- Date:
- Tuesday , March 15, 2016
- Author:
- Daniel Dobrowolski
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
Maximus VIII Formula LGA 1151 Motherboard Review
ASUS' Maximus VIII Formula is quite possibly one of the most amazing enthusiast motherboards we've ever reviewed; on paper at least. Where the rubber meets the road things are often quite different. At a price of nearly $400, ASUS can't afford any mistakes. We take the Maximus VIII Formula for a test drive and it was a hell of a ride.
Overclocking
Overclocking the Maximus VIII Formula couldn't have been an easier task. Initially I began with the AI Suite III software which yielded a result of 4.6GHz @ 1.36v with the RAM running at stock speeds or DDR4 2133MHz. These settings proved to be perfectly stable and worked flawlessly. I'm always disappointed in the fact that the software never does anything with the RAM speeds. Still, the voltage levels were reasonably conservative and the result was stable. This is also a much better result than what most of these utilities can achieve with minimal effort. Under manual overclocking the system wasn't any more difficult to tune. I was able to achieve a stable result of 4.8GHz with the memory clocked at DDR4 2666MHz speeds. To achieve this all I had to do was set the CPU VCore to manual mode at 1.42v, set the ASUS AI Overclock mode to manual, and then set the timings and values for the RAM by hand. While XMP values did set correctly, the system wasn't as stable without setting the AI Overclock to manual vs. XMP. I believe the automatically applied sub-timings on the RAM are probably to blame for this, but that's just a guess on my part. However, this behavior is easily reproduced.
4.8GHz (100x48) DDR4 2666MHz
The system never hung due to a bad overclock, thus requiring a reset of the CMOS. With regard to cooling, the motherboard ran at reasonably cool while overclocked. Ordinarily the motherboard's MOSFET coolers ran at 91-98F. The PCH reported temperatures of 43c-48c while the motherboard sensor reported a temperature of 33c. Again I question the wisdom of including a thermal armor system which lacks active cooling, but it doesn't seem to hinder the motherboard's overclocking capabilities or negatively impact it's temperatures which surprised me. Of course cosmetically the thermal armor makes for a striking appearance, and so long as you aren't taking a performance hit for having it I'm all for it.
Conclusions
Dan's Thoughts:
The out-of-box experience couldn't have been better than it was with this motherboard. The Maximus VIII Formula performed admirably in everything from OS installation, to stability testing regardless of what I was doing with the system. The Maximus VIII Formula felt extremely mature while using it. I never felt like the UEFI needed an update for any reason, or that the drivers or software were somehow lacking. We've often reported horrible DPC latency issues with recent ASUS motherboards. The ROG lineup has been no different in this regard. However, I didn't experience those issues at all with the Maximus VIII Formula which again shows how mature the product is.
Let's face it, the Maximus VIII Formula isn't exactly a budget conscious choice. One could argue that it offers an incredible amount of value if you total up all that it gives you. The audio is top notch, the inclusion of U.2 and M.2 is a nice feature for sure if you want to use these. You also have wireless networking, a water block, and more. I think that while this is far from a budget offering it does have a lot to offer and that to me is value. The Maximus VIII Formula is also more reasonable for most enthusiasts than the Extreme version is given that this one is geared toward water cooling and high end air cooling over LN2 cooling. LN2 cooling after all, is generally not being meant for 24/7 stability in most cases. This motherboard also has the benefit of being created later on after lessons were learned in the initial release of ASUS' Z170 based products. ASUS' automatic rules are second to none anyway, but these are truly exceptional on this motherboard as they allow the user to achieve great things with minimal effort.
Aesthetically, this motherboard has no equal in the Z170 world. That's just my opinion, but this motherboard is tasteful, elegant, and even flashy when you want it to be. The software works, the drivers worked, and it was as stable as any motherboard I've ever seen. If you are in the market for a higher end Z170 Express based motherboard, I think the Maximus VIII Formula is one of if not the best choices out there. You would be doing yourself a disservice by not putting this one on your short list.
Kyle's Thoughts:
My out-of-box experience with the Maximus VIII Formula was near-perfect after I cleared a hurdle. I had mentioned in a review previously that I had some issues with a GIGABYTE motherboard and our water block being seated too tightly on the LGA socket and that was keeping the motherboard from POSTing. I had the same issue with this motherboard, except the issue was even worse. It turns out that the CPU was the culprit. Two of the contact pads on the Intel Core i7-6700K had been cut somehow. Both of the contacts cut are responsible for Integrated Memory Controller function, and that was the issue. When I replaced it with a new 6700K, the Maximus VIII Formula POSTed up just fine. Now I did not find out it was the CPU being the issue till I had nearly finished testing. A lot of my experience with this motherboard was not good, and quite frankly I am 99.9% sure it was due to the CPU issue. Originally I had expected that the LGA socket hardware was suspect, so I moved forward with my testing. When I finally got the CPU under a high powered magnifying glass I found my issue.
The Windows 10 Pro OS, the ASUS supplied drivers, and the ASUS utility software all installed perfectly with our Maximus VIII Formula and 6700K clocked at our stock settings of 4.5GHz/2666MHz at 1.32v vCore. The Corsair Dominator RAM rated at 3600MHz was also detected properly by our motherboard and the timings were set perfectly as well. This actually does not happen very often in my experience. Certainly the engineers tuning this BIOS are looking at "fast" RAM parts being used.
The Maximus VIII Formula completed my first stability test by successfully encoding a Bluray rip to MKV with the CPU vCore at 1.32v. With some boards I have to bump this to 1.34v to get encode completion, so this is certainly a good sign. From there I left the Maximus VIII Formula running Prime95 with full CPU and RAM loads for six days. The Maximus VIII Formula is the picture of stability.
I am going to recuse myself from commenting about the Maximus VIII Formula and its overclocking prowess. I have pages of "bad" notes about this motherboard and its performance while overclocking beyond 4.5GHz. It is clear to me, after I found my damaged CPU, that the Maximus VIII Formula is not to blame. It is even more clear to me after reading Daniel's notes on his excellent experience, that my CPU is to blame for my troubles.
Just when I think I have seen every "look" we could ever see on a motherboard, ASUS one again surprises me. The Maximus VIII Formula is without a doubt my favorite motherboard I have seen in a while in terms of aesthetics. It impressed me so much that I posted some beauty shots on the new page last month.
Some folks look at these ROG motherboards and say stuff like, "overpriced board I can get the same overclocked on a 200 dollar board." Terrible grammar and punctuation aside, these folks just do not "get it." If you look at a ROG series motherboard and see nothing but overclocking ability, then you are not seeing the forest for the trees. While I would suggest that the ROG series was slightly "all about" overclocking in the beginning, it certainly is not nowadays. Great to excellent overclocking on ROG motherboards is simply an expectation. The ROG motherboards have moved beyond only great overclocking performance and now are more about features and styling than anything else. If you do not want to show off this Maximus VIII Formula motherboard in a system with at least a minimal side window, you are not getting the full value of the motherboard. If you are not somewhat of a PC audiophile, you are not getting the full value of this motherboard. If you are not about CPU overclocking and big RAM speeds, you are not getting the full value of this motherboard. The same can be said for the plethora of storage attachment options as well, and the list goes on. Just look at the work that has gone into these MOSFET coolers that are on this motherboard! ASUS even went out of its way to camouflage the attachment points so if you are not going to water cool the motherboard, you do not have two hose barbs or nipples sticking up like we have seen in the past. The attention to detail on these ROG motherboards is simply second to none.
So if you are the guy that says your $200 motherboard overclocks just as well as a ROG motherboard and that is your only point you have to share about the ROG series, then ROG motherboards are not being marketed to you at all. If overclocking is your only concern, then we can surely find you some great overclocking motherboards in the $150 to $200 range. Even ROG extends now into this pricing window with its Maximus VIII Ranger.
The Bottom Line
The ASUS Maximus VIII Formula motherboard is damn near a work of art. Coming in at $400, it is not for the budget conscious however. If having a great overclocking motherboard with a feature set second to none all with a near-perfect look, the Maximus VIII Formula is certainly worth your attention the next time you go to purchase a motherboard.
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