ASUS ROG Maximus IX Apex Motherboard(Aura Sync RGB LEDs, DDR4 4266MHz, DIMM.2 dual M.2 expansion card, and USB Type-A/C)

I love this motherboard and the more I get to know it the more I love it. The first thing I noticed was that this is a strong board. I only build every 5 or six years so this may be the norm now, but whereas in the past I always worried that the board would break when I pushed in memory or a graphics card this board barely flexed. The next thing I noticed was that everything (fan headers, usb headers, etc.) was easy to get to. The third thing I noticed was that when I fired it up for the first time everything worked - which is always nice.I'm not big on overclocking. I usually OC just a bit because, what the heck, why not get a little extra? Well the Dual Intelligent Processors 5 program on this thing blew me away. I didn't even have to relearn how to overclock (it has been 5 years - I forget these things). If you fire up that program and pick 5-way optimization it will do everything for you. In my case I have a i7-7700K processor and 32 GB of G.Skill DDR4 3000 memory. In my research on picking components I came across a comment by someone saying that in this program with a 7700K the best way to do it was just leave the defaults except set "Target CPU Voltage Tuning" to 1.3, check the "test memory" box and then let it rip. I did that. It first restarted the computer, then showed a count down to start, then showed it was trying 4.9GHz and ran a bit, then showed it was trying 5.0GHz and ran a bit, then showed it was trying 5.1GHz and ran just a bit before the screen flashed and it rebooted with its final settings of 4.9Ghz. I think it tries till it crashes then steps back from crash settings.I would not have tried to manually OC that much on my own, but after running Intel Burn test and running prime95 for eight hours it is obvious these settings are stable and the temps are quite normal.That brings up one thing to watch for. After you run 5-way optimization your fans will have been tested (how fast and slow they will go) and profiles for each fan set (the hotter things get the faster they go). In my case the Dual Intelligent Processor 5 program under-reports the CPU temps (as compared to the temps reported in the Core Temp and Speccy programs that I recommend you download). It shows correct temps at idle, but as temps go up it underreports more and more. In prime95 the difference is about 10 C. If you find the same thing you should fire up prime95 and Fan Expert (part of Dual Intelligent Processor 5) and adjust down the temp at which each fan hits full speed. That will lower the operating temps under load. Be sure to save your adjusted fan profile.After adjusting my fan profiles, in prime95, I am running at 4.9Ghz, CPU voltage generally at 1.292 with occasional (and rare) momentary spikes to 1.32 or so and CPU temps mostly in the mid 70s with very rare momentary spikes to as high as 83 C. My Cooler Master HAF X case and Noctura NH-U12S (with a second Noctura fan added for push - pull cooling) probably help with the temps.One last note. If you use an M.2 PCIe SSD in the M.2_2 socket be sure to go into BIOS (the advanced mode BIOS, under the "advanced" tab of that BIOS, under onboard device configuration) and make sure that socket is set to X4 rather than X2. My SSD in that slot was not performing up to par so I had to hunt that setting down. X4 ups the speed at the cost of disabling SATA ports 5&6.

I will start by saying that I am not a huge overclocker. I have done some but I don't go to crazy extremes with it. This is a ROG motherboard that is seriously dedicated to gamers/overclockers/enthusiast. In the BIOS it comes with tools that will auto clock your CPU for you under reliable test. I am currently at 14% overclock based on a stock program and am thrilled with that. This is a EATX motherboard so be sure you are aware of that which that means this board is HUGE. I was able to fit it into a P90 open air case from thermaltake with ease but not every case will be as lucky as to make this work for them. It was super easy to install and hook up with most of your plugs going where you are used to. One thing that was different and i absolutely love is the USB 3.0 hook up is on the same side as your 24 pin connection. The reason I love this is it just makes more sense with my case and I was able to run the wires much nicer but not everyone is going to feel that way clearly. If you are an RGB person which I just so happen to be this case got so many lights on it that are super bright and really make my case POP even more. I have not figured out how to control the lights and in truth im not even 100% sure I can it says Aura Syn which I have downloaded but I could be missing something. Currently they are on color cycle which is actually fine by me because that's how i typically run my lights anyway. This MOBO is super sturdy I loved how rigid it was when I was unboxing it it feels of some serious quality. There are so many things this MOBO can do that none of my other ones could ever do. The only drawback is there is only 2 ram slots so 16gb is what you can max out at. For me this is not an issue as I feel my 16gb of 2400 are more than enough for my needs and if I ever want to I can always upgrade to faster ram. All in All I feel like this MOBO is absolutely perfect. Bios was easy to get up and running, lights look beautiful, strong build material, tons of overclock options, tons of headers on the board as well. I haven't fully put the board through its paces nor have I tested out some of the other onboard features but i'm sure I will.Setup:ASUS ROG Maximus IX Apex MotherboardI7 7700KRTX 2080TI FTW316GB G SKILL TridentZ RGB 2400 ramThermaltake Floe AIO triple riing RGB 360 TT liquid coolerThermaltake 750w PSUThermaltake P90 open air caseCorsair 480GB SSDSamsung 1TB HDD