Asus Maximus VI Formula (Z87) Motherboard Review

1. Introduction2. Asus Maximus VI Formula: Packaging and Bundle3. Asus Maximus VI Formula: Board Layout and Features4. Asus Maximus VI Formula: BIOS & Software5. Asus Maximus VI Formula: Overclocking6. Testing Methodology7. System: PCMark 88. System: 3DMark 119. System: 3DMark10. System: Unigine Heaven Benchmark11. Processor: SiSoft Sandra12. Processor: Cinebench R11.5 64 bit13. Processor: Super Pi14. Processor: MKV HD Performance15. Processor: Media Encoding - MediaEspresso16. Processor: Media Encoding - HandBrake17. Motherboard: SATA Performance18. Motherboard: USB 3.0 Performance19. Gaming: Battlefield 320. Gaming: Sleeping Dogs21. Gaming: Metro 203322. Technical: Power Consumption23. Closing Thoughts24. View All Pages

The newest ATX member joining Asus' premier line of Z87 motherboards, the Maximus VI Formula, brings something completely different to the ROG table – a full-board covering called ROG Armor. Can the distinctive Maximus VI Formula prove itself as an excellent platform for high-end gamers and intermediate overclockers?

Typically a fan favourite due to its effective balance between overclocking and gaming features, with a feasible price tag to match, Asus' Formula variety of the latest Maximus series revision has been garnering a lot of attention. Asus outfits the Maximus VI Formula with the broadest ROG-specific feature set provided by any of the current line-up.

Combining the newest set of ROG software tools with the sixth-generation Maximus catalogue's highest-grade SupremeFX audio, ROG Armor, and a hybrid VRM cooling system, Asus is hoping it has an excellent performer in the Maximus VI Formula. With support for 3-way CrossFire and on-board overclocking tools, Asus' Maximus VI Formula will have benchmarkers interested in what the board can offer.

Does Asus have the winning Formula? Or has ASRock's identically-priced offering stolen the show in this segment of the market?

Features:

• CrossChill – Great on air. Cooler with water
• SupremeFX Formula – Amazing 120dB signal-to-noise ratio, 600 Ohm audio
• ROG Armor – Style, strength, and cooling in one
• Sonic Radar – Scan and detect to dominate
• mPCIe Combo II With Wi-Fi – Extra connections with new gen support
• Extreme Engine Digi+ III – Hardcore power delivery with premium components
• GameFirst II + Intel LAN – Put Your Frags First
• RAMDisk – Double up on speed with RAM

The Maximus VI Formula is shipped in Asus' typical red ROG packaging. Key features and specifications are listed on the box's rear side, as well as inside the flap. The motherboard itself can be viewed through a transparent plastic window.

The supplied documentation bundle is formed of; a user guide, a drivers CD, a set of SATA cable labels, a ‘Do Not Disturb' door hanger, and an ROG case sticker.

A standard bundle is supplied with the Maximus VI Formula. The magnetic WiFi adapter houses a pair of antennae that provides a two-stream 802.11ac connection on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands. Maximum transfer rate for the wireless connection is 867Mb/s.

The WiFi/Bluetooth adapter device is connected to the mPCIe Combo II card and space is available to install an M.2 form factor SSD.

The bundle consists of:

• 8x latching SATA cables.
• 2x Asus Q connectors.
• 1x flexible SLI bridge.
• 1x mPCIe Combo II card.
• 1x magnetic WiFi antenna.
• 1x foam padded IO shield.

As is the case with the rest of Asus' ROG line-up, the Maximus VI Formula features an attractive red and black colour scheme. The clear difference here is the graphite-coloured ROG Armor that covers most of the motherboard's front and back side.

Motherboard coverings (armour) aren't new for Asus – we have seen them on Sabertooth boards since the P67 era. Asus' latest Sabertooth motherboard features the TUF series' distinctive Thermal Armor. What is new, though, is the use of thermal armour on anything but the TUF line of motherboards. The Maximus VI Formula is the first product outside of Asus' TUF range to possess the distinguishing feature.

According to Asus' marketing material, ROG Armor gives the Maximus VI Formula strength, style, and additional cooling capacity. The ‘style' point is an understatement in my opinion. Personally, I am not a fan of the TUF Thermal Armor's black, industrial styling. However, I have taken a clear liking to the general appearance and eye-catching design of ROG Armor. Personal preference will be the biggest factor concerning the likeability of ROG Armor.

The Asus Maximus VI Formula measures in at 12 x 9.6 inches and conforms to the standard ATX form factor. With the part-steel ROG Armor attached, the Formula tips the scale at a large 1577g.

Up to 32GB of DDR3 memory can be installed in the Maximus VI Formula's alternating red and black, single latch DIMM slots. Asus claims support for DRAM frequencies of up to 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 Formula 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.

A single internal USB 3.0 header is found neighbouring the 24-pin power connector. Asus places the header in an outwards-facing orientation which makes cable management trickier than the right-angled approach does.

Start and reset buttons are found in the Maximus VI Formula's top-right corner. In close proximity to the buttons are a speed-controlled 4-pin fan header and a two-digit diagnostic display.

The buttons are in a location where they would be susceptible to extreme temperatures when LN2 or DICE users overclock the system. Given that the Maximus VI Formula is designed for water cooling users over extreme overclockers, the onboard buttons' location is likely to be fine.

Eight power phases feed an LGA 1150 processor that is installed in the Maximus VI Formula motherboard. Memory slots are fed by two power phases. The power delivery components form Asus’ Extreme Engine Digi+ III which consists 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.

Asus equips the Maximus VI Formula with a hybrid VRM heatsink that is passively cooled by air, or the heat can be actively removed by water cooling users. Two rubber pieces protect the CrossChill VRM heatsink's water cooling entries from attack by dust and dirt.

The CrossChill VRM heatsink supports G1/4″ threaded fittings by default, but as the above promotional material shows, users can choose the barbs that suit their requirements. This sounds a little like an excuse on Asus' part for not bundling the barbs with the motherboard.

Unlike ASRock who pre-installs barbs with its Z87 OC Formula, Asus forces its users to purchase the water cooling fittings separately. The company may claim it gives users flexibility as to the fittings they employ, but it also cuts costs on Asus' part. When Asus is charging around £260 for the Maximus VI Formula, a pair of cheap barbs could quite easily be absorbed into the profit margin.

While there is the argument that many air and even water cooling buyers won't use the barbs, on a £260 motherboard they should be included to enhance the bundle. In this section of the market, the bundled items play a crucial part in a product's overall magnetism to consumers. A user who needs the connections but doesn't have them will be more disappointed than one who purchases better fittings and doesn't use the ones supplied.

Two CPU power connectors (one 8-pin and one 4-pin) allow users to feed large quantities of energy to a heavily-overclocked processor.

ProbeIt voltage reading points and the MemOK button are situated directly above the ROG Armor's upper edge. A pair of 4-pin CPU fan headers is tucked away in close vicinity to the DIMM slots.

The mPCIe Combo II card provides a mini-PCI Express slot 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.

Once the mPCIe Combo II card is connected, access to the CPU power connectors is hampered. A 4-pin power cable will touch the card's rear edge causing it to bend. The issue doesn't affect the card's function, but it does make connecting the power connectors a more difficult task, as shown by the image taken from our Asus Maximus VI Extreme motherboard review.

Three x16-length and another three open-ended x1 PCI-E slots are found on the Maximus VI Formula. Designed without the addition of a PLX PEX8747 PCI-E 3.0 lane switch, the Maximus VI Formula is only able to support a pair of graphics cards at x8 speed. With three cards installed, sixteen PCI-E Gen 3 lanes from the processor will be split as x8/x4/x4.

Due to PCI-E lane limitations and a minimum requirement of x8 link speed, only two-card SLI is officially supported. However, that doesn't stop buyers using a pair of dual-GPU cards to utilise Quad-SLI. By virtue of its more flexible nature, three-card CrossFire configurations are supported. Thanks to the PCI-E 3.0 connection speeds, 3-way CrossFire systems are unlikely to be hampered by x4 bandwidth.

All three of the PCI-E 2.0 x1 slots feature an open-ended design that is typically used to allow installation of longer-than-slot cards. Unless the front cover is removed, Maximus VI Formula users won't be able to install cards with a connection longer than x1 due to the ROG Armor's length-restricting design.

Following on from the above point, Asus confirmed to us that if an expansion card is installed in the bottom PCI-E x16-length slot, the second graphics lane is forced to run at Gen 3 x4 speed (with the top at x8). This is a problem for users wanting to install dual-card SLI, as well as an expansion device such as the PCI-E x4 OCZ RevoDrive, or Asus' own x2 ROG RAIDR.

Unlike a small minority of other Z87 motherboards, the Maximus VI Formula does not offer a dedicated PCI-E 2.0 x4 connection wired from the chipset (think ASRock's Z87 OC Formula , Asus' Maximus VI Hero and Gigabyte's Z87X-OC). Nor can it set the two primary lanes to operate at Gen 3 speed and the bottom slot to a Gen 2 connection (from the chipset). Either of those ways would allow users to maintain dual-card SLI with PCI-E 3.0 x8 bandwidth, and a PCI-E 2.0 x4 connection for a device in the bottom slot. Asus has traded 2-card SLI + x4 expansion device support in favour of 3-card CrossFire capabilities.

Given its target audience, the lane configuration is a shortfall, but one that will not cause problems for the majority of users. Nevertheless, dual-card SLI and something like a PCI-E x4 OCZ Revodrive is by no means an unrealistic configuration for £260 motherboard buyers. Granted, the LGA 1150 processors' number of PCI-E 3.0 lanes doesn't help, but other motherboard vendors (Asus included) have implemented ways to circumvent the connection restrictions.

Front panel headers are found in their usual locations – HD audio to the left and chassis connections to the right. Two 4-pin fan headers are situated on the M6F motherboard's bottom edge, a position that makes them easy to access for cases with side panel fans.

The Maximus VI Formula features support for the OC Panel via its ROG_EXT connector. In making use of the ROG_EXT header, functionality for one of the two internal USB 2.0 headers is lost. Given the target audience, it is not unlikely that some of the Maximus VI Formula’s users are going to purchase the OC Panel. Asus would have been wise to fit the board with at least two USB 2.0 headers that are usable all of the time, as is the case with the Maximus VI Extreme.

Additional power for multi-VGA configurations is provided via a downwards-facing molex connector. Asus made the correct decision to face the molex connection downwards as the orientation makes cable management much easier. A DirectKey button allows the board to boot into its BIOS upon being powered.

Ten right-angled SATA 6Gb/s ports are provided by the Maximus VI Formula. The six ports to the right operate from the Z87 chipset, while four on the left are provided by a pair of ASMedia ASM1061 controllers.

We have commented on many boards that some form of marking would make it easier for users to distinguish between native and add-on ports. While Asus doesn't use a meticulously clear marking system, the basic information it prints on the ROG Armor is far easier to read than ink on a board.

With gamers forming part of the Maximus VI Formula's target audience, Asus equips the board with the company's highest-grade audio system. Called Advanced SupremeFX (or SupremeFX Formula), Asus has combined high-quality acoustic equipment to obtain 120dB signal-to-noise-ratio calibre audio.

The equipment used consists of; SupremeFX shielding and EMI cover (including an isolated PCB), ELNA audio and WIMA film capacitors, differential circuit with operational amplifiers, a 120dB SNR Cirrus Logic CS4398 digital to analogue converter, and Texas Instruments' TPA6120A2 600 Ohm headphone amplifier.

Underneath the SupremeFX-branded cover, we will find a Realtek audio chip that is likely to be the ALC1150. Installing the Realtek audio drivers will also provide access to the Sonic Radar and Perfect Voice pieces of software.

The Sonic Radar gaming overlay indicates the direction of enemy footsteps, gunfire, and explosions. Perfect Voice is noise cancellation software.

A pair of gold-plated antenna connections exits the 802.11ac WiFi/BT4.0 adapter installed on the mPCIe Combo II card. The connections can be fitted to the IO shield where linking them with the external antenna is an easy task.

Four of the rear panel's USB 3.0 ports are provided by an ASMedia ASM1074 controller, while the other two operate via the Z87 chipset. Intel's I217V controller is used to provide gigabit Ethernet.

Motherboard rear ports:

• 1 x DisplayPort
• 1 x HDMI
• 1 x LAN (RJ45) port
• 6 x USB 3.0 (blue)
• 4 x USB 2.0
• 1 x Optical S/PDIF out
• 6 x Audio jacks
• 1 x Clear CMOS button
• 1 x ROG Connect On/ Off switch

As pointed out by the red circles in the above image, Asus' fan header distribution on the Maximus VI Formula motherboard is excellent. Each of the eight headers is of the 4-pin variety.

A number of LEDs mounted to the PCB give the Armor's Republic Of Gamers logo a red glowing effect.

Bare Motherboard

The photos below show the Asus Maximus VI Formula motherboard with its ROG Armor removed.

Nine screws secure the front and back pieces of armour in place. The rear section is made of a strong metal which acts as a rigidity enhancement and a heatsink that conducts thermal energy away from the VRM's MOSFETs. Noticeably less sturdy, the front side of the ROG Armor is formed from a plastic material (ABS) which acts as an insulator, preventing graphics cards' heat from contacting the PCB.

With ROG Armor removed, the Maximus VI Formula is still a highly attractive motherboard.

The VRM and Z87 PCH heatsinks are physically attached to the motherboard itself, not the ROG Armor. Additional screws hold them in place and will need to be removed if an add-on, full-cover waterblock is fitted.

Firstly, we are pleased to report that our Leetgion Hellion mouse worked to its usual standard in the Asus Maximus VI Formula motherboard's UEFI BIOS. This is a positive point as we have experienced problems when using certain mice in the UEFI BIOS of other motherboards in the past.

If you read our review of the Maximus VI Extreme motherboard, you will notice the clear similarities between that board's UEFI BIOS and the implementation on the Maximus VI Formula. Most of the screenshots have been copied over from the Maximus VI Extreme review due to their identical nature, but nine new images have been input as the Formula variant does feature some slight differences in regards to UEFI BIOS options.

The Extreme Tweaker section of the Maximus VI Formula's UEFI BIOS is very similar to that of other Asus motherboards. Upon entering the Extreme Tweaker page, users are greeted by a well laid-out and easy to understand interface with plenty of tweaking options.

 

Plenty of CPU power and voltage adjustment settings can be accessed via their dedicated pages.

The main components that are connected to one's motherboard are outlined on the GPU.DIMM Post page of the Extreme Tweaker section.

 

The Maximus VI Formula ships with four customised overclocking profiles, as well as three ‘CPU level up' speed boosts. The specific overclocking profiles feature heavily tweaked settings for the base clock, multipliers, voltages, and memory configuration. CPU level up provides a simple multiplier and VCore boost.

Asus equips the M6F with a maximum memory multiplier of 32x. Plenty of timings settings can be accessed and manipulated.

As we saw Gigabyte supply with its Z87-D3HP motherboard and ASRock with the Z87 OC Formula, Asus' Maximus VI Formula features a list of pre-defined memory configurations for specific kits.

System information is outlined on the ‘Main' page of the UEFI BIOS.

Onboard controllers and other settings can be accessed through the ‘Advanced' subsection. A specific section can be used to set the PCI-E lane configuration which is good for ensuring that a single card receives full bandwidth.

 

The monitor section provides access to temperature, voltage, and fan control readings. The fan speed control featured on the Maximus VI Formula motherboard is very similar to what we have seen on Asus motherboard in previous generations; certain modes (such as Turbo and Silent) can be applied, or somewhat confined parameters can be tweaked to change fan speed and the target CPU temperature.

Boot settings can be changed under the ‘Boot' section.

 

Asus provides some noteworthy tools with the Maximus VI Formula motherboard. Perhaps the most useful of all is ROG SSD Secure Erase. It can be used to erase data from and reset the performance of a supported SSD by ‘cleaning' the NAND chips. This is a highly useful tool that can save many hours when trying to restore the performance of an SSD that doesn't have specific restoration software available.

Up to eight overclocking profiles can be saved to the M6F. These profiles can easily be transferred to and from the motherboard with a USB flash drive.

Quick access to settings can be accomplished by adding them to the favourites page. By default, the ‘My Favorites' page is opened upon entering the UEFI BIOS.

A note can be added to the BIOS profile which can be helpful when testing stable overclocks. A log outlines the previously modified parameters so that accidental settings aren't applied.

Upon hitting F10 to save the configuration and exit the BIOS, a window pops up displaying all of the settings that have been tweaked in this visit to the BIOS. This is a good feature that offers an extra line of protection in the case of an incorrect setting being applied.

Asus has implemented an excellent UEFI BIOS for the Maximus VI Formula. It is attractive, easy to use, and features plenty of customisable options.

Sonic Radar

We tested Asus' Sonic Radar using the Maximus VI Hero motherboard, and used the Maximus VI Formula to certify its operation. Our analysis of Sonic Radar, as taken from the Maximus VI Hero motherboard review, can be read below.

One piece of ROG software that really caught our attention was Sonic Radar. The tool is an overlay that indicates the direction of interaction in a game. For example, the radar shows the direction of enemy gunfire, footsteps, or even explosions and vehicle movement in a shooting game.

The Sonic Radar piece of software is bundled in with the Realtek audio installer. Typing ‘Sonic Radar' into the Windows search box will bring up the tool.

Eager to test this out, we loaded up Battlefield 3. The Battlefield 3 game didn't want to work when Sonic Radar was running. To overcome this problem, we simply loaded Battlefield 3, before opening up Sonic Radar once the game had launched.

The overlay can be set to lie in different areas of the screen.

Sensitivity was the first characteristic that we noticed about Sonic Radar. The overlay is very sensitive towards any type of noise that is created in the game. At some points, it can seem a little jerky due to the rapidly adjusting interaction lines.

The radar did work correctly for our spell of Battlefield 3 and a quick test with Metro 2033, provided the enemies were in front of the character. Turn the player around and the radar continues to display the gunfire as coming from the forward direction when it was really coming from behind. This certainly was an irritating shortfall and one that we hope Asus will fix soon.

While Sonic Radar is a convenient tool that does provide some assistance in FPS games, I wouldn't call it a feature that makes me want to rush out and buy an ROG motherboard specifically for it. That said, the tool's importance and relevance are entirely related to one's individual preference. Changing the overlay's on-screen position may have also changed my usage style.

Automatic CPU Overclocking:

As the Maximus VI Extreme was, the Formula variant is given pre-defined overclocking profiles that adjust the base clock and a number of voltage and power parameters. Where the M6E shipped with five profiles, the M6F features one less; the low – 82MHz – base clock profile is omitted.

We tested out the pre-defined overclocking profiles which feature base clock adjustment. We didn’t manage to achieve stability with any of the base clock adjustment profiles that resulted in a CPU frequency which was above our chip’s known perfectly-stable limit of 4500MHz. This was the same outcome from our tests with the same profiles on the Maximus VI Extreme.

The one profile that we did achieve a boot with was the 195MHz base clock configuration. Using a 23x CPU ratio, the processor frequency sat below our 4500MHz limit at 4487MHz. Memory was set at 1560MHz CL9 – a value that is very low for our 2,133MHz CL11 sticks.

The 195MHz BCLK overclock validation can be found here.

Manual CPU Overclocking:

To test the Asus Maximus VI Formula motherboard’s CPU overclocking potential, we first increased the CPU VCore to 1.350V, Cache voltage to 1.300V, and CPU Input Voltage to 1.900V.

PLL over-voltage was enabled, the Cache multiplier was maintained at 39x, and load-line calibration Level 1 was used (to provide a consistent voltage).

We booted straight into our known-stable overclocking configurations of 4.5GHz CPU frequency and 3.9GHz Cache speed. As with all of the other Z87 motherboards that we have tested, the Asus Maximus VI Formula was unable to keep our processor stable at 4.6GHz. It didn't achieve stability for as long as the ASRock Z87 OC Formula motherboard, either, but neither has any other Z87 motherboard, the Maximus VI Extreme included.

Our 4.5GHz validation can be viewed here.

High-speed Memory Compatibility:

While a system’s maximum memory frequency may be heavily swayed by the CPU’s individual memory controller, the motherboard’s performance can also help to obtain higher speeds, especially when XMP settings are taken into account.

We switched to a 3000MHz set of Avexir Core Extreme Series memory to test the Asus Maximus VI Formula motherboard’s support for high DRAM frequencies. These sticks feature an XMP profile for 3000MHz and are a great challenge for any Z87 motherboard to support.

The Maximus VI Formula managed to correctly boot and configure the Avexir memory kit for its 3000MHz XMP configuration.

Our validation running at 3000MHz DRAM frequency using the XMP profile can be view here.

Memory Overclocking:

We wanted to see how potent the Maximus VI Formula motherboard was as a memory overclocker, so we applied some BIOS tweaks and checked how far we could push the 3000MHz kit. From our individual review of the Avexir Core Extreme Series 3000MHz memory kit, we know that the sticks are capable of booting at 3240MHz with the Asus Maximus VI Extreme motherboard. ASRock's Z87 OC Formula managed to take them to 3288MHz.

The tweaks applied included a 1.70V DRAM voltage, various CPU voltage increases and setting changes for BCLK overclocking stability, and loosened memory timings at 14-15-15-40-2T. The DRAM Current Capability was set to 130%.

We managed to push the memory frequency up to 3264MHz using a 136MHz BCLK. Any further and the system was very reluctant to POST, instead deciding to loop indefinitely. Both the latest public release BIOS (0714) and Asus' pre-release BIOS garnered the same results.

The highest DRAM frequency overclock of 3264MHz is 24MHz higher than what we settled for with the Maximus VI Extreme (although we also wanted stability using that board due to conducting a memory review), and 24MHz short of what ASRock's Z87 OC Formula managed (though none of the overclocks were benchmark stable).

With some tweaking and the correct cooling, Asus' Maximus VI Formula can be used to deliver strong memory overclocks.

Our 3264MHz memory overclock validation can be viewed here.

To test the Asus Maximus VI Formula, we paired it with an Intel Core i7 4770K processor and 8GB of 2133MHz memory from Patriot. We will be outlining the Asus Maximus VI Formula motherboard's performance with the Core i7 4770K CPU at its stock frequency of 3.5GHz and when overclocked to 4.5GHz.

We will be comparing the Asus Maximus VI Formula motherboard's performance to that of six other Z87 motherboards. All motherboards are partnered with identical hardware and software, so the results are directly comparable.

By default, the Asus Maximus VI Formula motherboard forces the 4770K to a constant 3.9GHz. This will be displayed as the ‘stock’ setting.

Motherboard Test System:

• Processor: Intel Core i7 4770K 3.50GHz.
• Memory: 8GB Patriot Viper Xtreme Division 2 2133MHz.
• Graphics Card: nVidia GTX 760 2GB.
• System Drive: 500GB Samsung 840 Series SSD.
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i.
• Case: NZXT Phantom 630.
• Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W.
• Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

Compared Z87 Motherboard(s):

• Asus Maximus VI Formula (BIOS 0714 – newest).
  
• ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac (BIOS v1.70).
• ASRock Z87 OC Formula (BIOS 1.60).
• Asus Maximus VI Extreme (BIOS 0711).
• Asus Maximus VI Hero (BIOS 0711).
• Gigabyte Z87-D3HP (BIOS F4).
• MSI Z87 XPower (BIOS v1.0).

Settings:

• Asus Maximus VI Formula BIOS 0714.
• GeForce 320.49 VGA drivers.
• Intel 9.4.0.1017 chipset drivers.

Software Suite:

• 3DMark
• 3DMark 11
• PCMark 8
• Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0
• SiSoft Sandra 2013 SP4
• Cinebench 11.5 64 bit
• Super Pi
• VLC Media Player 2.0.7
• CyberLink Media Espresso 6.7
• HandBrake 0.9.9
• ATTO
• Battlefield 3
• Metro 2033
• Sleeping Dogs

PCMark 8 is the latest version in the popular series of PC benchmarking tools. Improving on previous releases, PCMark 8 includes battery life measurement tools and new tests using popular applications from Adobe and Microsoft. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 8 helps you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs.

The Maximus VI Formula makes a strong start in Futuremark's PCMark 8. Top place is delivered by the ROG product.

3DMark 11 is designed for testing DirectX 11 hardware running on Windows 7 and Windows Vista the benchmark includes six all new benchmark tests that make extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading.

After running the tests 3DMark gives your system a score with larger numbers indicating better performance. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

If you want to learn more about this benchmark, or to buy it yourself, head over to this page.

3DMark 11's set of tests forces the Maximus VI Formula to lose out against its ROG brothers and ASRock's Z87 OC Formula, albeit by a narrow margin.

3DMark is Futuremark's latest benchmark. It can be used to benchmark and compare everything from mobile devices, such as smart phones, tablets and laptops, to high-end gaming systems. The benchmark is available for Windows, Windows RT Android and iOS.

With 3 separate tests, each of which is intended to be used alongside a specific classification of hardware, 3DMark is a very versatile benchmark. Ice Storm is intended to be used with mobile devices, Cloud Gate is good for use with laptops and home PCs, and Fire Strike can be used to push the performance of gaming PCs.

We used the ‘Fire Strike' benchmark which is designed to be used on gaming PCs. We opted for the Normal setting, NOT the Extreme mode.

3DMark also sits the ROG Formula motherboard directly in centre of the stock-clocked performance pack.

Unigine provides an interesting way to test hardware. It can be easily adapted to various projects due to its elaborated software design and flexible toolset. A lot of their customers claim that they have never seen such extremely-effective code, which is so easy to understand.

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.

Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable:

• Multiple API (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL) render
• Cross-platform: MS Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) / Linux
• Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems
• Multicore CPU support
• Little / big endian support (ready for game consoles)
• Powerful C++ API
• Comprehensive performance profiling system
• Flexible XML-based data structures

Asus' Maximus VI Formula performs well in the Unigine Heaven benchmark.

SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices whether hardware or software.

Sandra is a (girl’s) name of Greek origin that means “defender”, “helper of mankind”. We think that’s quite fitting.

It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what’s really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe (PCI Express), database, USB, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.

Native ports for all major operating systems are available:

• Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x86)
• Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x64)
• Windows 2003/R2, 2008/R2* (IA64)
• Windows Mobile 5.x (ARM CE 5.01)
• Windows Mobile 6.x (ARM CE 5.02)

All major technologies are supported and taken advantage of:

• SMP – Multi-Processor
• MC – Multi-Core
• SMT/HT – Hyper-Threading
• MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE 4.1, SSE 4.2, AVX, FMA – Multi-Media instructions
• GPGPU, DirectX, OpenGL – Graphics
• NUMA – Non-Uniform Memory Access
• AMD64/EM64T/x64 – 64-bit extensions to x86
• IA64 – Intel* Itanium 64-bit

The Maximus motherboards have a distinct performance advantage in Sandra's memory bandwidth test. Today's motherboard – the Maximus VI Formula – manages to take the outright top place for memory bandwidth performance.

CINEBENCH R11.5 64 Bit is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more.

CINEBENCH is the perfect tool to compare CPU and graphics performance across various systems and platforms (Windows and Mac OS X). And best of all – it’s completely free.

Cinebench has the Maximus VI Formula as its fastest performer by a couple of seconds at stock.

Super Pi is used by a huge audience, particularly to check stability when overclocking processors. If a system is able to calculate PI to the 2 millionth place after the decimal without mistake, it is considered to be stable in regards to RAM and CPU.

We used Super Pi's '32M' benchmark setting.

Super Pi shows the Maximus VI Formula's same two second advantage that Cinebench did.

The Matroska Media container is a very popular, open standard multimedia container which is usually found as .MKV files. It is a very popular format in enthusiast circles and can be played directly in VLC or Windows Media Player with suitable codecs installed.

We played our 1080P MKV rip of The Dark Knight using the latest version of VLC Media Player.

CPU utilisation during 1080P MKV playback falls in line with the figures for most other Z87 motherboards.

CyberLink MediaEspresso 6 is the successor to CyberLink MediaShow Espresso 5.5. With its further optimized CPU/GPU-acceleration, MediaEspresso is an even faster way to convert not only your video but also your music and image files between a wide range of popular formats.

Now you can easily playback and display your favourite movies, songs and photos not just on your mobile phone, iPad, PSP, Xbox, or Youtube and Facebook channels but also on the newly launched iPhone 4. Compile, convert and enjoy images and songs on any of your computing devices and enhance your videos with CyberLink’s built-in TrueTheater Technology.

New and Improved Features

• Ultra Fast Media Conversion – With support from the Intel Core i-Series processor family, ATI Stream & NVIDIA CUDA, MediaEspresso’s Batch-Conversion function enables multiple files to be transcoded simultaneously.
• Smart Detect Technology – MediaEspresso 6 automatically detects the type of portable device connected to the PC and selects the best multimedia profile to begin the conversion without the need for user’s intervention.
• Direct Sync to Portable Devices – Video, audio and image files can be transferred in a few easy steps to mobile phones including those from Acer, BlackBerry, HTC, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and Palm, as well as Sony Walkman and PSP devices.
• Enhanced Video Quality – CyberLink TrueTheater Denoise and Lighting enables the enhancement of video quality through optical noise filters and automatic brightness adjustment.
• Video, Music and Image File Conversion – Convert not only videos to popular formats such as AVI, MPEG, MKV, H.264/AVC, and FLV at the click of a button, but also images such as JPEG and PNG and music files like WMA, MP3 and M4A.
• Online Sharing – Conversion to video formats used by popular social networking websites and a direct upload feature means posting videos to Facebook and YouTube has never been easier.

For our testing today we are converting a 4.4GB 720p MKV file (1h:58mins) to Apple Mp4 format for playback on a portable device. This is a common procedure for many people and will give a good indication of system power.

Hardware acceleration is disabled to provide an accurate interpretation of the CPU performance.

A one second advantage over ASRock's Z87 OC Formula gives the Asus Maximus VI Formula joint-first position in the MediaEspresso test.

HandBrake is a fantastic free program that can be used to convert video files to many common formats for portable devices. HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multi-platform, multi-threaded video transcoder, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows.

We used the latest V 0.9.9 version.

For our testing today we are converting a 4.4GB 720p MKV file (1h:58mins) to MP4 format, using HandBrake's ‘Normal' profile, for playback on High-Resolution devices. This is a common procedure for many people and will give a good indication of system power.

ASRock's Z87 OC Formula returns the favour in Handbrake, this time increasing the performance difference to two seconds.

The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes. Several options are available to customize your performance measurement including queue depth, overlapped I/O and even a comparison mode with the option to run continuously.

Use ATTO Disk Benchmark to test any manufacturers RAID controllers, storage controllers, host adapters, hard drives and SSD drives and notice that ATTO products will consistently provide the highest level of performance to your storage.

Our testing uses a Kingston HyperX 3K SSD.

As is the case with all of the other Z87 motherboards that we have tested, the native SATA 6Gb/s ports provide restriction-free drive performance.

Devices connected to ASMedia's ASM1061 controllers will be limited to around 400MB/s transfer rates. These ports should be reserved for mechanical storage when all of the Z87 chipset's SATA connections have been used.

With its emergence as the new standard for high-speed portable devices, USB 3.0 performance on a modern motherboard needs to be good to ensure that data transferral bottlenecks aren't created.

We tested USB 3.0 performance using an ADATA SP300 SSD connected to an Icy Box IB-223StU3 USB 3.0 enclosure (ASMedia ASM1051 controller). ATTO was the benchmark used.

Using Asus' UASP-activating USB 3.0 Boost software that is bundled with its AI Suite III package, the Maximus VI Formula's SuperSpeed ports take our SSD's transfer rates to their limits.

According to EA, Battlefield 3 garnered 3 million pre-orders by the day of its release. It is unknown at present whether these figures are worldwide or just for the US. The pre-order total makes it “the biggest first-person shooter launch in EA history”, according to the publisher. The engine is beautiful on the PC and very demanding of the partnering hardware.

We used the game's demanding ‘Ultra' setting and a 1920 x 1080 resolution to push today's gaming hardware.

Asus' Maximus VI Formula delivers an average Battlefield 3 frame rate of 73 for our test system. According to the benchmark results, ASRock's Z87 OC Formula and the Maximus VI Hero both offer slightly higher frame rates, but the difference is much smaller than it seems due to rounding.

Sleeping Dogs started development as an original title, but was announced in 2009 as True Crime: Hong Kong, the third instalment and a reboot of the True Crime series.
As a result of the game’s high development budget and delays, it was cancelled by Activision Blizzard in 2011. Six months later, it was announced that Square Enix had picked up the publishing rights to the game, but the game was renamed Sleeping Dogs in 2012 since Square Enix did not purchase the True Crime name rights.

Sleeping Dogs performance ties the Maximus VI Formula with the other non-PEX8747-equipped Z87 motherboards, and MSI's Z87 XPower.

Metro 2033 is a first-person shooter video game with survival horror elements, based on the novel Metro 2033 by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. The game is played from the perspective of Artyom, the player-character. The story takes place in post-apocalyptic Moscow, mostly inside the metro system, but occasionally missions bring the player above-ground.

We used the game's built-in benchmark set to ‘Very High' quality to offer an intense challenge for the gaming hardware while also making playable frame rates a possibility.

In Metro 2033, Asus' Maximus VI Formula is able to achieve joint-first place.

We measured the power consumption with the system resting at the Windows 7 desktop, representing idle values.

The power consumption of our entire test system is measured at the wall while loading only the CPU using Prime95's Small FFTs setting. The rest of the system's components were operating in their idle states, hence the increased power consumption values (in comparison to the idle figures) are largely related to the load on the CPU and motherboard power delivery components.

As is the case with Asus' other ROG boards that we have tested, the Maximus VI Formula shows good efficiency when loaded at stock speeds. Idle power consumption figures are slightly higher than some competing boards, such as ASRock's Z87 OC Formula.

With its distinctive ROG Armor, high-end audio system, and strong set of features, the Maximus VI Formula is a very good addition to Asus' Republic Of Gamers motherboards for the Z87 platform. It manages to bridge the price/performance gap that separates the mid-range Maximus VI Hero and the enthusiast-grade Maximus VI Extreme.

CPU overclocking performance on the Maximus VI Formula is as strong as any of the other Z87 motherboards that we have tested, excluding ASRock's Z87 OC Formula. A few simple adjustments in Asus' easy-to-use UEFI BIOS took us directly to 4.5GHz with ease.

The built-in BCLK overclocking profiles are convenient tools that allow practising overclockers to gain an idea of the frequencies their chip is vaguely capable of. Our particular 4770K was only able to boot using the 195MHz mode, but that was to be expected when the other profiles surpassed our perfectly-stable limit of 4.5GHz.

Memory overclocking capabilities of the Maximus VI Formula are very good. The rich UEFI BIOS gives experienced users plenty of flexibility in terms of BCLK adjustments, memory dividers, and power settings. We were able to push a 3000MHz Avexir Core Extreme Series memory kit to 3264MHz which is only 24MHz short of what ASRock's Z87 OC Formula achieved.

Overall, the Maximus VI Formula has the most alluring feature set of any Z87 ROG motherboard. The Advanced SupremeFX audio system features high-end electrical components designed to deliver excellent acoustic performance. Sonic Radar and Perfect Voice are compatible with the M6F, and so is GameFirst II network control. As is the case with the other Z87 Maximus boards, the Formula is outfitted with the newest set of ROG tools which include RAMDisk and SSD Secure Erase.

Part of the Formula's increased price tag over the Hero has been sunk into the bundled mPCIe Combo II card which brings 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth and an M.2 SSD connection. On the other end of the scale, the Formula's reduced cost against the Extreme is related to an omitted PLX PEX8747 lane switch and the lack of ROG OC Panel.

The Maximus VI Formula's general usage features are good. Ten SATA 6Gb/s ports, up to eight USB 3.0 connections, and room for three graphics cards is likely to please a large proportion of buyers in the circa-£260 motherboard market. A small minority of users may miss the support for 3-way SLI, and an even lesser number will frown at the headaches caused by two Nvidia cards being simultaneously used with a PCI-E x2 or x4 expansion device.

As we have seen many times in the past, and with Asus' other Maximus VI series motherboards, the ROG UEFI BIOS is superb. The layout is excellent, appearance is great, usage is simple, and the quantity of in-depth settings and parameters is ample. There really is nothing to dislike about the interface, nor is it easy to find any suggested improvements. I would not hesitate in saying that Asus' ROG UEFI is the best interface on the market.

Priced at £259.99 from Overclockers UK, the Maximus VI Formula is around £90 more expensive than the Hero, and roughly £55 cheaper than the Extreme. Given its feature set, the Formula could use a price drop to be sat more towards the middle of the Hero-to-Extreme price gap (and MSI's Z87 MPower MAX, for that matter). An extra £55 for the Maximus VI Extreme with ROG OC Panel, 4-way graphics support, and additional overclocking tools is within the wallet of many buyers. On the other hand, it is unlikely that the Hero's target audience will be tempted to upgrade to the Formula due to its significantly higher price tag.

ASRock's Z87 OC Formula (more specifically, the WiFi-equipped /AC variant), the Maximus VI Formula's biggest rival, is a stiff competitor to the Asus board. ASRock's similarly-priced option provides an extra USB 3.0 header, on-board status OLED, a protective coating, and four x16-length PCI-E slots. Asus' M6F also has points in its favour such as ROG Armor, an M.2 SSD slot, and the excellent ROG UEFI. To overclockers, the ASRock Z87 OC Formula is arguably the better buy. To gamers and general users, the two motherboards are much more closely matched.

Pros:

• Strong CPU and memory overclocking potential.
• Very good set of general usage features (ten SATA, 802.11ac WiFi, eight USB 3.0, M.2 SSD support).
• Plenty of ROG enhancements (Sonic Radar, Perfect Voice, RAMDisk, SSD Secure Erase).
• High-quality SupremeFX Formula audio system.
• ROG Armor.
• Excellent UEFI BIOS.
• Hybrid VRM cooling.

Cons:

• Only two USB 2.0 headers (one shared with ROG_EXT connector).
• Could use a price drop to become more competitive.
• No water cooling fittings included.
• Limitations with dual-card SLI and a PCI-E x2 or x4 expansion device may affect a very small minority of users.

KitGuru says: A very good addition to Asus' Republic Of Gamers series of Z87 motherboards, the ROG Armor-equipped Maximus VI Formula is worth buying if you're a high-end gamer who also likes to overclock.

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