CPU Cooler Fit and Included Accessories
CPU Cooler Fit
To test the amount of space surrounding the CPU socket, we mounted the Noctua NH-D15 cooler to the CPU socket. This behemoth CPU air cooler sports a dual fan construction and two huge vertical cooling towers.
The cooler mounts to the board without issue and with adequate room provided by the board's design along almost all sides of the cooler. The size of the cooler and the proximity of the primary PCIe x16 slot to the CPU socket makes the primary PCIe X16 slot unusable with the cooler mounted, requiring usign of the secondary slot with a larger CPU cooler.
The close-up views of the cooler mounting illustrate just how well ASUS designed the CPU socket and component layout, minimizing interference between all sized coolers and the board components / VRM coolers.
The Noctua hold down mechanism is large enough to quickly determine exactly how much space is available around the CPU socket. The Noctua mounts fits the socket area well, and does not come into contact with any of the board's integrated components or heat sinks.
The cooler's backplate rests on the socket backplate, minimizing the risk of direct board contact.
Included Accessories
The Maximus VIII Extreme motherboard comes with all the necessary components to get the board up and running, as well as some nice to haves to further justify the board's price point.
The manual included with the Maximus VIII Extreme does not disappoint, written in the clear and detailed language we've come to expect from ASUS motherboard manuals. Also included is a driver DVD with all necessary hardware drivers and Window's utilities, ROG case badges, and ROG case labels. The case labels can be used to label SATA cables, hard drives and SSDs, as well as Keybot-related function keys.
The board's rear panel shield is an aluminum plate with the port identifying text and icons printed in white text on its surface. Under good lighting, the text and icons are easy to read, but would be challenging to see under poor lighting conditions.
ASUS bundled in eight black and white 6Gb/s rated SATA cables for use with the integrated port. The cables have integrated port locks and a mix of straight and 90 degree connectors.
For multi-GPU use, ASUS included two-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFire cables.
For use with the on-board front panel header, ASUS included one of their Q-Connector header plugs. You simply plug the front panel case leads into the Q-Connector, then plug the Q-Connector into the appropriate board header. It makes the installation of the front panel plugs much easier.
For use with the integrated WIFI adapter, ASUS includes a tri-plug antennae with gold-plated screw-in connectors. The antennae can be used in a flat or upright orientation with its flat surface optimized for broadcast and reception of 802.11ac type signals.
ASUS includes three temperature diodes for temperature monitoring via the integrated board headers. Fans connected to the bound fan headers can be programmed via the UEFI to operate based on the connected temperature diodes as well.
The included Fan Extension Card extends the fan control and monitoring capabilities of the board, adding three additional 4-pin fan and 2-pin temperature headers to the board. The external PCB connects to the board via the included proprietary cable. The board is powered by the on board MOLEX port. The 4-pin header marked FAN_IN is for attaching to a fan header on the motherboard for control signal purposes. That way, the fans attached to the extender card can be controlled via the Q-Fan settings in the BIOS.
ASUS included a CPU installation tool with the motherboard to ensure easy and proper CPU installation into the board's socket. You simply snap the plastic guide over top of the CPU and place the CPU in the socket with the "This Side Up" arrow placed near the socket hinge. The plastic guide remains in place when you lock the CPU into the socket.
ASUS also included a ROG-branded door hanger.
“Holding the “Flagship”
“Holding the “Flagship” moniker for the ASUS ROG Z170 board line, the board is shock full of features and accessories including the latest edition of their OC Panel device.”
Try chock-full instead of shock full.
I’m shocked by this comment.
I'm shocked by this comment.
Thanks, fixed…
Thanks, fixed…
Test System Setup shows GTX
Test System Setup shows GTX 780. Pic shows a Palit GTX 570 label? I don’t really care, just thought that was inconsistent.
Also, can we not get great CMOS battery placement with a $500 motherboard? This doesn’t seem like too much to ask.
I agree, the CMOS battery
I agree, the CMOS battery tech hasn’t changed since the conception of integrated circuits…what gives..?
I would call that a clever
I would call that a clever play on words Mr. Dictionary. If not a little callous don’t you think?
Doesn’t make much sense to
Doesn’t make much sense to have such an expensive board on a socket that can only use midrange CPUs
Fastest possible single
Fastest possible single threaded performance out there. It matters for some people and some apps.
How much more performance are
How much more performance are we talking for spending two or three times the amount for this board instead of something else?
Fair enough, although I
Fair enough, although I wonder if LGA2011 can clock higher than mainstream chips when good cooling is used (custom water or better), as the lack of soldered heat spreader on mainstream chips should cause a heat bottleneck that reduces scaling with improved coolers
I get that there’s always a
I get that there’s always a market for the best of the best (even if small.)
What’s confused me though about this and previous similar offerings from ASUS is the timing. The Z170 chipset is nearly a year old. Are there really people who want the best of the best, cost no concern, but were twiddling their thumbs for a year? I would have imagined that set of buyers upgraded their rigs long ago.
Or are there really people that rebuild their already top-end rig at this point in the cycle? Even disregarding cost, seems like a lot of hassle for little performance returns left on the table?
Man….this thing has ALL the
Man….this thing has ALL the bells and whistles…as well it should. At $500 it better gimme a chubby every time it posts…lol
One thing that doesn’t make sense…an ASMedia 1061 (from 2012) for the 2 additional sata 6gbs/usb 3 ports…pretty much a turd on an otherwise nice lawn. I guess if u can afford a $500 non-X99 mobo, you’ll prolly be pimpin a $300 raid card too…lol
Why is a board almost a year
Why is a board almost a year old just now being reviewed?