ASUS Z97 MAXIMUS VII Hero Revew

[section_title title=”Conclusion”]Conclusion

Well now it’s time to tally up the pros and cons of the latest ASUS ROG board and to see if it lives up to the legendary reputation that precedes it.  How does the MAXIMUS VII HERO compare to the MAXIMUS VI HERO, other than sharing a very similar name?  Let’s find out…

In terms of performance, the Z97 version performed exactly as I thought it would do; a tiny bit better than the Z87 version but given that the same CPU was used and that the Z97 is just a refresh with more features, what more could you ask for?  Synthetics were very similar with some beating and some falling below the Z87 boards but the actual socket remains the same other than the support for the 5^th generation Intel processors (Broadwell).  With not much room for improvement other than features, software and things like M.2 SATA support, there is only so much performance you can squeeze from a CPU.  Overall however, the motherboard itself is a solid performer and it will be interesting to see how the Z97 boards compare when the new unlocked CPU’s are launched.

Design wise the ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO certainly improves over the Z87 and the heat sinks look much better, cleaner and flow very nicely with the design of the board.  The Southbridge heat sink when illuminated is one of the most stunning things I have ever seen and given the general look of the board is a sure fire for the Design award; not often I am in awe of something as simple as that and the pictures really don’t do this board justice.  The motherboard also has a scrumptious under glow on the motherboard tray which accents the overall look of the board when installed; these effects can be turned off in the BIOS (as mentioned previously) if you feel them too intrusive.

Another design factor is the inclusion of the M.2 SATA port which allows M.2 SSDs to be used to maximise the new technology which will be a little pricey to start with, but will eventually come down to affordable levels; hopefully!  Another feature that deserves a mention is IDP (Intel Device Protection) with Boot Guard.  What this is designed to do is protect your boots against malware attacks which could not only infect your system but also damage it too; a nice little feature and although not huge, will certainly appeal to those safety conscious people.

ASUS have also gone about updating their Gamer First software with the arrival of number 3.  This is not only useful in optimising your applications, games, media streaming software and file sharing abilities, but it also informs you of how much bandwidth each application is using in terms of percentage.  Compared to task manager, the Game First III software interface is really easy to make sense of and is very easy to use on the whole.  The on-board sound is also good quality and although it uses the same ALC1150 as most Z87/Z97 motherboards, it is solidified with the SupremeFX chip/software which allows user friendly customisation.

With the ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO motherboard coming in at the modest price of £165 including VAT, the board in my opinion represents good value for money considering the full package on offer.  Although this is a £15 price increase on the already released Z87 version, I do feel that the extras with the Z97 variant signify the price cost; Gamer First III, M.2 SATA support, better software feature set and a much nicer aesthetically pleasing finish.  You get quite a lot for your money with the VII HERO and although it would be preferred at the current HERO price, ASUS have stepped up the quality massively and just for that alone, it’s worth spending that little bit extra.

Overall ASUS have pulled out all the stops for their current high end Z97 offering and although there will be more to come in the near future; it is hard to ignore the full package on offer here.  To sum it up in a few short words, the ASUS Z97 MAXIMUS VII HERO motherboard is the bee’s knees and it’s with great pleasure I award the HERO the gold award based on the testing done today.

Big thanks to ASUS for sending motherboard in for review and I look forward to seeing more in the near future.