With the Maximus VII Gene, ASUS shows their next generation mATX gaming and overclocking motherboard, which is based on Intels upcoming Z97 chipset. Like it's predecessor this board wants to convince with a balanced feature mix that pleases overclockers as well as gamers. At this point we're very curious what ASUS has come up with regarding layout, design and obviously features.
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The Maximus VII Gene is ASUS' mATX overclocking and gaming motherboard regarding Intels latest Z97 chipset. Once more we're really curious what they've come up with from the layout and design as well as feature perspective.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
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Specs and Delivery
| Chipset | Intel Z97 |
| Memory | Dual Channel DDR3, 4 x DIMM, Max. 32 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 |
| Multi-GPU |
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| Slots |
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| Sound | ROG SupremeFX Impact Audio 8-Channel High
Definition Audio
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| Storage | Intel Z97 chipset
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| Network |
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| Internal Connectors |
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| Extrenal Connectors |
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| Forfactor | ATX (30.5cm x 24.4cm) |
| 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 |
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Features
Extreme Engine Digi+ III |
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. |
 |
ASUS Fan Xpert 2 |
ASUS Fan Xpert 2 provides customizable settings for fans that have been attached directly to the onboard fan headers. With the Fan Auto Tuning feature, ASUS Fan Xpert 2 automatically detects and tweaks all fan speeds and in the end reduces unwanted noise. |  |
M.2 Support |
Featuring an M.2 slot this board can be euqipped with SSDs in M.2 format. M.2 is wired directly to the Z97 PCH via two PCI Express lanes, therefore offering x2 bandwidth. In other words up to 10 Gbps can be pushed over the bus through this slot, almost doubling performance of SATA-III. |  |
SupremeFX |
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. |  |
| ROG RAM Disk | RAMDisk reserves part of system memory and turns it into actual storage space, so you can place favorite app and game cache files in it to enjoy high-speed RAM performance while accessing them. | |
GameFirst III |
GameFirst is a networt management software, that lets you choose from four pre-defined traffic shaping methods: Optimization, Game, media Streaming and File Sharing. The software has been designed with the goal to make network optimizations as simple as possible. | |
KeyBot |
KeyBot allows you to assign macro to specific keys without the need of a special keyboard, that comes with its own proprietary software. With KeyBot you can for example wake up your PC from sleep mode, you can overclock your machine by the simple press of a key or you can load XMP profiles via the keyboard. |  |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums
[pagebreak]
Layout
At a first glance the ASUS Maximus VII Gene looks very good with its harmonic design. Once again the ROG-colors - red and black - suite nicely and together with the black mattePCB 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. The fact that there are SATA connectors which have been angled by 90 degrees allow for an easy installation of oversized graphics cards.
The ASUS Maximus VII Gene 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 span of 10'000 hours. The power design is overall more than powerful enough to even withstand extreme overclocking.
Totally you'll find four DIMM-slots on the Maximus VII Gene. Officially supported are DDR3 3200 / 3100 / 3000 / 2933 / 2800 / 2666 / 2600 / 2500 / 2400 / 2200 / 2133 / 2000 / 1866 / 1800 / 1600 / 1333 MHz. There is engough 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.
On the Maximus VII Gene the southbridge is being cooled by a passiv cooling block. A closer look at the area where the VRM is, shows that there are two additional heatsinks, which have been connected with a heatpipe. Like they do with every new Maximus motherboards series, ASUS changed the looks of the heatsinks slightly. In our opinion ASUS once again managed to improve the looks of these coolers compared to the earlier generation.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
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[pagebreak]
Connectors and I/O
Totally ASUS equipped the Maximus VII Gene with eight angled SATA ports. All ports offer 6Gbps bandwidth and six out of eight SATA III ports are natively wired to the Z97 PCH. The two additional SATA 6Gbps ports are wired to an ASMedia ASM1061 chip. Inbetween the two PCI-Express x16 Gen 3.0 slots there is also an M.2 slot which has been connected to the PCH via two PCI-Express Gen 2.0 x1 lanes offering a total of 10 Gbps bandwidth. You'll also find practical onboard power- and reset-buttons on this board and there is also a debug display. ASUS equipped this board with their SupremeFX audio solution, which like on the Maximus VI Impact comes as an add-in-card. This helps solving to issues at once: first of all it's easier to shield the audio components from the motherboard thanks to the fact, thanks to the physical distance to the PCB and second there is more space on the PCB in order to achieve a cleaner layout. Also on this version of ASUS' SupremeFX audio solution there are ELNA caps for smoother signal quality.
Totally you'll find five fan header on the Maximus VII Gene which is more than enough, to provide a well equipped mATX system with fresh air. The fan headers are located around the CPU socket as spread over the motherboard. ASUS decided to use 4-pin PWM headers in all five 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 Gene with a PS/2 port, four USB 3.0/2.0 ports, four USB 2.0/1.1 ports, one gigabit ethernet port, an HDMI connector as well as an optical out and an analogue audio panel (via SupremeFX module). Furtheremore you'll find also a clear CMOS button and a ROG Connect switch.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
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Conclusion
| Allgemein | + | - | |
| At a first glance the Maximus VII Gene definitely leaves a very good impression. The mix of overclocking features and high quality audio hardware makes this a state-of-the-art motherboard for mATX-gaming. And next to a very nice looking design you find useful features like for example GameFirst. This software allows you to configure your network device the way gaming traffic gets prioritized (keyword traffic shaping). Furthermore also on this board we find an M.2 slot that has been wired to the PCH using two PCIe lanes. This offers additional headroom for SSD makers to come up with new, even faster drives. | -
Design - Layout - mATX - M.2 Slot |
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| Layout | + | - | |
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Basically the ASUS Maximus VII Gene's Layout has been very well thought. Once more practical are the angled SATA connectors as well as the power- and reset-buttons. There is also a debug display which is very useful in case you should have issues with a component in your system or the board itself. Regarding the PCI-Express x16 slots there we have nothing to complain about. A closer look at the area around the CPU socket shows, that there is plenty of space to install big aircoolers without running into any issues. What we also liked is where the power and reset buttons are. Especially when you overclock memory using liquid nitrogen, then it makes sense to not have them next to the DIMM slots, since they will free quite quickly. Like with the Z87 based Maximus VI Impact also the Maximus VII Gene now gets ASUS' SupremeFX audio solution on an add-in-card. This allows for a cleaner PCB design and helps solving shielding related issues. |
- Angled SATA connectors
- 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 |
Discuss this article in the forums
Author: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch Luca Rocchi l.rocchi@ocaholic.ch