ASUS Z170 Maximus VIII Formula Review

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The Guvnor
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Following on from the amazing customisation offered by the Hero Alpha, the ASUS Maximus VIII Formula takes lighting to a different planet.


ASUS Z170 Maximus VIII Formula Review
 
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HI

Dammit! Now I want to make the TTL white gold rig. VIII Formula in my H440 that's just sitting in the closet. I have not had a reason to go to Z170 yet, however this one is going to be a $400 hole in my pocket ($399 pre order on newegg)

Epic review Tom. Your excitement is palpable for good reason.

Soon to be broke -- Rick
 
Great write-up, I've already got one pre-ordered. My one concern is with the enclosed m.2 slot. There has been some attention given to thermal throttling on some newer m.2 drives including the Samsung 950 Pro, and I'm worried that enclosing one in plastic with no ventilation could cause problems. I suppose if it was a problem I could just leave the m.2 cover off, but that's not ideal as it would take away from the board's aesthetics. Do you have any thoughts on this Tom?
 
Great write-up, I've already got one pre-ordered. My one concern is with the enclosed m.2 slot. There has been some attention given to thermal throttling on some newer m.2 drives including the Samsung 950 Pro, and I'm worried that enclosing one in plastic with no ventilation could cause problems. I suppose if it was a problem I could just leave the m.2 cover off, but that's not ideal as it would take away from the board's aesthetics. Do you have any thoughts on this Tom?

when it comes to the thermal throttling for M.2 devices, it only occurs when running synthetic loads most of the time.

you will need to be writing for a decent amount of time before it will throttle, so unless you are going to write to half the drive at once you shouldn't have many issues.
 
great review there dude, all looks supa-sweet, however, i give you an eleventy billion cool points for booping your cam remote on the outro, it looked wicked. :)

edit, yeah and it was awesome to see you excited about a product again.. feels like a long time.

 
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I did have the Maximus VIII Hero on my wishlist... Sorry Hero but I reaaaaly think the formula will be my new best friend :p
 
While I was watching this, and the white gold came out I was scratching my head. I thought to myself, has TTL gone totally corporate and started pulling crap out of his butt for awards. Then I had to say NOPE!!! This board is all that, and the review was spot on I believe.

Thanks for showing us such a great piece of kit TTL. I can't wait to see where they go from here.
 
I have the hero and I bloody want to upgrade.

No motherboard has ever had me this excited.

I had an MSI Z87 G45-Gaming
But I really wanted an ROG board, 1 for looks, 2 for software, and 3 just It sounds EPIC :p
So now because I sold my PC I am in the market for a new one :p
Only thing really holding me back is the 350 Euro price instead of 220 Euro for the hero.
Now I do want to stay with my mobo/CPU for at least +/- 5 years :p
 
I don't know why you think I like yellow. I have a massive poo fetish.

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Great to bring the white gold award out for this and EKWB wasn't even mentioned in the conclusion! It's good to see that ASUS have put out a board which is very nearly as understated and refined as EVGA in terms of aesthetics. With so many decent well thought out features. Normally i'm not a fan of features, over-complicating something can just make it come across tacky but it looks like an excellent job was done and nothing silly was added or taken away.

Armored motherboards have come along way since the P67 Saberooth (my first board) and it's great they have progressed past the tat and stupid little optional fans. I hope it doesn't become wildly popular because exposed boards are still very pretty but this is well executed. Can't wait to see one in real life and I can't wait to lol at how much Bitspower try to f4 it up with a monoblock.

RGB-Sync sounds good too. :p

JR
 
Great review Tom your enthusiasm was palpable but mate you look tired try not to burn the candle at both ends or you'll burn yourself out
 
Wow that's a well deserved award, finally a ROG motherboard that i actually want (i'm really not a fan or all red). top review Guv
 
Great review Tom, I was looking at the Asrock Z170 extreme 7+ for my new Skylake build but after your review of this board I think I have changed my mind.
 
This board even has me thinking of changing back to Asus from MSi and that's a tall order considering Asus have s**t customer care in Australia
 
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