Asus Maximus VII Ranger & Hero Motherboard Review

1. Introduction2. Asus Maximus VII Ranger3. Asus Maximus VII Hero4. Z97 ROG BIOS5. Z97 ROG Software6. Testing Methodology7. Tests: System-related8. Tests: Processor-related9. Tests: Gaming-related10. Tests: Motherboard-related11. Overclocking: Frequencies12. Overclocking: Performance13. Technical: Power Consumption14. Closing Thoughts15. View All Pages

SATA

For SATA 6Gb/s testing we use a Kingston HyperX 3K (SandForce SF-2281) SSD.

Z97 SATA performance is exactly where we would expect it to be.

The ASMedia ASM1061 implementation deployed by Asus' Maximus VII Hero outdoes that used on ASRock's Z97 Extreme6.

M.2 connector

We use Plextor‘s ultra-fast M6e 256GB M.2 SSD to test the speed of each motherboard's M.2 connector. We reviewed the 512GB Plextor M6e (and its PCIe x2 adapter card) HERE.

M.2 performance of each ROG board is similar to other Z97 parts when using Plextor's fast M6e SSD.

USB 3.0

We tested USB 3.0 performance using the Kingston HyperX 3K SSD connected to a SATA 6Gb/s to USB 3.0 adapter powered by an ASMedia ASM1053 controller.

With their UASP-activating USB 3.0 Boost software, the Asus ROG boards are able to beat out all other contenders in USB 3.0 throughput numbers. Only Asus' own Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 is able to keep relative pace in USB 3.0 speed.

Audio

We use RightMark Audio Analyzer (RMAA) to analyse the performance of the motherboard’s onboard audio solution. A sampling mode of 24-bit, 192 kHz was tested.

The SupremeFX audio system consists of a Realtek ALC1150 codec, ELNA capacitors, Sonic SenseAmp, and interference shielding.

Both motherboards show Very Good audio performance according to RMAA. Stereo Crosstalk performance is particularly strong on each part.

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