ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero (Intel Z170) Motherboard Review

Introduction

Intel's Z170 chipset just landed along with the 6600K and 6700K (our full review here) and today I have ASUS's latest ROG motherboard, the Maximus VIII Hero, in house and ready for testing. Known for its quality, performance and good looks, ASUS's Republic of Gamers lineup is one of the most coveted among enthusiasts. With the Z170 lineup, ASUS is launching a few ROG series Z170 motherboards, with the Hero being in the middle of the ROG lineup between the Gene and the Extreme.

ASUS's Maximus Hero series is known for being the more mainstream ROG motherboard, not as extreme as well the "Extreme", and not as tiny as the Gene, the Hero provides a balance of features and quality that is appealing to many enthusiasts. Follow me as I venture into my first Z170 chipset motherboard review with the ASUS Maximus VIII Hero.

Specifications

The Maximus VIII Hero has many features, and most of them are direct from the PCH. ASUS includes Intel's latest NIC for LAN connectivity and a PCI-E 3.0 4x M.2 slot for super-fast storage. Among other appealing features the Maximus VIII Hero carries ASUS's latest iteration of SupremeFX audio, 2-way graphics support, and USB 3.1 type-C and type-A ports on the backpanel. The board provides 8 SATA 6Gb/s ports, four of which can turn into two SATA Express ports. The board also supports a total of six USB 3.0 ports, four of which come from internal headers.

Pricing

The price of the Maximus VIII Hero is estimated to be around $230, and while we don't know the prices of other Z170 motherboards just yet as today is launch day, it is safe to say that ASUS has priced the Maximus VIII Hero competitively to be an affordable gaming and overclocking motherboard. At the last minute, we did find a listing of the VIII on Amazon for $239 including free shipping.