ASUS Maximus VI Extreme Review

[tinytomlogan]

You pay your money you make your choice. You demand the best performing board for multiple graphics, DRAM, Uncore, BLK overclocking and tweaking. You are an overclocker who wants endless tuning options then they are all within this board. You ared a gamer who wants higher FPS this will give it ya. Faster Encoding done.

I would never be happy with 4.6ghz!!!

I am gonna do two benches with and without Uncore and memory tweaks. Then we see the performance difference maybe more than you think. I will post the results. All Air/Water stuff.

Is OCUK quiet today mate? Asus just phoned me to say you bitching at work too. Poor show mate. If you dont get what I am trying to say then fine.

But this is my opinion, and you can quote me on this.

"you dont need to spend £300+ on ANY brand to get to the thermal limits on any Haswell CPU. If you have the money and want to then fine but your CPU will start throttling before you reach the limits on a decent board like the GD65 Gaming which is just £160"

 

[8pack]

This is not bitching its pointing out how the review is fundamentally flawed. You have not tested what other boards cant do and this can!!! or more accurately where this board excels. Hence then its more worth the premium to high end gamers, overclockers and so fourth.

Your still not addressing my point!! Why not try BLK? Uncore? DRAM etc. Why not on all the boards then you can find the deficiency's and present a better overall informed article. With correct benchmark testing at the limit of the CPU's actual capabilities on a given board.

 

[Vicey]

Is OCUK quiet today mate? Asus just phoned me to say you bitching at work too. Poor show mate. If you dont get what I am trying to say then fine.

He works for Asus?

 

[tinytomlogan]

He works for Asus?

Sponsored by Asus, works for OCUK.

 

[Vicey]

I see. Interesting how all these people turn up when this review was posted.

 

[tinytomlogan]

He has raised some valid points but thats not the angle I was going for. 99% of the people that buy this board will use it as it was reviewed or not even this far.

My point always was and still is, unless you know your shit this board is massive overkill and cheaper boards will be much better for you.... Even something like the |Sabertooth and then spend the saved money on better GFX

 

[Vicey]

Totally I understood your point from the video it was put very succinctly, other boards are better value for the kinds of people this board is being marketed at. And you touched on the ROG branding not fitting with all the overclocking features and I agree with that too.

I really think Asus should make a pure overclockers brand like Gigabyte have done. If I had one word for what this product with its branding is, it would be: "Confused".

 

[tinytomlogan]

Essentially the days are gone (with midrange anyways) that you need to spend a mint to overclock. CPU's and boards are so good now even a £200 board could be seen as being overkill.

If youre an overclock junky then fine. Most just are not. Just like Lurpack got given his board.... He didnt buy it....

 

[eshbop]

I don't understand how there is any conjecture over all this.

Let's say for a minute that the VI Extreme actually DID do a bit better than the MSI and Gigabyte boards, would that little improvement still make it worth the extra money? My wallet doesn't think so. And so should be the case for everyone else that doesn't want/need every last MHz out of a processor. And lets face it, anyone that DOES want/need every last MHz out of a processor is probably given that processor and the board to put it in.

Tom's points are still quiet valid even if this board was BETTER than the other two, even more so that he found it not to be.

You could see this trend with Sandy, more so with Ivy and now it's laid out with Haswell. In 99.9% of cases something else is going to be holding you back before the motherboard is. If you want performance don't expect to find it in a motherboard box.

 

[8pack]

Sponsored by Asus, works for OCUK.

I am not sponsored by ASUS. All manufacturers supply me boards to test for SI and to Overclock with. Not only ASUS!! Infact all of them. I have tested all the boards you have here plus many more on air,water and LN2.

I am just trying to point out that the end user now has several options to get more from the system than just simple multi-overclocking and I believe a reviewer should spend the time getting the best from a board before benching and commenting on it. I believe here 15% performance on some benches is missing thats alot!!! People would jump at 15% higher CPU why not get that through efficiency??? and maximizing what you have.

 

[Dark NighT]

People would jump at 15% higher CPU why not get that through efficiency??? and maximizing what you have.

Are you forgetting the silicon lottery? nothing is set in stone when it comes to cpu's and their capabilities, you should know this.

 

[Vicey]

I am not sponsored by ASUS. All manufacturers supply me boards to test for SI and to Overclock with. Not only ASUS!! Infact all of them. I have tested all the boards you have here plus many more on air,water and LN2.

Definition of Sponsor from Wikipedia:
To sponsor something is to support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services.

So you weren't given the board for free to overclock with or do you not understand the definition of the word sponsor?

 

[iBeInspire]

:argue:

opcorn:

 

[tinytomlogan]

I am not sponsored by ASUS. All manufacturers supply me boards to test for SI and to Overclock with. Not only ASUS!! Infact all of them. I have tested all the boards you have here plus many more on air,water and LN2.

I am just trying to point out that the end user now has several options to get more from the system than just simple multi-overclocking and I believe a reviewer should spend the time getting the best from a board before benching and commenting on it. I believe here 15% performance on some benches is missing thats alot!!! People would jump at 15% higher CPU why not get that through efficiency??? and maximizing what you have.

Pretty sure your MD told you not to post here anymore 8pack....

 

[Nelly]

I don't think their was much point even with Sandybridge buying a £300 motherboard for 100, or 200MHz more, was down to silicon lottery, I had 3 2500k's, 4.5 max, 4.6 max, and 4.9 max, using a Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H, and MSI Z77 Mpower.

Are you forgetting the silicon lottery? nothing is set in stone when it comes to cpu's and their capabilities, you should know this.

Seems like it's all over the net, that the majority of the engineering samples clock better than the retail batches.

Pity a retail sample hasn't been used across the board for all the reviews. IF anyones to really blame, then blame Intel for just gluing the CPU's for Ivybridge/Haswell, instead of soldering them like Sandybridge and prior CPU's hence the cooler CPU's/Higher clocks - Intel is just doing what all big companies do to cut corners, and to make even more money - Asus is the same with RMA's, no UK support hence save money, all done through retailer.

I generally stick to Gigabyte, won't touch Asus with a barge pole, Asus make desirable motherboards, but the RMA is disgusting at best - won't catch me waiting 28 days for an RMA only to end up chasing a retailer because it's beyond what trading standards deems a reasonable amount of time to be sorted.

People should support companies that are prepared to have reduced profits by giving people in the UK actual customer support in our country like Gigabyte, Kingston, Intel (pickup by courier for you), Crucial, KFA2.

I might set an example, and make my PC fully UK customer supportable. :lol:

 

[iiBetrayforAR]

:argue:

opcorn:

This. I know I have my popcorn. Rooting for Tom.

 

[Deejeta]

Far out 12 pages of sledging for posting an honest review...

 

[Dark NighT]

I don't think their was much point even with Sandybridge buying a £300 motherboard for 100, or 200MHz more, was down to silicon lottery, I had 3 2500k's, 4.5 max, 4.6 max, and 4.9 max, using a Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H, and MSI Z77 Mpower.Seems like it's all over the net, that the majority of the engineering samples clock better than the retail batches.

Pity a retail sample hasn't been used across the board for all the reviews. IF anyones to really blame, then blame Intel for just gluing the CPU's for Ivybridge/Haswell, instead of soldering them like Sandybridge and prior CPU's hence the cooler CPU's/Higher clocks - Intel is just doing what all big companies do to cut corners, and to make even more money - Asus is the same with RMA's, no UK support hence save money, all done through retailer.

I generally stick to Gigabyte, won't touch Asus with a barge pole, Asus make desirable motherboards, but the RMA is disgusting at best - won't catch me waiting 28 days for an RMA only to end up chasing a retailer because it's beyond what trading standards deems a reasonable amount of time to be sorted.

People should support companies that are prepared to have reduced profits by giving people in the UK actual customer support in our country like Gigabyte, Kingston, Intel (pickup by courier for you), Crucial, KFA2.

I might set an example, and make my PC fully UK customer supportable. :lol:

Totally agree with you there, intel needs to step up their game when it comes to temperature control, If i had the spare money i would be delidding my 3570K tomorrow and do it properly, im not even into big overclocking, but i do like low temps and low noise whenever possible.

Maybe i should just go back to full watercooling, i still have all the bits, but anyway, intel Fix the damn glue stuff.

 

[nippinpippin]

I'm a TTL fan and have been for a good while, however this review in my opinion seemed more of a bashing than the usual constructive review from Tom.
I know the Extreme did not perform as expected, and as always I applaud Tom for his honest and colourful reviews.
However my main gripe over this review is the lack of comparison.
We all now that an MSI GD65 performs as well and is half the price, but what about Gigabyte and MSI's Top end boards?
The MSI Z87 X Power is as expensive and the Gigabyte Z87X-OC Force is over £100 more. I feel the Asus should have been compared to these for perspective and fairness.
Could it be all Haswell, high end boards are a waste of money, not just Asus's.
There will always be low, mid and high end ranges to everything, the individual makes the choice and pays his money.
Its obvious you pay more money for Premium brands/models with higher end components with extra features/gimmicks they come with, if you use them all the time, once or never.
As an example, I'm sure Tom would be just as fast down a trail on a bike half the price of his Scott Ransom Carbon Ltd, it's just personal choice and exclusivity. BTW, love the bike Tom.
If you can afford it and like it, buy it, simple as. And as always look at more than 1 review if need be.
Before the usual is dished out, I have both MSI and Asus rigs, which are both great.

 

[trent]

Good job mate, finally someone to serve it to Asus how it is, they need to snap out of it.

Could it be all Haswell, high end boards are a waste of money, not just Asus's.

You are absolutely right, Haswell is a waste of money, period.