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Sporting the typical bold red and dark black colour scheme that has become the symbol of Republic Of Gamers products, the Asus Maximus VI Extreme motherboard conforms to a standard ATX form factor.
I wouldn't go as far as saying that the M6E motherboard's appearance is as alluring as that of MSI's Z87 XPower (in my opinion), but the deep black PCB and bold red highlights do make for a very attractive board that can be easily partnered with colour-coordinated hardware.
Four alternating red and black DIMM slots are capable of holding up to 32 gigabytes of DDR3 memory with frequencies as high as 3100MHz. We will be putting the high-frequency support claim to the test with a set of 3000MHz Avexir Core Extreme memory.
The Maximus VI Extreme motherboard's DIMM slots features Asus' second generation T-Topology which, according to the company, improves the overclocking margin by up to 5% under full load and 10% for a one-DIMM configuration. Put simply, the T-Topology creates paths of equivalent distance between each DIMM slot (more specifically, memory channel) and the CPU. This helps to minimise the performance drops that can be encountered by poor clock synchronisation when unequal path distances are used. More information regarding T-Topology can be found on Asus' ROG blog here.
An internal USB 3.0 header is found in its usual location – adjacent to the 24-pin connection. The inclusion of only one USB 3.0 header gives further indication that the Maximus VI Extreme motherboard is better equipped for extreme overclockers than hardcore gamers.
Power, reset, and MemOK buttons are found in the OC Zone, alongside PCI-E lane switches, and the slow boot toggle. A two-digit debug screen, two 4-pin fan headers, and LN2 mode jumper are also found in and around the OC Zone, as well as the Probelt voltage readout points.
Given that Asus designs the M6E motherboard for extreme overclockers, the type that will be using LN2 and DICE pots for the CPU and RAM, the OC Zone's buttons are located too close to the DIMM slots. When extreme memory cooling is used, or even while the heat from the area around a LN2 or DICE pot ceases to exist, the Maximus VI Extreme motherboard's onboard buttons are going to freeze very quickly.
Luckily, the OC Panel can be used to control the motherboard and its overclocking settings from a ‘safe' (warm) distance. Nevertheless, a better location for the onboard buttons would have helped to eliminate problems that may be encountered by their mechanical switches freezing.
A processor installed in the Asus Maximus VI Extreme motherboard is fed by eight power delivery phases, while memory receives two. Located in close proximity to a heavy-duty, solid metal VRM heatsink is Asus' Extreme Engine Digi+ III system. The power delivery system is made up of NexFET MOSFETs, 60 Amp BlackWing chokes, 10K Black Metallic Capacitors, and a digital controller.
According to Asus, the NexFET MOSFETs offer efficiency that is greater than 90% and a smaller size than their standard counterparts. The BlackWing chokes support current levels of up to 60A while maintaining cool operation due to their surface area-enhancing shape. The 10K Black Metallic Capacitors are touted as offering 20% better low temperature endurance and five times longer lifespan than generic solid state capacitors.
8-pin and 4-pin CPU power connectors are found in their usual location close to the motherboard's IO panel. Their positioning is fine, until the mPCIe Combo II card is installed, that is. More on that point later.
The mPCIe Combo II card provides an mPCIe socket on one side of its board, with the all-new M.2 (Next Generation Form Factor) connection found on the other side. A dual-band 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 adapter populates the mPCIe slot, while the M.2 socket is left unused and ready to accept one of the small, M.2 Type 2242 SSDs that will have widespread availability soon.
Five x16-length PCI-E slots provide support for 4-way SLI and CrossFire configurations, thanks to the PLX PEX8747 lane switch. An open-ended PCI-E 2.0 x4 slot can be used to install a high-end SSD such as Asus' own ROG RAIDR Express, or the OCZ RevoDrive.
It is good to see Asus making full utilisation of the available expansion slots. Leaving the second expansion position empty makes sense – it is almost always blocked by a graphics card. Slot spacing is also very good, with dual-card configurations relying on the uppermost and black PCI-E x16 connections, which leaves room for cooling.
A 6-pin PCI-E connector located above the expansion slots is used to provide the extra power that multi-VGA configurations require.
The front panel headers are found in their usual location, with audio situated towards the board's bottom-left corner. The ROG_EXT (for OC Panel) header is situated towards the centre of the M6E's bottom edge.
A DirectKey button allows the board to boot into its BIOS upon being powered.
Ten right-angled SATA 6Gb/s ports are provided on the Maximus VI Extreme. The six ports to the right operate directly from the Z87 chipset, while a pair of ASMedia ASM1061 controllers provides the four connections to the left.
It would have been wise for Asus to use a different colour to make it more clear which ports operate from the Z87 chipset and which are supplied by add-on controllers. Instead, users must check the manual or read writing from the PCB.
SATA port 5 (top-right) shares its connection with the M2 (NGFF) slot on the mPCIe Combo II card.
Connected to the VRM heatsink by a flattened heatpipe, another solid piece of metal sporting the Republic Of Gamers logo is used to cool the PLX PEX8747 PCI-E lane switch.
The Z87 chipset and some additional controllers are cooled by yet another very sturdy metal heatsink, which this time features Asus branding.
A pair of gold-plated antenna connections exits the mPCIe Combo II card to be secured by the IO shield. An ASMedia ASM1074 hub is used to provide four USB 3.0 ports, while audio runs from Realtek's ALC1150 chipset. Asus' Maximus VI Extreme also makes use of Intel's I217-V network controller.
Due to the use of a bare Realtek ALC1150 audio chipset, rather than SupremeFX-branded technology, the Maximus VI Extreme loses the Sonic Radar capabilities that are present on the other Z87 ROG boards. This is a disappointing exclusion for hardcore gamers as it means that they have to make compromise if purchasing the flagship product – that's something that shouldn't happen.
Despite its use of an Intel Ethernet controller, Game First II is also left out from the Maximus VI Extreme's supported software arsenal. All three of the lower-priced ROG models feature support for the network-controlling software. If any additional proof that the Maximus VI Extreme is built for extreme overclockers more so than hardened gamers was required, this is it.
Motherboard rear ports:
- 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port
- 1 x DisplayPort
- 1 x HDMI
- 1 x LAN (RJ45) port
- 6 x USB 3.0 (blue)
- 2 x USB 2.0 (one port can be switched to ROG Connect)
- 1 x Optical S/PDIF out
- 6 x Audio jacks
- 1 x Clear CMOS button
- 1 x ROG Connect On/ Off switch
Circled in the above image are the locations of the Maximus VI Extreme motherboard's eight 4-pin fan headers. What's unique about the two CPU headers is the fact that they have the ability to dynamically control the speed of a 3-pin (non-PWM) fan in relation to processor temperature.
A Nuvoton NCT6791D chip is used for system and fan monitoring.
As we mentioned earlier in the review, the mPCIe Combo II card can cause interference when trying to install the CPU power connectors. Asus does give the card two screw points, but we only received one screw with our bundle, hence the adapter's evident bending when in contact with a power cable.
