Hardware ASUS Maximus VII Hero Review

Based on the reviews of all the 'Z-boards' I would go for the cheapest board with the features that suit my needs. The performance differences are unnoticeable at all or so close to each other you can only see the it on a graph.

 

Could you include some impressions of the onboard sound? All the motherboard manufacturers are emphasising improved audio, and it would nice to see how they compare to each other, and dedicated soundcards.

 

Speed test utilising SSD is great to compare against older boards, but as a major upgrade on the z97 platform it's M.2, why not include this in the review?
As an upgrade is in my near future, if its proven to be worth while, a new M.2 would be included.

 

ASUS used to stand head and shoulders above the rest in terms of quality and reliability which were often good reasons to justify paying more for an ASUS product. Over recent years other manufacturers have gained on them, especially MSI who seem to be able to match ASUS on these fronts while also matching of even beating them in terms of features and price. MSI did some Voodoo style magic with their M-ITX Z87 board which had excellent performance while being significantly cheaper and then there is MSI's current offer of free hardware such as the Corsair H75 with certain purchases while still undercutting ASUS's price in the first place.
Those totally loyal to ASUS will still likely stay with them but like many others, I will have to seriously consider a board from someone else this time around as ASUS just doesn't seem worth it right now.

 

Totaly agree with you on this. Most new boards have this. so why not test it?
And also the improved onboard sound also mentioned above should be tested.

For example [H]ocp tested the sound capabilities, lan speed etc: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013...ro_lga_1150_motherboard_review/4#.U3SxH_l_t8E

 

Perhaps a dedicated review focusing on the new SATA Express & M2 (across multiple boards) specifically would be the best solution? This way we get an idea of the real world advantages of the new technologies whilst also a base line for future motherboard reviews.

 

I second David164v8's request. I can't find info, subjective or objective, about this on any review.

 

Thirded (is that even a word ?)
There are some reviews with benchmarks of Z97 and M.2 here is one on Guru3D of the ASUS Z97-A and Z97 Deluxe using a Plextor M6 M2 SSD unit.

 

Aww, no pictures of the LED lights in a case?

 

We never actually see you doing the testing so I shouldn't worry about rebranding your test suits...

 

good to see a review of this board as trying to work out the dif between the Hero and Ranger (well i could see the extra Sata ports) i probbery get the Hero

but beefed up power circuitry and LED lights (+2 extra SATA ports), i was more interested in the 7.1 sound output as looking at getting the Razr Real 7.1 gaming headset

all the other headsets is just down mixed Stereo the days of been able to use Stereo headset with an X-FI with levitation and direction seem to be gone on me now (think it really only worked correctly on XP) and the House does not like it when i have my 5.1 Surround system on (lots of gunfire and explosions sounds like a war going on)

 

I think this board is only for loyal ASUS fans. No offense to ASUS, but for pretty much the same price you can get ASRock Z97 Extreme9. Ultra M.2, M.2, PCI-E lanes beefed up with PLX chip (so it is quad x8 with all slots filled up), mPCIe, 2x SATA Express, dual Intel LAN. Sorry ASUS, but the ROG series came out as overpriced boards with lowend feature set this time.