ASUS Maximus V Formula Z77 ROG Review
by Ian Cutress on March 25, 2013 2:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Asus
- ROG
- Z77
Final Words
When I published my review of the ASRock Z77 OC Formula, I praised it as the best board ASRock have ever made. I gave it a Silver Award due to its ease of use, the styling, the level of equipment, and the price which left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. Within days of the review being published, ASUS gave me a call. At this time, they were the only manufacturer out of the top four that had not committed any motherboard to my Z77 OC motherboard roundup (Z77 OC Formula, Z77 MPower, Z77X-UP7). So when I gave the ASRock Z77 OC Formula a Silver Award, they quickly wanted to point out just how good the Maximus V Formula was in comparison, and got around to sending me one for review.
As part of this review, ASUS was also keen for me to experience the features of the Maximus V Formula. Our good friend Rajinder Gill, now an audio engineer with ASUS, visited me with several sets of headphones from £70 to £1000 to experience the SupremeFX IV audio system on the Formula, as well as discuss the features on the range. Being no stranger to motherboard flaws and design, Rajinder and I talked at length about the pros and cons of the motherboard industry, motherboard audio, feeling, options, settings, BIOS versions, and how a review should be felt and written, not just a bunch of synthetic tests with a score and a [insert random award] type scenario. For reference on the audio (I cite my comment in the review about the fact that I will always admit to being tone deaf and singing karaoke like a deaf horse with a throat infection), using the high quality headphones with SupremeFX IV and the headphone amplifier makes a distinct difference to the richness of the audio. I rather unsurprisingly felt the biggest difference using a $2 set of headphones in the front audio connectors of the MVF vs. a regular ALC898.
As for the MVF as a package, we have a lot of good points to consider. The MVF is a well built product that performs well but also overclocked like a beast on our setup, both for processor and memory. It hits the high notes in the benchmarks for both performance and efficiency. In the package we get built in WiFi, an Intel NIC, a total of 10 SATA ports, a combination air/water VRM cooler for enthusiasts, the best ALC898-based audio package on a motherboard to date, and not to forget all the fan headers.
The BIOS and software package from ASUS has always been one of the best in our current generation of products, and the ROG feel puts an extra gloss on everything that you use. Extreme overclockers will find the multitude of options that they want here, as well as cooling enthusiasts that must have control over all their fans (and software that actually understands how fans work!).
There are some areas ASUS can improve on where the competition are perhaps getting a minor but noticeable lead. ASRock may not have an EZ mode BIOS, but the Z77 OC Formula offers more automatic overclock options, as well as a better experience due to the enhanced visuals. ASRock also include some plastic standoffs in the package for overclockers to quickly set up a motherboard rather than resting it on a box. Gigabyte has Gigabyte TweakLauncher, a simple GUI overclocking tool for every setting that can be changed in an instant. Both ASRock and Gigabyte have two BIOSes on board in case something goes wrong, and ASRock + MSI have easier to use voltage read points. I also prefer MSI’s method of more VGA power via a 6-pin PCIe connector rather than the 4-pin molex. Gigabyte also includes the OC Touch buttons, which are great for those extra few MHz.
Price wise, the MVF is $290 with AC3 with the package, but has been $270-$300 without in the past eight weeks. Compared to the ASRock Z77 OC Formula ($240, $225 on promo), MSI Z77 MPower ($210, $190 on promo) and the Gigabyte Z77X-UP7 ($400), the Maximus V Formula from ASUS does come along as the most expensive Z77 motherboard without a PLX 8747 chip.
The main competition is from the ASRock Z77 OC Formula of course, which can be $30-$75 cheaper depending on the sales. The ASUS does offer that little bit more – audio, performance at stock/efficiency, software, memory overclocking. The ASUS is definitely more the gamers’ motherboard than the ASRock, which was built more for overclocking - as such the ASRock gives easier voltage read points, more automatic OC options and two BIOSes. As a gamer, I would choose the ASUS due to the software package and the audio capabilities. As a casual competitive overclocker, it is a tough call – I personally had an easier experience with the ASRock, and it would be cheaper to replace if I thrashed and broke it, but I achieved more with the ASUS when pushing the limit. If I am going after scores where I need to be on that limit, the ASUS is the weapon of choice.
The ROG brand from ASUS always produces motherboards worth having. Giving the Formula the SupremeFX IV over the Gene and Extreme puts it into a SKU class of its own which it needed. On the basis of previous reviews, it is hard not to give the Maximus V Formula from ASUS anything but a Silver Award:
ASUS Maximus V Formula
Editor’s Choice Silver Award
The ASUS Maximus V Formula competes in a tough arena with rivals armed to the teeth, and comes out the other side with everything intact ready to fight another day. The competition doesn’t get tougher than this.
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IanCutress - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
Motherboards are a lot more than just performance. If that's all you are after, then sure, go ahead and invest in a better GPU. I for one like to know which boards are good for audio processing, which ones actually take care on layouts and offer the functionality I want, or overclock the best. New Z77 motherboards are still coming out, and *shock horror* I have a list of motherboards manufacturers still want me to review before Z87. :DIan
vvk - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
IanSorry if my comment may have appeared as a criticism for the article. That was not my intent. (The article is great as always on Anandtech and I read it with pleasure). What I was surprised at was that Asus is releasing an enthusiast level MB so close to the Haswell launch. From the comments it seems that the MB has been out for a while it was just that you guys happen to review it now.
If we are to believe Ecclesiastes there is a time for everything but in terms of your review affecting purchasing decisions I hope you will agree that the potential would have been higher if the review was published 5-6 months ago. That reminds me that while I am still patiently waiting for your Nexus 10 review ... :) (BTW I bought it the first week after launch based on Anandtech's preview and other sites full reviews)
Now to address the issue of MB features. I agree that layout, size, expansion slots etc. are important for customizing the computer the way you wanted. However, than why even bother with all the performance graphs that if anything just show that Z77 is Z77 and the results are more or less the same? In terms of overclocking there could be a potential difference but my hunch is it is mostly the luck of the draw when purchasing CPU than the MB (stating from upper-intermediate MB price level and above). Also I personally feel that nowadays the OC is providing so few tangible results that I do it mostly out of habit than hoping to gain any real performance advantages.
So in summary I sympathize with your plight and understand that you guys have to review staff for leaving but my advice is to focus on timely reviews of products like Nexus 10, next Iphone etc, that more people are potentially interested in vs. diligently working on the back-log and reviews of products that have relatively minor audience or have potentially big audience but the product is already in mid or end cycle.
IanCutress - Wednesday, March 27, 2013 - link
One of the big differentiators at stock is MultiCore Turbo, whether the board gives you extra performance in multi threaded load. There's also several boards with USB 2.0 issues, giving 20% less performance, and about 20 different ways split the PCIe layout (including all PLX variations). So yes, some testing does produce similar results - but there are differences between them all. For example, if a motherboard doesn't implement MCT, then how quickly does it respond to variable load changes? Does it stay at the high speed more, or quickly drop down as required? Does it enjoy G.Skill memory, which is quickly becoming the memory of choice for overclocking enthusiasts (it overtook Corsair at HWBot a long time ago). How well does multi-GPU perform, if there's 10 different ways to allocate three lots of PCIe lanes / inc PLX?With that being said, different motherboard companies have different priorities. The overclocking boards tend to go to enthusiast websites first that test sub-zero, whereas we tend to get the mid range models first because that is where most of our positive readership seem to lie. Other popular websites that review motherboards are only just getting the Z77A-GD65, or the P8Z77-V Premium for example, which we reviewed almost 6 months ago. The motherboard workload at the minute is mostly Intel as well, with not much interest in Trinity by comparison and nothing that new from Vishera that any manufacturer wanted us to review. If it was full on from all sides, then chances are we may never have got to review this being knee deep in other boards. But I still have four/five more Z77 boards in to review before I start in earnest on Z87, which will require lots of preparation!
The AnandTech staff is full of people who want to give you the best reviews and the technical side of it all, even if it means we're late to the game compared to some others. But in this review I wrote more about the MVF fan controls, or just the software itself, and went into more detail than some websites write about a whole motherboard. Swings and roundabouts - we could do every board on day 1 when they are released (as long as we get access to it), but the depth of content will suffer.
If there is ever a motherboard you want me to review next (or a test scenario I can easily fit in), please drop me an email (click my name in the review). I have a good amount of leeway in what I review when, so if there's interest in XYZ then I can go after it. No guarantees (for example a request for B75 reviews came at the wrong time with a big backlog along with not much enthusiasm from manufacturers), but I will certainly take it into account :)
Ian
kzinti1 - Thursday, April 18, 2013 - link
Why do you think ASUS has just released this board?I checked my purchase records for Newegg for this year and my board wasn't there.
I then checked my account records for 2012 and found it.
I bought this motherboard on July 9, 2012.
How do you reckon that this board has come out too close to the release of Haswell?
I'm not singling you out, but too many people are acting as if this board is somehow a new release when it clearly isn't.
In fact, by my own standards, I find it to be quite old. Also my favorite, ATM.
Figaro56 - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
Because Sandy Bridge doesn't support PCIx 3.0 or faster memory. USB 3.0 was unstable when supplied outside the chipset. I moved from Z68 to this Z77 board and very glad I did. This is everything that Z68 and Sandy Bridge should have been. Makes no sense to wait on new Z87 because really great boards and fixes for start up problems won't shake out for almost a year just like Z77. Think about it. You pay a price to be cutting edge. Let all the enthusiasts solve the problems first.pandemonium - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
Thanks for the review!UzairH - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
This is the board I want to get EXCEPT I don't get why they have PLX chip that does PCIe3 x8+x8 instead of x16+x16. This does not improve over the standard Z77 x8+x8 functionality, which for me is a bit of a concern. I like to maximize the graphics performance when choosing the system components, so now I will get GTX 670 SLI (Titan is too expensive for being 40% faster), but I would like to get Maxwell SLI (something like GTX 770) in a year or two from now while retaining this board.IanCutress - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
They do not have a PLX8747 on board, they have a PLX8608 chip, which splits one PCIe x1 lane from the PCH into many x1 lanes, for additional controllers.Ian
_Luay_ - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
The most affordable PLX-equipped Z77 motherboard is the $230 Asrock WS. It is a 8-phase motherboard, which is a joke for a work station. Should be called Asrock Z77 games-only and leave the CPU alone.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
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For Tri-Fire/SLI, how would non-plx 8x8x4, perform against PLX 8x8x8 using gen 3.0 PCI-E?
If the perfromance hit is less than %10, I'd settle for a $150 MSI G45 or G65 and invest in a Xonar soundcard and wireless USB adapter. Don't judge my cheapness.
IanCutress - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
With Tri-GPU, there are several ways:x8/x8/x4, where the final x4 are from the PCH (Z77 OC Formula)
x8/x4/x4, where all are from the CPU (MVF)
x16/x8/x8 via a PLX (Z77X-UP7)
In tri-GPU, via a PLX performs better, as shown in Dirt3, against the others.
UP7 with PLX: 191 FPS
MVF with x8/x4/x4: 185 FPS
Z77 OC with x8/x8/x4: 134 FPS
In the UP7 review I do a direct comparison of exact lane layouts with and without PCH with single GPU (because the board allowed me to). So x16 native vs. x16 via PLX, the difference was ~0.7% in frame rates over most titles.
Ian