Conclusion
The ASUS Maximum VII Ranger is the gamer’s dream board with optimised performance catered to the LAN gamers. Although we do not play LAN games, the features on this board will also help in the multimedia streaming aspect. I particularly like the software aspect of the bundle. GameFirst III is one of these as it helps optimise the network traffic and prioritise game packets. I also like the Sonic Studio and RAM DISK. These are tools that you probably won’t find on entry to mid range boards.
Performance wise, this board based on the same chipset as others performs decently and there weren’t issues running our Intel Core i7-4790K with the original heatsink/fan. We managed to get it steady below 80 Deg Celsius with CPU voltage set to auto. In fact, setting it to any fixed figure didn’t help in stabilizing the overclocking at all. Reaching 4.7GHz on air stable is normal but that is what you will get out of the box too because we used standard heatsinks and fan. If we can do it, so can you. Of course, if you use water cooling, 5GHz shouldn’t be an issue.
ASUS’s documentation is somewhat lacking. A lot more details can be put onto help menus especially in the BIOS options for those who loves to tweak their systems. The BIOS could also include those network optimisation options be made available in BIOS then in a Windows application.
In conclusion, this board fits the requirements of a LAN gamer with audio, network optimised for the gamers. If you are not a gamer, the optimisation would also suffice for the DIY user for it’s design and stability.
We give this board our Gold Award.
| Category | Score |
| Performance | 9 / 10 |
| Features | 9 / 10 |
| Ease Of Installation | 10 / 10 |
| Overclocking Features | 10 / 10 |
| Documentation | 7 / 10 |
| Packaging | 10 / 10 |
| Cost / Performance | 8 / 10 |
| Overall Rating : | 9 / 10 |
Pricing
ASUS Maximus VII Pricing