My new PC [March 2012] - Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z

[Blín D'ñero]

In a shop's "end of business" sale (they were taken over by another firm, and had to get rid of everything before the other shop went into the building) i couldn't resist and bought the Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z <--(fullsize image)! Or MIVE-Z in short. A very expensive, and absolutely stunning looking motherboard. This: ASUS Intel Z68 ROG Maximus IV Motherboard Reviews.

I got 25% off, which actually made it the same price as i paid for my older (x58) mobo (about 245 euros) two and a half years ago. During the 3-days sale it was hectic in the shop, and i was under the assumption that i was buying an x79 (Sandy Bridge - E, socket 2011) board, the even more expensive ASUS Rampage IV Extreme Motherboard (review at Legitreviews.com), and that i had chosen the irreversible path to fork out 550 bucks for 3930 CPU (wouldn't take the 3920)... untill i sat down at home, reading some reviews in quietness and with full attention. So, i was RELIEVED to find out i had bought a socket 1155 board, in which fits the i7 2700K, the same board as i would have chosen had i informed myself thoroughly beforehand!

https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article ... therboard/
https://www.legitreviews.com/article/1686/
https://www.legionhardware.com/articles ... _z,15.html
https://www.pcgameware.co.uk/asus-maximus-iv-extreme-z/

Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z informations and download page @ rog.asus.com
Asus Republic Of Gamers Forum @ rog.asus.com
P67 and Z68 BIOS Guide – Basic to Intermediate Overclocking @ rog.asus.com

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This thread's PC consists of this:
Gaming PC: * Intel i7 2700K @ 4.8 Ghz * Zalman CPNS9900-A LED * Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z * 16 GB Corsair Dominator GT CMT16GX3M4X2133C9 * Sapphire HD7970 crossfire * Dell U3010 @ 2560 x 1600 / 60Hz * Corsair AX 1200W * 4 x WDC WD1002FAEX * Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatality Pro * Optiarc AD 5240S * Steelseries 7G * Razer Imperator 2012 * Steelseries SX * Coolermaster STC T01 * Logitech Z-5500 * Sennheiser HD598 * Windows 7 Ultimate x64 *

[Blín D'ñero]

So my CPU is the Socket 1155, 32 nm Intel Core i7 -2700K (Memory channels support = dual).
Full list including the other parts:

• Intel i7 2700K
• Corsair AX 1200W
• Zalman CNPS9900-A LED
• Sapphire Radeon HD7970 (2 x) (crossfIre) --- part number [HD7970 3G CDDR5 PCI-E]
• Corsair Dominator GT CMT16GX3M4X2133C9 (4x4 Gb) (Dominator GT with DHX Pro Connector — 1.5V 16GB Dual/Quad Channel DDR3 Memory Kit)c 9-11-10-27
• WDC WD1002FAEX (2 x)
• Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium Fatality Professional
• Optiarc DVD RW AD-5240S
• Coolermaster Stacker 1
• Dell 30" UltraSharp U3011
• Steelseries 7G

Another review of the mobo.
Intel Core i7-2700K benchmarks (cpu-world.com)

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This thread's PC consists of this:
Gaming PC: * Intel i7 2700K @ 4.8 Ghz * Zalman CPNS9900-A LED * Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z * 16 GB Corsair Dominator GT CMT16GX3M4X2133C9 * Sapphire HD7970 crossfire * Dell U3010 @ 2560 x 1600 / 60Hz * Corsair AX 1200W * 4 x WDC WD1002FAEX * Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatality Pro * Optiarc AD 5240S * Steelseries 7G * Razer Imperator 2012 * Steelseries SX * Coolermaster STC T01 * Logitech Z-5500 * Sennheiser HD598 * Windows 7 Ultimate x64 *

[Blín D'ñero]

Helpfull post! Yeah i had to move the cards to slots 2 + 4 to get x16 in both...
Moved the X-Fi from the bottom slot to the first red slot. Reinstalling the OS was not necessary... The switching went automatically and after a few reboots it was done!

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So this is not recommendable:

... but when you install two video cards, the first and the third slots work at x8 speed. When installing two video cards, this is the configuration you should use, according to the product manual

(source hardwaresecrets.com)

Again: that is not recommendable. And that is NOT what the manual says.
Crossfire: must go to slots 2 and 4 (yes: on the nVidia NF200 chip!) to get x16 / x16.

The reason is that Intel® Core™ i7-2700K has only 16 PCI Express-lanes. The motherboard is built for 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors (= only 16 lanes), and has (besides the 1 x PCIe 2.0 x4 and 1 x PCIe 2.0 x1) 4 PCIe "X16" slots.
Use only slot 1 = --- > x16 from the CPU.
Use slot 1 and 3 =--- > x8/x8 from the CPU
The motherboard carries a NF200 chip to add x16 twice, and that happens to be connected to slots 2 and 4.
So then my system has 3 x 16 is 48 PCIe 2.0 lanes total.
So in crossfire i use 32 lanes (from the NF200 chip).
My soundcard is in the top PCIe "x16" slot (using x1).

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Interesting review
Intel X79 Quad Channel and Z68 Dual Channel Memory Performance Analysis @ tweaktown

[Blín D'ñero]

The monster is running happily.
Enormous screen, this 30" Dell.
Superpotential board this Maximus 4 Extreme-Z, and the CPU is now running with default 1600Mhz RAM; but tomorrow i'll receive the 2133 Mhz RAM (16 GB).
These 7970's are awesome!

[Blín D'ñero]

Now with this 16GB 2133 Mhz RAM in place, through an effortless overclock the 2700K CPU is running @ 4.6 Ghz! The highest megahurtzes i ever ever had a processor of mine running. But it's extremely simple on this awesome motherboard. And it's not even much really: from 3.5 to 4.6.. My i7-920 has been running 3.82 (from the stock 2.66) for 2 years now, so i should go for 4.8 at least.

I have disabled HT; with this high overclock i assumed it is recommended.

I think that this is not a bad Vantage score:





These Radeon HD7970s are awesome! I just moved the sliders to the max and they delivered.

Rather than boring benchmarking, i played some Crysis2 DX11 Ultra, @ 2560x1600 and not a single hitch! These cards bring it so smooth on this large screen it is freaking un-be-liev-able, and so beautiful. I think i'm gonna replay all my games, they have become entirely new!

[Blín D'ñero]

But alas there IS something not perfect..

Problem with these drivers: the AMD Overdrive settings do not stick.

After a cold boot, core/mem clock- and power sliders for card 1 are back at default, and clocksliders for card 2 are at max where i put them but the power is at default. And i cannot get it to stick at max, unless i start a game, minimise it and apply the max settings. ODD.

I'm using the drivers that came with the CD (Sapphire):

Driver Packaging Version: 8.95-120214a-134393C-ATI
Catalyst Version: 12.3
Provider: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
2D Driver Version: 8.01.01.1235
2D Driver File Path: /REGISTRY/MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Control/CLASS/{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}/0000
Direct3D Version: 7.14.10.0894
OpenGL Version: 6.14.10.11554
AMD Catalyst Control Center Version: 2012.0214.2218.39913

[Blín D'ñero]

The shape of the 7970's cooling shroud is VERY good. Those roundings.

Not only at the backside is it rounded, but also on the two long sides (as you can see close to the backplate).
Would they not be there, i would have lost all front-USB connections which are located at the bottom edge of my motherboard (just below GPU 2 in the 4th slot). GPU2 would entirely block that location. And i would have to saw off a few SATA ports for GPU 1 or it would not fit either!

On this comparison photo with HD6970, i see that HD6970 was not made with this in mind. I mean: two 6970's would not have fitted.
And for some reason MSI went for the "6970- shape" in their MSI Radeon R7970-2PMD3GD5/OC - 3GB - PCI-E: in crossfire (slots 2 and 4), the bottom one would block the USB ports.

Point is namely: by this motherboard i am forced to use slots 2 and 4 (because i want my cards in ×16 / ×16 ).
Thanks to formfactor standards, when i put these two Radeons in those slots it was as if the AMD/ATI and Asus guys had been designing this motherboard and the HD7970 together on the same table: they seem to have been made with each other in mind!

[Blín D'ñero]

Well, with AMD Catalyst Open CL 12.4 beta:

In Overdrive to let the slider for 20% power on the second GPU stick i still have to start a game and minimise it (and move the slider to the right and click apply).

But after clicking Apply the button does no longer stay green but turns grey, like it should.

I will have to try a few games, shut off the PC and restart before i can tell if the clockspeed sliders stay at their last applied settings (which was completely broken in 12.2 whql) whatever i do.

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Update:

in Overdrive to let the slider for 20% power on the second GPU stick i still have to start a game and minimise it (and move the slider to the right and click apply).

Aha: disabling ULPS solves that issue!

I only overclock these cards within Overdrive limits and in that situation one needs to have ULPS to stay OFF to have the powerslider stick to what one sets it to (in my case: max to the right). That is, in crossfire situation.

[Blín D'ñero]

Catalyst 12.3 WHQL fixes: CCC starts up (with Windows) immediately, like it used to be (but broke on the driversuite from the cd & 12.4 OCL Beta).

Yet i went back to 12.4 beta, because it's newer.

[Blín D'ñero]

https://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/29 ... us-extreme
Helpful posts.