ASUS ROG Maximus VII Hero

Overclockers Club has just published a review of the ASUS ROG Maximus VII Hero today. If you are motherboard shopping, you'll certainly want to check out this review.

ROG boards often come with a price premium over other boards just because of the quality design, hardware selection, and impressive gaming-centric software package built in. At $229, the Maximus VII Hero is priced competitively in the category ASUS is targeting. For that price, it will be tough to find a board that offers more in terms of software and innovation for the gamer. If you are planning a new build based on Intel's 4th or 5th generation Core series processors and are an avid gamer, the Maximus VII Hero is calling your name.

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As an owner of a Maximus VI Hero, I read this article out of curiosity to see what kind of changes Asus would have made. Considering that the author seemed to think buying the M7H was vastly superior to the M6H due to a couple of software changes and a new headphone button, I think the conclusion is "not much". When you actually dedicate a line or two to ESD protection on your lan ports, you should know you're grasping at straws. Really the only new worthwhile feature is the m.2 port, otherwise it really just looks like the old M6H... which isn't a bad thing

I picked up my M6H 4 months ago and I have not been impressed. My first observation about the board is how thin it was. Easily half as thick as my Asus P6T Deluxe, but I guess the P6T was in a different league. But, this board certainly feels flimsy compared to any of the motherboards I've handled in the past 20 years.

I've also had nothing but problems with the BIOS on this board. Changing any BIOS setting usually causes the board to not POST. It's not any particular setting that does this either, you literally have to go in, make one change at a time and backup the settings. Reboot, if it POST's, change another setting, backup settings, reboot. If it doesn't POST, re-flash the latest BIOS and reload the settings and start from where you left off.

Otherwise, the board has worked perfectly, running 24/7. Soon as I upgrade to a larger case, I'm going to pull the board and get it exchanged.

Couple other things between m6h and m7h since I also have both. Seems like the author wanted to avoid admitting any regression between the models. Most things are the same or better. But the m7h has 2 fewer rear USB3 ports (replaced by dvi out). That hurt a bit. The upgrades are pretty minimal but nice. An extra pwm fan header, m.2 boot support, the ram ports have been rearranged so that 2 module configs leave more room around the CPU socket. The I/O area is a bit more cramped and it's harder to get a clean run to the 8pin power socket and CPU fan headers than on the m6h. I don't think these boards are overly thin. You can tug and push on the 24 pin atx connector all day np. My seasonic plugs are nightmarish to release.