UEFI Features
ASUS bundled the Rampage V Extreme motherboard with the latest version of the ASUS UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) implementation, a customized version of the AMI baseline UEFI BIOS replacement. The UEFI offers full keyboard and mouse support while using the BIOS pages. ASUS changed the way mouse right-click functions in the new UEFI implementation with right-click having no impact on the screen. By default, the user sees the EZ mode screen when entering the UEFI 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 UEFI Boot menu as well.
As we've stated in previous reviews, the ASUS UEFI implementation remains among the best out there. The UEFI is very responsive to both keyboard and mouse input with almost no lag or questionable click-space evident anywhere. However, at times the interface seemed too responsive and sensitive to the merest mouse click and movement. The UEFI is designed in an intuitive manner so that both novice and advance BIOS users can quickly find what they are looking for. 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 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 UEFI-based updater (EZ Flash2) to their full UEFI profile load and save utility.
UEFI Notable Features
With the Rampage V Extreme, ASUS integrated the features and changes introduced with their UEFI from the Intel Z97 line, optimizing several features as well as exposing several features specific to the Haswell and Haswell-E processor lines. They revised their EZ Mode page with added utility, integrating a customizable My Favorites tab into the Advance mode menu, Shortcut screen, a graphical fan tuning interface, a graphical EZ Tuning Wizard interface, support for display in nine different languages, and a Quick Note interface for adding persistent notes for later use. Note that the UEFI screen aesthetics have been customized for the board with it appearance customizable with several user-selectable themes available.
Advanced Mode My Favorites screen, Shortcut popup
The Shortcut menu shown is available from the Advanced Mode interface only. To access, hit the F3 function key from within the Advanced Mode interface. The Shortcut page displays shortcuts to menus and sub-menus added via the Advanced Mode interface. If you hit the F4 function key with an item selected, you are taken directly to the menu or sub-menu. This functionality allows you to put commonly accessed menus and sub-menus at you fingertips with a single button or mouse click.
My Favorites tab, populated
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. Note that if a menu or sub-menu is added to this page, all fields on that page will be added. 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.
EZ Mode page
EZ Mode breakdown
Courtesy of ASUS
The EZ Mode page presents information organized into sections in an easy-to-read manner for those users who do not want to be bothered with the labyrinth of the Advanced Mode settings.
Q-Fan Tuning page
The Q-Fan Tuning page allows for graphical configuration of fan operation based on predefined threshold levels. The interface is similar in nature to the Windows-based Fan Xpert3 fan configuration interface and is a nice touch in-lui of the text-based configuration approach. The Q-Fan Tuning page is accessed by clicking on the Manual Fan Tuning button within the EZ Mode page.
Easy Tuning Wizard
The EZ Tuning Wizard can be accessed by hitting the F11 function key from within the EZ Mode page or from within the Advanced Mode interface. This wizard triggers BIOS configured system performance optimization based on user selections made within the wizard interface.
EZ Mode, Main tab, Language selection
EZ Mode, Main tab with non-English language active
The BIOS display language can be updated to one of 10 values through the language field in the top menu bar accessible in both the EZ Mode and Advance Mode interfaces. The screen values are updated immediately upon language selection.
Advanced Mode, Main tab, Quick Note pop-up
The Quick Note window is accessed by clicking the Quick Note field in the top menu bar or hit the F9 function key. From this window, you can enter notes that remain persistent between BIOS sessions. This functionality is only available from the Advanced Mode interface.
Advanced Mode, Last modified pop-up
The Last Modified pop-up is accessed by clicking the Last Modified link in the lower right corner of the Advanced Mode page. The Last Modified pop-up contains a comprehensive list of fields changed since the last save. This list also displays when you click on the Save Changes & Reset link from the Exit tab.
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled
The 4th generation Intel Core series of CPUs, also known as Haswell or Haswell-E, 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 adjusts at a 1:1 or 1:1.33 ratio with the setting.
Extreme Tweaker tab, Tweaker's Paradise page
To cater to the extreme overclockers, ASUS exposed many esoteric board settings not normally exposed to the end user and housed them in 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 UEFI would not be complete without the ability to create a custom profile controllable using their optional OC Panel device. Via the ROG OC Panel H-Key Configure sub-menu, 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).
UEFI Walkthrough
Advanced Mode screen, Extreme Tweaker tab with XMP mode enabled
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, CPU ratio settings
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, Cache ratio and Bus settings
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, CPU voltage settings
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, DRAM voltage settings
Extreme Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, Miscellaneous voltage settings
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, Tertiary timing settings continued
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, Miscellaneous settings continued
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Memory Presets page
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Memory Presets, IC Analyzer popup
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Memory Presets, Profile select page
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, RTL IOL control page
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, RTL IOL control page continued
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, RTL IOL control page continued
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, IO Control page
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, IO Control page continued
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, IO Control page continued
Extreme Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, IO Control page continued
Extreme Tweaker tab, DIGI+ Power Control page
Extreme Tweaker tab, DIGI+ Power Control page continued
Extreme Tweaker tab, CPU Power Management page
You appear to have “Courtesy
You appear to have “Courtesy of Gigabyte” dotted around on this article; perhaps you mean “Courtesy of Asus”
You know its Morry that has
You know its Morry that has written this right? We all love him and his work, but he is quite like that grandparent we all have that sometimes puts their shoe in the oven and the milk in the washer.
Thanks for the heads up, its
Thanks for the heads up, its fixed now…
Morry! You magnificent
Morry! You magnificent bastard, I read your article! ~ Derivative quote taken from “Patton” starring Geo. C Scott. 😉
Looks like a good board.
Looks like a good board. Especially now that EK posted a picture of a full coverage monoblock for the Rampage V. Might look into it for an upgrade from an X79 Sabertooth.
Anyone by any chance have an idea why the 2nd card in a crossfire setup would stop being detected in windows after installing Gskill 3333MHz ram?
it *might* be a PCIe voltage
it *might* be a PCIe voltage issue. Try bumping up your chipset related voltages a bit and see if that helps. What speed are you attempting to run the memory at? Could also be that that board cannot maintain stability at spec'd memory speeds with the new DIMMs
It was a client’s PC so I
It was a client’s PC so I don’t have it available anymore. The ram in question had an XMP profile of 3333MHz 1.35V CL16-16-16-36. Wouldn’t always boot at 3333MHz. 3200MHz would work so it was set to that. But I hadn’t thought to check the PCI-E voltage. If I come across the board again I’ll definitely look into that.
The guy was dead set on returning the PC anyways and brought it to me to see if I could get it going. I think the board was just set on making a fool of me.
Better that board than any of
Better that board than any of us! 🙂
Weird, you list “weakness” as
Weird, you list “weakness” as lacking a clear CMOS jumper, but it has a clear CMOS button on the back panel. See your own photo:
https://pcper.com/image/view/51285?return=node%2F62100
Lower left corner just above the ROG connect/USB BIOS Flashback button. It is labeled CLR CMOS
clear CMOS button and clear
clear CMOS button and clear CMOS jumper are different. Jumper can be used to clear all BIOS settings in conjuction with removing the CMOS battery reliably. CMOS button is not as reliable at doing this in practice. The jumper just gives a bit more control over the operation…
I have this board and the
I have this board and the clear CMOS button does exactly as the clear CMOS jumper does on all the other boards I own. It clears the CMOS and resets to default values.
A jumper is nothing more than two pins that when jumpered shorts a circuit, this is what clears the CMOS, it shorts the power to ground.
If you like you can put a DVM on it and test it yourself. They are indeed on in the same.
I have this board and the
I have this board and the clear CMOS button does exactly as the clear CMOS jumper does on all the other boards I own. It clears the CMOS and resets to default values.
A jumper is nothing more than two pins that when jumpered shorts a circuit, this is what clears the CMOS, it shorts the power to ground.
If you like you can put a DVM on it and test it yourself. They are indeed on in the same.
Noctua NH-D15 cooler seems to
Noctua NH-D15 cooler seems to be very close to the graphics card PCB. What non-conductive material would you use inbetween? Or, in your experience, does it even matter?
If you’re concerned when
If you're concerned when using a cooler like that, you could use one of the following (most of which I have used in my many liquid cooled and force-refrigeration-cooled systems):
– duct-tape
– neoprene pad (thin with adhesive on one side)
– conformal coating -> have to be careful with this, not to get any on conductive surfaces as it will insulate them very well
– backplate for the video card
Thank you so much for the
Thank you so much for the reply
I’ll definitely go with the Neoprene pad and GPU backplate solutions
I always wanted a 140mm kinda Noctua CPU cooler because I simply don’t trust even the 1 in a million chance that there’d be a leakage from CPU water cooling, and that that would be my CPU water cooler purchase
Will be this mobo compatible
Will be this mobo compatible with the next 2016-2017 HMC as replacement for DDR memories ? THKS
unknown, but unlikely based
unknown, but unlikely based on previous Intel release cycles…
I own this mobo an its been
I own this mobo an its been nothing but a nightmare for me. It resets on its own. Locks up. BSOD I have changed power supplies done everything I can think of best advise stay away.
please dont tell ppl to stay
please dont tell ppl to stay away from a board that i have and totally love, you just had a bad board which can happen with any board out there, so no dont stay away from thus board as a novice ocer this board is a beauty.