphics cards:

• 3 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8 or x8/x4/x4, gray) 
• 1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x4 mode, gray) 
• 2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1 (black)
   

As you can see these are PCI Express Gen 3.0 configurations, that's plenty for regular graphics card setups up-to 3-way SLI/Crossfire. 

The motherboard comes with an 8 power connector and if you plan to go wild, you can add another 4-pin connector as well (not required of course).
 

You'll get four DIMM slots that can be used for up-to 64GB of dual-channel memory. Supported is 3866(O.C.)/3800(O.C.)/3733(O.C.)/3600(O.C.)/3500(O.C.)/3466(O.C.)/3400(O.C.)/3333(O.C.)/3300(O.C.)/3200(O.C.)/3000(O.C.)/2800(O.C.)/2666(O.C.)/2400(O.C.)/2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory.