Final words and conclusion
Final words and conclusion
Is there a Z77 motherboard in the ROG range that isn't impressive? Time after time we have to acknowledge that ASUS is simply doing a seriously good job with their enthusiast motherboards. The ASUS Maximus V Formula simply isn't any different in terms of coolness.
Being an ROG motherboard the overall baseline performance trumps pretty much any Z77 boards we tested as ASUS (and we explained this before already) applies a little trick with the ROG motherboard, likely slightly higher turbo for the low bin threads. That doesn't matter as it will benefit you the end-user. Interesting is that ASUS released two SKUs. One is bundled with the ThunderFX USB sound card and amplifier, while the other will be sold only with the dual-band mini PCI Express 802.1a/b/g/n Wi-Fi/Bluetooth 4.0 card (this is the SKU we reviewed today).
The motherboard definitely impresses with its three PCI Express x16 slots (two of which are PCIe Gen 3.0 and SLI/CrossFire compliant), an open-ended x4 PCI Express slot and no less than three x1 PCI Express slots. On the storage side of things you'll receive four SATA 3Gbps and two SATA 6Gbps ports provided by Intels Z77 chipset, seconded by another two 6Gbps ports and an eSATA 3Gbps connector.
Feature packed and loaded is what the Formula is. Interesting to see are heatinks that can be used both as air or liquid cooling. ASUS calls these Fusion Thermo and basically is an integrated copper heatpipe within which allows for water-cooling. If only ASUS had paired it with a nice ROG CPU water-block, it would have been the coolest thing to do. Mind you that for normal overclocking that liquid cooling heatsink is an option, not at all a requirement, it won't hurt either to use it of course. But it is that kind of innovation that makes the ROG team speak for itself. We like it very much.
When we look at overclocking and tweaking, well this motherboard is a champ. If you go for a manual tweak you may go as complex as you desire, that's what ROG motherboards are about. However for the not so PC diligent tweakers, you could just enabled one of the several CPU level up modes and let the motherboard overclock itself with a variety of choices.
It is important to know and understand that Ivy bridge processors like the 3770K used run hotter when overclocked opposed to Sandy Bridge once you pass 1.4 Volts on the CPU, reaching 4.6~4.8 GHz is fairly easy to accomplish with the motherboard at 1.30~1.35V though. Go higher and you'll notice that proper liquid cooling definitely deserves a recommendation.
As you have been able to see, in this review we used G.Skill's new Trident X 2666 MHz memory as well, and in the BIOS we simply flicked the XMP profile to on and boom, the memory was running at a rather amazing clock frequency of 2666 MHz. Ridiculous fast. Combined with the CPU overclock towards 4800 MHz we had built a very impressive performing PC within less than a minute.
Currently the price point of the ASUS Maximus V Formula is set at the sub 175~225 EUR market. For that amount of money you'll receive a complete motherboard with a wide variety in terms of connectivity, design and features. Out of all the Z77 motherboards we have had in our hands the ROG GENE and this Formula where was the easiest to overclock with. Fiddle around with the multiplier and voltages alone is enough to reach 4800 GHz on heatpipe based cooling.
In the BIOS we selected gamers OC mode, activated the memory XMP profile and set the turbo to a multiplier of 48 .. that's all that was needed to achieve the tweak as you have been able to witness today.
We feel the Maximus V Forumula is priced fair if you can spot it around the 200 EUR / 250 USD market . It comes with everything you need and look for in a real gamers motherboard. Combined with features like improved audio, wireless connectivity, mSATA, ROG Connect, all new LCS ready Fusion Thermo heatsinks and the most dandy UEFI BIOS with extended tweaking options and CPU level up features. It's just a rock-hard offering on a product that hardly can get any better. Highly recommended, in fact you know what -- it honestly deserves a best product award.
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