When it comes to Mini-ITX motherboards people are going to have a wide range of feature requirements. For some, as long as it supports their CPU and it has a x16 PCIe slot they are good to go. Others want to have a lot of the features they would find in their full sized builds including wireless AC, different storage connection options, and even upgraded audio. Personally I have been on both sides. When I’m building a budget Mini-ITX build I can skip out on the features but when I’m building a crazy LAN rig like the build we put in the In Win D-Frame Mini only the best will do. Asus continues to impress me with their drive to pack anything and everything into their Impact boards. Well today I’m going to take a look at the latest one, the Maximus VII Impact. This is officially the second Impact board, based on the Z97 chipset. Is this the perfect LAN rig motherboard? Let’s find out.
Product Name: Asus Maximus VII Impact
Review Sample Provided by: Asus
Written by: Wes
Pictures by: Wes
Specifications |
|
CPU |
Intel® Socket 1150 for the 5th/New 4th/4th Generation Core™ i7/Core™ i5/Core™ i3/Pentium®/Celeron® Processors Supports Intel® 22 nm CPU Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 |
Chipset |
Intel® Z97 |
Memory |
2 x DIMM, Max. 16GB, DDR3 3300-1333 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory Dual Channel Memory Architecture Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) |
Graphic |
Integrated Graphics Processor- Intel® HD Graphics support Multi-VGA output support : HDMI/DisplayPort ports - Supports HDMI with max. resolution 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz / 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz - Supports DisplayPort with max. resolution 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz / 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz Maximum shared memory of 512 MB Supports Intel® InTru™ 3D, Quick Sync Video, Clear Video HD Technology, Insider™ DP 1.2 Multi-Stream Transport compliant, supports DP 1.2 monitor daisy chain up to 3 displays |
Expansion Slots |
1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 *1 1 x mini-PCIe 2.0 x1 *2 |
Storage |
Intel® Z97 chipset : |
LAN |
Intel® I218V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s), featuring GAMEFIRST III Intel® LAN- Dual interconnect between the Integrated LAN controller and Physical Layer (PHY) Anti-surge LANGuard |
Wireless Data Network |
Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac*5 Supports dual band frequency 2.4/5 GHz Support ASUS Wi-Fi Go! Utility |
Bluetooth |
Bluetooth V4.0 |
Audio |
ROG SupremeFX Impact II 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC *6 |
USB Ports |
Intel® Z97 chipset : *7 |
ROG Exclusive Features |
SupremeFX Impact II |
Special Features |
5-Way Optimization by Dual Intelligent Processors 5 |
Operating System Support |
Windows® 8.1 86x64 Windows® 8 86x64 Windows® 7 86x64 |
Back I/O Ports |
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s) 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI 1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s) 4 x USB 3.0 (blue) 4 x USB 2.0 (one port can be switched to ROG Connect) 1 x Optical S/PDIF out 3 x Audio jack(s) 1 x Clear CMOS button(s) 1 x ROG Connect On/ Off switch(es) 1 x Q-Code LED 1 x Sonic SoundStage button 1 x KeyBot button |
Internal I/O Ports |
1 x USB 3.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.0 port(s) 1 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 2.0 port(s) 1 x TPM connector(s) 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s) 1 x CPU Fan connector(s) 3 x Chassis Fan connector(s) *9 1 x 8-pin EATX 12 V Power connector 1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s) 1 x Front panel audio connector(s) (AAFP)*10 1 x System panel(s) 10 x ProbeIt Measurement Points 1 x LN2 Mode header(s)*9 1 x Power-on button(s) 1 x Reset button(s) 1 x mPCIe Combo IV connector(s) 1 x LN2 Mode jumper(s) 1 x ROG extension (ROG_EXT) header(s) 1 x Impact CoolHub connector(s) 1 x SupremeFX Impact II connector(s) |
Accessories |
User's manual 1 x ASUS Q-Cable 1 x SupremeFX Impact II audio card(s) 1 x Optional 4-in-1 washers for CPU cooler backplate I/O Shield 4 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s) 1 x ASUS 2T2R dual band Wi-Fi moving antennas (Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compliant) 1 x 12 in 1 ROG Cable Label(s) 1 x mPCIe Combo IV card(s) with dual-band WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth v4.0 module 1 x Impact CoolHub card(s) |
BIOS |
64Mb UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.7, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.8, ACPI5.0 Multi-Language BIOS |
Manageability |
WfM 2.0, DMI 2.7, WOL by PME, PXE |
Support Disc |
Drivers ROG GameFirst III ROG RAMDisk ROG CPU-Z ROG Mem TweakIt Kaspersky® Anti-Virus DAEMON Tools Pro Standard ASUS WebStorage Home Cloud ASUS Utilities |
Form Factor |
Mini ITX Form Factor 6.7 inch x 6.7 inch ( 17 cm x 17 cm ) |