Review Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VIII Gene

Author

Bhisma Sidarto

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Motherboard

March 27, 2016

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Siapa yang tidak kenal dengan jajaran motherboard ASUS yang dinamakan Republic Of Gamer? Lini yang sering disebut dengan singkatan ROG itu merupakan jajaran teratas dari motherboard ASUS dan salah satu “penghuni tetap” dari seri tersebut adalah Maximus Gene. Satu-satunya anggota seri ROG yang mengusung form factor Micro ATX, Maximus Gene merupakan seri yang menawarkan solusi sistem dengan performa tinggi tetapi tetap dalam ukuran yang tak terlalu besar. Dengan diperkenalkannya chipset Z170 yang mengusung arsitektur Skylake, Maximus Gene menyambut anggota terbaru dari lini tersebut yaitu Maximus VIII Gene.

Seri yang pertama kali hadir untuk menemani diperkenalkannya arsitektur Yorkfield, Maximus Gene mempunyai sejarah yang cukup panjang. Bisa di katakan sebagai lini motherboard Micro ATX yang tertua dan yang paling konsisten. Mulai dari Maximus II Gene hingga iterasi terbarunya Maximus VIII Gene, seri ini selalu menghadirkan inovasi baru yang kadang terduga. Kami pribadi terkadang di buat tertegun dengan fitur-fitur yang mampu di sematkan ke dalam form factor Micro ATX yang cukup mungil ini. Dengan cukup antusias kami akan mencoba mengulas anggota baru dari keluarga Maximus Gene dari seri ROG ini. Mari ikuti perjalanan kami berkenalan dan mengupas sebuah produk yang bernama Maximus VIII Gene!

Platform Pengujian

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VIII Hero (Intel Z170)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury 8GB DDR4 2666 MHz (Dual Channel)

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

Storage: Kingston HyperX Fury 240 GB SSD

Power Supply: Corsair AX850

CPU Cooler: Corsair H80

Monitor: LCD Monitor 1920×1080

Input: Generic Keyboard and Mouse

OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit

Intel Chipset Z170 Block Diagram

Intel Z170 adalah chipset unggulan untuk platform PC desktop kelas mainstream terbaru Intel. Motherboard dengan chipset tersebut mendukung prosesor Intel generasi keenam, Skylake, mulai dari prosesor Intel Skylake seri Pentium, Core i3, Core i5, hingga seri unggulannya, Core i7. Chipset ini juga mengalami sejumlah perkembangan dari segi fitur. Kini motherboard dengan Chipset Intel Z170 mengusung sejumlah fitur, seperti; 20 jalur PCI Express 3.0, dual channel memori DDR3L hingga 1600MHz/DDR4 hingga 2133MHz, 6 port SATA III 6Gbps, 10 port USB 3.0, 14 port USB 2.0, dan dukungan tuning untuk komponen prosesor dan juga memori.

CPU

Intel® Socket 1151 for 6th Generation Core™ i7/Core™ i5/Core™ i3/Pentium®/Celeron® Processors
Supports Intel® 14 nm CPU
Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0

* The Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 support depends on the CPU types.

* Refer to www.asus.com for CPU support list

Chipset

Intel® Z170

Memori

4 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR4 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
Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)

* Refer to www.asus.com or user manual for the Memory QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists).

* Hyper DIMM support is subject to the physical characteristics of individual CPUs.

Grafis

Integrated Graphics Processor- Intel® HD Graphics support
Dukungan output Multi-VGA : HDMI/DisplayPort 1.2 port

– Mendukung HDMI dengan resolusi maks. 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz

– Supports DisplayPort with max. resolution 4096 x 2304 @ 60 Hz

Maximum shared memory of 512 MB
Supports Intel® InTru™ 3D, Quick Sync Video, Clear Video HD Technology, Insider™
Dukungan Multi-GPU
Supports NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ Technology
Supports AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™ Technology

Slot Ekspansi

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

Storage

Intel® Z170 chipset :

1 x M.2 x4 Socket 3, with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (both SATA & PCIE mode)*1
6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray, , 4 ports from 2 x SATA Express
2 x SATA Express port
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology supports*2
Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology*2

LAN

Intel® I219V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s), GameFirst technology
Intel® LAN- Dual interconnect between the Integrated LAN controller and Physical Layer (PHY)
Anti-surge LANGuard

Audio

ROG SupremeFX 2015 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC

Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
SupremeFX Shielding Technology
ESS® ES9023P DAC: dB SNR, dB THD+N (Max. kHz/ -bit)
TI RC4580 2VRMS audio OP AMP(s)

Audio Feature :

Gold-plated jacks
DTS Connect
Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel
Sonic SenseAmp
Sonic Studio II
Sonic Radar II

Port USB

Intel® Z170 chipset :

8 x USB 3.0 port(s) (6 at back panel, blue, 2 at mid-board)

Intel® Z170 chipset : *4

4 x USB 2.0 port(s) (4 at mid-board)

ASMedia® USB 3.1 controller :

1 x USB 3.1 port(s) (1 at back panel, black, Type-C)

ASMedia® USB 3.1 controller :

1 x USB 3.1 port(s) (1 at back panel, red, Type-A)

Fitur-Fitur Overclocking

ReTry Button
Safe Boot Button
Start Button
Reset Button
LN2 Mode
Mem TweakIt
ProbeIt
KeyBot II : One-click Overclocking, X.M.P, DirectKey, ClrCMOS, Power On
UEFI BIOS features : O.C. Profile, GPU.DIMM Post, Tweakers’ Paradise, ROG SSD Secure Erase, Graphic Card Information Preview
ROG RAMDisk
Extreme Tweaker

Fitur-Fitur Khusus

OC Design – ASUS PRO Clock Technology

Full BCLK range for extreme overclocking performance

5-Way Optimization by Dual Intelligent Processors 5

5-Way Optimization tuning key perfectly consolidates TPU, EPU, DIGI+ Power Control, Fan Xpert 3, and Turbo App

ASUS Exclusive Features :

MemOK!
AI Suite 3
Ai Charger+
USB 3.1 Boost
Disk Unlocker
Mobo Connect
PC Cleaner

Remote Entertainment

Media Streamer
HyStream

ASUS EZ DIY :

ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
ASUS EZ Flash 3
ASUS USB BIOS Flashback
Push Notice

ASUS Q-Design :

ASUS Q-Shield
ASUS Q-Code
ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED)
ASUS Q-Slot
ASUS Q-DIMM
ASUS Q-Connector
RAMCache

Operating System Support

Windows® 10 , 64bit
Windows® 8.1 , 64bit
Windows® 7 , 32bit/64bit

Port I/O Belakang

1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s)
1 x DisplayPort
1 x HDMI
1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)
1 x USB 3.1 (black)Type-C
1 x USB 3.1 (red)Type-A
6 x USB 3.0 (blue)
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
5 x Audio jack(s)
1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button(s)

I/O Internal

1 x AAFP connector
1 x USB 3.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 3.0 port(s)
2 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 port(s)
2 x SATA Express connector: gray, Compatible with 4 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports
1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M Key design, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (Supports both SATA & PCIE SSD)
2 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s)
1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (4 -pin)
1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s) (4 -pin)
4 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (4 -pin)
1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s)
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s)
1 x System panel(s) (Q-Connector)
1 x 5-pin EXT_FAN(Extension Fan) connector
1 x MemOK! button(s)
1 x Thermal sensor connector(s)
1 x Power-on button(s)
1 x Reset button(s)
1 x Water Pump header (4-pin)
1 x LN2 Mode jumper(s)
1 x ROG extension (ROG_EXT) header(s)
1 x Safe Boot button
1 x ReTry button

Aksesori

User’s manual
ASUS Q-Shield
4 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
1 x M.2 Screw Package
1 x CPU installation tool
1 x Supporting DVD
1 x SLI bridge(s)
1 x Q-connector(s) (1 in 1)
1 x 12 in 1 ROG Cable Label(s)
ROG Fan Label
1 x ROG Door Hanger(s)

BIOS

1 x 128 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI3.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 3.0, ACPI 5.0, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 3, CrashFree BIOS 3, F11 EZ Tuning Wizard, F6 Qfan Control, F3 My Favorites, F9 Quick Note, Last Modified log, F12 PrintScreen, F3 Shortcut functions and ASUS DRAM SPD (Serial Presence Detect) memory information.
Kemampuan Manajemen
WfM2.0, DMI3.0, WOL by PME, PXE
Disc Pendukung
Drivers
ROG GameFirst technology
ROG RAMDisk
ROG RAMCache
ROG CPU-Z
ROG Mem TweakIt
Overwolf
ROG Keybot II
Kaspersky® Anti-Virus
DAEMON Tools Pro Standard
ASUS WebStorage
ASUS Utilities

Form Factor

mATX Form Factor –> 9.6 inch x 9.6 inch ( 24.4 cm x 24.4 cm )

Catatan

*1 Supports Intel® RST for PCIE RAID storage.
*2 When the M.2 Socket 3 is operating in SATA mode, SATA port 1 will be disable.
*3 Supports PCIE RAID configurations via onboard M.2 and PCIEX4_1 slot storage.
*4 This function will work depending on the CPU installed.
*5 2 x USB2.0 port at mid-board comes from the ROG extension (ROG_EXT) port.