Main board unpacking
The packaging box is the consistent style of this generation of ROG MAXIMUS, with red and black color matching, dark lines of ROG esports and high-end performance atmosphere.
It is worth noting that the Maximus XI vertex of ROG adopts ATX version. Although the previous generation M 10A adopted the E-ATX version, it was born for overclocking after all. Considering the adaptability, the most common standard type is selected. Considering the size of the current mainstream chassis, it is still relatively small and can't fit the E-ATX version.
The CPU slot is LGA 1 15 1, which supports Intel's ninth-generation processors and is compatible with the eighth-generation processors.
Accessories are still familiar to us, such as DIMM.2 expansion module, WiFi antenna, SLI bridge, 4 SATA cables and so on. These are all seen many times before.
Radiation armor of power module
Back of power module
A motherboard famous for overclocking, its power module will naturally not be weak. The cooling armor covering the power module is very thick, connected by heat pipes, and the components behind it are also covered by heat sinks, so the cooling efficiency is higher.
The CPU's external power interface bit 8+8PIN supplies power, and there is no problem in handling i9-9900K.
ROG MAXIMUS XI APEX has two DDR4 DIMM, which are designed to be opened and closed unilaterally, and supports DDR4 4800MHz at most.
In terms of PCI-e interface, there are three PCI-e x 16 slots, which are PCI-e 3.0 x 16, PCI-e 3.0 x8, PCI-e 3.0 x2 channels from top to bottom, and there is also a PCI-e x 1 slot.
There is a 1 M.2 interface between PCI-e and CPU slot, and the LOGO logo is printed on the upper heat sink.
There are six SATA interfaces * * *, all of which are designed horizontally.
There is an extension of acrylic material under the cooling armor of the South Bridge chip, which can improve the lighting effect of RGB.
ASUS exclusive accessories ROG DIMM.2 expansion module and vertical expansion M.2 SSD will definitely appear on ROG MAXIMUS XI APEX. We just need to install SSD, thermal armor and DIMM.2 slot on it.
Main board analysis
After removing the radiator armor, we can see the powerful 16-phase power module of ROG MAXIMUS XI APEX.
The model of VRM chip is digi+epuap 1405i, which can accurately detect the voltage change inside the CPU, actively adjust the voltage of each power supply phase in real time, make the power supply of the motherboard more accurate and efficient, and improve the overclocking stability of the CPU.
Each phase power supply adopts Infineon's IR3555M DrMOS design to integrate the upper and lower bridges, and the built-in Isense technology can accurately distribute the power load to each MOSFET, effectively prolonging the service life and reliability.
The sound card adopts SupremeFX S 1220A audio chip and Nikon audio capacitor, and supports 8-channel audio.
Main board lighting effect
As a master of lighting, ROG naturally wants to appreciate the lighting effect of ROG Maximus XIAPEX.
Vertex lighting effect on input/output armor
M.2 lighting efficiency of slot and south bridge
Overall lighting efficiency
test platform
In order to test the basic performance of this motherboard, we choose the ROG MAXIMUS XI gene motherboard, which is also ASUS, as a comparison, while the CPU uses the highest-end i9-9900K of LGA 1 15 1.
performance test
Let's compare the test results of i9-9900K on these two platforms to see if there is any big difference.
From the results, the test results of the two motherboards equipped with i9-9900K are similar. If there is no problem with i9, i7 and i5 will be easy. However, the CPU of such a high-end motherboard is below i7, which is still a bit wasteful.
Overfrequency test
Since it is a ROG MAXIMUS XI APEX with 16 phase power supply, in addition to the general performance test, it is of course necessary to carry out overclocking test.
In the overclocking part, let's use i9-9900K, overclocking to 5. 1GHz, and see how much improvement will be made.
The motherboard can stably carry i9-9900K overclocking to 5. 1GHz. After overclocking, the CPU performance is improved by about 8%, further squeezing the performance of Intel i9-9900K.
Temperature test
Temperature control ability is one of the most important reference factors to measure whether a motherboard design is excellent or not. Let's take a look at the temperature control performance of ROG Maximus XI vertex.
At the default frequency, the maximum temperature of the power module is 37.7℃ in standby state, and 70.5℃ after 20 minutes of copying with Prime95.
In terms of heat dissipation performance of the south bridge, we use a high-speed U disk box to read and write many times, and then record the temperature of the south bridge part of the motherboard. From the results, the highest temperature is 36.8℃, which is not bad.
PConline evaluation room summary
As the latest generation of APEX, ROG Maximus XI APEX is very luxurious in design and working materials. 16 phase super power supply, excellent heat dissipation ability, let us see the strength of this motherboard.
Compared with the previous E-ATX version, the ROG MAXIMUS XI APEX is replaced by ATX, which will adapt to more chassis, and the special accessories of ASUS ROG are the same.
In terms of lighting effects, we saw that ASUS carried RGB to the end on ROG MAXIMUS XI APEX. Several RGB lighting effects on the motherboard, together with various RGB hardware, combined with AURA's god synchronization, brought "perceived performance improvement" to RGB lovers.
Such a motherboard born for overclocking, whether it is the pursuit of ultimate performance or the pursuit of light efficiency, is not an exaggeration. However, in the choice of matching CPU, try to choose Intel 9th generation i7 and i9. With the strength of ROG· Maximus XIAPEX, it's a bit wasteful not to have a powerful processor.