The ASUS Maximus VIII Extreme Review: The Other $500 Option
by Ian Cutress on April 7, 2016 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Gaming
- Asus
- ROG
- Skylake
- Z170
- Thunderbolt 3
CPU Performance, Short Form
For our motherboard reviews, we use our short form testing method. These tests usually focus on if a motherboard is using MultiCore Turbo (the feature used to have maximum turbo on at all times, giving a frequency advantage), or if there are slight gains to be had from tweaking the firmware. We leave the BIOS settings at default and memory at JEDEC (DDR4-2133 C15) for these tests, making it very easy to see which motherboards have MCT enabled by default.
Video Conversion – Handbrake v0.9.9: link
Handbrake is a media conversion tool that was initially designed to help DVD ISOs and Video CDs into more common video formats. For HandBrake, we take two videos (a 2h20 640x266 DVD rip and a 10min double UHD 3840x4320 animation short) and convert them to x264 format in an MP4 container. Results are given in terms of the frames per second processed, and HandBrake uses as many threads as possible.
Compression – WinRAR 5.0.1: link
Our WinRAR test from 2013 is updated to the latest version of WinRAR at the start of 2014. We compress a set of 2867 files across 320 folders totaling 1.52 GB in size – 95% of these files are small typical website files, and the rest (90% of the size) are small 30 second 720p videos.
Point Calculations – 3D Movement Algorithm Test: link
3DPM is a self-penned benchmark, taking basic 3D movement algorithms used in Brownian Motion simulations and testing them for speed. High floating point performance, MHz and IPC wins in the single thread version, whereas the multithread version has to handle the threads and loves more cores. For a brief explanation of the platform agnostic coding behind this benchmark, see my forum post here.
Rendering – POV-Ray 3.7: link
The Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer, or POV-Ray, is a freeware package for as the name suggests, ray tracing. It is a pure renderer, rather than modeling software, but the latest beta version contains a handy benchmark for stressing all processing threads on a platform. We have been using this test in motherboard reviews to test memory stability at various CPU speeds to good effect – if it passes the test, the IMC in the CPU is stable for a given CPU speed. As a CPU test, it runs for approximately 2-3 minutes on high end platforms.
Synthetic – 7-Zip 9.2: link
As an open source compression tool, 7-Zip is a popular tool for making sets of files easier to handle and transfer. The software offers up its own benchmark, to which we report the result.
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BrokenCrayons - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
"Yes, blowing that much money on frivolous casual dining, outings and shopping is obviously a demonstration of financial brilliance!"It most certainly isn't wasted money and is part of my "fun cash" allotment to myself after bills are paid and my savings and retirement funds are given their budgeted amounts. So what you're effectively seeing is the result of financial planning and numerous years strictly sticking to a budget. It's not brilliance, but it is a very regimented commitment to a monetary standard.
sweenish - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
What you're failing to understand is that "wasted" money to you is not necessarily wasted money to someone else.You're way of doing things is not universal, and neither is how you decide to spend your money for fun. Get over yourself.
BrokenCrayons - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
I don't think you actually read the chain of posts above yours fully before replying. It doesn't seem like you've comprehended the nuances of the discussion prior to developing feelings about it.A5 - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
I don't think anyone buying a $500 motherboard runs in social circles that have the same priorities as you do.It's obviously an insane product, but I assume it brings in a decent profit at low volumes.
ASEdouardD - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
As with most things, the rationality of spending that much on a motherboard really depends on how much money you have to spend. If you make 500k a year and like this stuff, why the hell not.Murloc - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
yeah people who buy this stuff, besides a few extreme overclockers, are usually rich kids who get into this stuff and just buy the best.They're paying a premium but that premium isn't too much for them so that's good for asus and everybody else.
haukionkannel - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Well, I have old Extreme board and the best part is that it has been a trouble free instrument in my setting. The Mother board is now 8-9 years old and still working perfectly!You pay for quality components. I have done only very minor overclocking and preferred stability and durability over maximum performance.
Azethoth - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
I just built my Mom a new computer. The last one lasted 7 years. The new one has a Maximus VIII Hero from Fry's. If Fry's stocked the extreme I would have bought that, but limited time meant not waiting for an Amazon delivery. Assuming the same 7 year life span (old comp still worked, just not compatible with 8TB drives), it is less than $100 a year for the MB. Like the old one it is not overclocked and the extra lifespan from better components means I do not have to worry about it like I used to when she got Dells. Does she need 64GB of memory, nope. 2TB Samsung Pro? Nope. 2 8TB HGST He8 drives for the raid, nope. Netgear M4100-D12G switch with all shielded CAT7 cabling? Nope. Thermaltake Core 71 case? Nope, but she wanted a taller case so it is easier to put stuff on top of it and 71 sounds like better quality than 51.Is it worth maxing as much as possible? Yep. I anticipate that this machine will last 10 years and never break, unless 4k VR home movies suddenly becomes a thing and she gets into it and I have to fill up a few more drive bays or get a stupid expensive NAS. Oh yeah and Ashes of the Singularity is gonna scream.
Gastec - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
Get outta here! 500 bucks is pocket change, I pay more to fill up my Reventón every week :)arayoflight - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Is there anything meaningful that it offers over Z170 deluxe, which is I guess the only option of you want fast onboard WiFi.