ASUS Maximus VIII Hero ATX Motherboard - Grey/Red/Black

Product Information

Featuring a customised trace layout for reduced crosstalk and coupling noise, second-generation T-Topology ensures time-aligned signal transfer for improved memory stability and compatibility. System power usage is measured at the AC/DC PSU (the Corsair AX1200i) which I have connected to another system to measure the test system and as a backup I have a wall meter to verify. It makes for perfect pairing with Intel’s recent high-end Skylake CPUs and comes with an extensive array of features to make sure you are getting the most out of your system.

port, while it does offer support for full-length 110mm SSDs, will be blocked by a second dual-slot graphics card. It's International Rectifier's (now part of Infineon) latest and great digital PWM, and IR is well known for making some of the best PWMs for overclocking.

The board looks more like the Hero than the Formula, though, and while RGB lighting is included on the board itself too, Asus hasn't done away with the red detailing like it did on the Formula, so the latter is still worth considering if you want a blank slate as far as colour matching is concerned. SSD, and USB technologies are also being utilized to test the maximum potential of the motherboards that are being tested. The Black PCB is complimented well by the metallic silver scattered across the board and the hints of red.

Casting Enhancer improves stream and recording audio quality, reduces noise artifacts, stabilises overall voice volume and improves rich details and boost-base. This gives you greater data security as if one drive fails, the data will still be accessible from another. If there is something to worry about then I will state it, otherwise I will just show the hotter running parts of the board for fun. There aren't too many digital PWMs on the market for Z170, but ASUS is using this one which is very similar in size and pin count to IR's latest digital PWM I have seen on an EVGA board I have. Even though this is a mixture of the original VIII Hero and VIII Formula, one can’t help but feel that 2 x USB 2.Its heat sinks are beautiful, they are that perfect shade of silver/gray in between the gun metal black of the capacitors and gray of the shield and ports. Perfect Voice reduces incoming and outgoing in-game communication noise to ensure everybody is heard. So it’d be rather stupid if we didn’t elaborate on why this board suits gamers and what features it has to up your overall game. Additionally, ASUS uses ESD Guards to cover the PS2, USB, audio, and LAN ports, offering a 2x uptick in ESD protection.