Asus ROG MAXIMUS XII FORMULA

Third Party Review

Author: Catherine Dempsey

The Maximus XII Formula is one of four motherboards in the Maximus XII series made by ROG. The defining feature of the Maximus XII Formula is it’s water cooling system. The board is a collaboration with EK Water Blocks, and features a CrossChill EK III VRM block. This hybrid cooling system keeps things running cool, despite the high VRM load associated with Intel’s Comet Lake CPUs. The copper water channel has a large surface area to draw away heat and watertight rubber gaskets to prevent leaking. For the air cooling side of the system, a U-shaped large diameter transfers heat from the VRM to extended heatsinks. The two M.2 SSDs and chipset both have their own dedicated heatsinks in addition to the VRM extended heatsink, all of which work to keep components at good operating temperatures despite the heat generated by high power consumption. These systems can be managed automatically with ASUS’s signature AI Cooling, so you can focus your attention elsewhere without worrying about overheating your rig.

While fans of overclocking will probably be initially attracted by the Maximus XII Formula’s advanced cooling system, that isn’t all that this motherboard offers those who want to push their machines past the limit. The Formula features a differential-sensing circuit and delicate IC that simplify overclocking and tuning by allowing you to track voltages more accurately. Conventional motherboards only use single-ended sensing, which means that there can be a big disparity between the actual voltage fed to the CPU and the value reported to software. By using a differential sensing circuit, you can be confident in the accuracy of this motherboard’s voltage monitoring.

Other features that the Maximus XII Formula offers is it’s proprietary ASUS OptiMem III memory trace layouts, which allows users to optimize memory for high frequency settings, or low latency settings. When paired with high capacity memory kits, this also allows users to run at maximum frequency. Additional Intel® Optane™ memory remembers and speeds up access to frequently used files and applications. WiFi 6, 10 Gbps onboard Ethernet, and Intel 2.5G Ethernet combine to make a fast and reliable network connection, whether you’re gaming online, streaming high quality video, or working with large files that need to be transferred. This motherboard also boasts ROG’s SupremeFX audio technology, which includes audio line shielding (which block interference to provide clean audio), a ESS® ES9023P digital-to-analog converter for balance and audio clarity, and Nichicon CAPS for fidelity and natural sounds. This advanced sound system will make your gaming experience that much more immersive.

The Maximus XII Formula was designed with intense gaming in mind, but it’s potential doesn’t stop there. Some other applications that it’s high power and fast networking abilities lend it to include 3d modeling, video editing, and crypto mining. This motherboard was originally designed to support Windows 10 and comes with an array of ROG software, including the AI Suite, Armoury Crate, and RAMCache lll. Whether you’re looking to do one or all of the above, the Maximus XII Formula is a great choice for a high powered, water cooled motherboard.