Final Thoughts
If you are looking for the ultimate X570 motherboard this is it. Looking at the slew of features there really is nothing missing from this motherboard. You have the 18+2 power phase design with 45 amp MicroFine alloy chokes, and 10K premium capacitors, giving you up to 1620 amps of available power. This is the most I’ve seen on a motherboard before! This board is easily going to be able to handle the most high-end AMD processors including the Ryzen 9 5950X. We were easily able to overclock our Ryzen 9 5900X to 4.6 GHz on all 12 cores.
For those super-fast storage freaks out there you can actually install up to five PCI-Express 4.0 x 4 M.2 drives on this board! You have the three M.2 slots on the board itself, plus two available from the DIMM.2 module. On top of that you have USB 3.2 gen 2×2 connectivity (front panel header) and two Thunderbolt 4 ports for fast external drives and other devices. As far as connectivity goes you are going to get WiFi 6E, 10G LAN, and 2.5G LAN!
One thing I love about ASUS motherboard is the ASUS-exclusive features you get. Some of those highlights from this board are ASUS HydraNode which allows you to connect as many as three fans to one fan header using an off-the-shelf splitter, but unlike with older PWM headers, HydraNode still gives you full control and monitoring of each fan. The FlexKey button, which by default is your reset button, but can be set to turn Aura lighting on or off, activate Safe Boot or enter the BIOS. The M.2 Q-Latch system that makes looking for those M.2 screws a thing of the past. Talking about headers on the board the radiator fan headers on the board support 4A/48W, while the water pump headers support 3A/36W so you could easily power a watercooling build completely off the board. You also get water temperature and water flow headers directly on the board. Don’t forget the included fan & ARGB hub / controller, DIMM.2 module, and ROG Clavis DAC.
As far as looks as I mentioned this board is covered mostly in heatsinks (front and back) and is really a tank! I really like that the bottom heatsink is a single piece of metal with a chrome finish to it, it really sets off the board. When it comes to RGB lighting you have lights on the I/O cover, chipset heatsink, and along the front edge of the board. On top of that you have the 2-inch LiveDash OLED display which not only looks cool, but can show relevant information like temperatures, fan speeds, and more. Even the audio ports on the board have LEDs in them, which is something I’ve never seen on a motherboard before.
If there is one thing that I did not like about this board it is that once you have your graphics card installed it is very hard to access the release button on the PCI-Express slot. I actually had to remove the top M.2 heatsink to press down the release button. This could be very annoying, likely why ASUS has added quick release buttons to their new Z690 motherboards.
Right now this board is selling at our favorite online retailer for $793.43. This might seem expensive, but with all of the features and extras you are getting with this board your money is very well spent. Overall ThinkComputers gives the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme a 9 out of 10 score and our Editor’s Choice Award!
Pros:
– 18+2 power phase design with 1620A of power
– Support for up to 5 M.2 drives
– Can run a watercooling system completely off the board
– USB 3.2 gen 2×2 & Thunderbolt 4
– WiFi 6E, 10G LAN, 2.5G LAN
– Heatsinks everywhere
– 2-inch OLED display
– Lots of extras (DIMM.2, Fan hub, USB DAC)
Cons:
– PCI-Express release button hard to access as top M.2 heatsink gets in the way
