ASUS Releases its Third Z97 RoG Motherboard: Maximus VII Formula

ASUS has today announced a motherboard so fresh, it’s not even listed on the company’s website yet. It’s called the Maximus VII Formula, and based on that name alone, you probably know that it falls under the Republic of Gamers line. This isn’t a board that “just” targets gamers, though; it has a number of features that would cater to anyone who wanted a seriously well-rounded motherboard.

It’s extremely common for a new motherboard release to talk “improved temperatures”, but ASUS’ Maximus VII Formula will without a doubt live up to that. At the forefront, “RoG Armor” is installed on the front and back, which helps spread heat across the board to avoid hot spots. Further, with its many fins, the “CrossChill Copper” heatsink will help keep the area around the CPU cool. Better still, if you have a DIY water-cooling setup, you can add the heatsink above the MOSFETs to the loop, which ASUS says will decrease the temperatures there by at least 23°C. That kind of promise almost makes me wish I took water cooling a little more seriously.

For a networking solution, ASUS has opted to go with the tried-and-true Intel NIC solution, rather than cave in and go with a competing solution just because it’s “supposed to be” better for online gaming. I appreciate ASUS’ decision here, since Intel’s NICs have proven to be the most stable for me over the years. Out-of-the-box, though, Intel NICs are not tuned for gaming, so that’s where ASUS’ home-brewed GameFirst III technology comes into play. As you might have expected, it will prioritize gaming packets to make sure that your online experience is as good as can be.

Further, and something that might not be too noticeable at first, is LANGuard. This ties into the RJ45 socket; it’s backed by surface-mounted capacitors, anti-filtering components, and has an anti-ESD design.

For audio, ASUS has taken care of both the speaker and headphones user. The onboard solution can support a signal-to-noise ratio of 120dBA, and a Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC can be found at the back. For headphones users, the Texas Instruments LM4562 amplifier could come in handy, as it can drive up to 600ohm impedance models. Interestingly, the included Sonic SenseAmp technology actually has the ability to detect your headphone’s impedance and will adjust the gain automatically.

Last, but not least, the Maximus VII Formula includes a number of power and protection-related enhancements, to make sure that power delivery is smooth, temperatures are low, and the board safe in the event of a power surge.

Available next week, a Watch Dogs edition of this board can be had for $369. As far as I can tell, the only difference with this version is that the game comes included. And if so, that makes the pricing seem a little odd, as the standard edition of the board will retail for $319. This particular version of the board can be had in just a couple of weeks.