ASUS Maximus VII Impact Preview
Category : Z97
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 16.06.14
If there is a motherboard this year, which makes each and every enthusiast, gamer or even overclocker listen closer, than it's the Maximus VII Impact from ASUS' ROG department. After having set a new trend for mini-ITX gaming rigs, ASUS now brings this form factor to the next level by releasing this feature packed and powerful mini-ITX board. Next to an extra powerful VRM design and an additional sound module, there are plenty of other features and obviously, we're going to show them all to you.
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The Maximus VII Impact is ASUS' mini-ITX overclocking and gaming motherboard based on Intel's latest Z97 Express chipset.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Specs and Delivery
| Chipset | Intel Z97 |
| Memory | Dual Channel DDR3, 2 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB DDR3, 3200(O.C.) / 3100(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2933(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2600(O.C.) / 2500(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2200(O.C.) / 2133(O.C.) / 2000(O.C.) / 1866(O.C.) / 1800(O.C.) / 1600 / 1333 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory |
| Slots |
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| Sound | ROG SupremeFX Impact II Audio 8-Channel High Definition Audio
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| Storage | Intel Z97 chipset
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| Bluetooth | Bluetooth V4.0 |
| Network |
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| Internal Connectors |
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| Extrenal Connectors |
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| Forfactor | Mini ITX Form Factor (17cm x 17cm) |
| BIOS | Bios (64 Mb flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS) |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Features
Impact Power II |
Since quite some time ASUS has been equipping its boards with digital power designs. Using the right software it is not only possible to adjust voltages while being in Windows on can now also control impedances. Furthermore this board features high quality 10K black metallic capacitor which guarantee a long lifespan. |
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ASUS Fan Xpert 3 |
ASUS Fan Xpert 3 provides customizable settings for fans that have been attached directly to the onboard fan headers. With the Fan Auto Tuning feature, ASUS Fan Xpert 3 automatically detects and tweaks all fan speeds and in the end reduces unwanted noise. |
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EPU |
EPU automatically detects the current system load and moderates power usage. It offers a system-wide energy optimization and is able to reduce fan noise. |
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mPCIe Combo III |
The mPCIe Combo III Slot can be equipped with several different expansion cards. In this case it doens't matter if you use a WiFi/Bluetooth module or even a new M.2(NGFF) SSD up to PCIe 4x . |
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SuperemeFX Impact II |
Basically this motherboard doesn't offer enough space for an onboard audio solution. Therefore ASUS decided to add a daugther PCB on which they placed all the audio components. In this case you find the SupremeFX audio Chip, a headphone amp as well as high quality capacitors. |
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Five Daughterboards |
ROG team designed the Maximus VII Impact with five exclusive vertical daughterboards, wich are providing power, sound, the new mPCIE Combo with x4 M.2 support, impact CoolHub with 2 x 4pin fan headers and also LN2 mode switch and the new Impact Control Card with KeyBot and SoundStage buttons. |
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| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Layout
At a first glance the ASUS Maximus VII Impact looks very good with its harmonic design. Once again the ROG-colors - red, black and white - suite nicely and together with the black PCB it becomes a beautiful product. The layout itself is well thought and there is for example plenty of space around the CPU socket to install even todays largest CPU coolers. On a mini-ITX motherboard it is crucial that the CPU socket is in the center of the motherboard, otherwise installing big aircoolers becomes an issue. There are plenty of other mini-ITX motherboards out there, which have the CPU socket closer to the PCI-Express x16 slot. This bare the consequence, that the cooler is going to collide with the VGA. Looking for the SATA connectors shows, that ASUS placed them at the very only reasonable position. Furthermore there are straight connectors, since there just isn't enough space for angled ones.
The ASUS Maximus VII Impact comes with a digital 8+2 phase power design. The CPU gets eight phases and the memory gets a stable current supply from two individual phases. Furthermore ASUS equips this board with their so called "BlackWing Chokes". Furthermore those chokes can cope with up to 60A per phase. Furthermore there are 10K Black Metallic Capacitors, which have an average life expectancy of 10'000 hours. In other words, the Impact received the same power design, which can also be found on the bigger ASUS ROG Maximus VII motherboards. Since, this mini-ITX motherboard offers very limited space, ASUS has put the VRM on a daughter PCB, which has been soldered to the motherboard.
Totally you'll find two DIMM-slots on the Maximus VII Impact . Officially supported are DDR3 3200(O.C.) / 3100(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2933(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2600(O.C.) / 2500(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2200(O.C.) / 2133(O.C.) / 2000(O.C.) / 1866(O.C.) / 1800(O.C.) / 1600 / 1333 MHz. There is enough space between the DIMM-slots and the CPU socket which means that you wont encounter compatibility problems with big coolers even when you choose to install RAM with big heatspreaders. Also supported are Xtreme Memory Profiles (XMP) in version 1.3.
Since our sample is not final design and heatsinks and bundle are missing we don't have any information or pics yet. We believe ROG team are still working designing new coolers or maybe they will use same headsinks used on maximus VI impact, we will update this preview with final product later.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Connectors and I/O
In total, ASUS equipped the Maximus VII Impact with four straight SATA ports. All ports offer 6Gbps bandwidth and they are natively wired to the Z97 PCH. You'll also find practical onboard power- and reset-buttons on this motherbboard as well as a a debug display, which has been moved to the I/O panel, since there is simply not enough room on the actual motherboard. ASUS also equipped this board with their SupremeFX Impact II audio solution. In this case the manufacturer put all the sound related components on another daughter board, which is therefore electrically isolated from the rest of the board. In this case you get high-quality ELNA capacitors as well as a headphone amp, which is able to provide headphones with an impedance of up to 600 ohm with a well audible audio signal.
In total, you'll find four fan header on the Maximus VII Impact which is enough, to provide a well equipped mini-TX system with fresh air. Two of the fan headers are in Impact Coolhub Card and one located close to I/O panel and the fourth can be found right next to the onboard power button. ASUS decided to use 4-pin PWM headers in all four cases. Therefore it is possible to adjust rotation speed in the BIOS or in Windows.
Looking at the external connectors directly at the back-panel ASUS equipped the Maximus VII Impact with one PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port, four USB 3.0/2.0 ports, four USB 2.0/1.1 ports, one gigabit ethernet port, an HDMI connector, a DisplayPort output as well as an optical out and an analogue audio panel. Furtheremore you'll find also a clear CMOS button, a debug LED, a KeyBot button and a SoundStage button as well as an ROG Connect button.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| Overall | + | - | |
| At a first glance the Maximus VII Impact definitely leaves an excellent impression. The mix of overclocking features and a high quality audio hardware makes this a state-of-the-art motherboard for mini-ITX-gaming. And next to a very nice looking design you find useful features like for example GameFirst III. This software allows you to configure your network device the way gaming traffic gets prioritized (keyword traffic shaping). Furthremore you get ASUS' RAM Disk Software and lots of other goodies, which make this board even more appealing. Absolutely remarkable, that's what the ten phase power design is. ASUS really succeed in bringing even extreme overclocking to the mini-ITX form factor. |
- Design - Memory Overclocking - Layout - mini-ITX |
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| Layout | + | - | |
| Basically, the ASUS Maximus VII Impact's layout has excellently thought. In order to make more space on this tiny PCB ASUS decided to use a daughter PCBs, one for the power design and the other for the audio solution. Furthermore, the straight SATA 6Gbps ports have been placed at the only location where it makes sense to have them, when you look at this point from the accessibility perspective. Also due to space contraints ASUS has put the debug LED, the KeyBot as well as the SoundStage button to the I/O panel. Since the CPU socket is in the center of the PCB it is possible to install even largest CPU cooler found on the market today. Another great addition is the mPCIe-slot, which in this case is compatible with M.2 (NGFF) SSDs up to PCIe 4x. | - mPCIe Slot - M.2 (NGFF) PCIe 4x Support - Power/Reset-Button onboard - Debug display - Space around the CPU socket |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |