ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero motherboard review and testing. Upholding prestige

By the time AMD Vermeer processors entered the market, many enthusiasts expected to see new products based on the cold flagship chipset, but this did not happen, and motherboard manufacturers continue to improve their developments based on AMD B550 and X570. Few of them dared to create something really new. The current guest of the laboratory is actually a complete copy of the previous model ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi), but in what exactly they differ, in addition to replacing the cooling system of the system logic crystal, we will just find out.

There are still no video outputs, thus, working with the APU will be of interest only to extreme overclockers, there is support for most modern processors from AMD.

The general idea of ​​building products based on the X570 was considered in the course of acquaintance with the ASUS Prime X570-Pro.

Packaging and equipment

The box is big, there is no handle for transportation.

Passive cooling of the chipset is listed as a major benefit on the backside next to other basic product information.

Equipment:

• quick start guide (in English);
• a set of a pair of screws and stands for M.2 devices;
• short multilingual user manual for PC assembly;
• an additional booklet with information on the need to comply with a number of safety measures when assembling and operating the system;
• a set of stickers with various images of the ROG series, including those for cables;
• disk with drivers and proprietary software;
• separate sticker with the ROG logo;
• an adapter for convenient connection of ASUS Q-Connector case connectors;
• four SATA 6Gb / s cables, two of which have an L-shaped connector on one of the ends;
• extension cord for connecting a controlled LED strip;
• extension cable for connecting RGB LED strip;
• cup holder also with ROG logo;
• remote antenna with the possibility of fixing only one position, a magnet with a slight attraction effect is built-in along the long edge.

Appearance

Minimal design changes. The update touched on the protective pad over the I / O ports on the rear panel, the upper M.2 cooler is also different, since it is now independent of the central one responsible for the chipset. In general, the fee remained virtually the same.

A smaller number of screws and self-tapping screws are visible behind, but all those that remained did not change their location. There is a new drawing, but the main thing is that there are noticeable differences in the organization of VRM, looking ahead – the node has really been updated.

Restyling the backlight has not changed the overall essence. There are two sectors with it – the area near the system logic and the overlay above the I / O ports already voiced above.

The heat sink for the X570 is really huge, separate from the rest (for M.2 devices), it takes up virtually all the space available on the board.

Could the battery be replaced? Probably yes, but as we already understood, the board itself was not actually changed, so everything remained as it is. Summarizing, the proposed solution coped with its functional duties, in the last part of the review in the screenshots you can see the values ​​​​of the crystal temperature and there were no reasons for unrest.

From above, it will be possible to use M.2 devices of size 2280, 2260 or 2242. Lines from the socket are connected here.

There are no size restrictions from below, that is, support for 22110 has been added. The lines lead to the hub, support is provided for products with both PCI-E and SATA interfaces.

At the end there are eight longitudinal SATA ports. The resources of the X570 chip are enough for everything, there are no intersections of something with something, as it happens on boards with a B550 hub, in other words, you can use everything at once without any restrictions.

There are internal pads for USB devices or cables, including four 2.0, two 3.2 Gen 1, and one symmetrical 3.2 Gen 2.

The use of four pairs of signal repeaters plus switches (models – PI3EQX16000ZHE and ASM2480B) makes it possible to operate two armored high-speed PCI-E slots. The two more traditional bottoms are linked to the X570.

Three multi-color LEDs are soldered below the crystal itself, the lenses are directed upwards.

The audio subsystem includes: a codec shielded by a protective cap, a dedicated DAC, a large number of specialized capacitors, one operational amplifier. Everything is the same as the previous model.

The POST code indicator uses red, it cannot show anything else. Below it is a Q-LED complex of four multi-colored LEDs. The system start button is highlighted in white.

Reset can be done with a simpler button, the backlog for assembly in the open stand mode is obvious. There are five points for measuring the main system voltages.

Platforms for connecting flow and temperature sensors for self-assembled LSS are provided at the lower right corner. One external thermocouple can be used to organize algorithms for slowing down system coolers.

Two more useful buttons are located at the bottom end – Safe Boot and Retry, they will be useful for overclocking experiments. Their functionality can be assigned to the traditional body system reset button (Reset) through the UEFI settings.

The area around the socket is free enough to use a variety of cooling systems, the VRM heatsink is squat.

The idea of ​​​​the structure of the stabilizer and the arrangement of elements remained the same, the scheme is 7 + 1 “phase” (CPU and SOC Voltage, respectively), the number of elements in each is doubled. Only power assemblies have changed, now Texas Instruments X95410RR is soldered instead of IR3555, this is one of the best solutions on the market today. The PWM controller is the long-known ASP1405I, it is located on the back of the device. Having studied the prints on the surfaces of the assemblies from the photo, we can once again state their incomplete contact with the thermal pad, the area near the ports on the rear panel was especially affected. However, as testing will show, a huge power reserve levels out such mistakes of the product creators.

Moreover, we are no longer talking about saving on thermal plates, rather, the unification of production, that is, the same radiator, is the root cause of the problem here, namely, insufficient surface area for removing excess heat. There are no such problems with the chipset crystal. As well as no comments on heatsinks for M.2 devices.

There is literally everything at the back, except perhaps no video ports. In general, this is still the same panel as its predecessor.