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Firstly, we are pleased to report that our Roccat Kone XTD mouse worked to its usual standard in the Asus Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard's UEFI BIOS. We tested an NZXT Avatar S mouse which is known for its inability to function in other manufacturers' BIOS interfaces, but this peripheral also worked fine with the RIVBE.
Throughout testing, we were repeatedly irritated by the time taken for the Rampage IV Black Edition to POST. We were regularly forced to wait well over 30 seconds before reaching the Windows loading screen, around 15-20 of which was spent staring at the POST screen's ROG logo.
Irrelevant of whether we intended to boot into Windows or launch the UEFI BIOS, the time taken was far longer than we have come to expect. Even with a stripped POST (disabled Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and three ASM1061 controllers), we could not get the POST time below 15 seconds. In fact, stripping some of the onboard controllers away from the POST seemed to have no effect on the time taken to reach the Windows loading screen.
The time required to POST is something that Asus should be able, and really needs, to fix with a BIOS update.
The My Favourites page can be edited to provide quick access to regularly used settings.
As we have come to expect from an overclocking-orientated Republic Of Gamers motherboard, access to a multitude of settings is provided in the UEFI BIOS. Overclockers should be happy by the number of voltage, frequency, multiplier, and power control settings that can be tweaked with ease.
Tweakers' sections intended for enthusiast overclockers allow specific parameters to be fine-tuned, potentially helping to unlock every last bit of hardware overclockability.
DRAM timings can be tweaked with a similar level of precision. Asus equips the Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard with a list of preset memory overclocking profiles for specific enthusiast kits.
The GPU.DIMM Post can be used to tweak and view information regarding the memory modules, installed graphics card(s), and PCI-E link speeds.
Add-on controllers and the board's LED lighting can be enabled or disabled, depending upon user preference and requirements.
Fan speeds, temperatures, and voltages are given their own specific pages for monitoring.
Fan settings are customisable in typical Asus fashion. A number of different modes can be selected and target temperatures and fan speeds can be adjusted.
Amongst the Rampage IV Black Edition's main tools is a page which allows users to save, import, export, and rename up to eight overclocking profiles. Controls and settings for the ROG OC panel can also be tweaked to an overclocker's preference.
Unlike some other motherboards, the Asus Rampage IV Black Edition's BIOS flash tool can access a USB flash drive's sub-folders when searching for the relevant file. ROG SSD Secure Erase is another unique, and very useful, tool that allows users to restore the performance of their SSD by ‘refreshing' the NAND of a supported drive.
Just as we have experienced with UEFI BIOS implementations on other Asus motherboards, the interface is almost flawless. The layout is excellent and, given the Rampage IV Black Edition's ROG status and target audience, the sheer number of adjustable parameters is vast.
The black background may not appeal to all, especially those who grew fond of the ROG products' typical dark red scheme, but its design coincides with the motherboard model.
