Since Intel first launched their first generation Core-I processors, the ROG series motherboard from ASUS earns its reputation of outstanding overclocking potential and best looking. Then, the ASUS Maximus VIII GENE is one of the latest addition to the ROG family with Intel LGA 1151 support. The Maximus VIII Gene make its debut as one of the high-end motherboard in the ROG series based on Intel Z170 chipset and support for Intel LGA 1151 socket CPU. The Intel Z170 Express chipset is capable of providing better performance by utilizing serial point-to-point links, allowing increased bandwidth and stability.
Specifications
Unboxing
The front of the box show off the ROG eye logo at the top left, then the model name for the motherboard is located middle of the box. We spotted some badges being placed at the bottom, and it show the motherboard can support the new Intel Z170 chipset, NVIDIA SLI, AMD CrossFire, 4K and Windows 10 Ready.
A preview of the motherboard and it’s prominent features such as SupremeFX 2015, USB 3.1 ports, Intel Ethernet and KeyBot II is mentioned at the back of the box.
The motherboard features rich I/O includes P/S 2 port, DisplayPort, HDMI, LAN Port, USB 3.1 (Black) Type-C, USB 3.1 (Red) Type-A, 6x USB 3.0 (Blue), Optical S/PDIF, Audio Jacks, Clear CMOS, and USB BIOS Flashback Buttons.
Good people from ASUS decided to include a debug screen for overclockers or normal users to detect any problem that occur on the motherboard.
Besides the debug screen, ASUS also included an easy button to switch on and reset button for ease access.
The motherboard also has a south bridge heatsink that features an ROG eye which is red in color.
For those users that hunger of storage, the ASUS Maximus VIII Gene features six SATA ports and one M.2 socket. Now you can maximise your storage to the maximum with high speed and capacity.
The motherboard also features a SupremeFX chip that will provide users one of the best audio output among another competitor in the market.
Test Rig Configuration
Synthetic Benchmark
We ran a few benchmarks as our baseline to measure the potential of the motherboard; the motherboard can score 899 which is scored slightly below Intel Core i7-3930K. However, on Firestrike Extreme benchmark it scores the same as the previous generation ASUS Z97 Sabertooth motherboard, which makes most people think twice about buying this. Overall on the benchmark that have been tested, we believe this motherboard has a potential in overclocking to the maximum if you have the proper cooling system to push it further.
Overclocking
We managed to push the processor up to 4.9 GHz with 1.4 Vcore and managed to run a stability test with Intel Extreme Tuning Utility for 5 minutes. The temperature of the Intel Core i7-6700K is impressive because the maximum temperature on the processor is only 80 Celsius.
Besides the stress test that we did on the overclocked processor, we didn’t miss the chance to run it on Fire Strike Extreme that brings a significant gap from 2363 to 3679 with 1,326 difference between it. If you are one of the owners of Intel Core i7 6700K, try to overclock your processor with a proper cooling solution then you will save the hassle of upgrading your platform every few years or months.
