ASUS Maximus IX APEX ROG, Intel Z270 motherboard socket 1151 [90MB0T90-M0EAY0]

The chipsets of the 200 series "Union Point" have a maximum of 24 PCIe Express 3.0 lanes and generally bring more HSIO lanes (High Speed I / O) with which more internal connections (eg SATA or PCIe- Slots) can be used simultaneously. As a Z270 motherboard, the ASUS Maximus IX APEX ROG allows the overclocking of K-series CPUs, which have a freely selectable multiplier.

The features of the ASUS Maximus IX APEX ROG at a glance:

3 × PCIe (3.0) x16 (16/8/4) & 2 × PCIe (3.0) x1
2 × USB 3.1 (Type A & Type C) / 8 × USB 3.0
2 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4) per DIMM.2 / 4 × SATA 6G
Supports max. 32 GB DDR4 RAM up to 4,266 MHz
ASUS AURA RGB LED lighting
Expandable via RGB LED header (4-pin)
CPU overclocking via multiplier & base clock
The ASUS Maximus IX APEX ROG in detail

The ASUS Maximus IX APEX ROG is a very well-equipped E-ATX motherboard for enthusiasts and overclockers with Intel's Z270 chipset for Intel's 6000 and 7000 series processors. The black board has three PCIe x16 slots, one of which is connected to the chipset with full 16 lanes, while the other two PCIe-x16 slots are electrically connected with four or eight data lines, respectively. For board and expansion cards, the board also has two PCIe x1 slots and supports both NVIDIA's SLI and AMD's CrossFireX technology.

The mainboard has two DIMM slots for DDR4 memory in fast dual-channel mode. Up to 32 GB of RAM is taken up by the two memory banks, and depending on the processor, the board supports a memory clock of either 2.133 MHz (with Skylake CPU) or 2.400 MHz (with Kaby Lake CPU), overclocking also using memory modules up to 4,266 MHz Can be.

For the connection of data carriers, the board provides a special DIMM.2 slot through which two M.2 SSDs with the especially fast NVMe protocol can be connected via an adapter. In addition, the board has four SATA-6G connectors for 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch hard disks and SSDs (including RAID support). The M.2 ports are connected to the chipset via four PCIe lanes in the 3.0 standard and, in combination with the NVMe protocol, enable a data transfer rate of just under 4 GB / s. Thus, M.2 PCIe SSDs are up to eight times faster than SATA 6G SSDs!

The mainboard has a new USB port of type C, which is especially thin and can be inserted at both ends at the I / O panel. In addition to the Type C port, the motherboard also provides a down-compatible USB 3.1 type A port. USB 3.1 ports are twice as fast as conventional USB 3.0 ports at maximum achievable speeds of 10 Gbps! For input devices and other gaming peripherals, the I / O panel also has six USB 3.0 ports.

If no graphics card is available, the integrated graphics processor of a Skylake or Kaby Lake CPU can be used to connect monitors directly to the back of the motherboard - two ports are available with HDMI and DisplayPort. Internally, the mainboard provides various headers, jumpers and buttons as well as XMP support and convinces with various overclocking features. The special features of the ASUS Maximus IX APEX ROG include ASUS Aura RGB LED lighting and two headers for RGB LED strips.

Technical details:
Format: E-ATX
Chipset: Intel Z270 ("Union Point")
Socket: 1151 (for Intel CPUs of the 6th and 7th core generation ("Skylake" / "Kaby Lake")
RAM: 2 × DDR4 (Skylake: DDR4-2.133, Kaby Lake: DDR4-2.400, OC max.4,266 MHz)
Dual-Channel
Slots (physical):
1 × PCIe 3.0 x16
1 × PCIe 3.0 x16 (electrical x8)
2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (electrical x4)
Compatible multi-VGA configurations: 2-way SLI (Quad-GPU), 4-Way-CrossFireX (Quad-GPU)
2 × PCIe 3.0 x1
Internal connections:
4 × SATA 6G
2 × M.2 over DIMM.2 card (PCIe 3.0 x4, 2242/2260/2280)
1 × USB 3.1 front panel connector
2 × USB 3.0 (one header)
6 × USB 2.0 (three headers)
2 × Aura RGB LED Strip Header
1 × CPU fan (4-pin PWM)
1 × CPU OPT fan (4 pin PWM)
3 × fan (4-pin PWM)
1 × Pump connection (4-pin)
1 × Pump connection (4-pin, for AIOs)
1 × BIOS switch button
1 × Clear CMOS button
1 × LN2 mode switch
1 × LN2 mode jumper
1 × per start. Safe-. Reset & Retry button
2 × thermal sensor header
Power / Reset / LED / Front Audio
External connections:
2 × PS / 2 keyboard / mouse
2 × USB 3.1 (each 1 × Type A and Type C)
6 × USB 3.0
1 × Gigabit LAN (Intel I219-V)
1 × HDMI 1.4b
1 × DisplayPort 1.2
1 × USB BIOS Flashback button
1 × Clear CMOS button
1 × S / PDIF (optical)
5 × audio (7.1 ROG SupremeFX S1220A)
Power supply:
1 × 24-pin EATX
1 × 8-pin ATX 12V