ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero (Wi-Fi) Z390 Motherboard Review

We will be outlining the ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero (Wi-Fi) motherboard’s performance with the Core i7 9700K CPU, 16GB of 3600MHz DDR4 memory, and an EVGA GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition graphics card.

The motherboard gives an option to apply a multi-core turbo (MCT) state and force all cores of the 9700K to the maximum turbo clocks when XMP is enabled. We disable this option and instead focus on default Intel Turbo behaviour for the CPU's performance. As this is the first motherboard tested on our new platform, we unfortunately do not have any comparison data in the charts.

Z390 Motherboard Test System:

• Processor: Intel Core i7 9700K with Default Intel Turbo Behaviour where supported (varies depending on thermal and power conditions).
• Memory: 16GB (2x8GB) Patriot Viper RGB 3600MHz 16-18-18-36 DDR4 @ 1.35V.
• Graphics Card: EVGA GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition GAMING (custom fan curve to eliminate thermal throttling).
• System Drive: 120GB Corsair Force LE SATA 6Gbps SSD.
• Games Drive: 480GB Corsair Neutron XT SATA 6Gbps SSD.
• CPU Cooler: Cryorig R1 Ultimate.
• Power Supply: Seasonic Prime Titanium 1000W.
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.

Drivers and UEFI:

• ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero (Wi-Fi) UEFI 0805 (latest at the time of testing).
• GeForce 419.17 VGA drivers.

Tests:

• Cinebench R15 – All-core CPU benchmark (CPU)
• SiSoft Sandra 2018 – Processor Arithmetic Test (CPU) and Memory Bandwidth Test (Memory)
• 7-Zip x64 – Built-in 7-Zip benchmark test (CPU)
• AIDA64 Engineer – System cache & memory benchmark and stress test (Memory and Power Consumption)
• 3DMark TimeSpy – Time Spy (1440p) test (Gaming)
• Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation – Built-in benchmark tool CPU-Focused test, 1920 x 1080, Extreme quality preset, DX12 mode (Gaming)
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Ultra quality preset, DX12 mode (Gaming)
• ATTO – USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps transfer rates (Motherboard)
• Rightmark Audio Analyzer 6.4.5 – Record and playback test using a line-in to line-out loopback with a 3.5mm audio cable (Motherboard)
• HWiNFO – System sensor monitoring during stress test (Power Consumption)

Become a Patron!

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here