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Reviews (2)
Nov 15, 2017
Z68 vs Z77
I’m going to lay out the differences in the Z68 vs Z77 chipset before I go into this motherboard.
One, the Z68 chipset does not support pcie 3.0. While that means nothing with a single gpu, multiple GPUs in sli or crossfire could be hindered by it. The Z77 does have pcie 3.0 if you have an ivy bridge CPU.
A Z68 motherboard may require a bios update before ivy bridge can be used, or it may not support it at all. You must be willing to look for the supported CPU list. Z77 boards do not have this issue.
Finally, Z77 motherboards support up to ddr3 3000mhz memory. Z68 only supports up to ddr3 2800. This is a very small piece of info and ddr3 2800 and 3000 memory costs much more than their DDR4 counterpart.
Z77 motherboards are hundreds of dollars more than Z68 boards, but its to be expected when these CPUs compete with the new ones. However, there is no upgrade path. A 3770k is the absolute maximum upgrade this platform will ever have. Delidding, liquid metal and extreme overclocks will soon become the only reason to hold onto these in a few years. Also, there is no manufacturing of this platform at all. Almost everything you buy will be used and from China, so you’ll have to buy an OEM I/O shield. Keep this in mind when going this road, especially in 2017.
The Maximus IV Extreme has everything you would ever need in a LGA 1155 socket motherboard, other than pcie 3.0. But, it does have 4 pin Molex connectors to add additional power to the GPUs. I have no clue what sort of benefit that could provide if it provides any. Easy overclocking tools and the CPU level up option make simple OCs a breeze, but advanced options are there for the enthusiasts out there. I do not recommend this to someone who is not planning to overclock or does not have a K model processor.
All in all,
A good motherboard built for enthusiasts. Not for anyone else, really.
4/5
Aug 24, 2017
not enough weight; mouse cord doesn't fit snug
You get what you pay for. Hard swipes will move this across your desk. You have to tape it down. Your cord will come loose from the bungee if it isn't ultra thick. You'll have to tape it down.
After doing that, it functions okay. If you're in the bungee market, just get a zowie camade. I've used one before and they blow this out of the water in performance.
Tested with an Alienware Advanced Elite gaming mouse(Released July 2017)