Asus has unveiled two new additions to its Z87 motherboard lineup in the shape of the watercooled Asus Maximus VI Formula and mini-ITX Asus Maximus VI Impact.
The two new boards join several previously announced Z87 boards, including the Asus Maximus VI Extreme that we reviewed a couple of days ago.
Starting with the Formula, it features full 'thermal armour' aluminium heatsinks covering the front and back of the board, as well as a PWM heatsink with incorporated watercooling connections. The G 1/4in sockets allow users to fit their own choice of barbs, to suit their choice of water-cooling setup, making this a genuinely useful feature. Asus claims a drop in temperature of around 20degrees Celsius when the water cooler is used.
Meanwhile the board's armour helps reduce interference, dissipate heat and of course protects parts of the board from damage.
Other features include 60A BlackWing chokes, 90% efficiency NexFET MOSFETs and 10K Black Metallic capacitors. A bundled mPCIe Combo II card also provides 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless, plus an M.2 interface for ultra-compact NGFF (Next Generation Form-Factor) SSDs.
It also includes SupremeFX onboard audio with a 120db Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) headphone output, with a dedicated amplifier with an impedence of 600ohm. All told it's certainly a mighty looking mobo, though you'd expect it to be considering it's likely to cost the best part of £250.
As for the Asus Maximus VI Impact, this mini-ITX board is the first Z87 enthusiast board on the market and despite its tiny dimensions, it packs in most of the ROG key features.
A particularly notable feature is the PWM circuitry that is mounted on a riser board. It also comes with SupremeFX audio (though this time only rated to 115db SNR), an mPICE Combo II port with wireless card and 8+2 power circuitry.
Clearly the Impact isn't quite as Extreme as the rest of the ROG range but it still looks set to be a mighty fine mini-ITX board. We've been lead to believe it will retail for around £200.
The two new boards join several previously announced Z87 boards, including the Asus Maximus VI Extreme that we reviewed a couple of days ago.
Starting with the Formula, it features full 'thermal armour' aluminium heatsinks covering the front and back of the board, as well as a PWM heatsink with incorporated watercooling connections. The G 1/4in sockets allow users to fit their own choice of barbs, to suit their choice of water-cooling setup, making this a genuinely useful feature. Asus claims a drop in temperature of around 20degrees Celsius when the water cooler is used.
Meanwhile the board's armour helps reduce interference, dissipate heat and of course protects parts of the board from damage.
Other features include 60A BlackWing chokes, 90% efficiency NexFET MOSFETs and 10K Black Metallic capacitors. A bundled mPCIe Combo II card also provides 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless, plus an M.2 interface for ultra-compact NGFF (Next Generation Form-Factor) SSDs.
It also includes SupremeFX onboard audio with a 120db Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) headphone output, with a dedicated amplifier with an impedence of 600ohm. All told it's certainly a mighty looking mobo, though you'd expect it to be considering it's likely to cost the best part of £250.
As for the Asus Maximus VI Impact, this mini-ITX board is the first Z87 enthusiast board on the market and despite its tiny dimensions, it packs in most of the ROG key features.
A particularly notable feature is the PWM circuitry that is mounted on a riser board. It also comes with SupremeFX audio (though this time only rated to 115db SNR), an mPICE Combo II port with wireless card and 8+2 power circuitry.
Clearly the Impact isn't quite as Extreme as the rest of the ROG range but it still looks set to be a mighty fine mini-ITX board. We've been lead to believe it will retail for around £200.
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