Final Thoughts
Normally when we see Micro-ATX motherboard they are stripped of many of the features that their larger counterparts have. I guess for many companies it comes down to actual real estate on the board and bringing the cost of the board down to a reasonable price. I was very surprised to see that not many features are lost when comparing this board to the ATX motherboards in the Republic of Gamers series. If we compare it directly to the Maximus VI Formula that we recently reviewed in terms of main features the Maximus VI Gene is only missing a PCI-Express slot, two SATA 6GB/s ports, and native DisplayPort output. That is really not that bad at all!
This board is of course part of the Republic of Gamers line so we expect to find a lot of features geared towards gamers. Starting with video card support you do have two PCI-Express 3.0 slots which means you can easily run a SLI or CrossFireX setup no problem on this board. This board also supports Quad-GPU technology so you can run two dual-GPU cards no problem at all. The SupremeFX audio chip offers 8-channel HD audio that competes with discrete sound cards. ASUS has developed Sonic Radar, which will actually show you where sound is coming from in your games. ASUS’s ROG GameFirst II software delivers smart cFosSpeed network traffic shaping technology that cuts your pings and latency with background data packet inspection, which definitely will help out when playing games online.
Not only is the Republic of Gamers series geared towards gamers, but overclockers and enthusiasts as well. ASUS is using quality components on this board. You have NexFET MOSFETs that have 90% greater efficiency under normal operation, 60A BlackWing chokes that are an ROG exclusive and as the same suggests support up to 60A, have 3-5C lower temperatures and have a gold-treated coating for minimal-loss power delivery and 10K black metallic capacitors that offer a 20% greater low temperature endurance and 5X longer lifetime usage. These components not only ensure that this motherboard is going to last a long time, but on top of that enable stable overclocking. The BIOS all of the options you would want for overclocking too.
Talking about the BIOS it is extremely easy to navigate and everything is easy to find. This is of course a UEFI BIOS which means you can use your mouse and keyboard which of course makes things even easier. On top of that ASUS has added features like the favorites page, note taking and the last modified setting. Along with the easy to use BIOS this board ships with ASUS’s Ai Suite III software which in my opinion is the best motherboard companion software out there currently. It not only allows you to check the status of your system you can tune it, change settings and a whole lot more, all from within Windows. On top of this software ASUS also includes Kapersky Antivirus and Daemon Tools which adds another $40 worth of free software to the bundle.
I think when it comes down to it if you are looking for one of the best Intel Z87 Micro-ATX motherboards available the Maximus VI Gene should be at the top of your list. It has everything gamers and enthusiasts alike will enjoy. Right now you can pick up the Maximus VI Gene at my favorite online retailer for $199. That price is definitely justified and you are getting a lot of value with this board. Overall ThinkComputers gives the ASUS Republic of Gamers Maximus VI Gene Motherboard a 10 out of 10 score and our Recommended Award!
Pros:
– Made with quality components
– Supports two dual-GPU graphics cards
– Sleek design
– Ai Suite III and other software
– mPCIe combo card
– Good overclocking performance
Cons:
– None that I found
