The ROG Maximus XII Extreme is an insane motherboard and hence, it comes in an EATX form factor. Additionally, AI Overclocking can adjust its settings over time thanks to continuous algorithm training, adapting to seasonal temperature changes and potential losses in heat dissipation due to circumstances like dust buildup. Intel's Z490 chipset is no exception. The ASUS ROG Maximus XII Apex ( WiFi 6) is the premiere overclocking platform for extreme OC enthusiasts looking to unlock the full potential of the latest generation Intel Core processors. This motherboard would feature the same design hierarchy as the rest of the Maximus motherboards but in a more effective manner to reduce costs. That's a broad set of options on its own, but we went one step further. There's also the reduction of the heatsink to non-extended design. Both will be featuring an mATX design. Free shipping . The ROG Strix family takes a healthy dose of that high-performance DNA and infuses it in an attainable family of boards that give mainstream gamers everything they need for winning performance in their systems. The Maximus XII Apex is the fourth board of the line, and it brings everything we’ve learned from legions of elite overclockers to the Z490 platform. There are additional onboard headers for two front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C connectors for use with the latest crop of cases. ROG Maximus XII motherboards feature comprehensive cooling to meet the demands of the latest Z490 processors and high-performance memory. Although extreme overclocking isn't as popular as it once was, ASUS has announced its enthusiast-grade Maximus XII Apex … Two slots support both SATA and PCIe 3.0 x4 modes, and the other slot supports PCIe 3.0 x4 for NVMe. One of the two M.2 slots is topped off by a dedicated heatsink, and a third M.2 E-key slot stands ready to take in an optional WiFi 6 module. We put a huge heatsink atop the power components to ensure they stay cool even when extreme tweakers are pushing 10th Gen Core CPUs well past the limits of air or liquid cooling. The POST code readout, Start and FlexKey remappable buttons, as well as a full set of fan headers and liquid-cooling sensor headers are all present and accounted for. Whatever your vision for your high-end gaming PC, the Hero is ready to help you make it legendary. 1.0) Z490M (rev. Our Z490 motherboards fly their RGB LED colors high. The motherboard carries 3 PCIe 3.0 x16, a single PCIe 3.0 x4, a single PCIe 3.0 x1, and dual M.2 slots. The board will be powered by a single 8 pin connector. To make use of that expansion header, you might consider the new ThunderboltEX 3-TR card. The short trace lengths this approach enables allows overclockers to pursue new records with DDR4 RAM. All ASUS ROG STRIX Z490 motherboards feature SupremeFX S1220A powered audio. The Aluminum I/O cover is, in fact, a very large heatsink that covers the entire VRM section and is interconnected by a large diameter heat pipe that runs all the way from the top VRM area to the PCH heatsink. You do miss out on some of the fancy features like dual ethernet LAN but the 2.5G (Intel I225-V) should do the job for most overclockers. If liquid nitrogen or helium run in your veins, the Apex is ready to help you stand atop the OC leaderboards. Our AI Overclocking technology can lend you a helping hand in pushing your CPU to its limits with the click of a button. It is well made, equipped and tuned with a fully corresponding price. ROG Maximus XII Apex features three M.2 slots wired directly to the Z490 PCH. The Maximus XII Extreme’s new trace topology and OptiMem III tech are a boon for memory overclockers. Thanks to its stealthy gray aesthetics, the Extreme looks quite dashing even before you color-coordinate it with the rest of your system using Aura Sync. Best Z490 Mini ITX Motherboard – Asus ROG Strix Z490-I Gaming The Z490 mITX market is a small affair with just one offering from each of the five major manufacturers. ProbeIt voltage measurement points sit alongside the right edge, next to a quartet of DIP switches for controlling your overclocking bench’s boot sequence. These segments will have their own unique sub-brands such as ROG Maximus, ROG STRIX, and TUF Gaming for the Gaming segment, while PRIME, Pro Art, and Pro series motherboards would be featured in the Productivity and Commercial segments. A comprehensive array of USB ports graces the back panel, while internal headers handle even more, including a USB 3.2 Gen 2 front-panel connector on the ROG Strix Z490-E. The motherboard offers a total of 8 SATA III ports. The ASUS ROG Maximus XII HERO (Wi-Fi) is the most cost-optimized Maximus variant, coming in at around $399 US price. 10Gb and 2.5Gb Ethernet ports, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth® 5.1 connectivity, and enough USB ports for an entire household’s peripherals all come standard. To help deliver the extensive power needed to extract record-breaking potential from 10th Gen Core CPUs, the Apex includes two eight-pin power connectors at its top left corner in addition to the standard 24-pin ATX connector. If you’re wondering what would be fashionable to coordinate with this board, perhaps we can suggest a matching graphics card, mouse, headset, and PSU. We number every edition of ROG motherboards to mark our long legacy of leading performance, and the Z490 series is the 12th in our line of Maximus boards for Intel’s mainstream socket. By Dave James, Chris Szewczyk 01 July 2020. An Intel Wi-Fi 6 adapter and an extra Gigabit Ethernet port give you additional tools to link up with the outside world in just the way you want. We’ve always taken pride in fitting our motherboards with quality power delivery and memory circuitry, and we’re piling on improvements on both fronts for this generation. Owners can also take advantage of the AI Cooling and AI Networking suite with GameFirst VI technology, as well. In terms of I/O, you get a 5G (Aquantia AQC111C) ethernet port and a 1G Intel I219-V Ethernet port. 1.0) ASUS will live up to and include even its low-end motherboards. ASUS ROG Maximus XII Apex. The board features all of the same specs as the ROG STRIX Z490-E but comes with less IO such as 15 USB ports and no WiFi 6 option. All 16 of those teamed stages are dedicated to the CPU Vcore. All the high-octane cores in 10th Gen Core CPUs require an appropriate power delivery subsystem. The VRM heatsink consists of an extended heat pipe design that transfers heat to the copper water channel layer which is cooled directly by the liquid. The ASUS ROG Maximus XII Extreme will have a price of $749.99 US at launch which puts it in the enthusiast category. All our Z490 boards have overvoltage and static discharge protection, and select models include LANGuard power spike protection and physical reinforcement for a cleaner signal. You’ll find automatic PWM and DC fan sensing in most boards for extra convenience, too. You’ll be surprised to find the Z490-I can take in two M.2 devices just like its bigger brothers, both resting underneath heatsinks—an important consideration given the limited airflow in many extra-small cases. This 16 phase VRM is powered by dual 8-pin connectors which provide power to the PWM unit and the LGA 1200 socket itself. The board has two standard RGB LED headers along with a pair of Gen 2 addressable LED headers that enable control over each individual light in a device. Overall, this seems to be a solid board for most people who will be upgrading to the 10th Gen platform. A contemporary system is likely to have one of these swift gumstick SSDs as a system drive, and we expect many builders will add a second one down the road. Our Sonic Studio III software can immerse you in virtual surround sound or add handy effects to any audio device, including standard analog headphones, USB DACs, VR headsets, or even Bluetooth® headphones and speakers. In fact, you’ll be surprised just how easy it is to extract maximum performance from exotic components on this board. The collection of onboard fan headers lets you build and monitor complex air and liquid cooling systems, and the included Fan Extension Card II offers even more control points for the most demanding builds. It’s not just about the looks, though—this is our best-performing VRM heatsink ever, and it’s capable of running up to 50°C cooler than a standard air-cooled design. Some models even offer BIOS FlashBack™ so you can boot the board with a USB stick and PSU to update the firmware without a processor installed. We have already got some leaks from Biostar but here we have the leaked Asus ROG Maximus XII Apex and the Z490 ProArt Creator 10G. The Republic of Gamers was established in 2006 with a simple formula: build cutting-edge motherboards with top-shelf components for overclockers and demanding enthusiasts looking for the highest clocks around. 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They certainly look the part, thanks to embedded LEDs across multiple zones, futuristic styling, and tasteful accents. The Maximus XII boards that form the upper echelon of our Z490 lineup exploit the real estate offered by ATX and larger form factors to pack in as many power stages, ports, controllers, and heatsinks as our engineers can fit on their PCBs. There’s double-capacity RAM support on tap, too, meaning that you can install as much as 64GB of RAM in this tiny board. A POST code display and dedicated power and reset buttons at the upper right corner of the board make it simple to power on and test your custom rig before you button it up in liquid-cooled bliss. The ROG lineup is all about giving the most demanding builders everything they want, and we know that many enthusiasts want balance from their high-end systems above all. PC components nowadays can be any shade in the rainbow, but the combination of red on black is the gamer version of classic rock. The ASUS ROG Maximus Formula motherboards have been regarded as the best solutions for custom-loop builders as they come with water blocks placed over the VRMs. The top-chain of the ASUS Gaming lineup is made up of four powerful ROG Maximus XII series Z490 motherboards. The Z490-H features the same specs as the Z490-A but features no USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C) front panel header. Buy ASUS ROG Maximus XII Hero Z490 (WiFi 6) LGA 1200 (Intel 10th Gen) ATX Gaming Motherboard (14+2 Power Stages, DDR4 4800+, 5Gbps LAN, Intel LAN, Bluetooth v5.1, Triple M.2, Aura Sync): Motherboards - Amazon.com FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases Z490 AORUS UD (rev. Z490 Rig (Z490): 10900K @ 5.20Ghz | EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra | ASUS RoG Maximus XII Extreme | Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 | Samsung 970 Pro (1TB) | Samsung 970 Evo Plus (2TB) | EVGA 1600T2 | Corsair Carbide Air 540 | Dell AW5520QF (4K 120Hz OLED 55") | Sennheiser GSP 600 We have already taken a look at two other Intel Z490 boards in our earlier reviews, and one thing that we noted was that the board prices have gradually increased over the years. AI Overclocking and AI Networking technologies allow you to take both processing and gaming performance to 11 on the Z490-H, and it stays cool thanks to six total fan headers, a dedicated AIO liquid cooler pump header, and a thermal sensor input. The full-coverage ROG Armor resting atop the VRM and board components is an engineering achievement on top of its dashing looks. Fast 2.5Gb Ethernet lets the Z490-G blast packets across the network more than twice as fast as older Gigabit Ethernet controllers, and optional WiFi 6 connectivity lets this board enjoy all the advantages of the next-gen wireless standard when paired with a compatible router. That forethought makes it easy to plumb the Formula into an existing loop, perhaps in anticipation of unleashing the power of a 10-core Core i9 chip and boosting it with some overclocking. Most builders choose two-DIMM memory kits focused on speed rather than absolute capacity these days, so all our Z490 boards now implement a daisy-chain memory topology for enhanced overclocking potential with one DIMM installed per memory channel. ROG Maximus XII Apex features three M.2 slots wired directly to the Z490 PCH. If it's hard to configure the settings you want or you inadvertently change a setting you’re not sure of, you can experience no end of frustration. Aside from the overclocking-focused ROG Maximus XII Apex, the Maximus XII lineup includes a dedicated ESS Sabre audiophile-grade DAC and a special headphone amplifier for the most discerning ears. Its VRM dedicates 16 teamed power stages to the CPU Vcore. If cryogenic coolant runs in your veins, the Apex is ready to help you stand atop the OC leaderboards. The ROG Maximus XII lineup features the following motherboards: Each motherboard has different features to talk, some of them really cool in their own respectful manner and carry different price points for different market tiers. ASUS will be segmenting its product lineup in three categories which include Gaming, Productivity, and Commercial. White cases, graphics cards, coolers, PSUs, and peripherals offer custom builders a bold alternative to black and grey components. Jump to Latest Follow 681 - 700 of 744 Posts ... Are you in the Philippines? AI Overclocking can figure out the best clocks and voltage settings for your 10th Gen CPU at the press of a button, while our OptiMem III design brings even 4800MHz RAM along for the overclocking ride. The CPU is powered by an 8+4 pin connector configuration. For extra stability when pushing beyond stock settings, the ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming ships with an optional fan you can attach to the VRM heatsink if you’re feeling particularly frisky with its CPU multiplier settings. So let's start with the specs for each Maximus XII motherboard. The designs of ROG STRIX boards do not vary much with the primary changes being the I/O. The WiFi variant will feature the same specs along with the added Wi-Fi 6 controller while the non-WiFi model will not even feature the M.2 E-key to support a 3rd party WiFi card. Four DIMM slots let you make the choice between clocks and capacity for your specific build. On models fitted with Wi-Fi, the Z490 chipset's built-in Intel CNVi tech handles air traffic control, providing multi-gigabit transmissions over the airwaves and Bluetooth® 5.1 support. $175.00 0 bids + $24.57 shipping . Quality sound is one of the hallmarks of the ROG and ROG Strix families, so the Z490-G delivers with a SupremeFX S1220A codec, isolated circuitry, and dual op-amps. Keeping an eye on the future, our Z490 boards all include at least two PCIe M.2 slots, and some models can use as many as four. The ROG Strix Z490-G Gaming caters to microATX enthusiasts with gaming-friendly features and broad connectivity. Q-Code status displays, onboard power and reset buttons, and our exclusive AI Overclocking technology makes it easy to extract every last drop of processor performance with minimal effort. Despite its small size, this board comes ready to connect through 13 total USB ports from internal headers and external ports, including three Type-A ports and a Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2 connector at the back panel. The pristine SupremeFX S1220A audio codec with dual amplifiers ensures your games and tunes get top-of-the-charts treatment on the way to your ears, too. ROG Maximus XII Apex features three M.2 slots wired directly to the Z490 PCH. The board also gets 18 USB ports, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 x2 front panel header, a Thunderbolt header, and 8 SATA III ports. There are up to 17 USB ports and a single USB 3.2 front panel header (Type-C). The memory slots can take in DIMMs as fast as 4600MHz, too. A high-octane VRM needs equally capable cooling to deliver sustained performance, so we start with highly conductive thermal pads that transfer heat into a massive heatsink array.