BIOS Features
ASUS designed the Maximus VI Extreme's BIOS using their newest UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) implementation, a customized version of the AMI baseline UEFI style BIOS. The UEFI BIOS offers full keyboard and mouse support while using the BIOS pages. ASUS changed the way mouse right clicking works in the BIOS with right clicking triggering the Add to Shortcut or Add to Favorites popup window. With this new implementation, you can add menus to a shortcut page, accessed by clicking the F3 function key. You can also add individual settings to the Favorites tab through the same right click menu. By default, the user sees the EZ mode screen when entering the BIOS with the Advanced mode screens accessible via the Exit/Advanced Mode button at the upper right corner of the screen. Advanced mode screens can be set for the default user interface via the BIOS Boot menu as well.
There’s really nothing at all not to like about ASUS’ UEFI BIOS implementation. They have one of the best implementations of UEFI on the market currently. The BIOS is very responsive to both keyboard and mouse input with almost no lag or questionable click-space evident anywhere. The only exception to this rule was clicking on the pagination section just below the Save button in the upper right corner of the screen. I found it difficult to switch to the Tools menu on the second BIOS page using this interface. With that said, the UEFI BIOS is designed in an intuitive manner so that both novice and advance BIOS users can easily find what they are looking for quickly. The EZ Mode screen lays out everything in a highly readable format, while the Advanced Mode tabbed layout displays as you would expect from a traditional (read old-school) BIOS. ASUS also gives you the ability to taken screen captures from within the BIOS by pressing the F12 key with those screen-caps saved in a 1024×768 bitmap format to an attached USB device. From the Tools menu, ASUS houses their collection of of BIOS-related tools and applets, ranging from an in-BIOS updater (EZ Flash2) to their full BIOS profile load and save utility.
UPDATE: Ryan got to spend some time with JJ from ASUS, going over all kinds of features and options on the ASUS Z87 motherboard lineup. One segment focused on overclocking via the UEFI and it is definitely worth watching. Enjoy!
BIOS Notable Features
By itself, the ASUS UEFI BIOS has always been top-notch. ASUS decided to up the ante with the UEFI version included with the Z87 line, exposing everything new with the ROG Maximus VI Extreme board. They integrated a customizable shortcut menu into both screen modes, a customizable My Favorites tab into the Advance mode menu, a CPU strap setting supporting enhanced ring bus speeds, the Tweaker's Paradise menu devoted to the most dedicated overclockers, and the ability to configure profile settings tied to the OC Panel device's H button.
EZ Mode main screen, Shortcut popup
The Shortcut popup menu shown is available from both the Easy Mode and Advanced Mode interfaces. To access, click the Shortcuts button in the EZ Mode interface or hit the F3 function key from within the Advanced Mode interface. The Shortcut popup displays shortcuts to menus and submenus added via the Advanced Mode interface. If you right click a menu or submenu or hit the F4 function key with the same highlighted, the Add to popup displays with the option for Adding to Shortcut menu. Note that you cannot add individual settings to this popup window, only menus and submenus. This functionality allows you to put commonly accessed menus and submenus at you fingertips with a single button or mouse click.
My Favorites tab
The My Favorites tab houses user selected settings for access to these from a centralized location. To access, select the My Favorites tab from within the Advanced Mode interface. If you right click any selectable setting from within any Advanced Mode page and right click or hit the F4 function key with the it highlighted, the Add to popup displays with the option for adding to My Favorites menu. Note that you cannot add menus or submenus to this tab, only individual settings. The real strength in this My Favorites tab implementation comes with the ability to mix and match commonly used options in a central location, rather than having to hunt them down through multiple sub-levels of menus. Combined with the utility of the Shortcut popup window, ASUS has a very user friendly interface for a normally arcane entity.
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled
The 4th generation Intel Core series of CPUs, also known as Haswell, support the ability to use preset bus speed levels for the ring bus, which Intel refers to as CPU Strap. ASUS decided to take the CPU Strap setting to the next level and includes the following preset levels by default: 100MHz, 125MHz, 166Mhz, and 250MHz. This setting affects the CPU base clock, PCI-Express bus, and memory bus speeds. The PCI-Express bus speed is auto-adjusted to remain as close to 100MHz as possible, while the CPU and memory bus speeds adjust 1:1 with the setting. ASUS has made tweaks to the board to allow access and stability at these higher CPU Strap settings, but inside sources say that you need a really good (read that as "cherry picked") CPU to use a strap setting above 166MHz.
Extreme Tweaker tab, Tweaker's Paradise page
Extreme Tweaker tab, Tweaker's Paradise page, PCIe Tuning settings
To cater to the extreme overclockers, ASUS exposed many esoteric board settings not normally configurable and placed them into the Tweaker's Paradise menu. This menu contains voltage, timing, and bus settings for those of you trying to squeeze every last ounce of speed and stability out of you overclocked board. It contains settings for tweaking everything from CPU internal settings to PCI-Express bus related settings. Enjoy your time in the Tweaker's Paradise.
Tools tab, ROG OC Panel H-Key Configure page
ASUS's ultimate UEFI BIOS would not be complete without the ability to create a custom profile controllable through their OC Panel device. They did just that in the ROG OC Panel H-Key Configure submeu, accessible from within the Tool tab. Using this page, you can configure a custom profile for your CPU voltage, base clock speed, and CPU ratio that is enacted upon pressing the H-key on your OC Panel device (as long as it is connected to the board – sorry, no wireless … yet). This is another great feature to push this board into the Extreme Zone.
BIOS Walkthrough
EZ Mode main screen
EZ Mode main screen, Shortcut popup
EZ Mode screen, SATA Information popup
Advanced Mode screen, Extreme Tweaker tab with XMP mode enabled
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, core and frequency settings
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, voltage settings
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, voltage settings continued
Extreme Tweaker tab, Overclocking Presets page
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Secondary and Tertiary timing settings
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Miscellaneous settings
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Miscellaneous settings continued
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Memory Presets page
Extreme Tweaker tab, GPU.DIMM Post page
Extreme Tweaker tab, DIGI+ Power Control page
Extreme Tweaker tab, Tweaker's Paradise page
Extreme Tweaker tab, Tweaker's Paradise page, PCIe Tuning settings
Extreme Tweaker tab, CPU Power Management page
Extreme Tweaker tab, CPU Power Management page continued
Extreme Tweaker tab, CPU Level Up popup
What is the point in having
What is the point in having 10 SATA3 ports (theoretical 60Gbit) when the DMI 2.0 bus connecting the CPU and chipset is limited to 20Gbit?
Because if you fill it up
Because if you fill it up with drives they are not reading and writing all simulatenously, it just allows extra dives to be connected
Wow I am a sucker for the The
Wow I am a sucker for the The OC Panel!!!!
Isn’t the 4770k an i7?
Isn’t the 4770k an i7?
Thank you for pointing this
Thank you for pointing this out. References fixed…
Where is the 4770k
Where is the 4770k overclocking part of the review??
OC results as well as other
OC results as well as other areas will be covered in followup review…
So why should I upgrade from
So why should I upgrade from my current Asus Maximus V Extreme , 3770k and 32Gb Vengeance @2133MHZ ?
This MB should accommodate 64GB RAM.
The way I see it, is just lame marketing, no significant improvement.
If you;ve got a 3770K you
If you;ve got a 3770K you probably shouldn’t you’ll get 15% improvement at best. But this is a new socket and your current socket is basically discontinued now.
Hey Morry, just a heads up,
Hey Morry, just a heads up, but you that MSI included port covers for this board on page 2. I blame Josh. Because reasons.
Thanks for the heads up, I
Thanks for the heads up, I blame too many motherboards and not enough sleep 😉
Its been fixed…
just before I saw the check
just before I saw the check of $6179, I be certain …that…my friend could really taking home money part-time from there new laptop.. there neighbor had bean doing this for only 6 months and resently cleared the debts on their appartment and purchased Lotus Elise. this is where I went, Exit35.com
Can anyone give me an idea
Can anyone give me an idea where to purchase the rog_ext cable and the metal drive bay adapter for normal mode? Any help would be really appreciated! I’ve got the panel with no accessory kit!!!!? PLEASE HELP!
in extreme mode (rampage V
in extreme mode (rampage V extreme),
do both cables (ROG & SATA power)
simply hang out via an open slot in the back after removing the plate?
or 5.25″ bay opening?
Manual, on page 2-23, simply say connect both cables.
cables plug into ports at
cables plug into ports at bottom of OC Panel device. Cable orientation does not change whether unit is used with the mount enclosure or in Extreme mode (outside of the case).
Will this board take a 3770k?
Will this board take a 3770k?