ASUS has been teasing their RoG Maximus IX Extreme motherboard ever since CES but it is now finally available with or without an integrated monoblock. As the flagship motherboard of the Republic of Gamers series, the Maximus IX Extreme is considerably larger than most, having an Extended-ATX form factor and as ASUS has pointed out at CES, this RoG flagship is moving its focus away from extreme overclocking and more towards high-performance water-cooling. It still retains many of the advanced overclocking capabilities expected of a Republic of Gamers motherboard but now the integrated monoblock not only delivers in aesthetics but in top of the line desktop performance as well.
The integrated monoblock has is equipped with RGB LED and in tune with ASUS Aura Sync. This block covers not just the CPU and the VRM but directly underneath the CPU socket is the slot for M.2 NVMe drives as well so there are no heat-related throttling performance issues at all. Aside from the smart layout, ASUS has also integrated smart sensors into the waterblock so if a leak happens, the breach sensors integrated into both input and output, which will trigger an alarm. This is in addition to the integrated flow monitoring and temperature monitoring of the unit.
Aside from the water-cooling features, the ASUS RoG Maximus IX Extreme has a secondary M.2 slot that is also heatsinked, integrated with the chipset cooler. It has the Supreme FX S1220 CODEC audio solution with ESS ES9023P High Definition DAC as well as an Intel i219V Gigabit Ethernet. Taking cues from their X99 RoG line, ASUS has also outfitted the Maximus IX Extreme with an IO shield so there is no fidgetting with having to put it on a case. It also has an integrated 2×2 MU-MIMO 802.11AC Wi-Fi onboard, dual 4-pin RGB LED headers, angled 24-pin PSU power, USB 3.1 front panel header, and Thunderbolt 3 onboard.
Republic of Gamers MAXIMUS IX Lineup Specifications:
| Maximus IX Extreme | Maximus IX Formula | Maximus IX Code | Maximus IX Apex | Maximus IX Hero | ||
| CPU | LGA 1151 Socket for Intel® Core™ i7/Core™ i5/Core™ i3/Pentium®/Celeron® processors | |||||
| Chipset | Intel® Z270 Chipset | |||||
| Memory | 4 x DIMM (max.) 64GB DDR4, 4133 (OC) MHz | 4 x DIMM (max.) 64GB DDR4, 4133 (OC) MHz | 4 x DIMM (max.) 64GB DDR4, 4133 (OC) MHz | 2 x DIMM (max.) 32GB DDR4, 4266 (OC) MHz | 4x DIMM (max.) 64GB | |
| DDR4, 4133 (OC) MHz | ||||||
| Expansion Slots | 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 SafeSlots (CPU) 1 x PCIe 3.0 x 16 slot (PCH) 1 x PCIe 3.0 x 4 slot (PCH) | 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 SafeSlots (CPU) 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (PCH) 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots (PCH) | 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 SafeSlots (CPU) 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots (PCH) 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (PCH) | 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 SafeSlots (CPU) 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (PCH) 2 x PCIe 3.0 x1 (PCH) | 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 SafeSlots (CPU) 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots (PCH) 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (PCH)
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| Audio | ROG SupremeFX S1220 codec ESS® ES9023P High Definition DAC | ROG SupremeFX S1220 codec ESS® ES9023P High Definition DAC | ROG SupremeFX S1220 codec ESS® ES9023P High Definition DAC | ROG SupremeFX S1220A codec
| ROG SupremeFX S1220 codec ESS® ES9023P High Definition DAC | |
| Gbit LAN | Intel® I219-V | Intel® I219-V | Intel® I219-V | Intel® I219-V | Intel® I219-V | |
| SATA | 6 x SATA 6Gb/s | 6 x SATA 6Gb/s | 6 x SATA 6Gb/s | 4 x SATA 6Gb/s | 6 x SATA 6Gb/s | |
| M.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Wi-Fi | 2×2 MU-MIMO 802.11AC Wi-Fi | 2×2 MU-MIMO 802.11AC Wi-Fi | 2×2 MU-MIMO 802.11AC Wi-Fi | N/A | M.2 slot (E-Key) ready for Wi-Fi | |
| USB | 1 x USB3.1 front panel connector 1 x USB 3.1 (Type-A) 1 x USB 3.1 (Type-C) 8 x USB 3.0 ports 4 x USB 2.0 ports | 1 x USB3.1 front panel connector 1 x USB3.1 (Type-A) port 1 x USB3.1 (Type-C)port 6 x USB 3.0 ports 6 x USB 2.0 ports | 1 x USB3.1 front panel connector 1 x USB3.1 (Type-A) port 1 x USB3.1 (Type-C)port 6 x USB 3.0 ports 6 x USB 2.0 ports | 1 x USB 3.1 (Type A) 1 x USB 3.1 (Type C) 8 x USB 3.0 ports 6 x USB 2.0
| 1 x USB3.1 front panel connector 1 x USB3.1 (Type-A) port 1 x USB3.1 (Type-C)port 6 x USB 3.0 ports 6 x USB 2.0 ports
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| Aura Sync | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| 4-pin RGB header | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Thunderbolt 3 | Onboard | Thunderbolt-ready | Thunderbolt-ready | N/A | Thunderbolt-ready | |
| Others |
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| ROG ARMOR |
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