ASUS Z87 ROG Motherboard Lineup

Having already become acquainted with the “Classic” series of Z87 chipset-based motherboards from ASUS, some might be tempted to think the company only has those five to promote, but that would be false.

As it turns out, those are definitely not the only motherboards, and not even the strongest, something that some may have surmised from the lack of ROG in the names. Republic of Gamers continues to be the brand that ASUS uses for its best pieces of hardware, be they mainboards, graphics cards or whatever else. The new Z87 models are called ROG Maximus VI Extreme, Maximus VI Hero, and Maximus VI GeneZ. All of them are bundled with the OC Panel (directly shows readings on the on-board display, also allows for hotwiring VGA, VGA SMB, 4 x 4 pins, etc.) and OC Hot Key. Maximus VI GeneZ is the small one in the group, with a micro-ATX form factor, a pair of PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, eight SATA 3 ports, a bunch of I/O options, THX audio, and an mPCIe Combo III slot near the I/O panel (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module ship with the board).

It is a full-ATX motherboard with three PCI Express x16 slots, just as many x1 slots, 8 SATA III ports, and a single 8-pin CPU power plug. ASUS also tossed in some overclocking assets like Voltage measurement points and On/Off and Clear CMOS switches. Finally, the ASUS Maximus VI Extreme uses an 8+4 pin CPU connector, an extra 6-pin plug for PCI Express GPUs, five PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, a PCI Express 3.0 x4 slot, the mini PCI Express combo slot specified before, and 10 SATA III ports for storage. A large heatsink covers the Lynx Point PCH. Buyers will have to decide themselves which LGA 1150 Haswell CPU they want to pair with either of these potential purchases (prices unknown for now).

ASUS Z87 Maximus motherboards
Image credits to VR-Zone

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