ASUS Maximus VI HERO LGA1150 ROG Motherboard Review

Index
Introduction & Specifications
Unboxing & Layout
BIOS & Software
Multimedia, Multitasking & Gaming Benchmarks
Overclocking & Conclusion

Test Setup

Since this is our first motherboard review, we have only one reference point to compare the benchmark values of the Maximus VI Hero with. Worry not, as our comparative motherboard is the Intel DZ87KLT-75K, a board which comes in the same segment of the Hero, performance wise.

Our main benchmark tool is Bit-tech’s Media Benchmark suite, which uses a combination of Gimp image editing, H.264 encoding with Handbrake and multi-tasking with 7-Zip. For our gaming benchmarks, we use Batman: Arkham Origins, Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts, and record the average FPS using FRAPS. The reason we chose to use Bit-tech’s tool and not individually every benchmark is because we believe that this tool simulates very precisely how PCs are used.

Here is what our test bench looks like:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 @ 1866MHz
GPU: Reference Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB
PSU: Seasonic X850W
SSD: OCZ Vector 64GB
OS: Windows 8 64-bit
Motherboards: Intel DZ87KLT-75K and ASUS Maximus VI Extreme

We also performed a safe overclock to give you an idea on how the motherboard performs when reaching out of its marketed limits. Note, ASUS encourages users to overclock on its ROG series of motherboards, so we’re right at home with our decision. Below, a screenshot of our CPU-Z:

Here are our overclock settings:

• Asus Maximus VI Hero – 4.7GHz, 100MHz baseclock, 47x multiplier, 1,600MHz RAM, vcore 1.23V
• Intel DZ87KLT-75K – 4.7GHz, 100MHz Base Clock, 47x multiplier, 1,600MHz RAM, vcore 1.257V

Multimedia Benchmarks

Bit-tech’s Media Benchmark Suite assigns a score of 1000 to the reference PC configuration which is made up of: 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 at stock speed, 2GB of Corsair 1,066MHz DDR2 memory, a 250GB Samsung SpinPoint P120S hard disk and an Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP motherboard. That makes is easy to give universally linear scores, so a score of 1200 means the system is 20% faster than one with a score of 1000. It is a convenient system and makes life for us benchmarkers much easier.

Gimp Image Editing

The poor man’s Photoshop, Gimp stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program and is used by millions for image manipulation. For a free tool, Gimp is quite powerful, thanks to its dedicated open-source community. When handling large collection of high quality digital photos, Gimp is capable of bringing the most powerful CPUs to its knees. It also musters a big chunk of memory from your RAM.

Handbrake Video Encoding

Another open-source software, Handbrake is a GPL-licensed multi-threaded video encoder. We use it to encode a HD video using the H.264 codec. This again puts a lot of strain on your CPU and RAM.

Multi-tasking benchmarks

No motherboard benchmark is legit without testing it across multi-tasking scenarios. We also use multiple applications at one time, be it browsing, listening to music, encoding video and ripping an audio CD. We use 7-Zip and Media Player Classic, and run them along with Gimp and Handbrake to see how the Maximus Hero IV performs.

For our 7-Zip test, we perform a backup of 30GB worth data with encryption, while playing the H.264 version of The Dark Knight on mplayer in the background. That’s asking a hell lot of juice, from any kind of PC.

mplayer and 7zip together

Gaming benchmarks

Our gaming benchmarks were performed in the three most recent games:

• Batman: Arkham Origins
• Battlefield 4
• Call of Duty: Ghosts

The GPU we used is a Nvidia’s reference GeForce GTX 780, with 3GB of onboard memory. The WHQL driver version is 320.78.

Batman: Arkham Origins

From our Arkham Origins review:

The Arkham Series is a legendary franchise, and even though Origins lacks in a proper Rise of the Caped Crusader story, it can still boast of a much polished sandbox, giving you a world full of opportunities. The theme of Assassins seems to fight hard with the rise of The Joker. Troy Baker’s role of the Joker is as exceptional as Mark Hamill’s performances previously.

Arkham Origins supports the latest tessellation and PhysX features, and looks darn brilliant. All settings were maxed out, Anti-Aliasing was set to FXAA-High and Hardware Accelerated PhysX was set to High. Our monitor resolution is 1920 x 1080.

Battlefield 4

From our just recently published Battlefield 4 review:

Battlefield 4 is an all-round improvement over Battlefield 3. And BF3 was so damn good, so that’s saying a lot. If you’re a fan of the series, you will not be disappointed. If you’re not a fan, this might just make you one.

Battlefield 4 is a very demanding game and hitting a steady 60 FPS is not easy unless you have a GTX 780 or a Titan. And BF4 is such a game where even an FPS of 40 seems laggy, so hitting the 60 mark is a must for a smooth performance. All settings were set to Ultra, Antialiasing was set to 4x MSAA, Antialiasing Post was set to High.

Call of Duty: Ghosts

Another game that just launched very recently, and again, is equally demanding on the CPU and the GPU. COD: Ghosts, like Battlefield 4 can only be enjoyed with an average FPS of 60 or above. We test the game again at its highest possible settings (Ultra) and maxed out AA.

Implication

Motherboards do make a considerate, if not overly significant impact on gaming performance in rigs with the exact same components. The Maximus VI Hero performs roughly 6-8% better than the Intel DZ87KLT-75K. It is only for Call of Duty: Ghosts that performance of the both the boards are almost identical.

Another point to add, the ‘perceived’ gaming performance for both the motherboards, i.e., the gameplay experience, is exactly the same. There is nothing differentiating them, apart from mere FPS numbers. The games run smooth on both the motherboards.

Index
Introduction & Specifications
Unboxing & Layout
BIOS & Software
Multimedia, Multitasking & Gaming Benchmarks
Overclocking & Conclusion