ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Extreme Motherboard Review @ [H]

[FrgMstr]

ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Extreme Motherboard Review

The ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Extreme is new motherboard for AMD Ryzen CPUs that comes with a very specific host of computer hardware enthusiast features with cooling being at the forefront of that feature set. 3200MHz certification for RAM, Intel NIC, ROG backplate, and pre-mounted IO shield are just a few of the cool features it offers up. But, does it blend?

 

[magoo]

Very nice.
Say what you want, but ROG boards are simply some of the best.
I built two systems over the holidays, a Maximus X Hero and a Maximus IX Hero and both were flawless and nearly bulletproof.

 

[noko]

Nice seeing 32gb of memory at DDR3200 speeds on AM4 and reviewed - two thumbs up for pushing it. Kind of speaks highly also for ASUS in perfecting the platform and learning from the HERO. For AM4 this looks to be the board to get for the [H]ardOCP users interested in AM4.

 

[DejaWiz]

Thanks for the review, [H]!
That's damned impressive.

Just built a budget Ryzen system consisting of a Gigabyte GA-AB350M-Gaming 3, Ryzen 3 1300X, 2x4GB DDR4-3200 (single rank), and Rosewill Line-M chassis...while carrying over a Radeon 580, Crucial M4 256GB, and a WD Black 500GB. I'm in awe at how fast it is for a $300 upgrade (CPU, MoBo, RAM, and chassis), and not so much compared to the Athlon X2 Kuma it replaces, but my own i7-3770K.

I'm really looking forward to Ryzen/TR 2, because I may be switching back to an AMD CPU platform, if I can get a sizeable performance increase on the cheap. I typically don't skimp on the MoBo, so I'll be watching these kinds of reviews closely.

 

[FrgMstr]

Any idea why the difference? What would one miss by installing the AMD one?

It is ASUS add-on software. I asked and got an answer, but I forgot what it was and apparently lost the email. It was nothing important that I could tell.

 

[ebduncan]

still kinda upset after I bought my hero, they release a extreme version. I will agree my experience with the Asus Crosshair Hero Hero hasn't been stellar. It took months of bios updates to address what I'd call simple issues, granted the whole ryzen ecosystem was brand new. I am happy to report that most of these issues have been resolved with the most recent bios updates. Overall its a solid board now, I'm running at 4ghz, and ddr4 3000.

Good review, would be kinda nice if someone compared the hero to the extreme directly now, to see if its worth the extra $$. Probably not since Ryzen doesn't tend to do much better with higher quality boards, 4ghz is about all they will do. Perhaps Pinnacle Ridge will prove to be slightly different.

 

[FrgMstr]

Good review, would be kinda nice if someone compared the hero to the extreme directly now, to see if its worth the extra $$.

Thanks for the kind words. At some point we just have to stop and move on, and we put a LOT of resources into the Hero. I would suggest that it might be a totally different product today.

But anyway....back on topic.

 

[twzTechman]

Thanks for this review. I have been holding off on doing a new build as I have not seen a review on a MB for a Ryzen build that inspires my confidence. I really want to go with AMD, but was just about to go with an 8 series intel chip. I think this board would be a good base, and, if AMD holds true to it's word, I could upgrade the CPU down the line.

Following the previous thread: I am a big fan of the ASUS Rog Hero boards as my current Hero build has been flawless for years. Still, after HardOCPs experience with the Crosshair Hero, I am hesitant to to that route. Like Kyle said above, it "might be a totally different product today" but I don't want to have to jump thru a bunch of hoops to get a stable system.

 

[Pieter3dnow]

Thanks for this review. I have been holding off on doing a new build as I have not seen a review on a MB for a Ryzen build that inspires my confidence. I really want to go with AMD, but was just about to go with an 8 series intel chip. I think this board would be a good base, and, if AMD holds true to it's word, I could upgrade the CPU down the line.

Following the previous thread: I am a big fan of the ASUS Rog Hero boards as my current Hero build has been flawless for years. Still, after HardOCPs experience with the Crosshair Hero, I am hesitant to to that route. Like Kyle said above, it "might be a totally different product today" but I don't want to have to jump thru a bunch of hoops to get a stable system.

That might be true but it does not change that much hardware wise between Hero and Extreme where the Extreme does not have problems and Hero can have problems with early samples. You can also check the [H] Gigabyte K7 AM4 motherboard review..

 

[Dan_D]

still kinda upset after I bought my hero, they release a extreme version. I will agree my experience with the Asus Crosshair Hero Hero hasn't been stellar. It took months of bios updates to address what I'd call simple issues, granted the whole ryzen ecosystem was brand new. I am happy to report that most of these issues have been resolved with the most recent bios updates. Overall its a solid board now, I'm running at 4ghz, and ddr4 3000.

Good review, would be kinda nice if someone compared the hero to the extreme directly now, to see if its worth the extra $$. Probably not since Ryzen doesn't tend to do much better with higher quality boards, 4ghz is about all they will do. Perhaps Pinnacle Ridge will prove to be slightly different.

You can always count on a few different levels of ROG motherboard now. The Hero isn't the top end offering, and the Extreme usually is unless a Black Edition comes out. The Hero is always more accessible given it's lower price point. Ryzen hits limits with clock speed that almost any X370 motherboard can support. However, higher end motherboards aren't just about having more overclocking options, but rather a deeper and far more expansive feature set. You are buying more features on the Extreme version, not a higher OC.

Thanks for this review. I have been holding off on doing a new build as I have not seen a review on a MB for a Ryzen build that inspires my confidence. I really want to go with AMD, but was just about to go with an 8 series intel chip. I think this board would be a good base, and, if AMD holds true to it's word, I could upgrade the CPU down the line.

Following the previous thread: I am a big fan of the ASUS Rog Hero boards as my current Hero build has been flawless for years. Still, after HardOCPs experience with the Crosshair Hero, I am hesitant to to that route. Like Kyle said above, it "might be a totally different product today" but I don't want to have to jump thru a bunch of hoops to get a stable system.

Current Hero boards could be better. However, Kyle had three of them in total and the third one is the one I killed. Given that people talk about pulling the CMOS battery to get a reset and bring the board back to life when the clear CMOS function doesn't work, makes me suspect of the design as a whole. The newer ones could be awesome, but I wouldn't chance it with my own money.

 

[ManofGod]

If I was starting from the beginning or building a new high end rig, I would go with this board for sure. Especially with the 1800X being on sale quite often, this would be a good place to start. However, I started from the day of release and do not plan to build any machine for myself for a few more years. Thanks for the info though.

 

[TMCM]

Damn at that price I'd be tempted to go TR

 

[SLI_Fallen]

Forgive my ignorance, but I just want to be clear. Early in the article, you said this "There are four 288-pin DDR4 DIMM slots supporting a total of 64GB of RAM at speeds up to DDR4 3200MHz using two modules and 2400MHz using four modules. This limitation is due in part to AMD’s AGESA code" But in the testing you did get four 4GB DIMMS working at 3200Mhz as part of the overclocking, correct? I'm looking at this board for a new Ryzen 1800x build but only can swing 2 8gb DIMMS ATM. I don't want to limit myself to 2400Mhz later with four DIMM sticks. I want to run them 3200 now and then later, add 2 more but STILL be able to maintain 3200Mhz. Just trying to think ahead before putting my "stake in the sand" as it were.

 

[Dan_D]

Forgive my ignorance, but I just want to be clear. Early in the article, you said this "There are four 288-pin DDR4 DIMM slots supporting a total of 64GB of RAM at speeds up to DDR4 3200MHz using two modules and 2400MHz using four modules. This limitation is due in part to AMD’s AGESA code" But in the testing you did get four 4GB DIMMS working at 3200Mhz as part of the overclocking, correct? I'm looking at this board for a new Ryzen 1800x build but only can swing 2 8gb DIMMS ATM. I don't want to limit myself to 2400Mhz later with four DIMM sticks. I want to run them 3200 now and then later, add 2 more but STILL be able to maintain 3200Mhz. Just trying to think ahead before putting my "stake in the sand" as it were.

Kyle might have, but I never got four DIMMs working at speeds beyond DDR4 2400MHz. And it's possible to do so in some cases anyway, but AMD only supported it officially up to DDR4 2400MHz.

 

[FrgMstr]

Forgive my ignorance, but I just want to be clear. Early in the article, you said this "There are four 288-pin DDR4 DIMM slots supporting a total of 64GB of RAM at speeds up to DDR4 3200MHz using two modules and 2400MHz using four modules. This limitation is due in part to AMD’s AGESA code" But in the testing you did get four 4GB DIMMS working at 3200Mhz as part of the overclocking, correct? I'm looking at this board for a new Ryzen 1800x build but only can swing 2 8gb DIMMS ATM. I don't want to limit myself to 2400Mhz later with four DIMM sticks. I want to run them 3200 now and then later, add 2 more but STILL be able to maintain 3200Mhz. Just trying to think ahead before putting my "stake in the sand" as it were.

Yes, I ran 4 dimms at 3200 in that board on many occasions. Depends on the RAM. We are using Corsair AM4 RAM.

 

[SLI_Fallen]

Umm, more confusion...

"NOTE: For all Subsystem Testing, an AMD Ryzen 1700 (3.0GHz / 3.7GHz Boost) and 4x 4GB (16GB total) Corsair Vengeance LPX (4000MHz DDR4 16-18-18-39, 2T@1.20v) memory modules running at DDR4 2133MHz speeds (stock testing, up to 2800MHz overclocked) were used."

That does not look like it's running @ 3200Mhz to me? And Corsairs site is not specifying AM4 DDR4 RAM (that I can find at least)

 

[Dan_D]

Umm, more confusion...

"NOTE: For all Subsystem Testing, an AMD Ryzen 1700 (3.0GHz / 3.7GHz Boost) and 4x 4GB (16GB total) Corsair Vengeance LPX (4000MHz DDR4 16-18-18-39, 2T@1.20v) memory modules running at DDR4 2133MHz speeds (stock testing, up to 2800MHz overclocked) were used."

That does not look like it's running @ 3200Mhz to me? And Corsairs site is not specifying AM4 DDR4 RAM (that I can find at least)

Let me see if I can clear this up. First and foremost, there are more than one testing configuration in play here. What you quoted is my testing configuration, and the 4x4GB is actually a typo on my part. It was 2x8GB modules. The RAM is capable of DDR4 4000MHz, but ultimately, I never got it to run that fast. Kyle's testing specs are in the graphic showing all the test specifications, not mine. He does the benchmarks for all the games and applications, I do the other testing. We both get time with the board which is why we have slightly different opinions on them from time to time.

Lastly, there isn't any such thing as "AM4" RAM specifically. AM4 RAM as mentioned is nothing more than standard XMP compatible RAM that's been validated on AMD's AM4 platform. The RAM we are using was sent to us for use on AM4 systems. Older RAM produced before AMD's Ryzen launched may work, but there are no guarantees that it will.

 

[SLI_Fallen]

Understood. And thank you all for all your time and clarification.