Package appearance
The whole package design of MAXIMUS XI EXTREME is nearly the same as their previous version MAXIMUS X EXTREME.
Package Front

Package Back

Package Bottom Side

Opening the box

The second layer of the box

Everything inside the box

The accessories box

The ROG Sticker

The WI-FI Antenna

The Third layer of the box

The ROG driver installation USB stick

The Hyper M.2 Kit & Fan extension kit

The Hyper M.2 Kit Disassembling. Both M.2 slots only support NVMe SSDs

The front and back of Fan extension kit

The total weight of this motherboard includes all heatsinks is 1.58KG

Product Analysis
The main body of the EXTREME motherboard

The front and back looking

The I/O top cover with RGB lights and LiveDash screen

The Northbridge Heatsink with the ROG RGB logo

The metal-supported PCI-E slots will perfectly support the latest Nvidia 20series video cards

The Hyper M.2 kit slot supports Intel iRST Raid for both SSDs

The side I/O

The bottom I/O

The top I/O, includes RGB headers(12v 4pin & 5v 3pin addressable) and dual-8pin CPU headers

The rear I/O

The raw looking after we removed all heatsink and covers

The processor power supply adopts the design of 10-phase CPU core power supply + 2-phase integrated graphics power supply.

The borthbridge chipset

The SupremeFX soundcard uses the golden capacitors from Nichicon

The ASUS DIGI+ EPU Chipset

The Aquantia AQtion 5G LAN Chipset

CPU MofSETs

The Onboard Power & Reset button

The BIOS controller chip

The Onboard TPU chip

The Onboard I/O controller chip Nuvoton NCT6798D

The Asmedia ASM1442K chip is the next generation high-speed TMDS level shift ICs for HDMI & DVI video application

The Q-DIMM slots support DDR4 4400+MHz, XMP & OptiMem II

The new LGA 1151 slot of Intel’s 9th gen Core desktop processor

On the back of the motherboard, we can find these full-size PCI-E slots are actually x16, x8, and x4

The onboard LED power socket

The Heatsink parts
The I/O shield part front & back

The MofSET heatsink front & back

The capacitors extra heatsink front & back

The northbridge heatsink front & back

The Sound card cover

The back panel armour front & back

Overall
The ROG MAXIMUS XI EXTREME is the flagship model of the ASUS ROG series with numerous auxiliary functions and the enhancement power management solution, it also implemented the colorful RGB elements and very high-quality materials. Whether its overclocking stability or functional diversity, this motherboard is the top level of its kind. At the same time, the rich graphics introduction on their official website and the detailed description provided by ASUS can lead the client to quickly understand the function and easily control this motherboard. Moreover, the up-to-date driver and the latest BIOS can be easily updated through the ASUS Armoury Crate app, clients will totally abandoning the complicated downloading process and decompressed the driver installation steps, this useful function has enhanced the client experience and simplified the client operations. In addition, the new version of AI Suite provides the centralised management of AI overclocking and cooling performances within a one-click easy overclocking button, this simplified operation does not only bring the sense of accomplishment to clients but also allows clients to experience in the improvement of the overclocking performances.

ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XI EXTREME OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.asus.com/au/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XI-EXTREME/

The Z390 chipset has only been slightly tweaked, now including native support for USB 3.1 Gen.2, increasing the bandwidth up to 10Gbps max, and support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi. With the Intel Wireless-AC 9560 NIC and the corresponding front-end design of the motherboard, a Gigabit wireless network can be achieved, although, it might not be possible on the NBN.

The chipset interface is still the LGA1151, the 9th generation Core is still compatible with the existing 300 series chipset, which including the Z370, B360, H310, etc., while the Z390 motherboard can also support the 8th generation Core series.

Intel 9th Generation Core Family CPU Official Specifications:

THE INTEL i7 9700K

The i7-9700K has 8 cores 8 threads, the L3 cache has 12MB (cut from 2MB to 1.5MB per core), the frequency range has been taken from 3.6GHz to 4.9GHz, with the price coming in at roughly 659 AUD, its 60 dollars more expensive than the i7-8700K.

Package appearance

Package Front

Package Back

Package Bottom Side

Opening the box

The CPU chip

The CPU front

The CPU back

Run-time Benchmark Test
CPU-Z

HWiNFO64

Intel XTU

Cinebench

Unfortunately, we found it difficult to get a stable reading with all cores running at 5.1Ghz during the overclocking test, but a single core can be pushed out to 5.5Ghz.

THE INTEL i9 9900K

The flagship model for the 9th generation is the i9-9900K, with 8 cores and 16 threads (the only hyperthreading available in the 9th generation), 16MB for the L3 cache (sharing for all cores), the reference frequency is 3.6GHz, the turbo frequency acceleration is up to 5.0GHz, and the integrated graphic is the UHD 630, memory supports dual-channel DDR4-2666 and TDP consumption is 95W.

Its price has reached 859 AUD, which is also the new price record for mainstream CPUs. Compared with the i7-8700K, that costs 599 AUD, its 30% more.

It is worth noting that the 9th generation Core has fixed some of the Meltdown and Spectre bugs on the consumer processors for the first time, including the Rogue Cache Data Load and the L1 Terminal Fault/L1TF, other bugs still need to be resolved by updating the BIOS.

Interestingly, the i9-9900K also offers a specially designed box, a dodecahedron shape with transparent glass material.

Package appearance

ES Package

Open the package

The CPU chip

The CPU front

The CPU back

Run-time Benchmark Test
CPU-Z

HWiNFO64

PC MARK 10

Cinebench

According to Intel’s official statement, the performance of the 9th generation Core is up to 15% faster compared to the overall performance of the 8th generation, the gaming performance is improved by about 10%, and the video editing performance is improved by up to 34%, compared to older chipsets (such as i7-6700K) you could see increases of up to 40%, 45%, and 97% respectively.

We tried to boost all cores to 5.1Ghz, and fortunately, it’s stable and passed the cinebench test

I9 9900K@4.8GHz, 3D MARK FSE, physics score is 24129 points, the graphics card is 18789 (ASUS ROG STRIX 2080TI O11G)

I9 9900K@4.8GHz, 3D MARK FSU, physics score is 24098 points, the graphics card is 9223 (ASUS ROG STRIX 2080TI O11G)

Overall
After a bunch of tests, the i7 9700K, i9 9900K and i7 8700K have the same single-core frequency performance, the theoretical multi-threading gap of the i9 9900K which has an extra 2 cores 4 threads over the i7 8700K, offers a performance bump of about 33%. In gaming performance, there is basically no difference between the three CPUs. Unfortunately, the potential of overclocking performance is not as good as the i7 8700K and i7 8086K.

If the CPU is being utilised for a small workstation, the reasonable price of the i9 9900K is definitely an excellent choice to replace the i9 7900X. Even with the i7 8700K, the extra 33% of theoretical performance is a big improvement for rendering. However, pure game users do not have to choose the i9 9900K, the i7 9700K is definitely a better choice.

INTEL ARK FOR I7 9700K:
https://ark.intel.com/products/186604/Intel-Core-i7-9700K-Processor-12M-Cache-up-to-4-90-GHz-

INTEL ARK FOR I9 9900K:
https://ark.intel.com/products/186605/Intel-Core-i9-9900K-Processor-16M-Cache-up-to-5-00-GHz-

ASUS has sent the new ROG MAXIMUS XI FORMULA motherboard based on the new Intel Z390 platform to us. So what surprise will ASUS bring this time? Let’s open the box and enjoy the new features!

Package appearance
The whole package design of MAXIMUS XI FORMULA is nearly the same as their previous version MAXIMUS X FORMULA.
Package Front

Package Back

Package buttom

Open the box

The second layer of the box

All goods inside the box

Product Analysis
The main body of the FORMULA motherboard

The front and back looking

The side I/O

The bottom I/O

The top I/O, includes RGB headers(12v 4pin & 5v 3pin addressable) and fan(AMP) headers

The rear I/O

The raw looking after we removed all heatsink and covers

The processor power supply adopts the design of 6-phase CPU core power supply + 4-phase integrated graphics power supply.

CPU power plug is 8+2 pins

The borthbridge chipset

The SupremeFX soundcard uses the golden capacitors from Nichicon

The ASUS DIGI+ EPU Chipset

The Aquantia AQtion 5G LAN Chipset

The new LGA 1151 slot of Intel’s 9th gen Core desktop processor

The Heatsink parts & Armour (Front & Back)
The front panel armour

The inside of front panel armour with LED controller boards and M.2 heatsink

The M.2 slots close looking, both slots are supporting NVMe & SATA SSDs

The mofset heatsink with CrossChill EK III water block

The back panel armour(outside & inside)

The northbridge heatsink

The RGB light & LiveDash screen

The BIOS partial settings screenshots

Overall
The full-covered armour plates make this motherboard look more solid and stable. Compared with the previous model, there are no special lighting effects outside, but more functional inside. The enhanced power supply support and the rich I/O interface have improved the total usability of this motherboard.

ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XI FORMULA OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.asus.com/au/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XI-FORMULA/

Package appearance
The whole package design of MAXIMUS XI HERO is nearly the same as their previous version MAXIMUS X HERO.
Package Front

Package Back

Package bottom

Open the box

The second layer of the box

All goods inside the box

Product Analysis
The main body of the MXI motherboard

The front and back looking

The side I/O

The bottom I/O

The top I/O, includes RGB headers(12v 4pin & 5v 3pin addressable) and fan(pump) headers

The rear I/O

The sound card (SUPREME FX)

The memory slots

The raw looking after we removed all heatsink and covers

The processor power supply adopts the design of 6-phase CPU core power supply + 4-phase integrated graphics power supply.

CPU power plug is 8+2 pins

The borthbridge chipset

The SupremeFX soundcard uses the golden capacitors from Nichicon

The new LGA 1151 slot of Intel’s 9th gen Core desktop processor

The RGB light

Overall
ASUS insists on high-quality materials have made this new motherboard at a higher level. The BIOS interface still keeps the classic design to ensure users not going to be confused. The sufficient CPU power provided from PSU has enhanced the overclocking performance.

ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XI-HERO/