ASUS ROG Maximus XII Hero Wi-Fi Z490 Motherboard

Asus’s ROG Maximus XII Hero is the entrance point to the premium ROG lineup of boards. While not as expensive as the flagship Extreme series, or the water-cooling ready Formula, or even the record-breaking Apex, it boasts much of the same feature list for a price much closer to the Strix family. Connectivity is at the premium point with 1 Gb and 5Gb Ethernet, 801.11ax Wifi with Bluetooth, A pile of USB ports, most Gen 2 with a few Gen 1’s, no less than three on-board M.2 slots and enough headers on the board to give you a solid hour of ‘light reading’ in the manual. A massive heatsink and heat pipe assembly cools the beefy 14+2 power delivery system, ready for overclocking Intel’s 10^th gen processors. Support for water cooling, from AiO’s to complex custom loops with flow sensors and thermal probes are supported via on-board headers. There is a tasteful amount of RGB onboard to add color to otherwise all-black color scheme, but a mix of RGB and addressable RGB headers surround the board if you need a little more bling. The ROG Maximus XII Hero sure looks good on paper, but how does it actually perform? Let’s find out!

PC Test Bench would like to thank ASUS for sending over the ROG Maximus XII Hero Wi-Fi for us to check out!

ASUS’s take on the ROG Maximus XII Hero Wi-Fi:

ROG Maximus XII Hero is the perfect foundation to the Republic of Gamers. It’s a motherboard that packs substantial power, smart cooling, and faster memory support under a stealthy skin. Loaded with renowned ROG features, from AI overclocking and AI cooling to attention-grabbing Aura Sync illumination, Maximus XII Hero is ready to perform and crafted for customization.

Features

PERFORMANCE – The Intel Comet Lake processor features 10 cores and a peak single-core Turbo speed that exceeds 5.3 GHz right out of the box. To cope with this increased demand on the system, Maximus XII Hero takes advantage of its intelligent VRM design and uses quality components to ensure the best gaming and daily productive computing experience.

COOLING – Maintaining system stability is paramount under high load, so Maximus XII Hero employs large VRM and chipset heatsinks that strike the right balance between surface area and mass. The extra-large armor heatsinks also cover multiple M.2 slots. Featuring premium components and multiple fan headers, Maximus XII Hero is fully armed to provide the best foundation for gaming systems – enabling higher performance at lower temperatures.

OPTIMIZATION – Maximus XII Hero is packed with intuitive and flexible tools to allow customization across all system parameters to deliver the performance you want.

CONNECTIVITY – ROG Maximus XII Hero offers advanced connectivity, including WiFi 6 (AX201) and dual Ethernet with intel 1Gb and Marvell 5Gb Ethernet port to eliminate bottlenecks so you can enjoy exceptionally smooth online and LAN play. Additionally, the M.2 supports Intel OptaneTM Memory technology to maximize the speed of your SSD for faster load times, and SupremeFX onboard audio provides superb sound while saving a PCIe slot.

PERSONALIZE – In addition to extraordinary performance, Maximus XII Hero provides extensive styling and customization options to let you build a system that truly stands apart.

Quick Specs – See Full Specs Here

• CPU – Intel Socket 1200 for 10th Gen Inte® Core, Pentium Gold and Celeron Processors
• Chipset – Intel Z490
• Memory – 4 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4 2133Mhz – 2933MHz, OC Support for 3000Mhz – 4800+MHz Memory
  • Daisy-Chain Topology
  • OptiMem III
• Graphics – iGPU – 1 x HDMI 1.4b on rear I/O Panel
• Multi–GPU Support
  • Supports NVIDIA 2-Way SLI Technology, AMD 2 or 3-way CrossFireX Technology
• Expansion Slots
  • Intel 10th Gen Processors – 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16/x0 or x8/x8) w/ Safe Slot Technology
  • Intel Z490 Chipset – 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x4 mode), 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1
• Storage – Intel Optane Memory Ready
  • 2 x M key, type 2242-22110 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)
  • 1 x M key, type 2242-2280 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)
  • 6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
• LAN
  • Intel® I219-V 1Gb Ethernet
  • Marvell® AQtion AQC111C 5Gb Ethernet
  • Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX201
  • Bluetooth v5.1
• Back I/O Ports
  • 1 x Marvell® AQtion AQC111C 5Gb Ethernet
  • 1 x Intel® I219-V 1Gb Ethernet
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2
  • 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1
  • 2 x USB 2.0
  • 1 x Optical S/PDIF out
  • 1 x Clear CMOS button(s)
  • 1 x USB BIOS FlashBack™ Button(s)
  • 1 x ASUS Wi-Fi Module
  • 5 x Gold-plated audio jacks
• Internal I/O Ports
  • 1 x CPU Fan connector(s)
  • 1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s)
  • 3 x Chassis Fan connector(s)
  • 1 x AIO_PUMP connector
  • 1 x H_AMP fan connector
  • 1 x W_PUMP+ connector
  • 1 x W_IN header
  • 1 x W_OUT header
  • 1 x W_FLOW header
  • 1 x AAFP connector
  • 2 x Aura RGB Strip Headers
  • 2 x Addressable Gen 2 header(s)
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 front panel TypeC™ connector
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1(up to 5Gbps) connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 port(s)
  • 2 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 port(s)
  • 1 x Thunderbolt header(s)
  • 1 x Thermal sensor connector(s)
  • 1 x ReTry button
  • 1 x System panel connector
  • 1 x Speaker connector
  • 1 x Start button
  • 1 x FlexKey button
• Form Factor
  • ATX Form Factor – 12 inch x 9.5 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )