Review: asus rampage v extreme

Today we analyze Asus' commitment to top-of-the-range motherboards this generation. As usual in this series, which is the well-known flagship of the company when it comes to extreme overclocks and advanced users who want the most amount of extras and possibilities offered by the technology of the moment, the ROG series and in particular the Rampage V Extreme as the latest addition to it. It is one of the first LGA 2011 socket boards with X99 chipset, and includes all the improvements that we expect in a board of this range: Support for fifth-generation Intel processors, DDR4 memory, M.2 ports and SATA Express, in addition from a 3 × 3 AC wireless network card and a fairly good quality sound card.

We thank the Asus Ibérica team for the loan of this plate to carry out the review.

Technical characteristics

ASUS RAMPAGE V EXTREME FEATURES
CPU	Intel Socket 2011-v3 Core i7 ™ Supports Intel ® 22nm CPU Supports Intel ® Turbo Boost Technology
Chipset	Intel ® X99 Express Chipset
Memory	Memory 8 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR4 3300 (OC) / 3000 (OC) / 2800 (OC) / 2666 (OC) / 2400 (OC) / 2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory Quad Channel Memory Architecture Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
Multi-GPU Compatible	Compatible Multi-GPU Compatible NVIDIA® 4-Way SLI ™ Technology * 1 NVIDIA® 3-Way SLI ™ Technology Compatible NVIDIA® SLI ™ Technology Compatible Compatible AMD 4-Way CrossFireX Technology AMD 3-Way CrossFireX ™ Technology Compatible Compatible AMD CrossFireX ™ Technology 4 x PCIe 3.0 / 2.0 x16 Expansion Slots (x16, x16 / x16, x16 / x8 / x8 or x16 / x8 / x8 / x8 mode with 40-LANE CPU; x16, x16 / x8, x8 / x8 / x8 mode with 28-LANE CPU) * 2 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode) * 3 1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 * 3
Storage	1 x M.2 Socket 3, Gray in color, with M Key, Support 2260/2280/22110 type storage devices (Supports PCIe SSDs) Intel ® X99 chipset: 1 x SATA Express port, Red, 2 x Compatible SATA 6.0 Gb / s ports 8 x SATA 6Gb / s port (s), red, * 4, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (both SATA and PCIE mode) Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10 Supports Intel ® Smart Response Technology, Intel ® Rapid Recovery Technology * 5 ASMedia® SATA Express driver: * 6 1 x SATA Express port, red, supports 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb / s ports
USB and extras	4 x 3.0 USB port (s) (4 at mid-board) Intel® X99 chipset: * 7 port (s) 6 x USB 2.0 (2 at back panel, black, 4 at mid-board) ASMedia® USB 3.0 driver: * 8 10 x USB 3.0 port (s) (10 at back panel, blue
Net	Intel I218V Network, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller (s), with GameFirst III Intel® LAN-Dual Interconnect between Integrated LAN Controller and Physical Layer (PHY) anti-surge LANguard
Bluetooth	V4.0 Bluetooth
Audio	Audio ROG SupremeFX 8 channels High Definition Audio CODEC - Supports Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-reassignment of tasks - SupremeFX Shielding Technology - ELNA® premium audio capacitors audio features: - Blu-ray audio layer Content Protection - DTS Connect - / optical PDIF S (s) on the back panel - Sonic SoundStage - Sonic SenseAmp - Sonic Studio - Sonic Radar IIExtras: Panel OC 2.6 "LCM screen EXTREMA / NORMAL mode selector EXTREMA mode for sub-zero bank OC: * 9 - VGA Hotwire - Subzero Sense - Slow Mode - Pause Change header SMB VGA - - ProbeIt - 4 x connectors for additional 4-pin NORMAL mode fans for inputs Chassis use: * 10 - Level Up OC CPU button - FanSpeed control button - LCM backlight on / off I / O ports: - Power: 1 x SATA power connector - ROG_EXT port: 1 x 18-1 pin data connection port Special Features DirectCU Thermal Design
WiFi connection	Yes, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac Supports dual band 2.4 / 5 GHz frequency Up to 1300Mbps transfer rate
Format.	ATX format: (30.5 cm x 27.2 cm)
BIOS	Dual BIOS iROG Extreme Tweaker BIOS Flashback USB Overclocking Protection: - COP EX (Component Overheat Protection - EX) - Voltiminder LED II

Asus Rampage V Extreme: Appearance

The packaging is identical to the usual in the ROG series, a minimalist design without photos of the device in the usual red color

Behind we see a summary of the characteristics, a scheme of the rear connections, and a little marketing

Opening the cover we go directly to the interesting thing, with the OC Key in the foreground and behind the plate directly. On the cardboard cover we see a little more detail of the characteristics of this board, in this case the more overclock-oriented ones, such as the OC Key and the socket, and the sound card

The aesthetic appearance is impeccable, with the typical black and red color scheme of ROG series products. all ports are USB 3.0 (except the two specific for keyboard and mouse), and all ports are SATA3, so we do not see any color distinction. The heatsinks are generous, and as we see, in this case they have chosen to eliminate the fan of the X99 chipset and use totally passive cooling, which as we will see more than complies, so the choice could not have been more successful.

Regarding the accessories, we find ourselves with a very well equipped plate. We see below the bottom of the box, with the SATA cables, the cable for the OC Key, the 3 × 3 antenna, the connectors for the front, and other general cables. Just to your right, the adapter to use the OC Key in a 5.25 ″ bay as a fan controller. Below we see the manual, and finally multigpu bridges of various lengths and 3-4 graphics that will adapt to all our needs, strange as our distribution may be.

Asus Rampage V Extreme: In detail

We are facing a board with socket 2011-3. As we anticipated in previous reviews, this socket is, on a physical level, identical to the old LGA 2011 socket, except for the notches to prevent us from clicking a non-compatible processor by mistake. This means that any cooling system compatible with this socket will also be compatible with any board based on this new X99 platform. As we see, the pins are protected by a plastic tab that removes itself the first time we install a processor.

Here we see the same area as in the previous image with the processor already installed. As we see, a system with 2 levers is still used to keep the processor in place, again repeating what has already been seen in socket 2011.

As for the ports for hard drives, we find a really overwhelming number, a total of 12 SATA3 ports (counting those of the SATA Express connectors), of which 10 are native to the chipset. Of these, 4 are part of two new SATA Express connectors, one is in charge of the X99 chipset (which is the one we should use first, since it performs very slightly better), and the other of an Asmedia controller, placing this board as a one of the best prepared for future storage needs, even in the highest ranges.

To all the previous ports must be added an M.2 slot, compatible with disks of any length. We see it in the photograph below, next to the 24-pin ATX connector, the on and off buttons, and more connections for the front USB3.0 and for fans.

The bottom of the board does not detract at all, we have 5 pciexpress ports with 16x form factor (although not all will give the maximum speed, especially when the processor is limited in lanes such as the 5820K), and one port pciexpress 1x. At the end of this section we will comment on the restrictions when using these ports, apart from the obvious ones by number of lanes (all of them, except the gray one that goes to the chipset and works at speed 2.0, use the processor's pciexpress 3.0 lanes, which there are 28 in the case of the i7 5820K and 40 in the case of the rest of the processors)

Detail of the chipset heatsink, the two BIOS chips on the lower left along with the button to switch between them, and more connectors for the front and for fans.

The power of the processor is carried out, as usual lately, by means of a 4-pin ATX connector and an EPS connector. We note that this is a slight downgrade compared to the double EPS connector that we saw in the previous generation, we assume that Asus engineers saw that it was not necessary even in the most extreme cases, in fact this distribution is the most common in the high ranges from all manufacturers.

At the back of the board we find, as usual, a huge number of connectors. The first buttons are for ROG Connect and to reset the BIOS (very comfortable, although unfortunately easy to press by mistake, as it happened in other similar boards), a PS / 2 connector for keyboard and mouse, along with 2 USB2.0 that They are exactly dedicated for this use, keyboard and mouse, to be able to configure and control them with the utility that Asus provides, using its own processor and free of interruptions from other USB devices.

The following are no less than 10 USB3.0 ports, all of them courtesy of an Asmedia controller (since all the native ones of the chipset are used as internal connectors), an RJ45 network port with protection against power surges. Next we see the 3 RCA connectors for the antennas of the great AC1300 network card (3 × 3) that it includes, although the included antenna does not use a thread, but rather it is press-fit in a very comfortable way. Only the audio connectors on the integrated sound card remain, along with the optical output.

Details of the phases and their generous heatsink. Beneath it are the 8 chokes that give rise to the 8 phases that feed the processor. Do not fool anyone with a low a priori number, they are very well designed phases, MOSFET and first-line chokes, we remember that the Rampage IV had a similar configuration and was also the one chosen by many to perform extreme overclock.

We ended up going back to the upper right corner, where we see the power buttons, fan connectors, the diagnostic screen to identify potential POST problems or instabilities without resorting to a speaker. Also present are the usual switches to connect or eliminate the power of the 4 pciexpress slots that use the processor lines, to be able to test quickly without having to disconnect and reconnect the graphics each time. We also see the usual MemOK button! from asus, a curious and useful feature that allows you to test memory at a basic level without the need to click even a processor. Perfect for ruling out RAM problems if our computer doesn't even pass POST. The Start and Reset buttons, common in the vast majority of manufacturers, will help us in case of having our equipment in a benchtable, saving us the need to manually bridge the pins that go to the front panel.

The integrated sound card is a mid / high range realtek chip, which by itself does not differ much from the integrated chip found in other boards, luckily in this case it is very well used with a clean input and specific quality capacitors for Audio. We can say that in the sound tests carried out, the subjective assessment is that it sounds really good. It does not quite reach the level of top-end sound cards, such as the Xonar Essence, but for the vast majority of users it will comply and on a good note.

As for the expansion ports, we see that as is usual in boards that have such an overwhelming amount, sometimes using some of them implies slowing down or completely disabling others. For example, the slot The PCIeX8_4 slot is totally disabled if we click on a 28-lane (5820K) processor, while if we use a 40-lane it will work in 8x mode only if there is no SSD using slot M.2

The PCIE_X4_1 slot (gray) shares bandwidth with the PCIE_X1_1, USB3_E910 slot and the SATAExpress_E1 connector. When the PCIE_X4_1 slot is occupied by an X1 or X2 device, the SATAEXPRESS_E1 port will be disabled. When the PCIE_X4_1 slot is occupied by an X4 device, the SATAEXPRESS_E1, USB3_E910 ports, and the PCIE_X1_1 slot will be disabled. Two of the SATA ports do not support raid or the use of IRST (intel rapid storage tech.) Due to chipset limitations.

At this point the board manufacturer is not to blame, since with the low number of pciexpress lanes of the 5820K it is necessary to make some concessions, it is also a shame that such a powerful board is a bit limited in terms of expansion slots in case of mounting this processor.

In short, we are facing a plate worthy of its name, with the best components available, and an aesthetic that will certainly not leave anyone indifferent.

Test equipment and performance tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel i7 5820K
Base plate:	Asus Rampage V Extreme
Memory:	Crucial DDR4 4x8gb 2133MT / S CL15
Heatsink	Cooler master Seidon 120XL + NB Eloop 1900rpm
HDD	Intel X-25M G2 160Gb
Graphic card	Asus 780Ti Matrix Platinum
Power supply	Antec High Current Pro 850W

As expected, the performance is high and very similar to that obtained with i7 hexacores of the previous generation. The benchmarks that will appear below have been carried out with the processor and the graph at stock frequencies, and all the default options, so the influence of the plate on the results will be minimal, but it helps us to get an idea. what should we expect from a high-end team built around this platform. With our specific processor we achieve a maximum overclock of 4.4Ghz at 1, 325V using offset voltage and extensively testing stability. The settings used in each benchmark are detailed in our i7 5820K review.

TESTS
Cinebench R15	1020 points
3DMark Fire Strike	10812 3DMarks
tomb Raider	96.1 FPS
Metro: The last light	56.13 FPS

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BIOS and OC Key

We see that Asus has done an excellent job, as usual, with the BIOS, the interface is really good, and you can see a very clear incremental improvement if we compare it with the BIOS of the X79 boards from the same manufacturer, which in its day also they were a reference. The sections are well organized, we have the following menus:

Extreme Tweaker: To make the vast majority of adjustments dedicated to overclocking: Frequencies, voltages, RAM latencies, phase configuration, LLC… Advanced: Where we can configure the included devices, WoL, SATA port behavior, and other advanced parameters not related to overclocking.Monitor: To check the temperatures of all the sensors included in the board, as well as the revolutions of the fans and where they are connected.Boot: For starting priorities, and also some minor adjustments such as the delay for POST.Tool: Here are accesses to the typical Asus tools, such as EZ Flash to update the BIOS, or the behavior of the internal OC buttons.Exit: In this section there are simply options to load previous values, save changes and exit, or discard changes and exit.

We see that the fan control has been integrated into a new menu of its own, as can be seen in the penultimate image, with user-configurable curves and very visual, of course a great advance from Rampage IV, equally complete, but much less friendly.

They also include an automatic overclock assistant that chooses frequencies and settings depending on the parameters that we tell you (tower or liquid heatsink, gaming or multimedia equipment, etc.), and although surely many users appreciate it, from profesionalreview we always recommend using manual options, it is not at all complicated with a good guide, and in general results are obtained similar to those of automatic overclocking, optimizing better the voltage and consumption.

The BIOS is as complete as we can imagine, with such advanced settings in terms of RAM latencies or behavior that many overclockers, even professionals, will surely rarely use, if at all. It has so many options that it can overwhelm inexperienced users, but if we review it calmly we see that it is really well organized and everything is in its section, so with a little patience we will have what we are looking for at the click of a mouse.

Regarding the OC Key, we see that they have done an excellent job. The design is the same as we were used to when we first saw it in the Maximus series, with very aggressive lines that will surely be appreciated by the most common users of this device. The appliance must be connected to the board by means of the included cable, and is powered by a standard SATA cable.

OC Key 1

OC Key 2

OC Key open

OC Key Connections

In normal mode, this is a complete fan and temperature monitor and controller, and will fit like a glove in any mount using its 5.25 ″ bay adapter. The screen is rotated 90º to fit perfectly in this position.

However it is in extreme mode where this device shows its true potential. We can modify 2 voltages, a secondary CPU voltage (due to chipset limitations, the truth that we would have been very grateful to have the Vcore instead of this one), and the RAM (which is perfectly set), in addition to the BCLK frequency in 0.1mhz steps. We also have 4 voltages to modify using the exclusive asus option of VGA Hotwire, connecting the pins enabled for this purpose in the OC key to the voltage regulator of, for example, a graphics card, to be able to do extreme overvolt without the need for additional hardware.

conclusion

OC Key 1

Asus' commitment to the enthusiastic range this generation does not disappoint at all, and it brings us, as usual, one of the best options for both demanding users and professional overclockers. We are in a product in which nothing has been left out and no compromise has been made regarding the quality of the components and the extras. Unfortunately, as usual, this places us at a price point that is among the highest of all the boards in this socket.

Of course, if it is never recommended to skimp on the board, the less it will be on a platform in which only between the processor and DDR4 RAM, going to the simplest, we are going to invest about € 650, and seeing the price of other models manufacturers of similar quality, nothing is exaggerated.

If we opt for this board, we can be sure that we will not miss anything: Support for 64gb of RAM, up to 3-way SLI / CF (4 in case of mounting a 40-lane processor), 8 phases very well designed for more extreme overclocks (here we see the proof that quality> quantity, this board already has several overclock records under its belt and has just been released). The limit is up to you.

The BIOS has some points for improvement as usual in a newcomer platform, although a progression to better is evident from the excellent Rampage IV BIOS, and it is undoubtedly one of the most polished of all manufacturers at the moment.

Personally I am left with the feeling that something as powerful and complete as the OC Key is slightly wasted for what it could give of itself. It is a really good extra, but in these chipsets, the voltage marked as V1 is not the CPU core voltage, which is what we generally want to modify, but a secondary voltage, so we must also enter the BIOS to change a most basic value. Be that as it may, it is still an excellent monitor in its normal mode and a more than welcome help in extreme mode despite this lack. Another thing that I am sure we will see in future generations, and that many will appreciate, is a wireless Oc Key. It would be a great icing on this cake.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ OVERCLOCK CAPABILITIES AND CUSTOMIZATION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL	- EVEN THOUGH AS WE HAVE MENTIONED THE OC KEY COULD HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF MORE
+ EXTRAS IN QUANTITY: 10 USB3.0 PORTS, SLOT M.2, 2 SATA EXPRESS PORTS, RED AC 3X3...	- MANY OF THE NUMEROUS EXPANSION SLOTS ARE COMPROMISED IF WE USE A 28 LAN PROCESSOR
+ AESTHETICALLY IMPECCABLE, WITH THE TYPICAL COLORS OF THE ROG SERIES. POSSIBILITY TO TURN OFF THE LEDS IF ANNOYING	- PRICE IN THE HIGHEST RANGE, ALTHOUGH FULLY JUSTIFIED
+ INTEGRATED SOUND CARD PRETTY SUPERIOR TO THE USUAL
+ THE EXTERNAL MONITORING PANEL / OVERCLOCK OC KEY…