longer finding a solution for installing
Windows 7 than it did to reach a 6GHz
clock. Similarly, the cache line
frequency was good for 6GHz. This was
made that much easier by the “New
Samsung B-Die 8×2GB” sub-menus
profiles. These – as mentioned earlier
– required some minor changes, but
nothing that isn’t obvious at first glance
(I had to adjust RTL & IOL values on
some profiles). One doesn’t even need
LN2 mode to be enabled, as this works
just fine with many of the Auto rules.
Truly it is that simple with the APEX.
There’s little for you to do and most of
the fun is actually in tuning memory
for performance, frequency or both.
Thanks to the profiles, even that part is
minimized to some degree as it’s tough
beating the performance of C12-11-11-
28 4133 as made evident by virtually all
HWBOT submissions using this very
memory setting and frequency.
In as far as dry ice overclocking
is concerned, it’s so simple that
overclocking for daily use is more of a
challenge. Balancing the right load line
calibration setting with the right Vcore
for a particular max power draw and
temperature will take far longer than it
did to record all the benchmarks
herein.
The ease with which one can
overclock these ROG boards never
ceases to amaze, especially so at the
amateur level where one would be
using water cooling or dry ice. I'm not
sure if it’s possible to add to this in any
meaningful way which would partially
explain how many of these APEX
boards have largely remained the
same for several generations.
The MAXIMUS XI APEX then, much
like its predecessors, continues to set
the pace by which all other extreme
overclocking boards are measured.
This generation we have the likes of
the Dark which could objectively claim
to match the APEX at the very least,
and in some instances is perhaps
better. That is neither here nor there
as what ultimately matters are the
performance figures you get with the
board.
For everyday use I would have liked
to see some updates which obviously
extend into other areas of the board.
Much of it remains identical to what
was on the APEX X, which itself was
similar to the APEX IX. There’s only so
much one can put on a motherboard,
but these APEX boards are eerily
similar with this latest model offering
the most refined experience of the lot
as you’d expect.
If you have an APEX X, perhaps
this motherboard may not be a vast
improvement for you, but if you are
seeking a competent overclocking
motherboard then there aren’t many if
any that you’ll find better than this one.
If you’re seeking it for
gaming PC purposes, it’s still superior to
many mid-range boards of course, but
does have the drawback of only allowing
two DIMMs and its high price. I for one
would and am more than willing to live
with this minor sacrifice, especially
as it means one can run DRAM
frequencies upwards of 4500MHz all
day every day This is something which
would not be possible on most gaming
motherboards, or at the very least
would prove difficult to achieve.
The Overclocker
SUMMARY
Had one to score this board, it
would be near perfect among
its peers. In comparison
to what ROG has produced
before, it isn’t that drastic an
improvement. Overall, the
MAXIMUS XI APEX has the
minerals to push any and all
Z390 CPUs and DRAM kits to
the very edge and really that’s
all you want from an XOC
motherboard. You need not take
our word for it though, simply
look at all the high scores and
records set with the Apex XI.
The motherboard is possibly
the best Z390 XOC board on the
market or at the least shares
this spot with the Z390 Dark.
Issue 47 | 2019 The OverClocker 23