Looking at the Z270 line-up from ASUS quite a few things have change compared to the past. There is for example the new "Code" and there is even a model specifically targeting extreme overclockers, which goes by the name "Apex". Up until now there has been a lot of guess work going on whether the Maximus IX Apex is really going to be available to the public or not, since when other vendors launched motherboards, which were basically only for extreme overclocking it was more of a marketing stunt.


The Maximus IX Apex is based on an E-ATX form factor and the edges are somewhat oddly shaped. There are four full-sized and metal-strengthened PCIe slots, which have been wired with 16/8/4/1 lanes top to bottom. Between each PCIe slot there is one slot distance, which allows running multi-GPU setups easily.

Checking the SATA connector count there are four of them, while the other models of the same generation feature from six to eight of these connectors. What’s also not there anymore is the U.2 connector. One of the most unusual features on this board is the “third” DIMM slot. In combination with an adapter card it’s possible to put two M.2 SSDs into the DIMM slot.

Looking for additional features we find the usual bells and whistles you’d expect from an overclocking motherboard, such as onboard buttons and a debug display, slow mode, LN2 mode, CMOS button and much more. At a first glance this is certainly a good looking motherboard and judging by the records that have already been broken it is also a highly capable platform.

The Maximus IX Apex is available on Geizhals for 366,59 Euro. Although this board comes with a ton of features, a special design and an extremely high-end power design the price is actually not too far over the top.




Source: ASUS