1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Hardware Asus Maximus VII Formula Review

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Dogbert666, 4 Aug 2014.

  1. Dogbert666

    Dogbert666 *Fewer Lover of bit-tech Administrator

    Joined:
    17 Jan 2010
    Posts:
    1,678
    Likes Received:
    181
  2. Noob?

    Noob? What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    18 Oct 2009
    Posts:
    3,349
    Likes Received:
    159
    Been waiting for this one! Thanks.
     
  3. Kovoet

    Kovoet What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    26 Aug 2009
    Posts:
    7,128
    Likes Received:
    348
    Think my VI version can last a bit longer I think
     
  4. Hustler

    Hustler Minimodder

    Joined:
    8 Aug 2005
    Posts:
    1,039
    Likes Received:
    41
    I'm thinking the vast majority of people who are willing to pay so much for these formula boards, only really do so because they think the plastic cover looks cool, rather than for any real world, tangible benefit over any motherboard costing around £150.
     
  5. rollo

    rollo Modder

    Joined:
    16 May 2008
    Posts:
    7,887
    Likes Received:
    131
    Depends if you want to watercool the mobo or not, your not saving a great deal doing it yourself if anything actually. Its a niche market but that niche is willing to pay for it so asus exploits it.

    Would of liked to seen it fully water cooled including CPU as nobody paying this sort of cash will run it on air.
     
  6. Combatus

    Combatus Bit-tech Modding + hardware reviews Lover of bit-tech Super Moderator

    Joined:
    16 Feb 2009
    Posts:
    2,761
    Likes Received:
    89
    Yep, pretty much what I said in the conclusion. I'll see if we can hold on to the board long enough to do a follow up article, water-cooling the CPU. We only had time to get comparison air-cooled numbers and to test the VRM block.
     
  7. rollo

    rollo Modder

    Joined:
    16 May 2008
    Posts:
    7,887
    Likes Received:
    131
    I understand the time constraints that your under nice review it is.
     
  8. Hustler

    Hustler Minimodder

    Joined:
    8 Aug 2005
    Posts:
    1,039
    Likes Received:
    41
    On a separate note, does this have better audio that what's on my Hero motherboard?

    Because I think it's one of the standout features of my new board, the quality really is superb, through speakers and most importantly headphones, with great 3D sound mixing.

    It seems to be the same chip & capacitors..so not even an advantage in that department???


    TBH, I think it's as good as a dedicated sound card and you'd only really notice the difference if your pumping the sound through an expensive home cinema setup.
     
  9. Combatus

    Combatus Bit-tech Modding + hardware reviews Lover of bit-tech Super Moderator

    Joined:
    16 Feb 2009
    Posts:
    2,761
    Likes Received:
    89
    Unfortunately we've only recently added the audio testing to the benchmarks so didn't get round to testing the Hero which we reviewed a while ago. The Formula does seem to be better than the Gene so I wouldn't like to guess about the Hero, but you're right in that for the most part, you'd only likely be able to tell the difference if you've got decent speakers.
     
  10. ChaosDefinesOrder

    ChaosDefinesOrder Vapourmodder

    Joined:
    6 Feb 2008
    Posts:
    712
    Likes Received:
    8
    apart from the "encourage people to buy the more expensive model" I'm surprised that Asus don't offer the full cover for more of their boards as an after-market addition given the (mostly) positive reception it seems to get?

    Sure the cover may end up being £80, but a sub-£150 board plus £80 shield will offer the shop-psychology to get more people interested than £230 board including cover?
     
  11. Star*Dagger

    Star*Dagger What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    30 Nov 2007
    Posts:
    882
    Likes Received:
    11
    Maybe someday bit-tech will stop subtracting points on the value side for expensive items.
     
  12. Anfield

    Anfield Multimodder

    Joined:
    15 Jan 2010
    Posts:
    7,058
    Likes Received:
    969
    Depends on the actual products involved, if comparing lets say for example Crucial M550 and Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe SSDs then it makes perfect sense to not subtract points for the Mushkin in the value section despite being far more expensive because its superior in every other aspect by a margin from here to Mars.

    But with Mainboards it kind of makes sense to punish high prices in the score as so much functionality has been moved from the Mainboard to the CPU that the differences between the various Mainboards have become laughable (just pick your fav slot layout and colour scheme) which makes it very difficult to justify a premium price.
     
  13. Combatus

    Combatus Bit-tech Modding + hardware reviews Lover of bit-tech Super Moderator

    Joined:
    16 Feb 2009
    Posts:
    2,761
    Likes Received:
    89
    Well, we're not going to add points if you can't use most M.2 SSDs but can on most other Z97 boards are we? :D I'd have liked to have seen maybe more extensive watercooling, more thermal sensor ports and more extensive fan control software but equally we don't dish out an Extreme Ultra Award at the drop of a hat. I don't think we've ever docked points for price alone but eually that price has to be earned.
     
  14. IanW

    IanW Grumpy Old Git

    Joined:
    2 Aug 2003
    Posts:
    9,133
    Likes Received:
    2,630
    I see the miniPCIe card sits in the same place as on my Gene VI.
    This means the m.2 SSD is limited to the "2242" size, with a max capacity of 128GB
     
  15. Star*Dagger

    Star*Dagger What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    30 Nov 2007
    Posts:
    882
    Likes Received:
    11
    That is kind of the point, you DID give the Extreme Ultra Award to them.

    I see a lot of very low score on expensive items, just something to keep an eye on. Good review, keep up the good work.
     
  16. spolsh

    spolsh Multimodder

    Joined:
    4 Feb 2012
    Posts:
    1,559
    Likes Received:
    821
    I don't see why it got the award either. The results look mid-table for everything but audio. Is the over-all package enough to justify it, or is there some intangible thing that sets it apart (beyond a waterblock) ?
     
Tags: Add Tags

Share This Page