Maximus IX Code - A little insight and delidded 7700k

[Nate152]

Hello ROG guru's and newcomers alike.

ASUS has entered a new "Code" into their line of ROG motherboards. No not a digital code but the Maximus IX Code, it's a new ROG motherboard that falls between the Maximus IX Hero and Maximus IX Formula and after looking over the specs, you see it's a Maximus IX Formula in disguise.

I could make columns and list the specs but instead, take a minute and click the links and compare the specs side by side.

Maximus IX Code - https://www.asus.com/us/ROG-Republic...pecifications/

Maximus IX Formula - https://www.asus.com/us/ROG-Republic...pecifications/

While the specs are similar I notice four things the Maximus IX Formula has over the Maximus IX Code and they are:

1) EK Crosschill block - This likely helped cut cost on the Code by a good chunk.

2) Backplate - Minus this likely helped cut cost.

3) Motherboard Lighting - It would've been nice to see the ROG logo lit up on the Code but again this likely helped cut cost too. The Maximus IX Code has some RGB lighting of its own on the I/O panel, start and reset buttons, the Republic of Gamers in the middle of the board and supports Aura sync.

4) Integrated I/O panel - Not too big of a big deal. I can snap one in, in less than 10 seconds but don't get me wrong the integrated I/O panel on the Formula is a nice new thing, it makes the board look more as one. Besides the Formula's I/O panel being integrated, the Code's is identical as you saw in the specs.

Straight out of the box what caught my eye are what looks to be brushed aluminum vrm heatsinks, they give the whole board a heavy duty appearance while having a luxurious high performance expression. In other words they look sharp, literally. The board is all black with gunmetal, silver and white on certain places, because of this your RGB lighting won't be over shadowed by other colors. It's very appealing and I like the look of the new Maximus IX Code.

The Code has armor like the Formula too.



You get a nice assortment of accessories:

1 - User Manual
1 - I/O shield
4 - Sata III cables (2 with 90 degree ends)
1 - M.2 Screw Package
1 - M.2 Bracket
1 - CPU Installation Tool
1 - Motherboard driver DVD
1 - ASUS 2T2R dual band WiFi antennas (Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compliant)
1 - SLI Bridge (2-WAY-M)
1 - Q-Connector
1 - RGB extension cable
10 - Cable Labels
1 - Sheet of ROG stickers
1 - ROG Coaster

Some new features of Maximus IX (z270) over Maximus VIII (z170) are:

Upgraded Audio with Sonic Studio 3
Upgraded Aura with sync technology - A new and improved version of Aura with more effects and can sync your compatible RGB gpu, keyboard and mouse with the motherboard.
3D printing support
24 PCIe lanes vs. 20 with z170 - A big plus with two M.2 x4 slots.
Intel Optane technology - Support for the ultra fast optane ssd's.
USB 3.1 header - Nice, now I need to upgrade my case.

There are some new bios features as well with the Maximus IX series, I haven't been over it extensively but a couple that stand out are:

AVX Offset - This allows you to configure your cpu to run at a lower clock with programs that use AVX instructions.
ASUS Thermal Control Tool - This could be one of the most exciting new features as it can extend cpu overclocking by up to 300MHz.
BCLK aware adaptive voltage - This works with the BCLK and its main goal is to achieve higher clock stability, it integrates UEFI enhanced voltage regulation based on the currently active BCLK value.

So without further ado let's get the Maximus IX Code installed in the case.

My specs:

Case - Thermaltake Armor+ VH6000
Mobo - ROG Maximus IX Code
CPU - i7-7700k
GPU - ROG Strix GTX 1070
Memory - Kingston HyperX Predator 16GB 3000MHz 15-15-15-35-2T
SSD - Toshiba OCZ VX500 256GB
HDD - W.D. Velociraptor 300GB
PSU - PCP&C Turbo Cool 1200w
Monitor - HP ZR30w
Windows 10 Home

Cooling is with the Swiftech Apogee GTZ cpu water block and Koolance ERM-2K3U liquid cooling unit. This is the fourth motherboard this cpu water block has been on and it's clean as a whistle inside, I credit this to Koolance coolant and Mayhems ultra clear plasticizer free tubing. I went with black chrome Monsoon chain gun fittings this time and I think they look good with the Maximus IX Code.

A few pics:












Now that you know my specs and cooling you're probably wondering, how well does the Maximus IX Code overclock the i7-7700k? Well being the enthusiasts we are I was wondering the same thing so let's give it a shot. I'm shooting for 5.0GHz which is the golden number with kabylake's i7-7700k. Raja wrote an in depth overclocking guide on kabylake, it's an excellent guide and I suggest reading it if you plan on overclocking.

http://edgeup.asus.com/2017/01/31/ka...locking-guide/

Following Raja's guide, the Maximus IX Code easily pushes the i7-7700k to 5.0GHz, Real Temp isn't reading the load correctly so I'll use HWinfo from here on.




CPU Temps at 5.0GHz playing Watchdogs 2, what's impressive is the motherboard temp at 29c. With an ambient room temp of 76F that's quite chilly, I'm only liquid cooling the cpu everything else is air cooled. To me this shows the quality of ASUS components and craftsmanship of who puts them together.



In a nutshell the new "Code" ASUS entered is basically a Maximus IX Formula minus some bling. You get Formula performance, bios and overclocking features at a lower cost.

I'll be adding some videos and screen shots and may do some more overclocking, the new Aura lighting will be fun to play with too. If anyone has any questions or comments please feel free to leave them, you're welcome to post pics and your overclocks too.

[Klute_Onren]

Excellent! I vaguely assumed and was hoping that the Maximus line up follow the tradition of features for the dollar, but the nitty and gritty was the same. I still wish I had a mono-block however I'm happy with my Hero. I did little research when picking my new mobo, mostly went on Asus fanboy status and it was in the correct price range. I saw the formula and soon to be extreme however I couldn't afford it, buying a mobo then a cpu block was easier then both at the same time. All said I found the best z270 for overclocking I could afford and relied on my tried and true trust of Asus boards to carry over the rest. I'm curious of the difference between the code and hero. The code was out of my price range so I simply relied on the Asus brand holding up the entry level to it's highest enthusiast z270.

[Arne Saknussemm]

Nice Nate! Looking good...

Nice setup with that cooling...

Easy 5.0

[Nate152]

Hey Thanks guys,

Klute_Onren - The Maximus IX Hero is a high end motherboard too and can overclock just as well as the Formula and Code, if you're an overclocker share your results please.

Arne - Here's a test run of one of your favorite games Mafia III, haha just kidding I know you're not too fond of it. It's not too bad, I think it's better than Mafia II. I like driving around in the different cars of that time and the races are kinda fun.

Mafia III uses 40%-60% of the cpu, then with HWinfo and MSI Afterburner recording and OSD the cpu sometimes hits 100% load. I was trying to record with OBS as it's alot lighter on the cpu but I could only get audio with a black screen.

Cooling is good but I somehow think I should be getting better temps, I was wanting to ask how yours and everyone's i7-7700k temps are and if mine look normal with 1.312v. The cpu temp in the OSD should be reading the package temp. I know recording and the OSD is putting a hefty load on the cpu but temps still seem high for 1.31v.

What do you think, do my temps seem high off the bat ? I didn't quite have enough of thermal grizzly kryonaut so I used coolermaster high performance thermal paste, I'm going to take a trip to performance pc's for some kryonaut and see if it will make a difference.

When the cpu hits 100% load it starts to flutter, it's just in the recording the game played fine.

[Nate152]

Before and after, does anyone think it will make a difference?

Stay tuned.

[Nate152]

So I applied the kryonaut and ran Realbench, over all temps are lower and I let the benchmark run to completion.

But..... Core 2 has the highest maximum temp in Real Temp above at 75c with the Coolermaster paste. I was wondering if maybe I didn't get it quite right so was another reason to try the kryonaut. And..... after running the test core 2 has a max temp of 74c while core 3 is running the coolest as it shows in Real Temp too.



So because of core 2 running warmer and core 3 running the coolest, 11c difference on maximum temp, I'm wondering if temps would be closer if I delidded, this would be another reason to do it.

Yay or Nay to delid ? I know it voids the warranty.

[chevell65]

Those temps are pretty good for 5GHz if you ask me. Not close to thermal throttling there.

[Nate152]

Hi chevelle65

Thanks man !

Yeah I can see temps in the 60's, I'm at 1.312v for 5.0GHz which is very good but that core 2 is always running the warmest, I bet it was reading core 2 as the package temp in the video above.

So what do you think, have you ever delidded a cpu ? I think it might be worthwhile for me, I been eyein' up the Rockit 88 tool.

I never did it before but with this tool it's a safe way to do it, I'd like to hear some success stories.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...cpu-delid-tool

[CODE MAXIMUS]

Nice info and rig Nate152. Don't forget it also has heatplates on the mosFETs to works as heatsinks on the back of the board. This was a new feature for me upgrading from Sabertooth line. That and a standalone 2T2R MIMO wifi antenna alone is at least $100 US bones so this verse the HERO was no question the better deal as I only paid $280 US for mine. Board is killer.

[Nate152]

Hey CODE MAXIMUS !

Yeah it's a sweet board, I'm working on cpu temps as you can see. I posted in your ram thread about recording with shadowplay, does it have its own built in OSD ?

Your temps were great and your cpu usage wasn't maxing out.