Closer Look
As the name suggests, this Black Edition motherboard arrives in a monochrome box completely devoid of any busy marketing design, the Rampage 4 Black Edition (R4BE) box’s front boldly displays Edward Kenway as ASUS packages a full copy with the R4BE. The back of the box details the specs and features of the motherboard.
A rich assortment of accessories is bundled with the Rampage IV Black Edition. A full set of SLI and Crossfire bridges, SATA cables, the WIFI/BT antennas along with the manuals are the standard ASUS fare but it goes so much more than that with the ROG flagship including the OC Panel we first saw in our Maximus VI Extreme review, the OC panel bay dock and a magnetic ornament. As mentioned, a copy of Assasin’s Creed IV Black Flag is included but our sample did not come with it although ASUS guarantees one with every purchase.
Diving straight to the motherboard we get to see the new flagship of the ROG lineage. ASUS doesn’t just call it the Black Edition for nothing. The board itself gets a complete redesign with a monochrome scheme to completely separate it from the existing Rampage IV variants. The board is an E-ATX size variant and users should take note of the longer board length when choosing cases.
Despite the modernization of this motherboard, the rear I/O doesn’t have as much USB3.0 ports as most top-end boards today. Still, there are plenty of rear I/O connectivities including the WIFI/BT antenna, a pair of ESATA ports and the amplified 5-channel audio powered by a Realtek 1150 codec complemented by a Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC. A crafted shroud provides visual appeal + shielding to the rear I/O ports.
Two ASM1061 from ASMedia adds a full suite of SATAIII capabilities which the X79, with its single pair of SATA III ports, is seriously lacking. In terms of modern features, this is now a standard but ASUS has to make due with 3rd party controllers.
Four PCI-E 3.0 slots are available for extreme multi-GPU action. The slots operate at X16 and will switch to dual x16 or x16/x8/x16 or x16/x8/x8/x8 when populated by multiple GPUs.
The Rampage IV Black Edition supports quad-channel memory, 8 slots are available and support for up to DDR3-2800 speeds.
As with most ROG boards, onboard buttons are present for benching and ease-of-use. Power controls are present but most notably the Slow Mode toggle switch, PCI-E slot switch and MemOK button.
One of the most notable improvement on the ASUS ROG Rampage IV Black Edition is the upgrading of the audio solution. ASUS equips the R4BE with an upgraded Realtek ALC1150 sound chip, customized as the SupremeFX Black audio solution which as mentioned earlier is supported by a CirrusLogic DAC which further steps up the audio.
ASUS has revamped the components used in the R4BE to match its current standards. As with the R4E, the R4BE comes with an 8+3+2+2 power phase.
The OC Panel
The OC Panel is one of ASUS’ latest technology for the ROG line-up. With previous attempts including the ROG Connect and ROG OC Key both showing their merits, ASUS decided to just move the entire OC platform to separate device. Hooked up directly to the board, the OC Panel can be docked to the front bay or if you’re benching just stand side by side in your bench. Aside from providing granular control over the real-time frequency of the board, temp readout are also available and sub-zero readings are also possible with K-type probes. Removing the body cover gives access to plenty of switches and fan controllers.