ASUS Maximus III Extreme Motherboard Review

👤by Sahil Mannick Comments 📅16-03-10
Conclusion
Where do I start? The Maximus III Extreme is a tremendous board. Sporting an impressive feature list that ticks every box, it targets a wide range of audience, from mainstream users to gamers and enthusiasts alike. Nowadays, most high end motherboards are introducing USB 3.0 support and SATA III 6Gb/s and ASUS follows that trend but it doesn\'t stop there. To truly differentiate their flagship P55 based motherboard, they have included a number of innovations that actually work right out of the box!

The Republic Of Gamers is not merely the name given to the overclocking oriented ASUS boards but the concept introduces a number of unique features. The most notable one personally was the ROG connect. Using either Bluetooth or a USB cable to another Windows device, the user gains the ability to tweak and monitor the Maximus III Extreme remotely through the RC TweakIT software. Now many other sites have claimed that it\'s just a gimmick without having actually tried it. Well, we didn\'t want to make assumptions and actually tried the function on a compatible mobile phone and the results were very pleasing. The intuitiveness and ingenuity of the software makes for ease of use while retaining excellent functionality, be it for simply turning on/off the motherboard/system or for slight tweaks to your overclocked settings. ASUS have put a lot of thought into the concept and I hope we see it become more mainstream in the future.

Overclocking is the main selling point of the Maximus III Extreme, not surprising given it\'s Republic Of Gamers lineage. The board offers a wealth of more familiar features for all overclockers. A rich BIOS is merely the start of things because ASUS have concentrated a lot of their efforts on a hardware level to ensure the best performance and stability. Nifty features such as the LN2 mode and Probelt will appeal to the most hardcore enthusiasts, while the CPU Level Up will give novices a taste of this art.

When it comes to performance, the platform keeps up with the higher end x58 in all cases, sometimes exceeding it thanks to the motherboard\'s superior memory support. The performance makes it a viable alternative to the x58 option.

So would I buy one? That\'s where we come to the board\'s major downfall, the price. Looking at the street price, it\'s clear that the board is not your average P55 mainstream solution. In fact, its price is higher that most x58 based motherboards which also offer SATA III 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 support. ASUS\'s own P6X5 8D Premium ends up cheaper and their P7P55D is half the price. The extra £100 gives you ROG functionality and use of superior components on the motherboard. From an affordable solution perspective or for generic usage, ASUS\'s other motherboards are probably your answer. For a cheap setup, a lower end i5 and another P55 board will be more viable. With a higher budget, an i7 920 coupled with the ASUS P6T range of motherboards will end up cheaper than the configuration tested today. However, from an overclockers/enthusiasts point of view, this board will give the user the thrill they\'ve always wanted. The sheer amount of thought gone into perfecting the board justifies the price and the results will reflect it.

Pros

+ Bucket loads of features
+ ROG functionality
+ Excellent stability and overclocking
+ Cool and efficient
+ USB 3.0 and SATA III 6Gb/s
+ Attractive finish
+ Excellent packaging and bundle
+ Excellent performance

Cons

- Price

While price does have a big impact on potential users\' decision to buy the Maximus III Extreme, ASUS delivers a board that boasts an unparalled feature set, all of which are tailored for your every need. The ASUS Maximus III Extreme deservedly earns our Vortez Hardware Gold Award!



I would like to thank ASUS for providing us with yet another brilliant sample and hope to see more from them in the future. To discuss this article, please visit our forums.



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