ASUS Maximus VII Impact Review: Premium Gaming Z97 in mini-ITX
by Ian Cutress on December 9, 2014 10:00 AM ESTGaming Performance
F1 2013
First up is F1 2013 by Codemasters. I am a big Formula 1 fan in my spare time, and nothing makes me happier than carving up the field in a Caterham, waving to the Red Bulls as I drive by (because I play on easy and take shortcuts). F1 2013 uses the EGO Engine, and like other Codemasters games ends up being very playable on old hardware quite easily. In order to beef up the benchmark a bit, we devised the following scenario for the benchmark mode: one lap of Spa-Francorchamps in the heavy wet, the benchmark follows Jenson Button in the McLaren who starts on the grid in 22nd place, with the field made up of 11 Williams cars, 5 Marussia and 5 Caterham in that order. This puts emphasis on the CPU to handle the AI in the wet, and allows for a good amount of overtaking during the automated benchmark. We test at 1920x1080 on Ultra graphical settings.
Bioshock Infinite
Bioshock Infinite was Zero Punctuation’s Game of the Year for 2013, uses the Unreal Engine 3, and is designed to scale with both cores and graphical prowess. We test the benchmark using the Adrenaline benchmark tool and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.
Tomb Raider
The next benchmark in our test is Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider is an AMD optimized game, lauded for its use of TressFX creating dynamic hair to increase the immersion in game. Tomb Raider uses a modified version of the Crystal Engine, and enjoys raw horsepower. We test the benchmark using the Adrenaline benchmark tool and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.
Sleeping Dogs
Sleeping Dogs is a benchmarking wet dream – a highly complex benchmark that can bring the toughest setup and high resolutions down into single figures. Having an extreme SSAO setting can do that, but at the right settings Sleeping Dogs is highly playable and enjoyable. We run the basic benchmark program laid out in the Adrenaline benchmark tool, and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.
Battlefield 4
The EA/DICE series that has taken countless hours of my life away is back for another iteration, using the Frostbite 3 engine. AMD is also piling its resources into BF4 with the new Mantle API for developers, designed to cut the time required for the CPU to dispatch commands to the graphical sub-system. For our test we use the in-game benchmarking tools and record the frame time for the first ~70 seconds of the Tashgar single player mission, which is an on-rails generation of and rendering of objects and textures. We test at 1920x1080 at Ultra settings.
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mooninite - Thursday, December 11, 2014 - link
The stock Intel cooler was what I originally had with my Impact and 4790k. Running an ffmpeg, h264 encode would reach 100C (the thermal limit) and throttle within a few minutes. I then purchased a ZALMAN CNPS8900 Extreme. This allowed ffmpeg to run while staying just under the 100C limit. After further reading of the Intel forum, with Intel support representatives replying, the motherboards are syncing all ratios, and a proper 44/44/43/42 ratio setting dropped temps even further to below 80C.Undervolting is next to impossible on stock clocks. I have my adaptive voltage set to -0.05v. Anything more and the system is not stable.
WithoutWeakness - Wednesday, December 10, 2014 - link
I think ASUS assumes that if you're spending $200+ on one of their ROG-branded motherboards and $200-$300+ on a K-series unlocked processor then you're also probably spending $50+ on a CPU cooler that is good enough to cope with the additional heat of a few hundred MHz overclock and the potential corresponding voltage bump that comes with it.It might be an unfair assumption to expect all users to buy a separate CPU cooler but they're targeting a certain audience with their ROG hardware and know that most of those users won't just rely on the stock heatsink/fan to keep their CPU adequately cooled.
takeshi7 - Tuesday, December 9, 2014 - link
I don't understand why manufacturers don't include 5.1 analog audio on high end ITX boards. If I can't have a sound card I'd at least like to have nice integrated audio.xenol - Tuesday, December 9, 2014 - link
Many of them do have the full set of 5.1 with mic and line-in. I'm sure this board just multiplexes the ports.nathanddrews - Tuesday, December 9, 2014 - link
My guess is that if you care that much about high quality audio, you would want to pass through to an external receiver/DAC/amplifier. From my experience onboard DAC always results in audible feedback. Digital out to an AVR resolves it.bigboxes - Tuesday, December 9, 2014 - link
He said nice, not high end. I have great sounding audio. Granted it's not on-board. Rather it's a Soundblaster X-Fi card paired with some Swans. If you are that anal about audio then you are going to do as you prescribed. However, we all don't want receiver/DAC/amps on our desktops. Don't blame you if you do though just don't poo-pah the OP for making the suggestion.bigboxes - Tuesday, December 9, 2014 - link
With such a small board there is no place for a external DAC add in card, hence your comment. I wasn't thinking about that.Pork@III - Tuesday, December 9, 2014 - link
The parameters and component of test system are unreal experiment with board which mainly to relevant for HTPC.ExarKun333 - Tuesday, December 9, 2014 - link
I like the error LED on the back plate. Very handy for a cramped build.Laststop311 - Tuesday, December 9, 2014 - link
This is without a doubt the very best mini itx board on the market period. If I was going to build a mini itx system this is the board I would get. And for being the very best available the price isn't all that bad.