ASUS Maximus VII Impact LGA 1150 Motherboard Review @ [H]

ASUS Maximus VII Impact LGA 1150 Motherboard Review - With ASUS Republic of Gamers motherboards it’s all about the sequels. You have to wonder just how long ASUS can keep its momentum pumping out sequel after motherboard sequel. ASUS’ Maximus VII Impact shows us that there is seemingly no end in sight, and very likely with good measure as well.

They have set the bar so high in terms of quality and durability I don't know if they'll ever be toppled.

The board might continue to run flawlessly with those temperatures, but I'm sure the video card might not like it especially inside a mitx case where airflow is typically not the best.

Z3r0k3wl said:

The board might continue to run flawlessly with those temperatures, but I'm sure the video card might not like it especially inside a mitx case where airflow is typically not the best.

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We are in now way suggesting that it should be run in an environment where it runs that hot. Good to see it can do it though.

Cool, but $230 just to get a tiny motherboard? I think I'd rather spend half that and deal with a MicroATX.

It's really time we looked at replacing that old ATX power connector with something more 21st century and compact.

daglesj said:

It's really time we looked at replacing that old ATX power connector with something more 21st century and compact.

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Yes, just 12v.

Let the motherboard handle the 5v and 3.3v. Many (most) servers already do this.

OFaceSIG said:

They have set the bar so high in terms of quality and durability I don't know if they'll ever be toppled.

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I keep wondering that myself. ASUS nails it more often than not despite having such a huge product catalog. With regard to motherboards at least, I keep expecting them to drop the ball eventually but they just haven't. They don't necessarily have the best motherboard in every price point or market segment but no one touches them in the mITX market.

I purchased this board 2 weeks ago. It is one hell of a board and I have no regrets in purchasing it. The feature set is crazy for a board this tiny. My OC was able to do 4.8 and as of yet i've had no issues with stability.

Amaroth said:

I purchased this board 2 weeks ago. It is one hell of a board and I have no regrets in purchasing it. The feature set is crazy for a board this tiny. My OC was able to do 4.8 and as of yet i've had no issues with stability.

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Which CPU and what were your settings?

I'd like to chime in from the discussions and experiences gathered from the VII Impact topic over on the SFF subforum:

Burticus said:

Cool, but $230 just to get a tiny motherboard? I think I'd rather spend half that and deal with a MicroATX.

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If you compare this full-option high-end mITX Z97 board with a generic mATX Z97 board, you are right. If you compare it to a full-option high-end mATX Z97 board like the Asus Maximus VII Gene, you would have seen it's price is almost the same.

You don't buy an mITX board just to get a tiny motherboard, you buy an mITX board because you want your entire PC to be a fraction of the size for the same performance as any other single GPU ATX or mATX setup many are using.

Z3r0k3wl said:

The board might continue to run flawlessly with those temperatures, but I'm sure the video card might not like it especially inside a mitx case where airflow is typically not the best.

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It mainly depends on your cooling solution and the case's engineering. But if you are generating hundreds of watts worth of heat, your cooling needs to be adequate, a large case will only hide an insufficient cooling for a while but somehow the airflow still has to happen. There are plenty of mITX cases with good (enough) cooling capacity, there are also a few that are terrible in that respect, like the Raijintek Metis. But generally, where mATX and ATX cases are much more flexible in term of suboptimal cooling solutions, SFF mITX cases require that you think, research and plan.

Dan_D said:

I keep wondering that myself. ASUS nails it more often than not despite having such a huge product catalog. With regard to motherboards at least, I keep expecting them to drop the ball eventually but they just haven't. They don't necessarily have the best motherboard in every price point or market segment but no one touches them in the mITX market.

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Asus has slipped up, many people on the SFF subforum have complained about QA issues with the M7I, some being issues most have, some being uncommon. I've already complained my personal issues about this board on the ROG forum, but there are people that had to send back their boards because there were solder balls inside the mPCIe Combo card socket. I've not seen this many issues with any other Z97 mITX board, but considering it costs twice as much as most other high-end Z97 mITX boards, this should not be happening.

Phuncz said:

but there are people that had to send back their boards because there were solder balls inside the mPCIe Combo card socket. I've not seen this many issues with any other Z97 mITX board, but considering it costs twice as much as most other high-end Z97 mITX boards, this should not be happening.

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Are you sure this wasn't an issue with the manufacturer of the mpcie socket, like foxconn or whomever? Asus doesn't manufacture those connectors.