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Zammin · ‎09-21-2018

Hi everyone,

Many of you may have seen the images of the ASUS Z390 Motherboard lineup on VideoCardz the other day. The Maximus XI series looks very similar to the Maximus X series underneath all the heat spreaders and stuff on top, most of the surface mounted components look to be in the same places, leading me to believe they are very similar to the current series except for one thing, there is a second CPU power connector (4-Pin) next to the usual 8-Pin. This appears to only be on the Maximus XI series as the Strix, TUF and Prime boards only have the usual 8-Pin connector.

I know that Z370 motherboards are able to support the Intel 9000 series CPUs as of the latest BIOS (1602 for Maximus X) but what I am unclear on is whether decent overclocks will still be achievable on the 9900k for those of us with the higher end Z370s. I spent a fair bit on my current Maximus X Code back in June this year and am hoping to keep it if I can. I have heard other people suggest that all the current Maximus X boards should be fine but now that I am seeing the additional CPU power connector it makes me wonder why it was added.

So to sum it up I am wanting to know if my Maximus X Code (and other Maximus X boards) will be suitable for regular (non-competitive) overclocking on the 9900k and 9700k. I'm not sure if anyone from ASUS is allowed to disclose this information to me but if you can, I would really appreciate it. I really like my Maximus X Code and as far as I'm aware it already has the additional features that Intel are including in their new chipset so if I can still get good results with it I would like to stick with it.

Thanks in advance, here is the link to the article from VideoCardz and some images of the boards, hopefully it's okay to share these:

https://videocardz.com/78256/asus-z390-rog-maximus-xi-strix-prime-and-tuf-motherboards-leaked

Maximus XI Code

Maximus XI Formula(?)

Maximus XI Hero

Dave-G · ‎09-22-2018

Maximus X Hero had a better looking IO cover in my opinion. I liked the 3d shape of it, now its just a flat piece (of brushed alu?). Second M.2 heatsink is nice to have but not diggin the design of that either, its a weird looking shape.

Zammin · ‎09-22-2018

Dave-G wrote:
Maximus X Hero had a better looking IO cover in my opinion. I liked the 3d shape of it, now its just a flat piece (of brushed alu?). Second M.2 heatsink is nice to have but not diggin the design of that either, its a weird looking shape.

Yeah I agree. I think the Maximus X series looks better in general.

kens30 · ‎09-22-2018

Zammin wrote:
Yeah I agree. I think the Maximus X series looks better in general.

+1 The don't like the design at all of the Maximus XI boards and as you stated the Maximus X series looks a lot better in my opinion.
The extra 4pin power input and better VRM design has me thinking that Intel might restrict the Core i9 9900k to the Z390 Chipset.
The 9000 series is still based on coffelake 14nm procces as the 8700k with another 2 cores and threads added.
It might be rated at 95w tdp at stock clocks but most of the time it will boost up to 4.7GHz on all eight cores meaning a very high power draw and heat.
That's why I believe Intel decided to solder the cpu's due to the extra heat.

Zammin · ‎09-22-2018

kens30 wrote:
+1 The don't like the design at all of the Maximus XI boards and as you stated the Maximus X series looks a lot better in my opinion.
The extra 4pin power input and better VRM design has me thinking that Intel might restrict the Core i9 9900k to the Z390 Chipset.
The 9000 series is still based on coffelake 14nm procces as the 8700k with another 2 cores and threads added.
It might be rated at 95w tdp at stock clocks but most of the time it will boost up to 4.7GHz on all eight cores meaning a very high power draw and heat.
That's why I believe Intel decided to solder the cpu's due to the extra heat.

Yeah I'm with you on the whole reason for soldering the high end chips. It makes sense and I'm glad they finally decided to do it. Saves us having to delid them.

The thing is though, not all Z390 boards have the additional connector. Only the Maximus XI boards have the extra 4-pin. The Strix, TUF and Prime boards have a single 8-Pin. So if that was the case, we would have to assume that the 9900k doesn't overclock well on anything less than a Maximus XI right?

That's where I'm confused. I have heard from a LN2 overclocker here in Aus who claims to have a 9900K engineering sample who said that any of the Maximus X boards will be sufficient as they already have high end power delivery. But I can't say for sure if he really knows so I'm hoping someone from ASUS can chime in.

Raja has already stated that the Z370 boards have all been updated as of the latest BIOS to support the 9000 series but nothing has been mentioned of overclocking potential. I have only seen leaked images of the motherboards so far, I haven't found any information regarding the Maximus XI board's VRMs. So I don't know if they are the same or different to the current Maximus X's high end VRMs.

If you come across any info I'd really appreciate some links 🙂

Cheers!

Dave-G · ‎09-22-2018

kens30 wrote:
The extra 4pin power input and better VRM design has me thinking that Intel might restrict the Core i9 9900k to the Z390 Chipset.
The 9000 series is still based on coffelake 14nm procces as the 8700k with another 2 cores and threads added.
It might be rated at 95w tdp at stock clocks but most of the time it will boost up to 4.7GHz on all eight cores meaning a very high power draw and heat.
That's why I believe Intel decided to solder the cpu's due to the extra heat.

Do you have a spec sheet? Can't tell if the VRM design is different.

kens30 · ‎09-23-2018

Dave-G wrote:
Do you have a spec sheet? Can't tell if the VRM design is different.

No i don't have a spec sheet but it has been mentioned many times that the Z390 might be a rebrand of the Z370 chipset with stronger CPU VRM specifications.

Zammin · ‎09-23-2018

kens30 wrote:
No i don't have a spec sheet but it has been mentioned many times that the Z390 might be a rebrand of the Z370 chipset with stronger CPU VRM specifications.

Menthol wrote:
Because Intel is having difficulties manufacturing enough chips they may be in short supply and cost more than they should, the new CPU's supposedly have hardware fix's for some of the security flaws, if you own an 8700K the only upgrade would be the 8 core 16 thread 9900K.
Only people under NDA's know the performance and what the Z390 boards bring to the table besides beefier power sections (VRM) but I assume there are other minor changes, refinements, improvements to other circuitry on the boards besides just being visually different

Hopefully we will know sometime next month, I want to get a Z390 board and 2 9900K's, one for my X Apex which I use as my daily rig

I feel like the lower spec boards will need better power delivery but since the Maximus X boards have such good power delivery already I wonder if they might retain the same VRM design but just add the extra 4-pin connector for really extreme overclocking. But to be honest I haven't seen any information regarding VRMs for any Z390 board.

Seeing the Strix boards with only one 8-pin connector does give me some confidence that the Maximus X boards should be okay.

Again though I'm kinda hoping Raja sees this thread and can shed some light. That being said I'm not sure what information he is allowed to disclose at this point. We may end up just having to wait until launch.

Either way it's an interesting topic to discuss.

Uberwolf · ‎09-29-2018

Deffo having the Maximus XI CODE looks awesome.

Vlada011 · ‎09-23-2018

Nicest is Maximus XI Formula... special if you put New EK Velocity RGB Full Nickel CPU waterblock.
My favorite color scheme... Black/Silver.

My advice for people with high end ROG Z370 to wait, check price and than when someone test i9-9900K on Z370 decide about changing motherboard.
Maximus X Code and X Formula are same, only EK VRM is extram on Formula.

I ask EK and I'm very curios... why they not launch some Fitting-Terminal to connect CPU Velocity with VRM on Maximus XI Formula.
One part similar to Dual Triple Rotary fitting, optimized side to people not use tubes or rotary fittings because it's hard to estimate what you need...

i saw and Maximus XI Apex look cool... one nice overclocking ROG motherboard, shouldn't be expensive if you ask me.
ASUS will again to crush competition like bugs... that's tradition.

Maximus X Z370 vs Maximus XI Z390