ASUS MAXIMUS VIII FORMULA
RRP: $399.99 | Website: www.asus.com
Test Machine
• INTEL Core i7 6700K
• CORSAIR Vengeance LPX
DDR4 3600 C18
• EVGA GTX 980Ti K|NGP|N
Edition
• SAMSUNG PX941 512GB
• CORSAIR AX1500i
• Windows 10 x64
(0014 BIOS)
N
ot long after the launch
of the MAXIMUM VIII
EXTREME, ASUS
unveiled the Formula
inevitable FORMULA model.
Similar in many ways to the
Extreme, but differing in that
it caters almost exclusively
to the high end PC gaming
crowd. This is not to say that
it is incapable of overclocking,
to the contrary it proves to
18 The OverClocker Issue 37 | 2016
be capable in that context as
well. However, what ASUS
was after with the Formula
is a motherboard that brings
together many of the features
for gamers and the refinement
and component quality that
one would otherwise only
find on the most expensive
overclocking motherboards
such as the Extreme.
Upon initial inspection
the two boards look similar
(underneath the ROG Armor),
until you dig a little deeper
and see that there are some
substantial changes to the
board which render the
Formula more suited for
gamers than the Extreme
could ever be. This oddly
enough comes about via
subtraction mostly as opposed
to addition. This shouldn’t
be a surprise given that the
motherboard does retail
for a lower price. Also often
overlooked but important is
that the Formula is standard
ATX in size, which means it
will fit almost every possible
chassis that is on the market
today that adheres to the
standard. That alone makes
it more accessible than the
Extreme which limits its use
to E-ATX compatible cases and
larger. To the board features,
the Formula does away
with the many overclocking
buttons and switches that are
the bread and butter of the
Extreme model. The entire
ROC OC Extreme kit is absent
which includes but isn’t limited
to the Retry button, Slow
Mode, PCIe x16 Lane switch,
DRAM channel jumper and
more.
Again this does not imply
that you will not be able to
use this board for extreme
overclocking, because you
can and it does have the