Introduction

ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO Motherboard Review - — ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO Motherboard Review

Despite having the ROG Strix series existing together with the mainline ROG products, ASUS has made it pretty clear there is a great distinction between the two series and the ROG Strix are not the introduction to the top-end but rather a sampler of what could be had. The HERO set of products from the ROG series serve as the introduction to the flagship series of the company, and ASUS positions them to be the best balance of value and feature. Today we’ll be taking a closer look at the ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO Wi-Fi, one of the launch models in ASUS’ ROG stack of Z390 products. Let’s take a look if this is worth being your first motherboard for the dip to 9th-gen. Read on!

Features

LGA1151 socket for 9th/8th -gen Intel® Core™ desktop processors
Synchronized RGB lighting technology works with a vast portfolio of Aura Sync-capable PC gear and includes support for addressable light strips and Phillip Hue
Perfected cooling with dedicated water header zones, M.2 heatsink and various fan control
Gaming connectivity: Intel Gigabit Ethernet , LANGuard, dual M.2, USB 3.1 Gen 2, Wi-Fi with MU-MI-MO 802.11
5-way Optimization: Automated system-wide tuning, providing AI Overclocking and cooling profiles trailor-made for your rig
Gaming Audio: SupremeFX and Sonic Studio III – High fidelity audio that draws you deeper into the action
Gaming durability: ASUS SafeSlot and premium components for maximum durability

Where to Buy

US: $289 – ASUS MAXIMUS XI HERO in Amazon
PH: Php17850 – PCHUB

About Intel Z390

It was already announced that Intel would be releasing a Z390 chipset a bit further in the year with the announcement of Z370 back in early 2018. That announcement materializes late in 2018 with the launch of the Intel Z390. Usually a processor would be the prelude to a new chipset but in this case, with the rumor already floating around that an 8-core Intel MSDT part would be released, it was already expected.

Not much has changed from Z390 to Z370. The new 9th-gen processors themselves work fine on Z370 chipset boards although Intel has been very adamant in utilizing the new Z390 boards with 8-core parts due to revisions on standards about how board makers should configure their VRMs.

In terms of changes, there’s only a few to note which includes Intel WIFI-AC having been baked directly into the board, the increase in USB3.1 Gen2 ports to 6. PCI-e lanes and HSIO config remains the same from last generation.

Coffee Lake Refreshed

The 9th-generation Intel Core processors mark the debut of the Core i9 in the mainstream market, previously only being made available in HEDT platform. This also sees Intel’s first 8-core offering for mainstream. One that would see prices skyrocket for their top parts. Factor in the current, ongoing supply issues that Intel has and its been a difficult time for the company and customers alike in terms of availability and pricing.

Going back to the processors themselves, Intel has announced three launch models: the Core i9-9900K, Core i7-9700K and the Core i5-9600K. Other SKUs have seen been announced including models without IGPs. Besides core count, one of the main changes that the 9th-gen Core processsors will is the total lack of Hyperthreading. Only the Core i9-9900K will have Hyperthreading amongst all currently announced models alongside its non-IGP counterpart.

As with the previous Coffee Lake release, the parts are forged in the 14nm fab process.

You can read more in our review of the Core i9 9900K and Core i7 9700K.

Note: Best viewed on desktop 1366x768 or higher.

wpDataTable with provided ID not found!

Specifications

CPU
Intel® Socket 1151 9th / 8th Gen Intel^® Core™, Pentium^® Gold and Celeron^® Processors
Supports Intel® 14 nm CPU
Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
* The Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 support depends on the CPU types.
* Refer to www.asus.com for CPU support list
Chipset
Intel® Z390
Memory
4 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR4 4400(O.C)/4266(O.C.)/4133(O.C.)/4000(O.C.)/3866(O.C.)/3733(O.C.)/3600(O.C.)/3466(O.C.)/3400(O.C.)/3333(O.C.)/3300(O.C.)/3200(O.C.)/3000(O.C.)/2800(O.C.)/2666/2400/2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
* Hyper DIMM support is subject to the physical characteristics of individual CPUs.
* Refer to www.asus.com for the Memory QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists).
Graphic
Integrated Graphics Processor- Intel® UHD Graphics support
Multi-VGA output support : HDMI/DisplayPort ports
– Supports HDMI with max. resolution 4096 x 2160 @ 30 Hz
– Supports DisplayPort with max. resolution 4096 x 2304 @ 60 Hz
Multi-GPU Support
Supports NVIDIA® 2-Way SLI™ Technology
Supports AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™ Technology
Expansion Slots
Intel® Z390 Chipset
2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8 or x8/x4/x4)
1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x4 mode) *¹
3 x PCIe 3.0 x1
Storage
Intel® Z390 Chipset :
1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)*²
1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)
6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s)
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
Intel® Optane™ Memory Ready
LAN
Intel® I219V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s), Dual interconnect between the Integrated Media Access Controller (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY)
Anti-surge LANGuard
ROG GameFirst Technology
Wireless Data Network
Intel® Wireless-AC 9560
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Supports dual band frequency 2.4/5 GHz
Supports MU-MIMO
Supports channel bandwidth: HT20/HT40/HT80/HT160
Bluetooth
Bluetooth® 5.0
Audio
ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC S1220
– Impedance sense for front and rear headphone outputs
– Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
– High quality 120 dB SNR stereo playback output and 113 dB SNR recording input
– SupremeFX Shielding Technology
– ESS® ES9023P
– Supports up to 32-Bit/192kHz playback *³
Audio Feature :
– Gold-plated jacks
– Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel
– Sonic Radar III
– Sonic Studio III + Sonic Studio Link
USB Ports
Intel® Z390 Chipset :
4 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 port(s) (4 at back panel, +red, 1 x Type-C+3 x Type-A)
Intel® Z390 Chipset :
2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 port(s) (2 at back panel, +blue, 2 x Type-A)
Intel® Z390 Chipset :
6 x USB 2.0 port(s) (2 at back panel, +black, 4 at mid-board)
Intel® Z390 Chipset :
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 front panel connector port(s)
ROG Exclusive Features
ReTry Button
Start Button
Reset Button
Extreme Engine Digi+ :
– MicroFine Alloy Chokes
– 10K Black Metallic Capacitors
– OptiMOS™ MOSFET
Mem TweakIt
Extreme Tweaker
ROG Exclusive Software
– Mem Tweakit
– RAMCache III
– RAMDisk
– CPU-Z
– GameFirst V
– Sonic Studio III + Sonic Studio Link
– Sonic Radar III
Special Features
ASUS Dual Intelligent Processors 5-Way Optimization by Dual Intelligent Processors 5 :
– 5-Way Optimization tuning key perfectly consolidates TPU Insight, EPU Guidance, DIGI+ VRM, Fan Expert 4, and Turbo App
AURA :
– Aura Lighting Control
– Aura RGB Strip Headers
– Aura Lighting Effects Synchronization with compatible ASUS ROG devices
– Aura Addressable Strip Header(s)
ASUS Exclusive Features :
– USB BIOS Flashback
– MemOK! II
– AI Suite 3
– Ai Charger
– ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
– Armoury Crate
– Pre-mounted I/O Shield
– ASUS NODE: hardware control interface
– OptiMem II
– ASUS EZ Flash 3
– ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
– BUPDATER
– BIOS Flashback Button
– Clear CMOS Button
– Reset Button
ASUS EZ DIY :
– ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
– ASUS EZ Flash 3
ASUS Q-Design :
– ASUS Q-Code
– ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED)
– ASUS Q-Slot
– ASUS Q-DIMM
– ASUS Q-Connector
Overclocking Protection :
– ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Back I/O Ports
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s)
1 x DisplayPort
1 x HDMI
1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)
4 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (1 x Type-C+3 x Type-A)
2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (blue) Type-A
2 x USB 2.0
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
1 x Clear CMOS button(s)
1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button(s)
1 x ASUS Wi-Fi Module
5 x Gold-plated audio jacks
Internal I/O Ports
2 x Aura Addressable Strip Header(s)
2 x Aura RGB Strip Headers
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1(up to 5Gbps) connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 port(s)
2 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 port(s)
1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)
1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)
1 x TPM connector(s)
6 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s)
1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin)
1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin)
3 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (3 x 4 -pin)
1 x AIO_PUMP connector (1 x 4 -pin)
1 x H_AMP fan connector
1 x W_PUMP+ connector (1 x 4 -pin)
1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s)
1 x 8-pin EATX 12V Power connectors
1 x 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s)
1 x Front panel audio connector(s) (AAFP)
1 x MemOK! II switch(es)
1 x Reset button(s)
1 x ReTry button
1 x System panel connector
1 x EXT_Fan header
1 x W_IN header
1 x W_OUT header
1 x W_FLOW header
1 x Thermal sensor connector
1 x Start button
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 front panel connector
Accessories
User’s manual
4 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
1 x M.2 Screw Package
1 x Supporting DVD
1 x ASUS 2T2R dual band Wi-Fi moving antennas (Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compliant)
1 x SLI HB BRIDGE(2-WAY-M)
1 x ROG big sticker
1 x Q-Connector
1 x Extension Cable for RGB strips (80 cm)
1 x Extension cable for Addressable LED
1 x ROG coaster(s)
BIOS
1 x 128 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI3.0, SM BIOS 3.1, ACPI 6.1
Operating System
Windows® 10 64-bit
Form Factor
ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )
Note
*1 The PCIe x16_3 slot shares bandwidth with SATA6G_5 and SATA6G_6. The PCIe x16_3 runs x2 mode by default.

*2 When the M.2_1 Socket 3 is operating in SATA mode, SATA6G_2 port will be disabled.

*3 Due to limitations in HDA bandwidth, 32-Bit/192kHz is not supported for 8-Channel audio.

Packaging & Content

ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO Motherboard Review
ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO Motherboard Review

ASUS has been subtly tweaking its packaging over the last generations of motherboards and this time around, the change is a bit more defined yet still subtle. The new ROG motherboard packaging now don a more distinct black styling with abstract panel lines adorning the main sides. The main cover has holographic prints in bold for the model names with minimal prints on the rest of the front.

The side are now a brighter shade of red, a truer red than what we’ve been used to seeing since the early Maximus or Rampage releases. The narrow sides now have a bright red print with the eye logo of ROG printed on 1 side similar to Jordan brand packaging style.

At the back we have a detailed breakdown of the features and specs of the motherboard. There’s also detailed highlights of some of the key features of the board at the back.

Inside the package we have the following:

WIFI antenna
Front panel Q-connector
ROG SLI HB bridge
4x SATA cables
M.2 screws
Cable for RGB strip
Cable for addressable RGB LED
ROG coaster
ROG sticker sheet
ROG driver disc
Manual
Greeting card
CableMod discount voucher

Its been becoming a trend of having large sticker sheets with gaming motherboards especially the high-end ones. ASUS has merged their cable labels with the sticker sheet and has included plenty of tags to decorate your belongings including a few nifty battery cover stickers.

If feel like the shiny button cell battery is ruining your motherboard’s vibe, you can popoff one of three sticker designs from the included sheet and place it on your battery. CMOS batteries last a long time so these should last as long as your board but if ever you feel like or need to change batteries, I advise not pressing on the sticker too much when placing it. Just a soft push to clean it up nicely and remove air pockets. If you messs up, there’s 2 more on the sheet if ever.

Closer Look

ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO Motherboard Review
ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO Motherboard Review

The ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero features a more darker theme than previous iterations. This goes for the entire Z390 ROG lineup as well with the boards in this generation going for that “blackout” vibe making it quite a neutral board to work with in terms of color themes putting it in the list of easy boards to choose when going for that themed look especially for RGB ones that splatter colors on the board.

ASUS receive plenty of heat, pun intended, during launch because of the apparent heat output of the Maximus XI Hero during overclocking and that ASUS has claimed that their VRM is more than what it actually is. ASUS reps and overclocker have since quelled the issue somewhat by proving that ASUS’ runs a parallel VRM design. The heatsink cooling the VRMs aren’t as chunky as the higher-end models but on non-extreme usage, as we’ll show you later, is decent enough.

The upper right side of the motherboard features the DIMM slots as well as the debug LED and and onboard power buttons. These area also houses the RGB connectors for the motherboard. There is a USB3.1 front panel as well and we’re seeing more on and more cases using these so its finally nice to see them getting some action.

The board features two M.2 slots and both are covered with provided heatsinks that merge will with the motherboard design. The first one is underneath the CPU socket and the other one is just below the PCH heatsink.

Plenty more connectors are located on the bottom edge of the motherboard including USB2.0 and USB3.0 front panel headers, RGB headers and front panel audio connector.

The board uses Realtek ALC1220 codec reinforced by ROG SupremeFX treatment. Notice the gold Japanese capacitors that are usually found in improved audio solutions.

The board features six native SATAIII ports all of which are angled towards the right for a cleaner connection.

The ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XI Hero also features a pre-installed I/O shield which removes the possibility of forgetting it after your build. There is also the BIOS flashback button and clear CMOS button on the back for maintenance use. For I/O we have a legacy PS/2 port as well as two USB2.0 ports, one of which is designated for BIOS flashback. We have USB3.1 Type-C and three Type-A ports and a pair of USB3.0 ports. The wifi connectors are on the lower portion near the audio ports. Last off we have a single LAN port, a DisplayPort and HDMI out for IGP use.

ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO Motherboard Review
ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO Motherboard Review
ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO Motherboard Review

BIOS Walkthrough

ASUS still has their familiar UEFI BIOS interface with the new Z390 motherboards. Most of these boards will share the same menu options with higher models like the Maximus XI Extreme having more menu options for extreme overclocking and tweaking. The ASUS Maximus XI Hero, Gene, etc. mostly share similar menu options.

The UEFI interface has been a mainstay for ASUS for a few generations now and we’ve praised it for being a simple yet rich at the same time. The interface is simple to navigate and offers easy-to-use dropdown menus to change values. Besides tweaking options, ASUS also integrates rich fan controls as well as voltage and temp monitoring. There’s also profile management, DRAM and PCIe viewers to check system hardware. ASUS integrates the option to update the BIOS online as well as via local storage with their interface and has been a great tool to work with.

ASUS has a BIOS flashback feature which allows users to reinstall a fresh BIOS copy in the event of an issue.

ASUS also integrates AI overclocking with their latest motherboards allowing the BIOS to gauge processor potential. In the screenshot below you’ll on the lower right the Cooler points and Silicon quality rating of the system. Intel has since voiced their concern over this and has requested ASUS to remove silicon quality. Newer BIOS will not have silicon quality in their prediction panel.

Test Setup & Methodology

Processor: Intel Core i9 9900K
Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS XI HERO WI-FI
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR4-3600 16GB
Storage: WD Blue SSD 1TB SATA
PSU: Seasonic Platinum 1050w
Cooling: Fractal Design Celsius S36 AIO Liquid cooler
Monitor: Viewsonic VX2475smhl-4K
VGA: NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti

All tests are performed in an open bench with ambient room temperature kept at 28*C.

Motherboards are updated to the latest BIOS during time of testing kept at their out-of-box settings aside from XMP frequencies when running stock benchmarks.

As many already know, most motherboards will have varying frequency multipliers and this may affect performance overall. As this is part of their out of the box configuration we see it fit to use them as is. All data presented here in are with the default motherboard settings for stock performance. Overclocked performance will be indicated where needed. For non-Z series motherboards, all benchmarks are performed on DDR4-2133 default settings.

As always, we’ll let the numbers do the talking.

Best Practices

Same thermal paste and same application method used on all cooler mounting. A pre-benchmark stress test is performed to let the TIM settle. We use Noctua NT-H1 for all our testing.
A fresh install of Windows 10 Pro is used for every sample testing. The OS image contains all benchmarks and games. Drivers are installed after image is installed.
An average of 3 benchmark runs is used for test sampling.

Benchmarks Used

Maxon Cinebench R15 – Multi-threaded CPU benchmark
Blender 3D – BMW 2.7 CPU Render benchmark
POV-Ray 3.7.1 – Multi-threaded Render benchmark
Cinegy Cinescore 10 – Ultra HD 4K resolution CPU encoding benchmark
HWBot x265 – 4K x265 CPU encoding benchmark
wPrime 1024M – multi-threaded prime benchmark
SuperPI 32M – single-threaded prime benchmark
GeekBench Pro 4.2 – full system benchmark
ASUS RealBench 2.56 – full system benchmark

Subsystem Benchmarks

Crystal Disk Mark
Rightmark Audio Analyzer

Other Software

Latest LAN Speed Test via LST Server
Latest AIDA64 (Stress Test)
Latest CPU-Z
Latest GPU-Z
Latest HWnfo 64-bit

Test OS Environment

Windows 10 Pro Retail 64-bit
Latest NVIDIA GeForce Game-Ready drivers
Latest AMD Chipset/Radeon drivers (when applicable, AMD boards)
Latest DirectX end-user runtime

Measuring Equipment:

Flir One USB Thermal Camera via Thermal Imaging+ app
HP-9800 AC wattmeter with USB interface for app logging
Standard sound level meter

Network Hardware

ASUS ROG Rapture GT-5300 Router

Performance Test – Rendering/Encoding

Rendering tests are benchmarks designed to gauge performance during
multimedia and professional workloads like 3D rendering or video encoding. This gives us a good idea on how a certain system will perform during a certain predefined workload.